From picking up dry cleaning for busy professionals, to helping a terminal patient’s family with day-to-day tasks, Just Ask provides basic concierge services along with peace of mind.
The range of tasks performed by Just Ask founder Rita Vogel covers all manner of convenience. Through Just Ask, Rita gets the opportunity to do what she loves most, helping others.
Founded
Rita Vogel
June 2012
Problem Being Solved:
Rita’s biggest goal through Just Ask is to try to give people their time back. She wants to give attention to the details her customers care about but don’t have the time to take care of. Through taking care of these things, she can give back precious time. “That’s a huge thing,” she says, “especially for families.”
Where the Idea Came From:
When Rita moved back to her hometown of Mason three years ago, she re-entered the healthcare field and was immediately frustrated. “I hated what health insurance was doing to the medical community.” What kind of insurance a person had, dictated how they were treated. It got to the point where she couldn’t wait for her day off so she could do what she loved; helping people and doing good deeds for them. Eventually she asked herself, “Could I get paid for being nice, kind and thoughtful? And it turns out, yes you can.”
Exciting Opportunities:
Rita’s services even extend to helping people with their business ideas, and connecting them with the right people. “They come to me with ideas that can help with economic growth and I can help because I know a lot of people and I know the community really well.”
It’s exciting for her to see Mason changing, growing and representing more demographics. “They are starting to expect more from their community, and I can bring that.”
Biggest Challenge:
Rita’s services cover a wide range of areas and one of her biggest challenges has been deciding whether she should narrow her focus. Though, she says, offering so many services is a blessing because, “it’s never boring.”
As the business grows, she’s also faced the challenge of deciding whether to hire others. “It’s tough because I don’t really trust anyone to do what I’m doing.” The business holds a very personal aspect and she doesn’t want to lose touch with that.
Surprising Aspects:
Rita had the opportunity to take care of someone who was terminally ill. She took over many of the tasks the patient was relying on her family for; cleaning, grocery shopping, errands, etc. Because the family could then focus on their loved one, “I gave the client the relationship with their family back.” It was surprising to Rita just how much being able to provide that effected her. Realizing how much joy she got from that and how big of an impact she had on their lives was very surprising.
Funding:
Because of low startup costs, Just Ask has been primarily bootstrapped.
The Future:
Rita feels, after seeing what a huge impact the business has had in Mason, that it’s something other towns like Mason could actually invest in. Because it covers so many aspects of the community from welcoming new people to market research, she feels it could be an extension of a city’s Chamber of Commerce or the city office. “It’s hometown, good stuff.”
Advice:
Rita says, “It really is true that if you love what you’re doing it’s not like work.” She urges others to go after something if it makes their heart happy. “If you have an idea, run with it. What’s the worst that can happen?” She adds that failure is simply a chance to tweak the idea, and try again. “Failing isn’t such a bad thing.”
Just Ask has been primarily referral based. If you would like to reach out to Rita, give her a call at 517-214-6884
