Save Some Money – Hire a Bunny
We will do anything for a couple of bucks and some carrots!
Let’s face it, you’re busy. Between work, relationships, chores, grocery shopping, dinner parties and whatever else goes on in your day, it all boils down to this – there never seems to be enough time to get it all done. And being a broke-ass and all, it’s not like you have enough money to hire your own personal assistant. Well, now you do.
It’s called Task Rabbit.
Task Rabbit is an online service where people can post those errands they don’t have the time or skills to do themselves. Instantly, your post can then be viewed by hundreds of runners or “rabbits” (like me) that are eager to help you complete your task. Think of it as an eBay service for running errands. The runners then bid a price on your task. You will immediately be notified and can then either accept, deny or counter offer the bidder’s price. Once you choose the runner offering the best price, they will complete your task, close it out online, and you will pay them electronically into their Tak Rabbit.
Just who are these runners, you might be asking? All of the runners have to go through a three-step application process before they can be a part of Task Rabbit. There is an online application, a phone screening and a background check in order to make sure some creep isn’t coming over to do your laundry. You can also research the runner’s profiles on the site to see which one seems most suitable for your task. Genius, right? Meet the woman who started it all.
Leah Busque, CEO and founder, got the idea for Task Rabbit on a cold February evening in Boston in 2008. She was getting ready to go out to dinner with her husband, and had already ordered a cab, when they realized that they were out of dog food for their 100-pound yellow lab named Kobe. They thought that there must be someone in their neighborhood who could do this for them and thought there should be a website offering these services. Leah had a break-through idea within the last five minutes before their cab arrived and actually bought the domain name RUNmyERRAND.com. Over dinner that night, the couple went over the details for the site, creating the concept which has evolved to TaskRabbit.com.
Task Rabbit proved to be so successful in Boston that in June of 2010, the couple moved out to San Francisco and started Task Rabbit in the Bay Area. Right now, there are thousands of people utilizing the economical and practical services Task Rabbit offers, which Leah calls “service networking.”
Service networking brings the community together, resulting in satisfied customers, new friendships, greener living and new experiences. As a runner, I have done about eight tasks so far. I’ve delivered flowers to some guy’s girlfriend, done research for another guy’s blog, and worked a few bartending/catering gigs. The last one was so awesome – I helped a woman cater a party in her fabulous North Beach loft with the best view of the city I have ever seen. She was really cool and told me to eat and drink whatever I liked and to mingle with the guests. I worked it with another runner, who turned out to be really cool, and we even exchanged numbers after the gig was done. So I had a great time – and I got paid $80 to hang out for a few hours. Top that!
Not that I am looking for any more competition, but if you are looking for a job or need some extra cash, Task Rabbit is a fun way to make some money and meet new people. The service has been praised by Laura Ingram on her Laura 365 talk radio show as being “a start-up with a solution to survive in the Obama economy.” For both those who want to save some money on getting their tasks done and those who want to make a few bucks completing tasks, Task Rabbit is the way to go!
Watch this Video to see how it works: How to Use Task Rabbit
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