TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

It's been a tough three or four years on local businesses. Many brick-and-mortar businesses have been forced to shut their doors. But people still have ideas, so as in most recessions, we've seen a resurgence in home-based businesses.

Every day my in-box is deluged with people trying to convince me to do this Internet business or that one. I "can be a millionaire overnight with just a few mouse clicks and hardly any work." Don't kid yourself. There's always a catch and most legitimate Internet or home-based businesses require more work than a regular 9-to-5.

Here are two examples of home-based businesses that have required a lot of work but seem to be good, lasting ideas.

Young mother Abby Bryski saw a need and is trying to fill it with her new business, SeekingSitters.

SeekingSitters was started in 2004 by a mom in Tulsa, Okla., who ran a private investigation firm. She realized a lot of the people who were investigated were babysitters, and found qualified people she could send with confidence to people who needed them, Bryski said.

Bryski and her husband, Chris, have been full-time firefighters for several years. They started their home-based online franchise in Bakersfield late last year. She said people can go to seekingsitters.com, register, pay sitter fees with a credit card and a qualified, professional sitter will come to the house.

"We only recruit the best of the best for our service. We have actually turned away the majority of applicants because they didn't meet the tough requirements of our screenings," Bryski said.

Bryski said they will only send out prequalified sitters: those who are 18 or older, CPR qualified, pass a background investigation and have or are working on child behavior or other educational degrees. She said finding recruits at local colleges and universities has been helpful.

"We don't use the typical Internet background screenings," Bryski said. "We actually use private investigators to look into potential sitters. We require extensive references and work experience with all age groups, infant to teens."

Bryski has a pool of about 10 qualified sitters right now with more in the process. She said her service is geared toward families who want a night out or for companies that plan events outside normal day-care service hours.

The rate to come to a home, business or special event starts at $12.25 an hour and increases slightly for each addtional child. Group rates are also available. She said the good thing about using her service is once you are registered, you can securely pay for the sitter online with your credit card and not have to worry about fumbling for cash at the end of the evening or needing to provide a ride home for the sitter. Customers can go online and preview the sitter's profiles, and set preferences for those they like.

The Bryskis said they have liability insurance but minimize risk by performing strict prescreenings to find the most professional sitters out there for their clients. The sitters are independent contractors for SeekingSitters.

"People may cut back on dining out or may hold off purchasing a new car, but there will likely always be a need for proper care of their children," Bryski said.

Another home-based business has been working well in Bakersfield for 20 years.

"In my world it's not just the two-legged children that are special, but there are a lot of four-legged children that are important to people too," said Carol Ewing, owner of Pooper Scoopers of Bakersfield.

Like the baby-sitter service, Ewing provides "pet-sitting" service for her clients too, but the biggest part of her business is "picking up."

OK, here's "the scoop." Ewing said she was a bookkeeper many years ago. After she was laid off, she stumbled across this "Scooper" idea and decided to try it in Bakersfield. She didn't have much of a business plan. She didn't know if she would succeed or fall flat on her face, but she had passion for animals, so she gave it her best shot.

"I started with some small three-line ads in one of the local shopper newspapers and eventually one of the local TV stations did a warm and fuzzy feature story about me and my phone hasn't stopped ringing since," Ewing said.

Ewing said she is often hired to help with big events such as community do walks or dog shows like those at the Fairgrounds.

"Those are big jobs, so I hire my son and others to help. But mostly it's just me," Ewing said.

Ewing said she likes running the business herself because it brings better customer service and quality control.

Her rates are $35 per month for most yards, which includes a weekly clean-up visit, or double that for a twice-weekly clean-up. She tries to schedule stops a day or so ahead of people's gardeners.

She charges $20 per visit for the pet sitting service, which includes not only feeding and walking the pet, but also picking up mail, watering plants, feeding fish, cleaning the litter box, giving special medications or anything else that needs to be done.

"My service allows people to keep their pets in their own home environments instead of in a kennel, which may be a lot less stressful for the animals," she said.

It may be a dirty job but Carol Ewing said she's just the person to do it.

"A lot of my business has been word of mouth from people who have used my service and that's the best kind of advertisement you can ever get."

-- If you have a business or know of one that could be featured in my column, please send an e-mail to gaylen@gaylenyoung.com and I'll add you to my list. These are the opinions of Gaylen Young, not necessarily The Californian.