Don't Do Windows? Maybe 'DoMyStuff' Does

April 30, 2007

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April 30, 2007

The Web site DoMyStuff.com allows people to post any task they can't do or don't want to do, from grocery shopping to washing windows. People willing to do the work bid on projects.

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

One new Web site is taking outsourcing to a new level.

Today's last word in business is about farming out some of the simpler things in life, such as your laundry. Think of it as being a little like hiring the neighbor's kid to mow your lawn, except the kid may be in the next county or even in the next country.

Mr. OMRI COHEN (Chief Designer, DoMyStuff.com): It's an online marketplace for people to get things done.

INSKEEP: That's Omri Cohen of DoMyStuff. He explained the Web site allows people to post any task they cannot do or don't want to do, anything from grocery shopping to washing windows. People willing to do the work, who Colin calls Assistants, can then bid on the projects. He says the site started as a joke when he and a friend were having trouble with their love lives.

Mr. COHEN: He said I wish I could just find somebody to outsource finding me a girlfriend. He just didn't feel like going through the process of screening these girls and like meeting them, and…

INSKEEP: For some reason nobody's posted that particular task. But Cohen says somebody did ask for help breaking up with a girlfriend.

Mr. COHEN: This is something that applies to everybody and it's not just outsourcing to third-world or it's not just outsourcing to cheaper labor, it's outsourcing to your next-door neighbor, and it's outsourcing locally.

INSKEEP: Still produced here in the U.S., it's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

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