Todd Pliss was working as a tutor to child stars like the Jonas Brothers when he started hearing complaints. They weren't about groupies or the paparazzi or bad lighting--they were about child care.
Families who had moved to Los Angeles so their kids could pursue showbiz were frazzled by unprofessional babysitters who didn't show up on time or spent hours on the phone.
"I heard these complaints," Pliss says, "and asked myself, 'Who's more responsible? More mature?' I thought, Hey, grandmas! We all have warm, fuzzy feelings about grandmas. And they don't text or tweet while watching the kids."
Last year Pliss closed the book on tutoring and began recruiting women over 50 for a child-care service he called Rent-A-Grandma. And it took off. Soon, in addition to watching kids, the grandmas were being asked by clients to cook, clean, plan parties and pet-sit, so Pliss expanded the scope of the agency to all domestic services.
After Rent-A-Grandma was profiled on Fox News in March 2011, Pliss received more than 300 calls asking if he was franchising the concept. He decided to give it a shot: In May, he offered franchise territories in 36 states. So far, he has sold units in Dallas and Houston. He hopes to have 15 in operation by year's end and 20 more in 2012.
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