Cloth diaper service makes mommy smile
It's a dirty job, but Kelly Bacher is happy to do it.
The East Nashville mom and her husband, Aron, are owners of Smile, Mommy!, a cloth diaper delivery service.
The couple had their first child in December and were customers of the service when the previous owner decided to close it. They loved the diaper delivery so much, they jumped at the opportunity to take over. Kelly Bacher explained their reasons.
Why were you interested in owning a diaper delivery business?
I really wanted to be home to spend more time with my son. I've always wanted to own a business, but never knew what I wanted it to be. This is something I'm so passionate about, and it allows me to network with other moms who are like-minded to share ideas and be advocates for each other.
What's the advantage of using cloth diapers?
Cloth is better for the environment and better for your baby. They are biodegradable, so after you finish using diapers, they biodegrade naturally. A lot of people use cloth diapers because of skin allergies babies might have.
I had baby-sat friends and changed my brother's diapers when he was little and remember the number of trash bags that would be taken out every week. We recycle everything else, so it feels really strange to have that much trash when you have a baby. That's one thing that triggered us to think there was a way we could do this differently.
How does the delivery system work?
We give each customer an airtight diaper pail, and they keep it in their nursery. There is no shaking, no scraping or rinsing. They just ball it up and throw it in the pail -- with the wipes and the covers. Once a week, the parents take their dirty diapers out just like the trash and set it on their back porch. I then run the route and replace the dirty diapers with clean ones.
How popular are cloth diapers services in Nashville?
There is a huge demand for it, especially in the more urban areas of Nashville -- like East Nashville, Belmont and Germantown. These women are environmentally conscious, and they research everything while they are pregnant and make sure they make the best choices for their child.
What are the future plans for Smile, Mommy?
Soon, we will be able to offer retail and try to be the end-all-be-all in cloth diapers. If someone didn't want to use the service but wanted to launder their own at home, they could purchase the supplies from us. We are also looking at environmentally friendly baby products.
We are partnering with The Green Wagon, and we're selling re-purposed diapers as burp cloths there. We also are interested in franchising at some point. We get phone calls from people in other cities that want to start diaper services, and we know the growth potential is there.
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