PRESS RELEASE

WEGO-4U began as a “mom & pop” errand service specializing in grocery shopping for homebound persons, but quickly expanded services in response to consumer demands.

Celebrating their 1st anniversary in business, founders, Linda and Gary Prichard, have a service background. Linda, with a BS in nursing from the University of Buffalo, worked as a visiting nurse and supervisor of an intermediate care facility in Evanston, IL. Gary, with a Master of Divinity degree, was senior minister of the Irving Park Christian Church in Chicago and a social worker in Cook County, IL. The couple operated a word processing and copy center in Evanston before moving to Hendersonville in 1992. Gary also worked as Internet sales manager for several large auto dealerships.

“We are both retired,” said Gary, “and we wanted a business where we could serve people without a full-time job.” Linda wanted a shopping service, he said. But, it soon became apparent that there were other needs in the community where the couple could share their experience and knowledge. One of their clients had a dachshund that needed a ride to the veterinarian for a checkup. So, they added pet transport as a service. A business client needed help delivering Christmas gifts, so they added that as a service. A local service organization asked for help with leadership development, so Gary designed a three-hour course called “Participatory Leadership” based on experiences he had with the Institute of Cultural Affairs in Chicago.

We also discovered that there is a growing need for mobile notary public services. As a former real estate broker with Keller Williams Real Estate, Gary is very familiar with the complex documents involved in a real estate closing. So, it is a natural step for the company to offer his service as a signing agent. And, we have been pleasantly surprised by the demand for a mobile notary on weekends and after hours. Whether selling a car or wanting to complete a living will, lots of local folks need a notary when other businesses are closed.

Some business clients needed a low cost website. Drawing on his experience as an Internet Sales Manager, Gary began to design websites targeted to accomplish specific goals for the owner. “Our clients cannot afford to spend thousands of dollars for a fancy website,” he said. “They need a site that loads fast and immediately speaks to their potential customers, and they need it to rank high in search engines where people can find them.”

Planning ahead, the owners of WEGO-4U registered the name as a trademark. “We expect that others will want to take advantage of our development plan,” said Gary. It is not as simple as one might think to set up a functioning errand service. There are legal issues. For example, there is a big difference between an errand service and a courier service in North Carolina. There are insurance issues. You have to be careful not to cross the line between running errands and acting like a taxi. We’ve had to research and work through a number of these issues, and we believe we can assist others who want to set up a similar business. That’s why we are currently offering a franchise to qualified persons. “We’ve already had inquiries from Atlanta and the Dallas TX area,” he said. “Our strategic plan involves selling the first few franchises at a very low entry price,” he continued, “knowing that as the WEGO-4U brand becomes more well known the value of the franchise will increase.”

Linda, coming from a background in nursing, is more interested in the people side of the business. She enjoys visiting with homebound clients. “Serving others is really important to me,” she said, and having struggled with Type 1 diabetes for 45 years, Linda is always ready to share her knowledge about diabetes and how different foods can help heal and improve life for her clients.

Looking ahead the couple believes that 2012, their fourth year of business, will be a year of significant growth and development.