Eleven years ago, Jan Bakan thought she was retiring. She was looking forward to spending her free time honing her gourmet cooking skills, being active in various social and civic organizations, growing hybrid orchids and pursuing numerous other interests. But Bakan ended up putting her retirement plans on hold when, in her mid-50s, she stumbled into a new career as a sort of "Girl Friday" caregiver for senior widows in her community.

"We've lived in the same neighborhood in Rancho Bernardo for 30 years," explained Bakan, a former office manager and executive assistant who is now 65. "When my husband and I retired, lots of our neighbors were scaling down from family homes to senior communities. I started by helping some of them with garage sales. Then I dealt with a woman whose spouse died and had no family in the area."

Bakan helped the woman sell her home and find an apartment in a retirement complex. Soon, other widows in her neighborhood who were in similar situations began asking Bakan for help. She discovered there was a real need among them to have someone they knew and trusted help them through the often difficult transition of moving from their own home into a retirement community. Before she knew it, Bakan's efforts to be a good neighbor had evolved into a business.

"If you had told me I would be doing this 11 years ago, I never would have believed it," Bakan said. "Because I did retire from an industry, I really didn't want to start up a business -- I just fell into it. I was lucky to work with friends in my neighborhood. I really just became a surrogate daughter to my customers."

At its peak, Balkan's business served 18 clients, including one widower. Most of them were in their early 70s when she began working with them. Today, she has just two remaining clients as she is trying to phase out of the caregiving business and get back to being a retiree. One of her clients lives in a skilled nursing care facility while the other, who is 92, still lives in her own home. Depending on the type of service being provided, Bakan charges between $10 and $17 an hour, a fee range she said is in line with what agencies charge.

While a few of her clients wished to stay in their own homes as long as possible, the majority contacted her after they had made the decision to move. Typically, her first job was to help them find an apartment in a retirement complex where they could receive increasing levels of care as needed. Next, she would help them figure out what belongings to take with them and what to sell or give away. She also helped them set up appointments with Realtors to sell their homes. And she interacted with their lawyers, CPAs, bank trustees and investment brokers to ensure that their finances were in order and could meet the terms of the retirement facility they had selected.

Bakan also managed all aspects of helping her clients move, including packing and unpacking, making address changes and hiring interior decorators. She even helped clients find new hairdressers and, in one case, a new dog groomer.

In addition to helping clients get through major life-changing events, Bakan assisted them with daily tasks they could no longer manage alone, such as helping those with poor vision write checks to pay bills, scheduling doctors' appointments and shopping for groceries.

As the demand for her services grew, Bakan began networking with others who could help her and her clients. Eventually, she and four friends -- two of whom were nurses -- formed what she jokingly refers to as an "old girls' network."

"We called ourselves 'The Fabulous Five,'" she said with a laugh. "We all pitched in so we could help these women who were alone. We billed ourselves as a seamless caregiving group. Between the women with nursing care experience and someone like myself with a strong background in bookkeeping, we could really help them."

Bakan and her friends never advertised for clients; all of their business was done on a referral basis. They did everything from taking clients to doctors' appointments to helping them find physical therapists or skilled nursing care. They also educated themselves on the social services available to their clients and became experts at handling out of town friends and family members.

"It was not uncommon when families or friends came in for the holidays or other special occasions for us to cook dinner for them," Bakan said. "We were kind of an extended family and kept it very personalized."

According to Bakan, people like her who provide caregiving services to seniors they know are "few and far between." But she said there are many good public and private caregiving resources in San Diego County. Among those she has worked with and considers especially good are Nightingale Health Services, Age Concerns and Southwest Healthcare Services.

"The advantage I always had over agencies was that my customers knew me," Bakan said. "There is such a need for this type of service. The key to being successful in this type of business is that you not only need good management skills, you also need personal commitment. You can't have five different nurses or housekeepers coming in. Seniors don't like this. They like continuity."

Bakan advises those seeking caregiving services for themselves or someone they know to meet with a physician first. She believes in following a physician's recommendations, but also believes it is wise to get input from friends or neighbors who have gone through the same process.

O'Donnell is a freelance writer in San Diego.