Vienna Resident's Home Circle Platform Grows In D.C. Region

VIENNA, VA — When Vienna resident Shoreh Irani started Vienna Home Circle, it was a place for people in town to connect with a handyman, a tutor or other home-based services. But as she got requests to add service providers from other communities, Irani is expanding it to the greater D.C. region.

Irani, a Vienna resident for 14 years, launched the start-up in October after a bad experience with a home contractor. Vienna Home Circle is her solution to residents' challenges with choosing home service providers.

"I see people asking in Facebook groups all the time, 'hey, who's this house cleaner?'" said Irani. "And so I was like, maybe there could be a better way, to extract everything that you see already in various social forums into one place and then do it a little better than some of the other platforms that are doing this already."

Vienna Home Circle serves as a connection for home-based business-to-consumer services, and it recently added business-to-business services. According to Irani, the platform covers everything from home repairs, landscaping, pest control and cleaning to tutoring and services for restaurants and other businesses. There are also "circles," topic-based chat rooms that businesses and residents can discuss topics with each other. Irani says handyman and house cleaning services have been the most sought-after services lately.

"We have a really great group of both handyman and house cleaners who are spawning by giving availability, same day, next day, which people love, because they want something fixed they really want to do it today or tomorrow while they're thinking about it," said Irani.

Vienna Home Circle officially launched at Vienna Oktoberfest, where Irani received resident interest for services not only in Vienna but other Northern Virginia communities. Currently, Irani is expanding Vienna Home Circle to cover all of Northern Virginia, D.C. and Southern Maryland.

For residents in Vienna and the rest of the D.C. region, they can type in a service on the Vienna Home Circle website. The Viva AI assistant will ask questions that a business would need for a project, and the resident will add photos and videos to the request.

However, residents won't get unsolicited calls from businesses before they make a decision. It's up to the resident to drop the anonymity and get in touch with their business of choice.

"Unlike other platforms where you know they're also going to get your phone number and you're going to get 50 calls from 50 different businesses, we don't share your phone number unless you choose," said Irani. "You're anonymous and the businesses will get your request, and then they have an opportunity to do one of two things. They can ask more questions on our QA wall, or they can submit a proposal."

In some cases, businesses may be able to give estimates for services without a site visit.

"It's not always possible to get an accurate quote. Sometimes they're going to have to come out into your home, but at least we've put you in touch with somebody who is willing to some thought into your project and ask the right questions," said Irani.

Vienna Home Circle is free for residents to use, and businesses are using it through a free trial period. After the trial ends, businesses would have to pay for a monthly subscription to participate in circles, respond to resident requests and advertise on Vienna Home Circle. The subscription will be a flat fee rather than lead-based, allowing businesses to make unlimited proposals to resident requests. Businesses can receive a free business directory listing on the website even without a subscription.

Looking ahead to 2026, Irani is looking to boost the business directories and seek community collaborations with businesses. For more information, visit ourhomecircle.com.