Business At A Glance
Startup Costs: $2,000 – $10,000
Home Based: Can be operated from home.
Part Time: Can be operated part-time.
Online Operation? No
Business Overview
According to a recent report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,there are nearly 16 million two-income families in this country. Andwhen everybody’s out in the workplace, no one’s left at home to takecare of all those little things that take up so much of a day–thingslike finding a dinosaur birthday cake for a kid’s party, tracking downa service to reweave slacks, running the car to the shop, standing inline at the post office, or making hotel and dinner reservations forvisiting guests.
If you like being on the go and in the know, doingsomething different every day, then this could be the business for you.You can specialize in helping corporate clients and denizens of officecomplexes, or you can concentrate on the homeowner who’s not at home.Or if you live in an area where there’s lots of entertainment, youmight specialize in obtaining event tickets.
The advantages to apersonal concierge business are that your days will always bringsomething new and different, and you get the satisfaction of helpingpeople’s lives run more smoothly and easily. You’ll need a strongorganizational sense, loads of get-up-and-go, and you’ll have to be amaster or mistress of multitasking.
You should have goodtime-management skills and the ability to track down even the mostoddball requests. You should have a good source of contacts andresources in a variety of industries and occupations and the peopleskills to build new ones on a daily basis. And last but definitely notleast, you need to be obsessive in fulfilling your clients’ requests.
The Market
Your clients can be private parties and businesses–anybody who needsan extra head, pair of arms and legs to accomplish the tasks theyhaven’t got time for. Direct-mail your brochures to people in targetedneighborhoods, those with enough discretionary income to afford yourservices.
Send brochures to the human resources departments andexecutives’ desks of large corporations and hand-deliver them to smallcompanies located in office complexes and parks. Place ads in localpublications and be sure to send press releases or write articles aboutyour service–it’s still novel enough that it’s likely to get publicity.
Needed Equipment
To get going, you’ll need a computer with an inkjet printer, the usualsoftware, a fax machine, internet access, and your little black book ofcontacts and sources. You may also want to invest in an electronic dataservice so customers can pay by phone.