Home Based Business Personal Concierge Services

Personal concierges perform a variety of tasks that individuals and businesses can not get done themselves. This is a profitable home based business.

The number of two career households is increasing. Individuals are spending more time developing their careers. A personal concierge can assist these individuals in managing their personal or professional lives or both. The service can also be used by retirees and the elderly as well as businesses, large and small.

The personal concierge home based business provides services that help to relieve the client of the responsibility of running errands, such as picking up or dropping off dry cleaning, grocery shopping, transportation to appointments, or taking time off work to wait at home for home maintenance service personnel.

Businesses can use the service to select gifts for business contacts, courier services, meeting, and event planning or tending to the personal needs out-of-town clients. The services can be offered to employees as part of their benefit packages.

As a personal concierge service, you can offer a broad-range of services or a limited number of services. You can target

Businesses and individuals
Businesses only
Individuals only

As you grow your home based business, you may have to add employees. For some services, you may want to develop relationships with vendors such as locksmiths, lawn care providers, cleaning services, and so on.

This home based business is built on trust and a personal relationship with the client.

What does it take for this business?

This home based business requires a person who is organized and has the ability to get along with different types of people.

Organization is key. You will be juggling clients and their services. Your clients will be dependent on your ability to locate what they need and to perform their service request in a timely manner.

If you provide services to visiting your area, they may rely on you to know about interesting sights in the area.

What do I need to operate this business?

You should set up a separate space for your home based business office, if you can. This will make it easier for you to focus on your work.

The start-up cost for the concierge service business can be low, depending on whether you have any of the equipment or supplies needed. After you have decided what services you plan to offer, you need to determine what equipment and software you will need to operate your business.

Basic equipment and supplies include:

Computer
Printer
Fax
Business phone line
Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)
Cellular phone or Pager
Business stationery and cards
Brochures
Web site
Contact Management Software

You can review resources for this home based business here.

What services do I provide?

Personal Shopping Service

Birthday and anniversary gifts
Business gifts
Gift delivery

Errand Service

Grocery shopping
Car maintenance (wash, maintenance appointments, inspection)
Dry cleaning drop-off and pick-up
Package preparation and shipping
Banking
Meal delivery
Pharmacy pick-up
Taking items for repair
Copy services

Home Management Service

Waiting for home vendors
Waiting for home deliveries
Bill paying
Light housekeeping
Laundry

Administrative Service

Travel arrangements
Schedule appointments
Home organization, filing
Car rentals
Hotel reservations

Personal Service

House sitting
Pet sitting
Reminder Service
Schedule appointments
Restaurant reservations
Theater tickets
Sporting event tickets
Movie tickets
Special tickets
Transportation to airport or doctor appointments
Pet taxi

Meeting or Event Planning

Organize parties
Plan menus
Deliver food or beverages
Send invitations
Coordinate guest list
Liaison with vendors

What are my potential earnings?

$25,000 to $50,000 annually

How much do I charge for my services?

Concierge services may be charged at a fixed rate by the hour. Fees vary by location. Hourly fees range from $15 to $50 per hour, depending on the task. Some services have a monthly fee for clients who want to purchase blocks of time for specific tasks. If you transport people to the airport or provide pet taxi services, you may want to charge a flat fee. Also consider gas prices.

How do I bill for my services?

In this home business, you present your client with an itemized bill of the services rendered and the time it took to perform the service. If you are performing a one-time service, you may want to present the bill for payment when the job is completed. For example, if you pick up a prescription and you charge a flat-fee for the service, you can collect when you deliver the prescription.

If you have a monthly fee schedule and a client signs up, you will probably want to bill at the end of the month. Some concierge services keep a credit card number on file. It is used only when payment has not been received or if the client indicates that will be the payment method.

Home Based Business Personal Concierge Services In this home based business, you present your client with an itemized bill of the services rendered and the time it took to perform the service. If you are performing a one-time service, you may want to present the bill for payment when the job is completed. For example, if you pick up a prescription and you charge a flat-fee for the service, you can collect when you deliver the prescription.

How do I market my business?

Offline

List your home based business services in the Yellow Pages.
Issue a press release to your local and community newspapers.
Purchase classified ads in your local and community newspapers.
Network in business organizations in your community.
Call on businesses in your local community and leave your business card and brochure.
Put your business card on the bulletin board at local grocery stores.