Where do I go from here?

[sweetnessnow]

Seems I may be a glutton for punishment, call me crazy I love being self-employed!

Now I am looking to expand the janitorial firm I have. I was doing some research about concierge services or errand services; depending on the type of area you live in a lot of these companies are popping up and I understand great money can be made.

Does anyone have any feedback or suggestions regarding this venture?

[Kathleen]

About concierge services...in my area, there is one real estate company that has one. You must pay a fee to be listed ($250) for one year.

Here is the deal, I recently cleaned for a client that had was new to the area..liiving out of a hotel with her 3 small children for the last 33 days. They bought their home and was renovating it before they moved in. So, her real estate company was the one I mentioned and they referred her to this painter that was listed. Well the painter was horrible. Thank god all the new carpet was not put into before this guy painted. Obviously did not use drop clothes. The paint everywhere and more....on the wood trim, wood floors and even a few spills on the carpet. Not to mention the uneven distribution of paint and missed spots throughout the home. The new homeowner told me that she asked him to go fix the problem 2 times...well without much success.

So if your looking to start a concierge service - make sure you have the proper insurance or disclaimers in place when recommending or referring someone. Or that you have actually seen their work before you do.

And about the errand service - yes big bucks! Another one of my clients, a successful business woman just purchased one. Even in our small town this service is more widely used than anyone would think. Picking up clients and driving them to court to give a deposition, doctors visits with those that have been injured at work..that the insurance carrier picks up the tab....etc etc...simply amazing. I would say any owner of this service must have seriously great multi-tasking skills.

Good Luck - Just my 2 cents!

[sweetnessnow]

Thank you Kathleen for your feedback. I never considered the negative feedback from referring people to bad contractors.

I still have much more research to do...thank you again.

[Kathleen]

No problem... I certainly would like to know all the sides of things before I get into it. A wise man once told me (actually I think he quoted someone) that..it goes something like this: There is 100% of things that you will need to know in any business that you venture into ..50 % is what you can control and the other 50% is the unknown so you better learn 100% of the 50% that you can control."

Best of Luck