How to Start an Errand Running Business 1-2-3
Start an Errand Running Business
If you are looking for a simple business - yet you don't want to be bored staying at home, this may
be the ideal work for you. By helping people out with their daily or weekly tasks, this work can be
extremely gratifying - as you are helping people accomplishing necessary tasks.
If you are a new entrepreneur, and have limited business experience and start-up capital, errand running is
an easy business to start. You can work with companies, individuals or both, depending on the tasks you want to
do.
Take it from Industry Expert Katharine Giovanni, she can tell you what services to offer and how to
set fees to run a profitable business. She also shares marketing strategies, hiring tips and insurance advice.
Get all the information you need to get started.
Get it Risk-Free >> Start a Concierge
Business 
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You may be surprised at how easy this business is to start up and operate. Simple things like grocery and
gift shopping, waiting around for the cable guy, and even taking back movies are all things that we have to do
anyway, so why not get paid for it? With more and more people busy with their careers and complaining about
having more time than money, there is a growing market for people looking to learn how to start a errand
business - and there's real money to be made.
Estimated start up costs:
So long as you have reliable transportation, a cell phone, and some basic office supplies to fill out and
create invoices for customers, you have all the essential supplies needed to own an errand business. There are
starter kits available to you for less than $50 that can set you up with all the materials you will need to
prepare professional looking invoices and keep track of your expenses. Other than that, learning how to start
an errand business might involve some "seed money" in the beginning to cover miscellaneous expenses required to
complete errands.
Pricing Guidelines:
Pricing guidelines are only limited by what your market can bear for the services you offer. Many professional
errand services charge by the hour for their time while some prefer to set up monthly or even annual packages
so that they get more money up front. On average and depending upon the service, someone learning how to start
an errand business can expect anywhere from $15-35 per hour for their services for most residential customers.
But, if you can break into the office support services market, then learning how to start an errand business
can really turn into a profitable endeavor.
Recommended experience, skills, training:
Having the ability to prioritize tasks and organize your time are probably the most essential skills to this
job. As with any business owner, however, you will need to market yourself and your company to people so any
kind of sales or marketing background will be very useful. Some general business and accounting courses will
prove handy when dealing with the financial and administrative tasks inherent to any business.
Marketing tips:
Success tends to breed more success and that is precisely the way your errand service will grow. As you network
and build your reputation, so too will your ability to charge more. In the beginning, word-of-mouth advertising
will be what makes or breaks your business. But, you may find it useful to advertise your services and company
in the classified ads and be sure to print and distribute business cards every place you go.
Financing sources:
With relatively no start up costs to really speak of, securing financing is not really necessary when learning
how to start an errand business. However, you may want to try starting out on a part-time basis as the going
will be slow in the beginning and you may still need the income from another job to pay the bills until you get
things rolling.
Income Potential:
The income potential for those owning an errand service really goes up if you can manage to break into the
office support services market. There are people looking for workers with office skills to just come in and
help them once a week or even once a month and they are willing to pay top dollar for this limited time. For
people just looking to help others with their groceries and errands around the house, it is nothing for someone
learning how to start an errand business to make $35-40,000 a year doing the things that they would normally do
for free anyway!
Randy has dozens of home based business articles at Home Businesses that are Profitable such as Money Making Opportunities that are Unusual.
Starting a Concierge Business Checklist:
- Obtain the necessary business licenses. Check with your local government office to find out which licenses and permits you need for
your concierge business and how to apply.
- If you plan to operate your concierge business out of your home, check with your local government office about zoning ordinances and possible land use
restrictions
- Set up a business bank account with your local bank. Make sure that the bank is FDIC is
insured. It is important to keep your errand-running business and personal finances separate, and often
your banker can help with small business loans or financing.
- Arrange a meeting with an accountant to discuss tax strategies and ways to maximize your business tax deductions. You can get referrals from other business owners you know
or sometimes your banker.
- File your fictitious business name with the county clerk, or if you want to form a corporation, find
out the advantages of incorporating your business
- Meet with an insurance agent to discuss insurance you may need for your concierge business. The
IIABA (Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America) is a good place to
start. You can also get free quotes online for business insurance
- Set up your business phone system. Whether you use a toll-free 800 phone number, a multi-line phone system, VoIP or simply add an
additional phone number to your existing service, you'll want a designated line to establish a
professional business image.
- Order business cards. One of the cheapest ways I know of to advertise a business. See how you can
design your own professional business cards online, plus simple tips for increasing your sales >>
Free Business Cards
- Get a website. Save money by creating your own website with simple online design programs, or outsource the job
to an affordable website designer. Whether you sell concierge products online - or you use
a website to display information about your errand-running services, it's important to take advantage of
this low-cost marketing resource that can help you get more customers.
- Advertise: Care4Hire
is a website that connects caregivers with
clients who need to hire help. If you offer miscellanous errand services, you can register as a "Misc
Helper" so that clients can find you online. See also: Local Search Advertising
Concierge and Errand Running Business Resources:
Grow Your Income Using Proven Marketing Methods
If you are serious about getting lots of customers, and you don't want to pay thousands of dollars to an ad
agency, the Small Business Marketing Bible shows you how to attract a steady stream of
buyers - on the cheap.
Get the 1-Day Marketing Plan outline and over 29 proven success systems
that you can use over and over to increase profits and grow your business, including:
- Foolproof salesletter template, proven ad writing checklist and how to create an irresistible
offer.
- How to turn incoming phone calls into clients and turn one-time buyers into lucrative lifetime
customers.
- How to use other people's customers to get new business.
- The secret to getting free referrals when you ask - 90% of the time.
- Maximum profit pricing strategy and how to double your sales with simple packaging
techniques.
- 4 techniques for doubing sales - with no additional customers.
- Get it Risk-Free >> Small Business Marketing Bible
10 Tips on How to Start a Concierge Business
- Do a business plan. It really doesn't matter how short or long it is, nor does it have to be fancy with
colored charts. However, you really should do one so that you know where you are going, what you are doing
and how you're going to get there.
- Get some business liability insurance! Please don't start a business without it.
- Legal Documents - contracts, agreements, etc... Get this right the first time and you won't have to put
out fires in the future. You'll need both client contracts as well as vendor agreements.
-
Create your brochure, business cards, website and sales kit. This can all be done on a shoestring with
today's software that is available, but having them is a vital part of a business.
You can obtain some terrific free business cards by visiting s site such as vistaprint.com and you
can do a website pretty inexpensively as well. If you don't want to do it yourself, here are a few
links to some "instant" website creation sites where you can have a site up in minutes ... bigstep.com
networksolutions.com and godaddy.com
- Do NOT quit your job, go out and rent an office, buy or rent furniture and hire employees. THINK ABOUT
IT FIRST! First and foremost, you need to be able to feed your family and pay your bills so make sure that
you have either enough money saved to last you at least 6 months, possibly even a year worth set aside or
you have some other form of steady income flowing into your household.
- Find a target market! There are so many niches for this business that you might be tempted to do them
all when you first open up. However, I strongly suggest that you choose one or two niche markets and go
after them first. Do them well and then you can choose a few more. If they don't do well and tank, then you
have hundreds of other niches to choose from!
Choose a new niche and then re-focus, re-work your business and then re-launch! The key here is to never
ever give up!!! Some niches around the country include hospitals, small/medium/large companies,
condominiums, shopping malls, airports, office buildings, neighborhoods, individuals,
colleges/universities, country clubs, senior market and more. I could go on and on there are so many out
there!
- Market, market, market ... join your local chamber of commerce, networking groups ... get out there and
shake people's hands and tell them what you do! Talk it up everywhere you go. Attend as many expos and
receptions that you can! I think face-to-face marketing is key when starting up a business ... so talk it
up people!!
- Be warm, friendly, approachable and extremely courteous 100% of the time. This is the key to being a
great concierge! People may not remember what you did for them, but they will always remember how you made
them feel and how you treated them.
- Keep your focus on where you are going ... and not on what is hitting the fan at any particular moment.
KNOW that you can do this!! See the future that you want, daydream about it and see yourself being
there!
- Finally, the most important part of concierge work ... Customer Service! It's the hallmark of the
concierge industry ... over-the-top unbelievable customer service. I think everyone should build a customer
service plan. You should talk about every day, not just once in a while! It's a way of life and something
that you practice every minute of your life and in every facet of your business.
You can visit my resource directory on Triangle Concierge's website and you'll see a few insurance companies
who are currently insuring the industry. You can also join the International Concierge and Errand Association
and get insurance through them.
About the Author: Katharine Giovanni, the world's leading international concierge training expert, has been
training concierge for over 10 years. She is Triangle Concierge's senior trainer and speaker, and is the author
of their best-selling book The Concierge Manual. Katharine has traveled around the country teaching
workshops to groups, individuals and corporations. She has appeared in dozens of newspaper
articles, magazines, radio and TV shows around the country including ABC News Nightline, CBS News, ABC News,
Delta Airlines Sky Radio, WOR Radio, the Washington Post, LA Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Women's
World Magazine, The New York Times and Conde Naste to name a few. A dynamic public speaker, Katharine has been
a speaker at seminars and conferences around the country. Raised in New York City, Katharine has a B.A. from
Lake Forest College and currently lives in North Carolina with her husband Ron and two children. Katharine is a
member of the National Speakers Association. She can be reached through her website at http://www.triangleconcierge.com
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