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How to Get Started Working at Home as a Personal Concierge

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Do you want to launch your own home-based business, but you’re not sure what type of business to start?

How to Get Started Working at Home as a Personal ConciergeThen consider working as a Personal Concierge, or sometimes called, a Personal Assistant. Not only does this allow you to work-from-home, but it falls under the most basic human needs of not having enough time and having way too much much on your plate. People are more than willing to pay good money for an extra set of hands so that they can get stuff done.

As Personal Concierge you’ll assist individuals with their overflow of tasks and errands:

  • Booking travel
  • Bookkeeping
  • Appointment setting
  • Running errands
  • Picking out gifts
  • Planning parties
  • Meal prep
  • Dog walking
  • Grocery shopping
  • Sending out correspondence
  • Organization
  • Internet research
  • Mailing packages
  • Picking up kids
  • Managing repairs, service setup like cable or internet, etc.
  • House and pet sitting
  • Waiting in line for concert tickets, renewals, form submission, etc.
  • Dropping and picking up items from the dry-cleaner

Being a Personal Concierge does not require any special skills, training, or a large startup budget, however, you will need to be professional and organized.

So how do you get started working from home as a Personal Concierge?

1. Have a Business Plan

Since it’s unlikely that you’ll be taking out a loan to launch your business, you don’t have to have a formal business plan, but you do need to create a simple plan so that you have a roadmap to chart your journey. Within your plan, you’ll need to include things like what services you’ll offer, what to charge, how to accept payments, how you will market your business and take care of bookkeeping and financials. Need a little help? Life Hacker has a free one-page business plan to get you started.

2. Business Structure

As a Personal Concierge you’ll most likely work by yourself, so choosing your business structure should be relatively easy (Sole Proprietor). But if you are going to have a partner or you’d like to have some extra legal protection you’ll need to file for a Partnership, Limited Liability Company (LLC), or S Corporation. Each structure has its own pros and cons, meeting with an attorney or an accountant can help you to determine which structure best suits your needs.

3. Register Your Business

If you plan on using something other than your own name, you will need to apply for a DBA – Doing Business As (only if you plan on working as a Sole Proprietor). You will also need to research to make sure that someone else isn’t already using the name you want to use. This is also a good time to look at available domain names for your website.

4. Financials

You will need to keep track of all of your business expenditures and sales by opening up a separate bank account for your business. Along with having a separate business bank account, you’ll need to figure out how to accept payments and what type of bookkeeping software to use. PayPal is a third-party payment solution that is both widely used and accepted, and it allows your customers to pay with a credit card. You'll also want to keep track of income and expenses, this is can be done on a spreadsheet, but I've found that using a bookkeeping platform helps to keep things more organized. Platforms like QuickBooks Online and Wave are affordable and easy to use.

How to Get Started Working at Home as a Personal Concierge

5. Build Your Website

There are many affordable ways to create a website for your business, but I highly suggest using a multidimensional content management system, like WordPress. In fact, WordPress is what I use and most other small business owners and bloggers use.

Not sure where to get started? No problem. Setting up a WordPress website via BlueHost is easy and affordable. Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to set it up (this should take less than 20 minutes, seriously). Once you go through these steps you can purchase a theme (this is the design element of your site) to create a custom design. My site was designed using StudioPress — it's so easy to upload and to modify, and it gives you a highly professional looking site.

6. Communication

You will want to designate a separate email account for your business activities. Once you purchase your domain name and hosting, you’ll be able to get an email address that reflects your business name. Having a separate phone line for your business can be nice, but it’s also an added expense and it may not be needed. Explore different options, like using your smartphone, Skype, or Viber.

Related Content: Do You Need a Business Phone for the Home Office?

7. Marketing Your Personal Concierge Business 

Now that you have your website ready you will need to get traffic to your site. Start by setting up social networking profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to promote your business. Place free ads on Craigslist, start a weekly newsletter, print business cards, blog weekly, and ask family and friends to spread the word. You may also want to post flyers or promote your new business at your local chamber of commerce. Remember to take a little time each and every day to market (promote) your business.

8. Getting Your First Clients

Now that you have all of the essentials in place, you’ll need to secure your first client to start making money. While there are numerous ways to go about this, take a look at these articles for more in-depth instruction.

Of course, it should go without saying, that you deliver high-quality work that's completed on time or ahead of schedule. Word of mouth marketing will be one of your most powerful tools in getting new clients and repeat business from current ones.

Testing The Water Before Making The Leap

If you'd like to test out being a Personal Concierge or Errand Runner before you invest in starting a business, there are a multitude of on-demand apps where you see if this sort of work is up your alley. Apps like Wag! (dog walking), Instacart (grocery shopping and/or delivery), TaskRabbit (cleaning, personal assistant, or handywoman), or Postmates (food, grocery, and alcohol delivery). If you end up enjoying these sorts of gigs — then consider starting your own Personal Concierge business where you can decide what sort of services to offer and how much to charge.

Related Content: Five Types of On Demand Money Making Opportunities

Conclusion

While I provided some basic steps to getting your Personal Concierge business off the ground, I highly suggest investing in your personal development by reading books like, The Concierge Manual: The Ultimate Resource for Building Your Concierge and/or Lifestyle Management Company or The Concierge Life: What You Need to Know to Build a Successful Business, Live Your Passion, and Change the World! and taking courses online that will sharpen your skills.

It's also worth your time to connect with other Personal Concierges or Assistants to share ideas, resources, and to have a like-minded tribe of professionals to vent to, share wins with, and get advice. You can check out organizations like Task Complete which offers Concierge Training, or VA Networking which trains Virtual Assistants.

Good luck and keep me posted on your journey!

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Originally published in March 2015. Content updated in June 2019.

This page includes affiliate links. Please be aware that we only promote advertising from companies that we feel we can legitimately recommend to our readers. Please see our disclosure policy for further information.

Comments

  1. Carmen du Toit says

    July 13, 2017 at 2:47 pm

    Hi, this is such an awesome idea, I have been searching for something to start from home and was really considering going into a similar field but more marketing related, but with this I could do both! I studied Marketing and worked as a PA. So I hope this will work for me. I have one question and I really hope you can answer it! If I start my own personal concierge business, and let’s say I have 10 clients, that’s a lot for one person I think starting off, how would you manage between 2 – 10 clients and who do you mark as priority as well as if they all give you a to do list and there are things that clash? How would you manage this? Do you decline when you full or if a call comes in for a task and you already busy?

    Hope to hear from you!

    Regards,
    Carmen

    Reply

    • Holly - The Work at Home Woman says

      July 15, 2017 at 11:48 am

      Hi Carmen, Glad you enjoyed the tips! First, you’ll need to figure out how much time you have to dedicate to work. Once you have that figured out, you’ll need to onboard and vet clients. Each client’s needs will be different, so you may only have two or three clients based on their needs and how many hours you’re able to work. You definitely need to come up with a system to stay on track and keep organized. Using a project management system, like Trello can be helpful. As your business grows, you may want to hire additional staff to help you manage your clients, or you can have a waitlist for new clients, as you won’t want to take on more than you can handle. Communication will be key in all of this — letting clients know what skills and tasks you can handle, how much time you can dedicate, your turn around time, rates, etc. Good luck and keep us posted!

      Reply

  2. Michelle Martin says

    July 10, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    Hi Holly! Really enjoyed reading your blog/article. I, too, am in the process of starting my own personal concierge business. And also don’t have a vehicle. However, where I live, I have access to major public transportation systems, i.e., bus, taxi, train. I believe running errands and p/u and d/o things for clients shouldn’t be too much of a hassle. Cheers!!

    Best regards,

    Michelle Martin

    Reply

  3. Jim Powell says

    July 9, 2017 at 8:59 pm

    Hi, Holly. I have just decided to enter the concierge business. I am currently working on my business plan as well as getting other “ducks in order” for my launch. I would like to be a member of your online society. I am sure that I can learn a few things and contribute learned experiences over time.

    Thanks.

    Jim Powell

    Reply

  4. Kathy says

    June 12, 2017 at 1:46 am

    Hi! Thank you for your interesting blog. Question: Under the business register segment. ….In doing a business name search can a person use a business name thats on the east coast but not in your state, city, etc? Thank you for any information. Kit

    Reply

  5. lee says

    May 9, 2017 at 4:31 am

    hi
    i just found out about this beautiful business opportunity and before i post my question i would like to thank you for putting all this together. its really helpful and amazing (made me more interested in starting my own business). so now my problem is i do not have a car and i would like to know if this is all possible if i do not have my own transport?

    Reply

  6. Christi says

    May 4, 2017 at 2:52 pm

    Thanks for this awesome information. I just was laid off and trying to figure out how to manage my personal busy schedule with kids and make some money!
    I do have a question that I may have missed in here. Do you have any tips or links of a fee structure? Something to show a typical fee for running errands or grocery shopping or taking the dogs out at lunch. Any help you might have would be great.
    Thanks again!

    Reply

    • Holly - The Work at Home Woman says

      May 4, 2017 at 4:19 pm

      Hi Christi, If you want to be a generalist that makes phone calls and runs errands, take a look at sites like TaskRabbit and Fancy Hands to see what they charge per task/hour. I have some articles on pricing, but, they’re more for freelance writers. Good luck and keep me posted!

      Reply

  7. Cori Ramos says

    October 17, 2016 at 3:32 pm

    Hi Holly,

    Thanks for putting this together for us. This would be perfect for anyone who loves to be out and about running errands. The first person I thought of was my daughter. :)

    Passing this along. Hope all is well!

    Cori

    Reply

  9. The Concierge Society says

    January 13, 2016 at 5:12 pm

    A quick update from me! I run The Concierge Society – Your Personal Concierge Community – create a concierge business you thrive in which is full of resources for people who are looking to start a personal concierge business. Plus, I’ve just launched the Fee 7 Day Personal Concierge Manifesto Mini Course which may be a great place to start! http://theconciergesociety.com/7… I’m also happy to answer any questions you may have as a result of my 12 years running a personal concierge business.x Abbie

    Reply

  10. The Concierge Society says

    March 17, 2015 at 4:44 pm

    Hi everyone! I have been running a personal concierge business for over 11 years, and have just established an online community for new and established personal concierge businesses and their team. I’d love for you to get involved. Head on over to http://www.theconciergesociety.com to take a look. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have. I know what it was like when I started – hardly any information around at all! :)

    Reply

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