You probably have an elderly neighbor who can’t drive their vehicle anymore and are either house bound or rely on family to take them places. Maybe that elderly neighbor doesn’t have family living nearby and stays indoors a lot venturing out in a taxi cab when they are in need of something specific like groceries or to pay some bills.
While taxi companies will assist with some of these tasks, there is a real opportunity for another senior to start a concierge service for fellow seniors. If you are considering this option as you enter retirement imagine how useful the service would be if you were not able to move around your community due to mobility issues or the lack of driving privileges.
Imagine also how valuable it would be to have another senior assisting you as they would have a better understanding of your needs and could tailor their business around them.
With this in mind, that is the most important point to remember when you start your senior concierge service. You will be able to offer services that will not be available through many other agencies as you will be probably doing many of them yourself and as a senior concierge you won’t be pressed for time if you need to sit and wait for a customer to complete a shopping trip or business at a bank.
What you need to do before you establish your senior concierge business is determine what errands, tasks and chores to build your business around. As a senior you’ll be fully aware of what some of those needs will be and that will form the foundation of your business.
You may be fine with driving a client to and from the grocery store and helping them gather their groceries but, you may not feel comfortable with making trips to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions. The way you design your service is entirely up to you, but you do want to have some general services and possibly some ‘add-on’ services which would also require an extra fee in addition to the hourly or flat rate you will be charging.
You should also be aware of the fact that with some of your customers you may become more than just the ‘delivery guy’ and become a companion of sorts. You may find a few of your customers just need someone near their age to talk to about a variety of issues or just to be a friendly ear.
You’ll need to decide whether or not you are prepared to become those things to some of your customers as each individual circumstance will be different. The goal here is to provide a service that assists fellow seniors meet their needs while maintaining some level of independence. Your aren’t providing the service to ‘get rich quick’ but you will be generating an income from it.
The best way to promote your new senior concierge business is through advertising in your local newspaper and with flyers distributed through the mail.
Another great way to get the word out is known as target marketing and that could be providing an introductory session at the local senior citizens organization meeting and posting flyers in their meeting hall. The same methods will work well at any other location where local seniors gather.
Also be sure to tell your elderly neighbor and all the others in the gated community you live in and the next one over and at the local senior center. Before you know it, you’ll be running errands and making a lot of new friends.
Once you get established and have a number of regular customers you can offer special rates for repeat business and will likely see your business grow through referrals.
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The best part about having your own senior concierge business is that you are the boss. You decide how long a day you want to work and how many days a week you want to work. And since you’ll be assisting other seniors in your peer group, you’ll earn their trust and respect through your business which will be the rewarding part of providing a service that will enhance the lives of your customers. To discover more about starting your own senior concierge service, visit: www.seniorservicebusiness.com Yu can also download our free eBook: