Superwomen Don't Live Here Anymore
Costs are going up all the time, so most families need two incomes to get by. The days when men brought home the bacon and women cooked it are long gone. And since most people can't jump over tall buildings in one bound or run a household and a job well at the same time, there is a growing need for someone to fill in the gaps.
We know that housekeeping is a service industry whose time has come, but because the need is so great and the industry is so new, it's hard to say exactly what the "housekeeping business" is. The range and types of services offered by existing household management services are very different. Some try to be everything to everyone, while others focus mostly on finding jobs for people who help out around the house.
The Sky is the Limit
The only thing that is certain about this growing industry is that there are no limits on what a Housekeeping business can do or how big it can get. This alone could give you trouble when you first start. The first thing you'll need to figure out is what you'll do for your clients. What do they want? What can you give them that you are willing and able to do?
Housework and More
You might want to start by asking a small number of people in your geographic and economic target area to fill out an informal questionnaire about what kinds of "outsider" services they would be most likely to pay for.
- Taking clothing to the cleaners and dropping them off
- Supervising independent contractors such as plumbers, painters, and remodeling specialists
- Renewals of licenses at the Department of Motor Vehicles
- Party preparation (renting a tent, dishes, and flatware, hiring a caterer, buying flowers, and hiring a band)
- Shopping for groceries
- Window cleaning
- Supervising a whole home relocation
- Providing a carpool driver for events involving children
When you know what people want, you can decide what services your Household Management firm will offer. You might want to start with just a few items and then see where your clients take you.
Open for Business
After you have a good idea of what your new business will be, figuring out who your target customers will be is one of the most important steps in getting started. Families with less money probably can't hire someone to do the kinds of things you do for them. Families with a lot of money can probably pay for full-time or live-in help and wouldn't need your services. Most likely, your target market is made up of families with middle-class to high-class incomes where both parents work. Aside from that, almost anyone with a job could be a client. This includes young professionals, single people, and couples with children.
Now that you know what you'll be giving your clients, you'll need to decide how many people you might need. If you plan to start out as a one-person business or want to stay a one-person business, you might want to have some references on hand that you can give to potential clients.
If you want to do most of your work as a household help employment agency, you will need a good list of qualified, well-screened workers you can send out on demand. Depending on what services you offer, your employees will have very different skills. If you're going to be an elderly person's friend and caretaker, your screening process will probably need to be more thorough than if you're just looking for someone to do grocery shopping, water plants, or walk the dog. Since you will probably be sending your workers into customers' homes, you will need to be very careful about who you hire. Check references and make sure that the people you hire will help your company's reputation, not hurt it.
Now that you know who your target market is and how many employees you'll need, or if you'll be able to do everything yourself at first, you can start advertising your services. Flyers are a cheap and easy way to get your name out there. You can hand them out or send them out in bulk. There are magnetic signs that you can put on the side of your car to make it a "rolling billboard."
Most local newspapers have reasonable rates for advertising, and using a local newspaper means you'll stay in the area you want to reach. As with most service businesses, word of mouth will likely be your best form of advertising. You want your customers to tell their friends how great your service is, so make sure your customers are happy.
Most firms that provide housekeeping services charge on an hourly basis for their services. These rates can vary because the amount of skill and work put in can be so different. You could hire a student to sit in someone's house while they waited for the washing machine repairman. The student could learn "on the job" and wouldn't have to take on much responsibility, so you wouldn't have to pay them much. If you are taking care of registered children or helping people move, you will probably need to pay a higher fee to a responsible, reliable person.
As you start to describe your services in more detail, you will be able to come up with a clearer fee schedule.
This whole experience will probably be "learn as you go," and flexibility will be the key to your success.
Most Housekeeping Businesses have clients who come back to them again and again. Once a client uses this type of company's services, they start to see how helpful it is to have someone cook a meal, buy a gift, plan a party, screen child care providers, etc. If you give your customers an easy and affordable way to make their lives easier, they will start to wonder, "Why am I doing this or the other thing myself when I can pay someone else to do it?"
