Every day of the year, somebody somewhere is packing up their belongings and relocating to a new town or city. This is usually an overwhelming task that most people would love to avoid if they could; this is where you come in. Offer to take the stress of a move out of the movers' hands and take on the task for them. Most people will gladly pay you well to take care of the numerous decisions and tasks required for a smooth move.
They move from an area where they knew their way to their local grocery store or dry cleaner by heart to a new neighborhood where their only hope of locating what they need is the local phone book. Then there is the time-consuming chore of setting up services that they need to make their new residence livable. They will need to have the electricity, gas, and phone turned on before they can even start moving in. There is also the irritating chore of cleaning their former residence so that they can get their deposit back once they have moved out. This is sometimes the worst, most stressful part of moving.
In addition to coordinating reliable packing, storage, and moving services for a family, you will offer a moving organizational service, where you will arrange to have the new home ready and waiting for them before they arrive. You will take care of all the little details needed to sever their ties from their old location. You can even offer to organize the cleaning of their old home, so that they are able to get their rental deposit back and have their new home cleaned and ready for them to move into.
You should take care of the details many people overlook in the dizzying confusion of moving, such as newspaper delivery and garbage pickup services. Coordinate lawn care, painting touch-ups, pet kenneling, disconnecting and reconnecting phone service, and help them locate services available in their new location like; dry cleaners, gas stations, restaurants, and grocery stores. If they are relocating from out of state, they will also need to know where to get their car registration taken care of.
In addition to turning off their old phone service and electricity and turning on the phone service and electricity at their new location, most people need to be disconnected and reconnected to their local DSL or cable internet provider, or digital television service. This is also true for cable television services.
You will be sure to inspect the location of their new home and see if there are any electrical, plumbing, or painting fixes needed before they arrive. Nobody wants to move into a new home, unpack their boxes, and then find out the pilot light has not been lit on their stove or water heater and there is no hot water. You can even offer to fill their clean new fridge with basic food items like milk, bread, and eggs for their first morning in their new place. You should also gather up take-out menus from local restaurants to make those first few dinners a little less stressful!
Lastly, you will need to let your potential customers know about you! You may want to advertise your services by running a visible ad in a local phone directory, list your business with an online business directory, and possibly also print up flyers and post them in places where a large number of people frequent. Be sure to include popular lunch places and coffee shops! Most post offices and grocery stores also have bulletin boards that they will allow you to place an advertisement on. Be sure to take advantage of any public bulletin boards in your immediate area to find people looking for you and your services.
You should also network with local real estate agents and moving companies to get more referrals. Many times, large corporations move a small group of people to a new location to provide special skills. You might offer the Human Resources departments of these corporations some sort of group rate so that you can provide your services for all of their incoming employees. Once a newly relocated person has used your services, they will likely be so happy with the resources that you have provided them that they will help spread the word and will help you to grow your client base!
Resources:
http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html
http://www.homeworksone.com/
http://www.organizingboston.com/
August 2, 2008
