Offer a service to go to your customer's homes and polish their brass and silver items for them! You can offer to polish everything on site or offer to pick it up, polish it, and bring it back to them all gleaming and ready for use!
Offer a service to go to your customer's homes and polish their brass and silver items for them! You can offer to polish everything on site or offer to pick it up, polish it, and bring it back to them all gleaming and ready for use!
Anytime it is time to have a dinner party or host a special occasion, it is time to dig out the good china and silver. Unfortunately, this means diligently scrubbing all of the silver, brass, and other metal pieces of dishware, so that they honor the occasion and don't make your otherwise sparkling table look unattractive. Whether it is the candlesticks, platters, silverware, or that heirloom gravy boat from great-aunt Betty, everything needs to sparkle and shine! This process can be cumbersome and time consuming, especially for someone under any kind of time constraints. This is where you come in!
You will need to familiarize yourself with the proper care for different metal surfaces. Improper handling can easily damage some metal surfaces permanently. Research this information on-line and receive the latest new, and old ways, to take care of these different items.
You should also offer people the option of cleaning their valuable items with more natural products for those who are health conscious or want more environmentally conscious products to be used. For instance, brass, copper, and pewter can be cleaned using a simple recipe of equal parts vinegar and salt, thickened with flour. This method is both cost effective and environmentally friendly. Chrome items can be cleaned using a towel dipped in vinegar. Just remember not to rinse it afterwards. There are also recipes available online for cleaning silver safely without harsh chemicals. (Some people even use white toothpaste.) These recipes are inexpensive and will not cause those nasty fumes that many silver polishes generate.
After polishing up all of the customer's metal items, you may want to offer them directions for keeping their silver from tarnishing as quickly, such as instructions to not let their silver soak overnight. You might also offer to sell them products such as polishes for specific metals or special polishing cloths so that they can perform any needed touch ups themselves in the future.
Lastly, people will need to know who to call! You will likely want to advertise your services by running a visible ad in a local phone directory, list your business with an online business directory, and by printing up flyers and posting them in places where people who might throw a dinner party or own many items needing polishing might 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 the people who are looking for you and your services. In no time at all, you will have built up a large clientele base, many by word of mouth as they witness your professional services in action!
Resources:
http://www.miraclepolishingcloth.com/
http://www.safenaturaltips.com/cleaning/
http://www.sterlingsource.com/silvercare.htm
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/?s=cleaning+silver&x=16&y=9
http://chemistry.about.com/b/2007/07/26/polish-silver-copper-brass-and-bronze.htm
February 24, 2009
