How to Figure out the Demand for your Services

Before starting your personal concierge business is a good time to study your local market and see what needs your business could fill. Undoubtably, some of the services you may offer will have a greater need than others and you’ll continue to learn once you start working with clients, but it is important to have a good understanding before you begin.

First, look for service providers that provide some of the services you want to offer. For example, I organize homes and plan events so I looked up organizers and party planners.

How many providers are there? If there are a lot, that means there is money being made and, as a concierge, you’ll be able to cut into that business by offering more than these limited service providers. If there aren’t that many, try to find out why. Perhaps you live in an area where people aren’t interested in these services or they could simply be unaware such services exist.

Which ones are popular and why? What are the complaints? By asking around and reviewing sites such as Yelp and Angie’s list, you should be able to get an idea of what makes some of the competition more successful than others. Collect all this feedback as it will help you in building your company.

Also get an idea of how many concierge companies there are. We’ll get into this further and there is a chance that you won’t find any, but it’s good to start looking into it.

Next, study the local demographics and learn what you can about your target demographic. Remember that you’ll likely want to aim for a high income bracket for better margins. How many people in that bracket live near you? Are there specific neighborhoods you’d want to focus on? Are there particular clubs or venues (museums, opera houses, theaters, concert halls) where you could meet some potential clients?

Remember that whatever you learn are simply guidelines and you do not have to stick to the neighborhoods or income bracket you choose. However, having a good idea will help you make better educated decisions of what best to do.

Thirdly, find people in your target demographic and ask them directly. Find people in your target demographic and ask them if you can take them out to coffee and ask them some questions. Let them know you are trying to start a company and would love their input. Once at coffee, ask these potential clients what services they would pay for or want; who they’ve hired and what they’ve liked or disliked; what neighborhoods they think you’d be successful in; where they spend their leisure time; and who else they think you should talk to. And it doesn’t hurt to test the waters and, if the conversation is going well, ask if they’d be interested in hiring you.

Not sure who to ask? If you don’t have any connections, I recommend taking other professionals that serve your target market out to coffee: landscape architects, interior designers, insurance agents, lawyers, etc. Not only could these individuals be in your target market, but they are usually open to meeting people and see the possible business opportunities of meeting with you: once you become a successful personal concierge, you can recommend these people to your clients. Likewise, they can give your services as gifts to their clients.

Whomever you take out to coffee, be sure ask them for introductions to potential clients. At this point, your search is essentially informational so you aren’t trying to sell anything and shouldn’t be too stressed to ask for more contacts. Remember that you’re just asking questions!

Finally, think outside the box. Since your business will have such an array of services offered, there are many people you can serve. Look at companies that might hire a personal concierge firm to keep their employees happy, think about small businesses who would love to hire a part-time bookkeeper/office organizer, and maybe talk to local tour companies if you are interested in serving tourists.

So to summarize, meet with many people that are of or work with your target market as you can for a couple weeks and try to learn all you can about how they think of comparable services  (organizing, tech support, errand running, even other concierges). Ask if they’d give you introductions to others and find out if they’d be interested in any services you provide.

If you aren’t finding enough demand or people willing to talk to you, it might be time to look at another business idea or you may just need to change perspective. While I think it is important to find the demand, I would be surprised if you don’t find any demand for such a broad array of services.

A good goal would be to come out of this would be a list of 10-20 quality leads and maybe a secondary list of less likely leads. These will be the first people you try contacting once you begin your company.

Good luck!