You may be able to help me with this business concept problem…

[The Backward OX]

I have a totally new business idea for the service industry. I’ve identified a need and found a way to satisfy that need.

 

It involves a part-time Personal Assistant (provided by me) taking over and managing certain activities* in my client’s life for a period of approximately 13 weeks (X as many clients as I can generate). The clients would be drawn from a base of people sharing these same activities.

 

If it makes it any easier for you to understand, you can call these activities “their daughter’s wedding.” It isn’t this, but the illustration may help you.

 

*The idea could make me a fortune. So you’ll appreciate why I’m keeping the exact details to myself.

 

However, it may be difficult to get the concept off the ground.

 

This is where you come in - you may have suggestions for ways around the difficulty.

 

The problem is that, 1) I am an unknown quantity; I have no track record to fall back on, and 2) I’ll be promoting an entirely new idea to the buying public.

 

And it gets worse - my concept comes at a relatively high price.

 

If I was the buying public, I’d be wary of me.

 

So, can you think of any ways in which I might persuade prospective clients that I’m on the up and up, that I'm sincere, that I know what I'm talking about, and that I can “deliver the goods?”

 

 

Thank you for your input.

Edited January 24, 2010 by The Backward OX

[CharonY]

Well, there are similar concepts out there. I heard about a service in India, which provides online personal assistance. It consists for the most part of secretary-like work, including things scheduling appointments, ordering gifts for family, finding restaurants and making reservations etc. They are available 24/7 with the limitation of being limited to activities that can be done online or by phone.

You may want to look into their marketing strategy and business model. as it may share similarities to yours. Their advantage of course is that they can maintain a relatively low cost.

[The Backward OX]

Okay, for those of you who want details...

 

Here’s a hypothetical situation for you to consider, that explains the concept.

 

Let’s say you’re a home owner. Anyone, from young married with children to elderly and retired. And let’s say you’re thinking of moving house. The reason why is irrelevant. One criteria is that you are financially well-off.

 

 

Now I’m going to ask you to use your imagination. I want you to think of as many things as possible, that might need to be done as part of this moving process, from the moment you first start thinking of moving, until you’re putting your feet up in the new place. I’m sure you’ll agree the list is too great to set out here. And can have as many variations as there are people.

 

For most people, moving house is near the top of the list for stress-inducers. For some, it’s top of the list. It shares top billing with death and divorce.

 

Okay.

 

So how would it be if you could have a Personal Assistant take over and manage everything, and I mean literally everything, that’s involved in this process, from start to finish? Maybe over a two- to three-month period. You still pay any costs incurred, but that’s where your involvement ends. It would mean that all you’d have to do is point, while you sit back with a drink in your hand.

 

Is that a service you’d be prepared to pay for?

 

If yes…

 

Would you consider a fee of US$13,500 to be reasonable?

That’s €9,500; GB£8,400; AU$15,000.

 

…that’s the service I’m thinking of providing.

Edited January 24, 2010 by The Backward OX

[insane_alien]

this really does just sound like the personal assistant business rather than something new. you might want to look into what they charge.

 

although i suspect you are looking at a different area of the market than they are usually involved with(buisnessmen and celebrities and so on, rich folk) so you may want to adjust pricing accordingly.

[The Backward OX]

this really does just sound like the personal assistant business rather than something new. you might want to look into what they charge.

 

although i suspect you are looking at a different area of the market than they are usually involved with(buisnessmen and celebrities and so on, rich folk) so you may want to adjust pricing accordingly.

 

"That which we call a rose, by any other name smells sweet."

 

Put that in simple English, does the job title have any bearing whatsover on the concept? Would you be happier if I called hiim a gofer? The job's still the same.

[the tree]

That's kind of the point, PAs already exist.

[insane_alien]

thetree got it.

 

my point was the job already exists. it isn't new.

[Phi for All]

If you're thinking of becoming a "moving planner", remember that most people in the market you're targeting are moving because of work, and their companies pay for relocation. It would be smart to target the companies that relocate professionals and see if you can come in from that angle. You may actually save them money by outsourcing that part of what they do.

 

It might be interesting to see if your service fee could be rolled into the loan process for non-corporate moves. That might make it more attractive to the average family, since they wouldn't have any out-of-pocket expenses.

 

$1000/week might be steep though. There's a lot to do in a move, but you don't spend 8 hours/day * 5 days/week * 13 weeks on it. Remember that you could easily be handling 5-6 of these simultaneously by yourself. If your service were around US$5000, you'd have more luck getting a seller to agree to pay the fee for the buyer to move into the home. US$13,500? Not even in this buyer's market, I don't think.

[Pantaz]

I think the fee would be better accepted on a per-hour basis, as most service type jobs are paid.

 

You would almost certainly need to be bonded, since you would be entrusted with personal financial information.