With this business idea you can help people that have to move to a new location, and provide them with the details about their new city that would take them years to learn on their own.
Relocation services are a thriving business. Unfortunately, most relocation services simply help people move their belongings to a new location and that is the end of their assistance.
However, you can be a better relocation agent, and help newcomers feel comfortable in their new neighborhood by offering information on everything their new town has to offer.
Every day of the year, somebody somewhere is packing up their belongings and relocating to a new town or city.
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 by searching through the local phone book.
This is sometimes the worst part of moving, forced to drive aimlessly for hours in hopes of stumbling upon what they need.
Alternatively, in some cases, they are forced to ask complete strangers for recommendations.
In a situation like this, there are very few options available to the person or family relocating - until now.
You will help these people find their way!
To do this, you will first need to know your town or city down to the smallest details.
Not only will you need to know where people can purchase their favorite brand of bread and milk, but also know the easiest way to navigate traffic to get your clients to work faster.
You will need to know which butcher carries the freshest meat, and the bakery that offers the freshest bagels with the tastiest toppings and the best soy latte.
If needed, know where to buy school uniforms, designer shoes, where the closest dog park is, and where the best hiking trails are.
Provide your clients with information on doctors that are taking new patients, and quality hair salons accepting new clients.
Let them know about those out-of-the-way discount stores that are the best-kept secrets of the local homemakers.
Be sure to provide each client with a directory and an easy to navigate map of all local businesses you recommend, and you should also make yourself available for follow-up questions.
Provide your newly relocated clients either with an 800 number that they can use to contact you at a moment's notice, or possibly an email address where they can send their questions with a promised turnaround time of not more than a few hours.
Your clients will also need to know things like the closet place to go to get their car registration processed or their oil changed.
They will need to know where they can go to rent their daughter a violin for her new lessons, who to call to get their piano tuned after the movers have manhandled it, which plumber will answer their calls at two in the morning because their new home's water heater is leaking and threatening to implode.
In short, you will become their personal relocation resource, and their new best friend.
You can charge your clients a flat fee, or offer a subscription service that they can access for a set period of time and pay per week or month.
In order to find clients you should network with local real estate agents and moving companies to get referrals.
And 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.
You can also post flyers in public places where newcomers to your town might be likely to visit such as the library, large grocery store, etc.
And you should probably
build a website
to give yourself exposure and credibility.
Provide some info about yourself along with a picture to help potential clients get to know you, and to be able to put “a name with the face.”
On your website you should have lots of helpful articles, tips and recommendations to help build trust and credibility for yourself, and also contact and fee information for your services.
You can also use your website to earn additional income for yourself by selling ad space to local businesses that you recommend. You can do this in your printed directory too.
Just don’t be too commercial about it; you want to maintain a more personalized, friendly feel for your business.
This is primarily a home business idea, so you would be able to work at home, with just a small amount of time spent making contacts with possible referrals such as realtors and corporations.
But if you decide to pursue this business idea, be sure to choose how your are going to handle all your communication from clients.
If you can do the majority by email, you will not have to be at the beck and call of the phone, and if you have children at home then it would be better not to have to do that.
