Become a Professional Organizer
For many families, time has become a precious commodity as both parents concentrate on their careers and try to juggle a household at the same time. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. In some cases, there is just barely enough time to put aside for leisure and family activities.
This has created an entirely new class of entrepreneur. These people start businesses to help those who have literally run out of time to get everything done during the day. Most of the services offered concentrate on providing help to homeowners in order to free up some time. Sometimes the services offered are quite unique and unconventional.
Offering professional organization services is a niche business that has gained huge popularity in the past few years. Essentially, your company will be helping people to organize their home and everything in it. From closets, bedrooms, basements, and garages; your job is to find the ideal spot for everything and make your client’s life much easier.
Requirements
Becoming a professional organizer doesn’t require any specific skills or training. However, you should have a good knack for being able to use space efficiently and be able to arrange things in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
You should also have good knowledge of shelving systems and various pieces of hardware to help you in your job. You should be able to look at a job and determine what shelving to buy or hardware to use in order to make the maximum use of available space.
Your customers
In this business, the majority of your customers are going to be homeowners. However, you may be asked to do commercial work also. This may involve organizing an office or a small store.
Residential customers will hire you to help them organize their life. They may require you to organize closets, entire rooms, storage areas, and so on. They will be looking to you for professional advice and they are relying on your experience to give them a little peace of mind. Quite often, you’ll be working alongside the homeowner.
The job
Before starting any job, it’s important to visualize how things are going to look afterwards. This is where you must consult with the homeowner and come to some sort of consensus on how things are going to be put together. Give them your ideas and tell them what you plan on doing. Get their feedback and have an information sharing discussion before you start. The last thing you want to do is spend a day organizing closets only to find that the homeowner hates the way you’ve put things together.
Once you get their approval, the first thing you need to do is sort items. Essentially, you’re going to need to work with the homeowner to sort any items that they may not want. Don’t assume that anything is junk without consulting them. At the same time, you don’t want to start organizing junk that they wanted to throw out anyway.
Next, you’ll need to plan out exactly where everything is going to go. This is where you may need to purchase hardware or shelving. Organize the items logically according to size, weight, and frequency of use – all the while, using your available space as efficiently as possible. For example, you’ll want to put heavy items on the floor, lighter items on shelving, and hang clothing etc..
Advertising
This is a perfect business for flyer advertising. Simply get a few thousand flyers printed up and distribute them in a middle to upper class neighborhood. Spend a few extra dollars and have the print shop design a professional flyer for you. Nothing looks worse than offering quality services with a homemade flyer. Keep in mind that you want to project professionalism here – otherwise people won’t take you seriously.
Besides flyers, you can put a classified ad in your local paper.
Other considerations
Because you’re going to be working inside people’s homes and have direct access to some of their most precious belongings, it’s a good idea to give them peace of mind by mentioning that you can show them a clean criminal record abstract. This can be obtained from your local police department for a nominal fee.
In some cases, it might be beneficial to also have liability insurance if you’re going to be handling people’s expensive or sentimental belongings. Accidents do happen and insurance isn’t that expensive considering the risk you run operating without it.
How much can you make?
Typically, you should charge at least $25 per hour for your services. In some cases, the hourly rate can be as much as $50 per hour, depending on your area and the type of job. Additionally, you should make sure that the customer pays for any hardware that is needed upfront.
So if you’re thinking about becoming a professional organizer, you can get a good idea of what the job entails by starting in your own home. From there, you can offer to do the homes of friends and relatives for a reduced rate. This should give you a good idea of how long a particular type of job is going to be. It’s also a good opportunity to experiment with different shelving, hardware, and organizational techniques.
Once you’ve got a little experience under your belt, get those flyers out there and start making money!
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