Errand Business

How to Start an Errand Running Business for Seniors

elderly need a personal errand service — Elderly need a personal errand service

With 50 million Americans over age 65 and 6 million over 85, the senior service business has become a cottage industry, requiring everyone from home health care workers to gardeners to fall prevention specialists. One of the fastest growing senior service businesses is running errands for those in their golden years.

As seniors age, they often have difficulty getting around to run routine errands. By providing a service that takes care of everyday errands, seniors can continue to enjoy an independent life at home rather than in a care facility. It is also a wonderful way to make a living while making a difference in the lives of our elders.

What services to offer: Most errand runners specializing in seniors run basic errands, such as grocery shopping, picking up prescriptions or dry-cleaning and taking a pet to the groomer or vet. Others include transportation services, such as driving clients to doctor’s appointments or shopping.

Cost to start: The basics are a dependable car and a cell phone with voice mail. You’ll need business cards to hand out to prospective clients, as well as a simple flyer or brochure to leave at places like the local senior center. If you’re doing a lot of personal shopping for clients, you’ll want to have a camera built in to your cell phone to take pictures.

Skills required: This is a simple business, but you should be a well-organized person, as you’ll often be shopping – groceries, for example – for several clients at the same time. If you’re a “people person” who enjoys helping others, you’ll do well. Folks over 40 do better, as seniors tend to trust those closer to their own age than a much younger person.

Marketing your services: In the senior marketplace, trust is everything, and your first customers will tell their friends after you’ve gained their trust, and soon you will have all the customers you can handle. Pass out business cards to everyone you meet, and consider having a 25% off coupon printed on the back of the card for new customers only. This accomplishes two goals. First, people will keep your card rather than throw it away because of the coupon. Second, your cost of getting new customers with this method is zero, as you’ll still make money when they hire you the first time.

Every community has a senior center and over-55 communities. Most will allow you to run an inexpensive classified ad in their monthly newsletter. Do that every month until you’re too busy to take any new clients.

Legal requirement: You’ll need to get a business license from your local town or county. If you plan to use a fictitious business name, find out what’s required by your town, county or state. If you’re using your car for business, especially if you’re driving clients to appointments or shopping, check with your insurance agent to make sure you have the right policy to cover your activities.

To learn more about starting your own personal errand service for local seniors, read: Start Your Own Senior Concierge Service.

Tips On Picking A Name For Your Senior Service Business

by Craig Wallin

Here’s a question for you. What are you going to call your errand business? This is something you should not take lightly as the name you give your business is going to stick around for a long time. Because of that, you have to have considerations that make it the kind of name that stands the test of time and serves you as much as it serves your customers. Here are some tips to help you with this very important piece of business:

1 – What You Do

In order to quickly and easily explain to others what you do for a living, your business name should say exactly what kind of business you are operating. So, if you are running a senior errand service, that needs to appear in your business name. While that may sound elementary to some, not everyone is going to know what your business is about if you use a name that does not tell them. You have to keep this in mind as you will always be in contact with potential new customers.

2 – Does It Sound Right?

One huge mistake new business owners often make is naming their business with something that is not all that relevant to what they are trying to say. In other words, if your business is a senior errand service, there are ways to say this with different words. However, what you want to achieve is that someone hearing or seeing the name Jimbo’s Fast Runs For Seniors will understand it as an errand service. This name probably doesn’t get that message across very clearly.

3 – The Internet Test

Even if you are not thinking about it now, at one point in your business life you will want a website to reach more customers and help promote your business. When you do explore the world-wide web for a website you will want to ensure that the name you give your business translates well to the internet. An example of a business name that fails this test would be Jimbodelivers.com. Don’t make me explain why.

4 – Where Are You, Again?

Even if the name of your city is something long like Whooping Crane Junction, it doesn’t hurt one bit to somehow fit the name of your community or the region you intend to service with your senior errand service in the name you give your business. The main reason why this is helpful is that it tells potential customers instantly that you are a local and that you are available in the community your business is being promoted in. Seniors tend to lean towards supporting local businesses for the personalized service so this will bring you some subliminal promotion.

5 – Don’t Go There

Trends and fads are fun, short-lived and replaced most often by new ones. This is why you have to avoid the temptation to use words, terms or vocabulary that comes across as trendy or part of a fad. As much as it may be fitting at the time you incorporate them, once those fads fade your business name will not and as a result it will appear dated. Stay away from this at all costs unless you are prepared to spend a bundle changing your business name and everything that contains the trendy name that now needs to be updated.

There is really no reason to create a complicated, hard to understand or spell name for your senior errand business. Especially if you want your elderly customers to remember who you are so they can use your service again. By keeping it simple, you will see much success with a business name that is easy to remember which also makes it easy to share with others who may become new customers.

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Starting an Errand Service Business in 6 Easy Steps

by Craig Wallin

errand running service — Errand Running Service

As people get older they’re less capable of managing daily tasks, such as grocery shopping, picking up prescription medicine, and more. Senior citizens often hire errand runners to do the tasks they no longer can, or want to, do. Errand businesses typically charge between $20 and $35 an hour, with a national average of about $30 an hour. As an errand runner you stand to make a nice profit. So what are the steps to getting started?

1. Legal Structure

First you need to decide on the legal structure of your business. Is it a sole proprietorship, partnership, or limited liability corporation? Whichever you choose will affect what taxes you pay and what your liability will be. Also, while you’re doing this, make sure you license your business based on whatever your state’s procedures are. You’ll also need to get a federal tax identification number.

2. Name Your Business

Now you’re ready to name your errand service business. Think of something catchy and memorable. Consider putting your city name in it, or even your own name. Make sure no one else is using your name and that it hasn’t been trademarked already.

3. Insurance

You must have insurance. It can protect you in the case of a lawsuit or claim. Check with your state about auto insurance. Some require it if you are using your car for commercial purposes. There are other insurances you might need, such as if you’ll be transporting seniors, driving one of your customer’s cars, or house and pet sitting. It’s best to check with your insurance company to learn what is required.

4. Gather Supplies

An errand business is great, because you won’t need a lot of supplies. In fact, most you probably have already. You’ll need a reliable car to get you to and from your customers and wherever the errands take you. You should also have a cell phone and computer as a way to be contacted. After this you should consider purchasing business cards as a great way to get your name and contact information to prospective customers. And don’t forget a day planner or other way to stay organized. You need some way to keep track of all your appointments and customers.

5. Choose Services

It’s a good idea to make a list of what services you offer. You should also put something that says, “If you don’t see the service you need – just call and ask if we offer it!” There are many errands you could consider offering: bank and car errands, dog walking, dry cleaning, grocery shopping, and many, many more.

6. Set Your Prices

Most errand runners charge by the hour, not the task. If the task involves a lot of driving, you might want to charge for mileage. You should also charge differently if you’re being asked to work outside your normal business hours or on a holiday. Consider offering package deals as a way to get customers. If they’re only using your services for grocery shopping, pick a special rate for that. Experiment and find out what works best for you.

Starting an errand service business is quite easy. In just six easy steps you could be up and running errands before you know it!

To learn more, read Start Your Own Senior Concierge Service.

How to Make Money With a Senior Errand Service

by Craig Wallin

You’d like to have a career where you could help people, while making good money doing it. Certainly being your own boss would be nice. Working when you want to work, charging what you’d like to charge. But what could you do that would fulfill all those wishes? Simple, starting your own senior errand service.

Running errands for seniors is a great way to make nice money, while doing something for senior citizens. Many are homebound and unable to complete errands that most of us do every week, such as grocery shopping, stopping at the bank, picking up dry cleaning, and more.

Starting your own senior errand service is not a get-rich-quick scheme, nor do you need specialized training be able to do it. It probably won’t pay for your mansion in Hawaii or that jet plane you’ve had your eye on. But you can make a nice amount of money without working long hours. How much? A typical errand service business charge between $20 and $35 an hour, depending on their location. The national average is $30 an hour. If you work a 40-hour week, that could mean $50,000 a year.

When charging your customers, most errand runners charge by the hour instead of by the task. If a customer asks you to do an errand that is outside of your normal range, consider charging them a mileage rate as well. The IRS currently allows 58 cents a mile for business-related travel. Many errand runners have adopted this rate for themselves.

In addition to the normal tasks you’ll be asked to do, consider offering others, such as pet and house sitting. Most errand runners charge between $15 and $25 for a half-hour visit. That means you can make between $30 and $50 an hour pet or house sitting! In the case of pet sitting, you’d most likely be performing the normal daily tasks you do with your own pets: feeding them, taking them out for a bathroom break or walk, and giving them the love and attention they deserve.

If you’re asked to do an errand outside of your normal business hours or on a holiday, it’s a good idea to charge your customers more. Many charge an extra $6 an hour for errands done outside normal hours and an additional $10 an hour for errands done on holidays. It is also customary for a customer to give you notice 24 hours ahead of time if they’d like your services, and/or 24 hours ahead of time if they need to cancel your errands for that day.

You can make good money fairly easily by becoming an errand runner for seniors. You get to help seniors, plus make good money doing it.

To learn more, read Start Your Own Senior Concierge Service.

Errand Service Business Secrets

by Craig Wallin

As an errand runner, you love helping others. Errand runners do just that—run errands for other people, often senior citizens, who are unable to. It’s a great way to bring a smile to someone’s face while also getting paid. Errand runners do normal everyday things such as running to the bank, getting groceries, picking up dry cleaning, and more. Best of all, they get paid good money to do it. The national average is $25 an hour. So what are some secrets that could make your errand running service prosper?

1. Group orders

If you have several customers in the same area, consider grouping errands together to save time and be more efficient. For example, make Monday and Thursday grocery days and Wednesday the day you pick up prescriptions from the pharmacy.

2. Charge a cancellation/rush fee

It’s customary for a customer to give 24 hours notice before asking you to run an errand or if they need to cancel the errand. If they cancel within 24 hours, consider charging them a fee. Some errand runners charge the entire amount they would’ve been paid. When someone cancels last minute, it’s often too late for you to find another customer for that allotted time. That’s why this cancellation fee is appropriate.

Also, if a customer asks you to do “rush service,” a job that needs to be done within two to four hours, it’s also customary to add an additional charge to their fee, such as an additional $10 an hour. Be up front of them with them about this.

3. Reminders for payment

Senior citizens might forget that they haven’t paid you. We all know about the “senior moments” that can happen. Just provide a friendly reminder. If it’s a task you do for them often, your customer could pay up front or on a weekly or monthly basis, making it less likely they’ll forget. It’s important you keep very good records. This will help prevent mistakes when it comes to collecting payment.

4. Pay for orders separately

If you’re going to the grocery store for more than one customer, remember to pay for the orders separately. Each customer will want their own receipt. They won’t want to see another customer’s items on their receipt.

5. Keep orders separate

In addition to paying for things separately, be sure not to mix bags at the grocery store. Ask the bagger to keep certain items together and bring a felt tip pen to write on the bag the name of the customer that the bag is going to.

6. Repeat newspaper ads

If you choose to advertise in the newspaper, or local senior publications, run your ad every week for a while. After a few months people will recognize your ad and be more likely to call you when they need help.

These are just some of the secrets that can help you become an all-star errand runner. Try some out, find what works for you, and before you know it, your errand running business will be the one to call.