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Executive Summary

LifeStyle Concierge is a home based business that will perform services for a mature group of people that need an extra helping hand. The company Mission statement is:

Mission Statement:

LifeStyle Concierge aims to provide exceptional, professional service to our clients. To ensure that the clients we service are able to live happy, balanced, irritation free lives because of the service we provide.

Life Style Concierge will provide time saving and relief of stress to its clients. The foundation of the business is based on what the client needs, integrity, reliability, flexibility, confidentiality, and communication. LifeStyle will target the mature market of forty to sixty year old people who are married or single with family and job responsibilities, and little free time. According to Salary.com 40% of people who work full time say they would rather have time off than an annual pay raise.

Competition in this market is manageable. There other concierge services in the same local area but they do not target the same market as LifeStyle. Through pricing LifeStyle aims to maximize quantity, or number of customers served in order to decrease costs over the long term. But LifeStyle will also attempt to avoid price wars by maintaining a moderate price somewhere in between the competition.

LifeStyle is a small home based business mostly done part time. The first year of revenues are estimated at 36,000. Services will be distributed through direct selling and internet and a direct mailing program. Promotion will be aggressive. The main goal is to introduce LifeStyle Concierge to the market and establish its presence as a service worth taking advantage of.

Service Description/ Situation Analysis

LifeStyle Concierge is a lifestyle management firm that helps people to clear their “to do” list. LifeStyle Concierge is as The National Concierge Association (NCA) defines as an individual whose chief occupational responsibility is to set in motion, or arrange for the facilitation of any request placed by a client, on the condition that the request is legal, ethical, and appropriate for the concierge to perform (StartUp). Lifestyle Concierge is a personal concierge service company that runs errands and performs a variety of other tasks on behalf of its customers. Also some tasks that do not require the customer’s presence can be performed without them. An example would be making sure a package is delivered, or picking up or dropping mail, cleaning a home, or grocery shopping.

A study done by the Families and Work Institute says that seventy-eight percent of couples live in a two-income family, and work a combined total of ninety-one hours per week (StartUp). Along with working over ninety hours a week several of those households also have to care for children and aging parents. The president of Ariel Capital Management in Chicago, Mellody Hobson, said a large portion of the aging population will be supporting their parents and their kids at the same time (ABCNEWS.com) An estimated 44 million Americans provide care for elderly family or friends (Census.gov)

As a result, time is short, and LifeStyle Concierge can help to free up some of that lost time. In Virginia, where Lifestyle is headquartered approximately eleven percent or over 800,000 people are over the age of fifty. This is proof that the population is aging, and by 2030, the number of adult’s age fifty and older will double to 70 million (Entrepreneur.com). Instead of getting ready to retire, the mature American will have to work longer and take on the responsibility of caring for family and friends. Lifestyle will offer the segment of the population caring for elderly parents and children assistance in maintaining their everyday lives. LifeStyle Concierge will act in the capacity of a caregiver for the caregiver. LifeStyle will supply the caregiver with the extra time they need to devote to family and friends by handling the tasks they do not have the time to complete on their own.

LifeStyle Concierge, A lifestyle management resource will provide errand services for the time-starved people. LifeStyle Concierge will buy groceries, offer same day laundry and dry cleaning services, wrap gifts, detail your car, ship a package, rent a video and return it LifeStyle will even go to the bank, and pick up a prescription. Other services offered are referral services. If a job calls for a handyman, LifeStyle will make an appointment with a painter, plumber, interior designer, personal chef, masseuse or other service contact. LifeStyle also offers residential computer services that include personal computer technical support, that consists of trouble shooting, repair; virus, spyware and adware removal, Internet setup and wireless networking. LifeStyle also offers housekeeping services, one time or continuous appointments available. House sitting is also available. LifeStyle will water plants, bring in mail. LifeStyle will be there for the phone company or delivery guy? LifeStyle will make entertainment and travel arrangements to restaurants, or a show. LifeStyle will make reservations and appointments for everything from tee and court times to theater, music, and sporting events. LifeStyle can also plan an anniversary, birthday party, baby shower, family reunion, retirement party, or business meeting.

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths:

• Customer service oriented work force, dedicated to serving its customers with proficiency and respect.

• Offer a variety of services

• Patient, calm, and resourceful employees that enjoy people

• Possibilities for advancement into a niche market are endless.

• Available full time or part time via telephone, internet, fax, and email

Weaknesses:

• No definitive strategy set in place for this type of business

• Do not have any really good contacts yet

• Virtually no business experience

• Little to no help in the way of market research available to start a concierge service

Opportunities:

• A lifestyle concierge is a hybrid service that combines two industry trends a concierge and a personal assistant into a new market.