Lexington, KY - When there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done, what's a body to do? Chris Hall turned that common frustration into a business. In May 2009, she launched BlueGrass Go2Girl, LLC.
"The premise of the business is to provide people with a personal assistant without the cost of Paris Hilton's assistant," said Hall, who set her fees to be more affordable for central Kentucky than what people are paying for concierge services in New York or Philadelphia.
"People said I was crazy to start a business now," she said. "But in this economy, people are working harder and have less free time. I think it is needed now more than ever."
Her services range from running errands (bank, post office, car wash) and pet-sitting to addressing envelopes and waiting at someone's house for a service provider. As a personal shopper, Hall charges an hourly rate and has clients deposit money in a concierge account, which she uses to buy their groceries and pay dry cleaning bills.
A dozen years ago, Hall first thought of the idea of a concierge service for individuals.
"Nobody was doing it then," she said. She was right in the middle of an equine career and took the opportunity to do quite a bit of research as she traveled the country, competing in eventing (dressage, cross-country and stadium jumping) and racing Thoroughbreds as a jockey in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware and other states. She grew up in California and has lived off and on in Lexington since the late 1990s. She moved here permanently in 2008.
"It's nice to see other parts of Lexington I never had been exposed to before," she said.
Hall's concierge business allows people to buy back their time. "It's about quality of life," she said. "You can spend time running errands or you can spend that time with your family, playing sports you enjoy or working."
She does her best to accommodate all requests. So far she has not been asked to do anything bizarre.
"I do most of my business on my Blackberry and in my car," she said. Her first project was near Louisville, de-cluttering and staging a house so it could be put on the market. For several clients, she takes care of their dogs while they are out of town. One couple is living in Thailand for a couple of years, so Hall is managing their house.
"If the house is empty, things aren't being checked," she said. "The sewer backed up, the refrigerator had an issue, so I deal with the delivery and repair people."
Marketing for her concierge business is mostly through word-of-mouth advertising and referrals. Hall donates one or two hours of service as silent auction items for certain charities, which is a great way for her to give back to the community and promote BlueGrass Go2Girl at the same time. Networking with other business professionals in Lexington is another key component of her marketing plan.
"Networking is like throwing a pebble in the pond and watching it ripple out there," she said.
Because she is involved in her clients' lives, trust is an important factor. The more she can network with other business owners in the area, the more people will come to know her as dependable and trustworthy.
"I'm giving myself a year to be at a certain place," she said. "At two years, I'm hoping to pull in somebody full-time. The grandiose plan is that the company gets big enough for somebody to buy it and I can retire."
She has a degree in graphic arts and advertising from Catonsville Community College in Maryland, just outside Baltimore, so she has been able to create print materials and design her own Web site. And she still loves the horse industry. She owns a Thoroughbred named Peterbuild, a grandson of Affirmed, and sees him every day at Antebellum Farm in Lexington.
Hall enjoys the diversity that comes with her wide variety of services. Every day is different, and she has no plans to specialize in one area anytime soon. Across the country, there are corporations offering concierge services as a perk for employees, to keep them focused on their work and not distracted by running errands. Hall isn't sure Lexington is ready for that.
"It would involve taking on a full-time employee," she said. "Right now, I like dealing with individuals."
To learn more about BlueGrass Go2Girl, visit www.bluegrassgo2girl.com.
Kathie Stamps is the cofounder of www.ISBO.biz, an online directory of independent/small business owners.