Now Serving...

Sometimes it seems there just aren't enough hours in the day. Exhausted from the ever-increasing demands of the workplace and the daily commute, we drag ourselves home to give only sleepy-eyed attention to our families.

According to a recent study of the U.S. work force released by the Families and Work Institute, the average worker spends 44 hours per week on the job, and 36 percent of workers say they often feel completely used up at the end of the workday. And there is certainly no rest for the weary at home: Eighty-five percent of workers have daily family responsibilities to go home to, while 78 percent of married workers have spouses who are also employed. Weekends are consumed by errands and housekeeping; 70 percent of all parents feel they don't spend enough time with their children. Leisure time? Never heard of it.

This nationwide drought of spare time has a bright side for entrepreneurs, however. It has encouraged the emergence of concierge services, small businesses staffed by resourceful people who do anything and everything from getting clients the best seat in the house at a Broadway production to designing resumes--all for a price.

This article was originally published in the August 1998 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Now Serving....