Come on, admit it--you secretly want to be treated like a star,
to have the world at your feet and your most whimsical desire
fulfilled. Tickets to a sold-out show? Reservations at a high-end
hot spot? A chartered flight to Bali?
You're not the only one. A whole industry has sprung up to
make people's wishes come true--and concierge entrepreneurs are
profiting from doing so. For the concierge who traffics in the
luxury market, it's all about making life a little more
plush.
In fact, it's the rare and luxurious that concierge Steve
Sims, founder of Bluefish Concierge in Palm Beach, Florida, specializes
in. Whether it's one-of-a-kind adventure expeditions or tickets
to high-profile Hollywood awards shows, Sims, 37, makes the
impossible possible from his locations in Florida, Geneva, Hong
Kong and London. (Sims, 37, also plans to add locations in Dubai,
United Arab Emirates; Los Angeles; Moscow; and New York City by the
end of the year.)
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"That's the whole point of this job--the imagination.
You've got an endless inventory. These people have the
imagination, creativity and money. As long as you can cater to that
and manage people's expectations, then you've got a good
business," says Sims, who founded Bluefish Concierge in
1996.
While working as a stockbroker in London, Sims spent much of his
time attending the hottest parties and making friends with the
hippest people. Unbeknownst to him at the time, he was building the
connections that would help his business gross about $3.7 million
annually. Sims projects 2004 sales will reach more than $5
million.
Sara-Ann Kasner, president of the National Concierge Association, points out that
"being well-connected is a huge factor. It's lifeblood.
You're dead in the water without a team of experts to help
you." In other words, you have to be on the best terms with
head waiters, club owners, airline stewards, hoteliers and so on to
get your clients the best.
With a background as a hotel concierge, Cynthia Adkins had the
connections to launch Concierge at Large in 1997. Catering to the
corporate set, Adkins, 44, says her business is all about service.
"You have to be passionate about it," she says.
"You've got to believe that what you're providing is
going to make a difference to somebody." From chartering a
private jet for a client to tracking down an "impossible to
find" skin-care product from Europe, this San Diego
entrepreneur enjoys the challenge of coordinating last-minute
requests from clients--which have pushed her sales to $2.2 million
annually.
Kasner notes that while the high-end concierge market is largely
about your network of connections and tends to be most popular in
cities such as Los Angeles and New York City (where wealthy people
are used to first-class services), there are other niches in the
concierge market to explore. Homemakers, new mothers,
academics--all kinds of people with limited time are learning the
advantages of a concierge that makes dinner reservations or
arranges an appointment with the cable guy. But it's not just
about errand running--it's about coordinating people's
responsibilities and desires.
"It's a growing industry. Everybody's getting on
the bandwagon," says Kasner, whose organization has grown to
500 members since its launch six years ago. "When I became a
concierge [a decade ago], the average person came up to my desk and
said 'How do you pronounce that word, and what does a concierge
do?' And now, the average person not only knows what the title
means, but [also] exactly what it stands for--that level of
high-end service."
For more information about starting your own concierge business,
read Entrepreneur magazine's Startup Guide #1818, How to Start a Personal Concierge
Service (www.smallbizbooks.com).
What's Your Pleasure?
- Created a James Bond week in Monte Carlo, Monaco, for a
successful businessman for $350,000. The Octopussy-themed
event included actors and leather-clad women who
"kidnapped" him.
- Arranged MiG flights out of Russia
- Arranged for a famous celebrity to sing to a client's wife
as a surprise
- Set up a "spontaneous" marriage proposal for a
client, complete with a bagpiper on a pier at sunset
- Booked rare submarine dives to see the Titanic for a
group of New York City accountants
- Planned private tours of haunted castles in Europe for a client
planning a not-to-be-forgotten family vacation
Originally published in the July 2004 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine