Louis:

In theory, an errand service is a great idea, assuming three things: that you're making yourself known to people who would be interested in the service; that your prices are reasonable; and that you're projecting an image of honesty, reliability, and trustworthiness.

The reason that personal networking and establishing a stellar reputation are so important is that people are often reluctant to do business with someone they don't know or trust -- especially if you're going to come to their house. Elderly people may be even more cautious, and rightfully so.

However, if you can get your existing contacts to either give you referrals of people that they know(names/phone numbers), so that you can say somthing to the effect of 'Our mutual friend John Smith thought that you might be interested in my personal errand service and suggested I give you a call'...OR if you can get people you know to pass out coupons or your business cards to their friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and relatives... THEN it would be much easier to break the ice and attract new customers.

When should you give up, you ask? Some people would say never, assuming it's a good idea and there's a market for your service. Others would say there's no sense in repeatedly setting yourself up for failure if you're pursuing something that's either not the right business for you, or for which there's not a profitable enough market.

Seems like if you acquire a handful of customers and you provide them with spectacular, friendly, and reliable service, then word of mouth would take over from there. Then again, that might be an oversimplification.

Best of luck and keep the faith!

AlbanyBizWriter
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