Organizing & Senior Downsizing: The Perfect Business Duo

What makes a great business succeed?  Is it the type of services a business provides?  Is it the people bringing that service to the customer? 

Is it a business that’s highly specialized? Does it have a global appeal?How many businesses offer the same services in an area and is there diversity in the way that service is presented and executed?  

These are the questions that today’s entrepreneurs tackle every day, especially in the topsy-turvy political and economic world we’re experiencing now in 2020.  But, these conditions will eventually pass.  There will always be businesses that can, and will, survive the bumps and bruises of difficult times.

I believe, the key to any business’s survival is its flexibility of vision, an adaptability that is based on a keen awareness of the shifting needs of their customer.

The key to any business’s survival is its flexibility of vision

It also needs to maintain a stable of services or products that allow them to sell consistently and stay profitable throughout the year.  That often means creating a service menu that offers a blend of related products or services that peak in popularity at different times of the year.

When I started my home organizing and senior downsizing business 11 years ago, I didn’t fully understand this concept.  However, it didn’t take long for me to pick up on the rhythm of service activity, including which ones were consistent throughout the year and which ones had peaks and valleys.

For instance, organizing services seemed to start to ramp up in January, perhaps from all the fresh attempts at sticking to New Year resolutions of becoming clutter-free.  It would then start to drop off during the summer, re-emerge in the fall and disappear entirely over the November-December holiday months.

Downsizing, on the other hand, would start to warm up in February, then steadily increase in steam throughout the spring and summer months, culminating in late October.   Of course, life doesn’t tend to follow the calendar and we would often be called in November and December for an emergency transition because a senior suddenly needed to be moved for advanced care.

Often, when one business would become slower, the other would seamlessly fall into its place, allowing a more consistent level of income throughout the year

What I soon came to realize was the wonderful compatibility between the two business models.  Often, when one business would become slower, the other would seamlessly fall into its place, allowing a more consistent level of income throughout the year.

Of course, the other benefit to combining these two businesses is that organizing is such an important component to the overall execution of a downsizing move. 

Pre-move organizing is critical to the overall success of a downsizing move by ensuring the clients aren’t taking more than they can use at their new home and are well prepared for move day. 

Helping a client evaluate, purge and dispose of unwanted items early in the downsizing process makes it less stressful on the clients because they aren’t waiting to the last minute to make hard decisions. It also saves the client money by reducing the number of items being moved and helps downsizing crews expedite the packing process.

Organizing skills also come in handy during the unpacking phase, when a client, even after days of purging, still brings too many items to their new home.  It’s also an opportunity to help the client feel re-settled more quickly when they know things are largely in place by the end of the move day.

Organizing skills are key to creating, maintaining and executing downsizing move strategies throughout the transition process.  Knowing how to evaluate a space, then effectively create a furniture space plan, solve a storage solution or proactively ward off a potential move issue is at the core of a great Downsizing Specialist’s list of talents.

So, if you are considering starting a senior downsizing business OR a home organizing business, give some serious thought of offering BOTH services as part of your business plan.

These amazing businesses truly are a marriage made in heaven. 

Clients that initially hire you for the downsizing side, will frequently broaden their service needs to incorporate more organizing hours and vice versa.

You’ll also find that clients that initially hire you for the downsizing side, will frequently broaden their service needs to incorporate more organizing hours and vice versa.   I’ve had clients that I initially provided organizing services to, who hired me later when they were ready to move.

Often, I’ve had families that wanted to handle the move aspect themselves, but still hired me for organizing and space planning services.  

If I had only advertised downsizing services, I would have lost that business because the family wouldn’t have known that I was willing to serve in other aspects of the overall transition process, not just the move.

One last benefit to note is that general home organizing widens your client base. After all, there’s no age restriction to people needing to de-clutter which gives you a higher potential for new business income.

I touch on these types of service packaging strategies in my Senior Downsizing Specialist Training Program training, so if you’d like to know more about the wide range of tips, tools and resources included in the program, check out my “Your Opportunity” at www.thedownsizinginstitute.com.

If you already have an active organizing business, but you’re interested in adding senior downsizing services to your business structure, a special Senior Downsizing Specialist Training program version, specifically designed for the organizing industry, will be available soon.