Being At Your Service a Full-Time Job in Athens, Ga.

1. Name of business At Your Service

2. What does your business do? (For example, cut hair, paint houses, cook food, cut grass, write grants, help people get in good physical shape, etc.)

We work with residential and business clients, teaching organizing skills to increase efficiency and productivity. We specialize in organizing offices for residential and business clients and we organize every room in the home. We provide plans for do it yourselfers (DIY) or organize it with them. We have clients that we serve on a regular basis, usually monthly, organizing their finances: paying bills and keeping track of important papers; however, financial organizing is better defined as life organizing. We can act as a liaison between the client and other professionals such as CPA’s, attorneys, and family members. We help our clients downsize. This includes selecting items to move, disposing of items, some packing, coordinating the move, unpacking and organizing.  In addition, we offer presentations to non-profit groups, companies, and associations.

 Services Include:

• Organizing Businesses
  • Productivity Evaluations 
• Residential Organizing
  • Productivity Evaluations
  • Organize Offices, Kitchens, and Other Rooms
• Financial Organizing
  • Bookkeeping
  • Mail / File Management
  • Liaison between the Client and Businesses they Patronize
• Downsizing
  • Unclutter and help you purge items
  • Some Packing
  • Coordinate the move between the client and moving service 
  • Unpack and organize your new home
  • Some Decorating
• Speaker
  • Non-Profit Groups
  • Businesses
  • Lunch & Learn

3.How long have you been doing this? Since 2003

4.Why are you doing this in Athens? My family moved to Athens in the summer of 2002. I wanted to have my own business for some time. There were no professional organizers in Athens when I started my business. There were organizers but they were not members of the professional National Association of Professional Organizers.

5. What are the advantages of owning a small business? Owning your own business allows autonomy and the flexibility to create your own schedule.

6. If you could change one thing about owning a small business, what would that be? Lower tax liability

7.Do you have employees? Are they temporary, part-time, full-time, new or long term? No, but I do use independent contractors occasionally.

8.Do you own the place where you do business, or do you move around (like maybe a dog trainer would do) or rent space (to store your equipment)? I have a home office where I do a portion of my client’s work but I usually travel to the client’s home or office.

9.Is anyone else in town doing what you do? Yes.

10. Do you like what you do? Yes, I really enjoy the diversity of my job. One day I am organizing an office. the next day I may be setting up a bill pay system for a client or coordinating a downsize move. 

11. Do you have a story to share about how you started your business (“I realized one day that, yes, I could actually design websites myself. So I started doing this and never looked back.”) I wanted to have my own business for a long time. I was very interested in discovering entrepreneurial opportunities. My favorite career was in the hotel business as Chief Concierge for Westin Hotels and Resorts when I lived in California. Westin hired me to create their concierge department, even though I had just moved to San Jose. This endeavor took a lot of research and planning as well as going out and experiencing the attractions, restaurants, entertainment and establishing vital contacts within the hospitality industry to make the department successful. It was very successful. When I started At Your Service, I utilized these same qualities. I chose organizing because it comes naturally to me. I expanded into financial organizing because I saw a need for it. My dad taught me to pay bills and reconcile his checking account at a very young age. All these things just added up…no pun intended. I joined NAPO, The National Association of Professional Organizers, attended a couple of conferences and got plugged into the local organization in Atlanta (NAPO GA). I started getting clients from NAPO’s referral system and from the Athens Banner Herald new business article.

12. What are your plans for the future (regarding your business), the future being the next five years? I hope to see continued growth in all service areas.