Estimated start up costs:
So long as you have reliable transportation, a cell phone, and some basic office supplies to fill out and create invoices for customers, you have all the essential supplies needed to own an errand business. There are starter kits available to you for less than $50 that can set you up with all the materials you will need to prepare professional looking invoices and keep track of your expenses. Other than that, learning how to start an errand business might involve some "seed money" in the beginning to cover miscellaneous expenses required to complete errands.

Pricing Guidelines:
Pricing guidelines are only limited by what your market can bear for the services you offer. Many professional errand services charge by the hour for their time while some prefer to set up monthly or even annual packages so that they get more money up front. On average and depending upon the service, someone learning how to start an errand business can expect anywhere from $15-35 per hour for their services for most residential customers. But, if you can break into the office support services market, then learning how to start an errand business can really turn into a profitable endeavor.

Recommended experience, skills, training:
Having the ability to prioritize tasks and organize your time are probably the most essential skills to this job. As with any business owner, however, you will need to market yourself and your

Marketing tips:
Success tends to breed more success and that is precisely the way your errand service will grow. As you network and build your reputation, so too will your ability to charge more. In the beginning, word-of-mouth advertising will be what makes or breaks your business. But, you may find it useful to advertise your services and company in the classified ads and be sure to print and distribute business cards every place you go.

Financing sources:
With relatively no start up costs to really speak of, securing financing is not really necessary when learning how to start an errand business. However, you may want to try starting out on a part-time basis as the going will be slow in the beginning and you may still need the income from another job to pay the bills until you get things rolling.

Income Potential:
The income potential for those owning an errand service really goes up if you can manage to break into the office support services market. There are people looking for workers with office skills to just come in and help them once a week or even once a month and they are willing to pay top dollar for this limited time. For people just looking to help others with their groceries and errands around the house, it is nothing for someone learning how to start an errand business to make $35-40,000 a year doing the things that they would normally do for free anyway!
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<small>© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.</small>

Randy has dozens of home based business articles at Home Businesses that are Profitable such as Money Making Opportunities that are Unusual.