Business Spotlight: Job Juggler

On a sunny fall day, Joanna Carlson finds herself cruising down a rural highway with 500 pounds of beef in the trunk.

Another day, she’s sorting through a century of Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association president photographs.

Who knows what she’ll be doing next as a personal concierge through Viva Concierge LLC. Carlson started the venture in August 2013, joining the ranks of some 4,000 professionals, according to the National Association of Professional Organizers.

While her list of services offered names pet sitting, personal shopping, gift wrapping and travel scheduling, she’s open to other tasks.

“It never hurts to ask,” she says, pointing to one job that’s off the table: “I don’t babysit, just for liability issues.”

The beef run to a farm in Lockwood last month was an errand for Jonathan Putnam, owner of startup coffee roaster Brick & Mortar Coffee.

“He has gotten so busy with the opening of the coffee shop, he couldn’t afford to be gone for more than an hour,” Carlson says.

That’s the story for most clients. Concierge and errand services aim to handle the tasks that busy professionals can’t seem to accomplish because of more pressing, or more lucrative, matters.

“It might be on your to-do list for months,” she says. “I’m getting the ball rolling.”

Greek epiphany
While earning an administrative management degree from Missouri State University, Carlson worked as a runner for Polsinelli PC’s Springfield office. During a four-year stint with the law firm, she worked in records and as an assistant paralegal, and also helped organize Polsinelli’s annual Christmas party.

The run officially came to an end in April, when Carlson jumped full time into Viva Concierge.

The summer before, Carlson began the legal process to start her own concierge and errand business. She had visited family in Greece, and returned feeling rushed and jet-lagged. She had a hard time playing catch-up.

“I thought to myself, ‘I’m sure there are professionals who travel more than I do,’” Carlson recalls.

By August, she set up the limited liability company.

Real estate agent Danna Hartley says Carlson is filling a niche.

Hartley discovered Viva Concierge through a business card Carlson posted to the bulletin board at One Parkway Place, the downtown high rise where they both live.

“When I looked for someone, there wasn’t anybody that presented themselves as a concierge service,” Hartley says. “I think there is a need.”

Since they connected about eight months ago, Hartley has hired Carlson to take care of her condominium and her cat a handful of times while traveling.

She’s left Carlson her keys from three days up to 10 days. Hartley says trust is a big factor.

“When you open up your home, not just a house, it’s important that you trust that person,” she says.

Carlson’s pet-sitting service runs $30 per day and $60 to $80 for overnight care. Other services are priced $30 per hour.

During the first 12 months, the business has generated $4,000 in revenue, but now with a full-time focus and increased demand during the holiday season, Carlson projects another $2,000 by year’s end.

The ball’s rolling
She’s mostly worked with small-business owners, attorneys, real estate agents and physicians. The most popular services are the general errands, pet sitting and office organization jobs – “projects that you want to get to but you put off because of more pressing matters in business,” she says.

According to a Steelcase Workplace Index survey in 2005, white-collar workers spend 15 minutes a day organizing their space. Even in the electronic age, much of that organizing is paper materials. In the study by Steelcase, a designer of workspaces, 82 percent of respondents said they still file paper forms.

Bringing organization to the clutter is in demand, says Carlson. The directory for the National Association of Professional Organizers lists only one member, 2B Organized, operating within a 50-mile radius of Springfield.

Among Viva Concierge’s half-dozen clients, the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association has been the most steady. Executive Director Crista Hogan employs Carlson at least once a month. The past-presidents photo project a few months ago resulted in about 50 pictures framed and hung in the bar association office by an interior decorator. Carlson also has organized the bar’s storage cabinets and relabeled the contents.

As she’s developing the business, Carlson watches concierge trends in other markets, such as Atlanta, Dallas and Chicago. Another thing she’ll likely never do is arrange for helicopter transportation, as she’s seen by her peers in New York City.

“I still think there is a market,” she says.