Friday, December 25, 2009

I want my personal Santa Claus


Panic!!!

I panicked, because on the eve of Christmas, I was still looking for a gift for my mum. I went from shop to shop. I was just not finding anything that was suitable, or was at the right price, or that my mum did not have already, and time had run out on me. I stopped and said a prayer to Jesus, because I did not have a clue of what to do again. And then I saw it…and heaved a sigh of relief, said “Thank you Jesus”. Now my Christmas has become merry.

I’ve seen my future, and I know that I’ll be giving gifts during festive periods, birthday, events, for a very long tine, and when I think of the stress I go through every year, and every birthday, etc. I don’t think getting a professional shopper is a luxury anymore, and I know there are many more like me out there.

So for those of you out there, who are not like me, who have shopping as a hobby, you should start thinking of making money with it.

Let me show you how:

Step 1: Be passionate, be interested in shopping, and know shops.

You should know where to get everything, well, almost everything. If you don’t, know someone who knows. Have contacts, have a relationship with the shop owners, and know where to get the best deals, discounts, etc.

Step 2: Advertise

Print flyers, give your business a catchy name, order business cards, and target people who need your services most, e.g busy executives like me. (lol)

Step 3:

Now, you should get a lawyer to draw up a contract for clients to sign which explains your services and how clients are billed for you, so that there is no “oyibo repete” at the end of the day.

Step 4: Client Consultation

Do an interview with a client to determine a client's needs, sometimes amplified by a written personality test, as well as his or her personal preferences when it comes to style, colour, etc. Next, you can “gently” advise the client about options you have, if the client is clueless of what he or she wants.

Establish a billing method. The most realistic method in Nigeria is to charge a certain percentage of your client’s budget. You can decide to charge per hour or a fixed down payment, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Step 5: Deliver.

It depends on what you agree on with your client. If no specific gift was agreed upon, you may need to get approval for the gift before you pay for it. You can take a picture of the gift, noting the specifications, call the client, etc, bearing in mind that in Nigeria, no return policy is almost like the norm.

You can also offer wrapping gifts and delivering services as an add-on.

Now, before you roll your eyes, and say, “This can’t work”, let me show you the opportunities you are walking out on.

You can specialize in shopping for gifts or clothing, or you might shop for food, furniture, jewelry, toys, or anything else a client wants.

Your target market can be:

  • · Busy Families.
  • · Shopping for designer clothing, home furnishings, and other items for wealthy people.
  • · Finding the perfect gifts for companies to give to their important clients.
Yo You can get involved in:
  • Buying groceries and other items for senior citizens and other people who find it difficult to get around.
  • Buying Christmas/Islamic presents.
  • Working as a personal shopper for a boutique, department store, or shopping center.
  • Being hired by busy executives to buy gifts for their employees or family.
  • Preparing gift bags for special events such as awards shows and conferences
  • Selecting gifts for other special occasions such as:
    • anniversaries
    • new baby
    • birthdays
    • get well
    • graduations
    • retirements
    • Valentine's Day
    • weddings

I know you know...This is not rocket science.

Cheers

1 comments:

tobystic said...

One more thing....You can Negotiate anything.A shop owner would accept 450 pounds for total goods worth 475, because he would rather have small gain than no gain at all.I ve tried it several times and it works. :-p

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