Business focus: White Glove Concierge will do your dirty work

Ever wish there were more hours in the day? How about an extra set of hands to help with household chores?

With the idea in mind of time better spent elsewhere, Tara Auten launched her own small business, White Glove Concierge, as a service dedicated to making the lives of her handful of clients a little less hectic. A personal assistant of sorts, Auten takes on daily or otherwise tiresome tasks so her clients can do … whatever.

White Glove operates under a simple business premise: time is a limited commodity. For a flat fee of $23 an hour, Auten, owner and lone employee, performs a laundry list of tasks. For seasonal residents, it’s often housecleaning before, during and after a summer stay. For others, the services range from holiday home decorating and taking cars to the mechanic and party planning.

Seasonal residents helped boost Auten’s business soon after the 27-year-old mother of three began providing concierge services for family and friends. Now eight months later, and with help from the Web site www.entrepreneur.com, she has expanded the startup into the professional realm and built a customer base that fluctuates from a dozen to as many as 30. And it was made all the easier since she can often work from home and had only a few initial investments.

“Startup costs were business cards and a tank of gas,” she said.

Since then, Auten has adopted three pillars of business: personal, professional and exceptional service. “Some people have some really weird requests,” she explained. “I will not do a service for a client unless it’s legal, ethical or moral.”

Winter is the busiest season for Auten, and Christmas shopping and holiday gift wrapping are just two of her seasonal specialties. For client Patti Sandberg, Auten’s service has been not only a welcome relief, but also a reassurance for the retired Coeur d’Alene resident. In addition to procuring her groceries and cleaning her home, “Tara kind of watches out for me, too,” Sandberg said.

“She does a really good job,” she said. “She’s thorough about what she does, too, and that’s important.”