The Value of Hiring a Professional Organizer

Currently, we are looking for people who are moving this fall. We are skilled at packing and unpacking and are insured.

I recently did an hour-long presentation at the Birmingham Public Library, focusing on whole house organization.

A lot of my clients ask me if I can sell their items online for them. I have a friend who does this for a living. Her website is peddlingpost.com and you can email her directly at Peddler@peddlingpost.com. Her name is Rashel Post.

I have just finished creating a downloadable tutorial to teach people how to sell items online. This guide includes all the steps required for listing items on Facebook Marketplace, Nextdoor, E-bay, Poshmark, Thred up, Mercari, and many more. It is called, “Your Guide to Online Selling”.

I am working on creating an hour-long presentation focusing on downsizing, and what is known as “Swedish Death Cleaning.”

I recently acquired a cricut joy and will soon have customized labels available to order.

Frequently, I am told I am too expensive, and I think a lot of people believe professional organizing is just arranging shoes or dishes, so they look nice. I would like to point out that being organized is NOT just a luxury, but also, a necessity. Organizing may fall under the “luxury service” category, but I think it is time we recognize it as essential.

My policies include a pre-paid assessment fee, a thirty to fifty percent non-refundable deposit for any scheduled hours, and a strict cancellation policy of forty-eight hours notice. Late cancellations are charged half of what was scheduled for that session.

I do offer discounts for larger packages. (ten percent for twenty hours, fifteen percent for forty)

When I started doing this, I did not have an assessment fee, service agreement or cancellation policy. After getting burned several times with clients cancelling as I was walking out the door or spending hours at an assessment and giving lots of advice and insight, only to not get the job, I started to charge fees. This protected my finances and ensured the client’s commitment. I now have fewer cancellations and am getting most of the jobs presented to me.

Another reason I charge an assessment fee is to weed out the window shoppers. I spend a good ninety minutes with clients, and in that time, I offer quick tips and techniques that will help them make immediate changes to different areas of their home or office space. My time is valuable, and if I’m out doing initial assessments and not getting paid, how will I earn an income? I have found that if clients are willing to pay for the assessment, they are generally ready to get to work.

Requiring payments in advance ensures the client’s commitment and I don’t have to worry about a last-minute cancellation. If something comes up on my end, I do not hesitate to refund that fee. However, this has only happened once as it is only in an extreme situation that I would need to cancel. Most of the time, if something comes up on either end, it gets rescheduled.

What happens at the assessment?

At the assessment, I usually start by reiterating why I am there and that I am there to help. I cannot help but be enthusiastic and excited as I genuinely LOVE to organize. I have been told I have a calming presence and put people at ease immediately, I never hesitate to encourage and reassure the client that I have seen worse. And trust me, I have.

Then we do a tour, I may take photos and measurements at this point, depending on how comfortable the client is with it. I always ask before I do anything invasive, including opening a drawer or cupboard. I usually take notes as well, making a list of everything that is not working.

Then we sit down together and talk. I used to do a lengthy questionnaire, but now I ask questions that are relevant or not as obvious. I can usually tell a person’s organizing style right away and am getting better at knowing which questions to ask, and when.

Most of the time, we schedule the first few sessions and wrap it up.

Also included is a detailed write-up of the assessment including links for both online and local solutions to the issues, with varied options depending on budget. This write-up also serves as a map, laying out where to start and the steps to take to finish the process. I break it down into sections and include estimates of time and cost for each section or project. This allows each client to budget in the priorities and start with those first. Since I teach as I work, most of the time, the client is able to finish this on their own or with the help of a friend or family member.

What kind of business expenses does an organizer have?

Some of the costs are only once, but several are ongoing.

Mentally, I always have to be a step or two ahead of my client and my husband so my mind is constantly planning ahead even in the midst of all the processes involved in decluttering and organizing.

Emotionally, it can be hard to be involved in a situation that is the result of trauma or unfortunate life changes. I have heard a lot of sad stories that I am bound (by my own contract), to keep to myself.

Spiritually, a lot of time is spent praying and trusting the Lord to take good care of us and send us the right people to help.

Physically, it can take a toll. I am lucky to have a wonderful Chiropractor and Massage Therapist who get regular visits from us both!

I offer a great value. I teach organization skills as we go, encouraging new habits. We are both hard workers and faster and more experienced than when we started.

Hiring a Professional Organizer is definitely an investment. It could cost thousands of dollars if the entire house needs attention.

The real issue is: how much does it cost to be disorganized?

How much money is wasted buying things one already has?

How much time is wasted looking for things?

How often are appointments missed as a result?

What about first impressions?

How much extra time does it take to clean a cluttered home?

Twenty-three percent of people in America have a bedroom that is not being used for anything except to store clutter. Seventy percent of the clutter in that room has not been used in ten years.

Let’s figure the cost of the space being used. Say you have a two-thousand square foot home that is worth four-hundred-thousand. Take the cost of your home divided by the square footage. In this case two-hundred per square foot. If you are using a small ten by ten square-foot bedroom for your clutter then the clutter in that room is taking up twenty-thousand dollars.

Seventy-five percent of people cannot use their own garage to park in.

Now let’s assume the garage is a very small two car garage, four-hundred square feet, that equals eighty-thousand dollars

So that is ONE-HUNDRED-THOUSAND DOLLARS!

Not to mention storage units: in the United States, sixty-five percent of self-storage renters have a garage in their home, forty-seven percent have an attic, and thirty-three percent have a basement.

The average storage unit costs approximately one-hundred-fifty dollars a month.

Add renters insurance to cover the contents of the unit. That is a minimum of eighteen-hundred dollars per year to house clutter.

Funny how most folks want to hold onto this stuff because of how much it cost to get in the first place…

Other ways clutters costs us:

Time

Statistics claim we spend an entire year of our lives just LOOKING FOR SOMETHING WE MISPLACED!

Let’s say you make one-hundred-thousand dollars a year, add that in…

Space

The room filled with clutter could be used for a craft room or a grandchild’s sleepover spot.

Energy

Clutter makes forty percent more housework and makes it significantly difficult as well.

Memory and Focus

Our brains like order, and constant visual reminders of disorganization drain our cognitive resources, meaning our brains must constantly “do something” with what it is seeing. Clutter is like an app running in the background. We can’t give other things our full attention, reducing our ability to focus. The visual distraction of clutter increases cognitive overload and can reduce our working memory.

Sleep

Clutter causes stress in your brain, because it has to continually process it. Stress raises cortisol which makes hard to sleep, makes us gain weight, causes anxiety, and many other physical issues.

Relationships

All those things just mentioned are going to have a toll on our mental well-being which in turn affects all our relationships.

Return on investment

Just like hiring a plumber or electrician, hiring a professional organizer comes at a price.  I have the tools and techniques to take a house from cluttered and chaotic to contained and calm.

But the return on investment is HUGE.

Money. Actual Money

I have found literal money several times, one hundred dollar bills, long lost credit cards, gift cards, coin collections… GOLD.

That isn’t including the hundreds of thousands one can potentially SAVE by decluttering and implementing functional systems and new habits.

Future Expenses

When decluttering and organizing, many people find things they simply did not know, or had forgotten they had. Decluttering and organizing creates awareness to prevent you from buying what is already in the house.

Motivation

As you move through and declutter, the new space will provide new energy and long-lost motivation. I encourage my clients to do things on their own and before you know it, they don’t need me anymore!

Pride

Calling in an organizer can sometimes bring a sense of shame or guilt to a potential client.  Organizing can truly take what was once a place in which you wanted to hide from the world into a place that you are proud of.  

Time

Possibly even YEARS…

Energy

When you don’t have to avoid all the clutter and chaos, you find new energy you didn’t even know you had. I see it after two or three sessions, and it makes a huge difference.

Peace and Calm

I have said it before and I will say it again, most people do not know how much weight physical clutter can hold.  It adds stress to each day and with an organized home and life, you will find a sense of calm and feel more relaxed in the place that you call home.