Business sees change in lifestyles
“Want-based business” has dropped due to the recession, but “need-based” client requests are strong, said Bal Agrawal, president of LifeWorx in New Canaan and Chappaqua, N.Y.
 “Demand has shifted from things like organizing to child care, since organizing is a bit more discretionary and some say, ”˜I”™ll put it off or do it myself,”™” Agrawal said. “We”™ve seen an increase in child care and eldercare.
“Maybe 75 percent have a need and a smaller section is just purely lifestyle,” he said. “Right now, need is growing more. Lifestyle is a bit more on the back burner because of people being more frugal.”
LifeWorx, a home resource services company Agrawal founded in his basement four years ago after a 22 year stint at Praxair Inc. in Danbury, Conn., has grown to include a services staff of 150 and seven in-house employees.
Agrawal”™s company concept began with an observation of how corporate America functioned.Â
“When you look at the corporate world, everything is an organization and structure and everything just works,” he said. “Then, when I tried to find help at home, it was always a touch and go.”
Agrawal said that after his wife passed away, he had several unpleasant experiences where his home life was concerned.
“I started to think, ”˜How come in the home it”™s just whatever happens, happens, with no assurance of quality?”™” Agrawal said. “So, initially I really wanted to make sure consumers had good information and then consumers started asking us to provide services.”
Beginning with three our four services, LifeWorx now offers nine, including: chef services, nannies, organization, personal assistants, child care, eldercare, pet care, cleaning and housekeeping.
LifeWorx provides live-in nannies, which Agrawal said accounts for approximately 20 percent of the full-time nanny service business.
The rate is $600 to $1,200 a week.
LifeWorx”™s professional organizing services, available for both a client”™s home or office, range from $50 to $80 per hour.
“We have people with master”™s degrees that want to be doing nanny work and people with MBA degrees that want to do the organizing,” Agrawal said. “They can go into an office, organize the workflow, bring productivity and can streamline operations for many of our clients.”
Experience and performance are the keys to success as a LifeWorx employee, Agrawal said.
“We are very particular,” Agrawal said. “A person has to be legal. They have to have a clean driving record and clean credit history. They cannot have a criminal history.
“Even if somebody is going to come to somebody”™s house for two hours a week, we”™ll never send a person that I would not feel comfortable sending to my own home,” he said.
“A lot of them are trained in CPR and first aid or have computer training. Some have gone to professional domestic institutes or have taken child care courses.”
Said Lisa Connolly, human resources and recruiting manager, “I think when we recruit someone who really helps out a family or is their lifesaver ”“ that is really what it”™s all about.”
“I want to make getting good help at home as simple as getting a good cup of coffee,” Agrawal said, of his company”™s vision. “Tell me the hours, duties, location and the type of service you want, and I should be able to find that person within half of an hour.”
The Web site is www.lifeworx.net.