1. Customized shopping tours. Especially if you have connections to manufacturers and can offer clients a visit to showrooms where they can get "discounts" or to select antique dealers.

2. Concierge services for apartment renters including checking on rental apartments for prospective tenants. Might be conflict of interest with the owners..tricky.

3. Some kind of wedding service that you could market to brides who want a "romantic" Paris wedding.

I am sure that none of these are unique, but sometimes it is just a question of how you slant it and how much editorial publicity you can garner for yourself

I agree with ekscrunchy; someone may already be doing some of these services/tour ideas but can you do it better? different? For example, there may be 100 people who say they will take you around Paris for the day, but who immediately comes to mind when someone here asks about a Paris guide? Yep, Michael - because he is excellent at what he does, he does it better than most and with his own style. Now apply that concept to some of these other things and you just might be able to pull it off.

Michael comes to mind only because his name is self-perpetuating here. A bit like Rick Steeves. Each community has its favorites, but that's usually not enough to support a business.

It's really, <i>really</i> hard to make money with gadget services like these in Paris, so don't get your hopes up. It's best to already be rich before you arrive.

Hi,

I like the idea of taking people shopping. I have always wanted to shop in the small antique stores, cooking stores, and small boutiques. Good luck

Anthony, green is not your color! lol

Isabelisa, what do you think the suggestions so far?

What is missing in Paris?

Well, if you order my book, &quot;How to turn a Vacation into a Job - or Vice Versa&quot; for $34.95 plus shipping and handling, I'll tell you. (And if you order now, you'll also receive, at no extra charge, the companion volume: &quot;How to Make Money on the Stock Market in the Way I Never Did, Such That I Sell Advice Instead&quot;.



Seriously, I would find something you would enjoy doing just for the experience, and if it turns out to make a little money for you, great. This is, of course, assuming that you don't have a pressing need for income immediately. In which case look for a job as a secretary for a company that provides services to trade shows or conferences held in Paris.

Maybe the concierge/planning/arranging services, but with a specialty? (this coming from someone who hasn't been to Paris, which may be a positive for this angle)

How many people, at least among many Americans it seems, think of Paris with a uniquely romantic image? How many honeymoons, anniversaries, weekend whirlwinds and long-dreamt-first-big-trip's target Paris as their goal?

It'd seem like a fairly high percentage to me. Yet I type &quot;Paris&quot; &quot;romance&quot; in Google and do you know in the first one hundred results, I didn't see a single service offering personal assistance in that area? Tons of articles about the subject (imagine getting the fluff piece travel writers to include links to your services). Hotel, where to propose, event planning, end-to-end city of lights romance.

Do you know how many guys have no idea how to arrange their first big trip to Europe, much less make it a memorable, exciting, and romantic honeymoon?

I'm just sayin'

france and the rest of the latin countries are closed business societies as compared to northern europe and america. it is extremely difficult for disconnected outsiders to get real jobs (expat assignments excluded) or run successful businesses embedded in the local business environment.

because of this, just about every outsider (retiree from overseas, bored trailing spouse, etc) has the idea to start a business to serve their own community rather than the local community....organising tours, introducing people to local life, etc. most of these things provide little value and there are many of them. these people think that they have a unique skill in understanding both business cultures and markets but it is usually their inability to operate in the local business climate that has lead them to these sorts of ventures in the first place.

i think you should analyse your own strengths, qualifications, skills, connections and experience in order to find your idea. just trying to build a business around being an american who speaks french and knows a little (or a lot) about the city is not enough to build a business IMO.

Thank you so much for all of your suggestions. I realize there is a lot of competition but I am not sure that eveything has been thought of yet.
Just to give you some background, I am 30, studied art history and worked for a start up travel management company in New York and also lived and worked as a tourguide in Rome.

When in Rome recently i was talking to an Italian and he mentioned an Irish gal about your age there who was taking folks around the Vatican as a personal guide and he said she was taking groups of 20 who paid here about 20 euros a piece. So this thing is possible.

Green IS my color, but I'm not wearing it in this case. I am not in competition with Michael Osman, but the subject has come up often enough for me to form a few opinions.

First of all, since this is a forum where people come to get information, I think it is a shame that every time someone mentions Paris (even something as vague as &quot;what to do&quot, the cheering section pops up. It's boring and predictable.

Given, as noted, the number of people providing similar services, I am amazed by the number of people willing to continue to patronize someone, no matter how nice he is, who can't even respond to e-mails. While I am not a competitor, I do have enough experience to be offended by shoddy business practices.

Finally, I have gathered that some of Michael's popularity may be attributed to his rates, which I gather are considerably lower than his competitors. Most people who go into business don't have the luxury of cutting their rates to that extent.

Now, I'll brace myself for the inevitable defenders.

And that, Toupary, is why I always recommend a DIFFERENT guide (though I have met Michael and he is indeed charming).

PalenQ: I toured Assisi with &quot;that Irish gal&quot; (who doesn't like her real name to be mentioned on BBs), and she's got quite a nice business going.

StCirq, I have no doubt he is charming. I just wish people would post more on their experiences with other guides -- such as the one you recommend.

There is already a service for vistors eating with local families. You can find it on the city of Paris website.

Toupary &amp; St. Circ - missing the point! My example was not to start a thread on which tour guide is best. My point was that there can be 100 guides, agents, personal shoppers etc., but if you can do it better or more unique than the next guy you can make some money. Marketing, connections, funding, skill, personality and more all come into play. Whatever Isabelisa does she will have to make herself stand out.

Your art background is intriguing; perhaps you could build around that?

Isabelisa,
my suggestion is somewhat different than the others or your original ideas. I wonder if you've given it any consideration.

isabelisa, relocation companies offer this type of service, some in greater depth than others. It is big companies who can be made to realize someone has to keep the relocated family happy.

Promoting your services with a very professional pamphlet to a couple big companies (where you might know someone) to start out, or see if any of the large relocation companies need extra part time staff.

you can find a list of official relocation companies through the european relocation association &quot;EURA&quot;.

event planning may also be interesting to you. one must find the clients, as in everythig, but there is plenty of work in that field. it certainly can be stressful though.

a personalized wedding service, designer shopping at workshops, and home meals/winery tours all sounded like very interesting proposals to me.

are you able to interpret at business meetings? This is an excellent form of income.

Many u.s. universities have programs abroad and need local people to be on board to help provide services for many permanent students. the u.s embassy will have a list of those universities. in fact, if you can find out a new small one that is trying to set up a program.. you could really get in on the ground level if this would interest you.

good luck, i am sure something will come of your energy in this project. hopefully it will grow SLOWLY to what you want it to be! Best of luck!

Paris attracts a number of solo travelers particularly women (like me) in their 30's - 50's and up. I know how to meet people and all but sometimes? I would love it if there was a service that arranged for meals in local restaurants with other solo travelers, especially dinner. I would pay a fee for someone who made the resrvations, put out the word on where and when to meet and arranged it so that the ages of the participants fits with my demographic. A reasonable size would be important. If shopping tours were also offered especially with themes such as antiwues, jewelry etc. that would also be great. I liek independent travel, but sometimes I want company. I don't always meet people easily and someone who arranged a little help in that area would be welcome.

Shopping tours. A mini-bus charter for groups out to the outlet malls. The out-of-the-way places like the Institut du Monde Arabe boutique where you can buy those lovely babouches (slippers) and have a cup of mint tea. Dehillerin kitchen supply. Diptyqe candle shop. The fabric district at Montmartre. All things that take time to discover for yourself and to get to.

And how could I have forgotten the flea markets?! It would be great if someone who didn't speak French had someone to bargain with sellers.