Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Braun.
Hi Julie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstory.
The concept of my business started in a dream. My previous background was in finance and accounting, and I was tired of sitting behind a desk and crunching numbers. One night, I had a dream, woke up, and wrote down Business/Home Organizing. The next day, I googled this and discovered Professional Organizing! Many businesses exist in the Twin Cities Metro Area; however, there were no organizing businesses in the St. Cloud area. I was working at the Workforce Center at the St. Cloud Tech College to find a different career path, and when I told my coach I was thinking about starting my own business, she said they had a program for me! They referred me to the Small Business Development Center at St Cloud State University, and they assisted me with creating a business plan and developing a website.
I had a couple of organizing projects before I was hired to clear out a home, leading to hosting an onsite estate sale. My daughter, who now works for me full time, and 2 friends helped me on this project. Covid hit right after the first estate sale, and I was nervous. I had contracted with a local painting company to inventory and organize their supply room. Part of the contract was selling a semi-trailer full of antiques when we had time. They canceled the supply room portion of the project but were willing to let us work on selling the antiques. I engaged my daughter and friends to assist with this, and we quickly realized this project could not be done working out of my garage. That led us to rent a building in Sauk Rapids to process the inventory, and that led to the opening of our retail store, the SOS Treasure Chest, where we sell our clients’ items that they have purged on a commission basis. I currently have 16 team members, and we assist our clients with basic organizing in their homes or offices; those who are downsizing, hoarders, and we have created a niche in our area for hosting onsite estate sales.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I have been blessed with great opportunities and great staff! The biggest struggle early on was the fear of not having enough work for my team, so we started taking on cleaning clients as guaranteed income. We currently have 20+ clients that we clean for on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. We also do deep cleaning of homes.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Smart Organizing Solutions is a professional organizing business. We have created a niche in estate sale management. We have expanded our services to include assisting hoarders and cleaning, and we have a retail store where we sell our client’s purged items on a commission basis. I am proud of my team and their dedication and compassion to our clients.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some changes you expect to see over the next five to ten years?
The demand for our services will increase as the baby boomers downsize into smaller homes. The younger generations are not materialistic, meaning they only want a little of their parent’s or grandparents’ treasures. This provides lots of inventory for the SOS Treasure Chest!
Pricing:
- Free Consultation
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sosmn.net
- Facebook: Smart Organizing Solutions and SOS Treasure Chest
