LakeTime Management

VCEDC October Business of the Month

Congratulations to

LakeTime Management

8580 Huber Lane 

Minocqua, WI 54548 Phone: 

(715) 892-5232 

Kelly@LakeTimeWi.com

We were delighted recently to have a conversation with Kelly Cooper, Owner, LakeTime Management, regarding their executive home management and personalized concierge services business located in Minocqua and Eagle River. 

Tell us about LakeTime Management.

 Our favorite compliment from clients has to be 

         “Thank you for giving us our Sundays back.”  

We hear this frequently as Sundays in the Northwoods can tend to slip away from us as they are often spent on personal and household chores. Our weekend residents can especially attest to this. 

The quintessence of this comes from the realities of lake home living. The lake home lifestyle can get so easily bogged down with time consuming tasks that can greatly hinder ones’ ability to enjoy life. We welcome our clients to explore a life where their “to do list” is handled professionally.  At LakeTime, we encourage our clients to delegate to us those tasks that keep them from living their best Northwoods lifestyles. 

We are a private concierge service and house management service company based here in the Wisconsin Northwoods. We manage lake homes and estates as well as corporate owned retreat properties. We service clients throughout Vilas and Oneida Counties, with offices located in Eagle River and Minocqua.  

Our most fulfilling work is helping client families create and maintain their ideal Northwoods lifestyle.

How many staff do you have? 

We currently have four year-round employees, and we build our service team to around 10-15 seasonal staff. In addition, we coordinate an extensive list of professional support services through our preferred service vendor network. 

Why was it important for you to start this business in the Northwoods and expand into Eagle River? 

A personal experience of tragic loss brought me to the creation of this business. Through this experience, I realized the need to explore better opportunities for our local workforce in the seasonal support services. The vision for LakeTime Management is to support, encourage, mentor, and empower a collective of front-line service professionals. We can see now more than ever the incredible need to focus attention on the needs and future of our local workforce. 

Originally started as a home-based business in 2010, a few years ago we entered our Minocqua office. We opened our second office in Eagle River in 2020. The Eagle River office is a game changer as it enables us to establish our logistical base. We are positioned to best serve and welcome clients within the Eastern half of Vilas and Oneida counties as well as the Western half. 

 It’s important for me to share that the VCEDC has played a significant role in our decision to expand with the opening of our Eagle River office. 

Over the years of growing this business, I’ve come to recognize the value of a strong community support system for local small businesses. Vilas County offers this to small businesses. Sometimes, a listening ear is all one needs to keep moving forward when tough decisions need to be made. Other times, we need direct guidance and access to small business resources. Our VCEDC is that “someone in our corner”.  

How has your business grown?

As a professional concierge service we have always welcomed our clients to request anything as long as it was legal, ethical, and insurable. We honestly started out with the expectation of providing occasional oil changes, errand services, and grocery shopping. As we grew and welcomed each new client over the years, they have presented us with new challenges and their lifestyle goals. 

From the beginning to today we have experienced quite an evolution. Today, our service coordination menu looks a little more like the following:

• Property interior and exterior maintenance including boats, snowmobiles, and ATVs
• Professional housekeeping, laundry services/ironing linens
• Meal preparation, chef services, intimate private dining events and parties
• Transportation services-private air charter, ground transportation/chauffeur services
• Guest services, meeting and itinerary coordination, excursions and day trip coordination
• Seasonal (also monthly or weekly) household staffing services of butler, chef, vehicle/boat chauffeur, maid services

We have grown professionally right along with our client’s needs. We have found our place within the National Concierge Association, National Home Watch Association, and national private service industry mentors. We rely on these affiliations for best practices, skill training, and professional development so that we can best serve our clients with full confidence and competence. 

We have also grown our preferred vendor network and with that, our capacity to better serve our clients. We are so proud to work with this community’s best local businesses and support services. It has taken years to build our preferred vendor network that is based on mutual trust and respect. As a collective of businesses, we have the ability to negotiate better service terms and priority scheduling on behalf of our clients. 

Through our active affiliation with the National Concierge Association and National Home Watch Associations, we have professional connections throughout the country. This allows us to safely rely on a trusted network of service professionals in other key destinations. A number of our clients own several properties throughout the country. It is always our pleasure to be of service wherever that need may be.  LakeTime Management has professional service connections in the private service and concierge industries in Door County, Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis, Chicago as well as Florida, Texas, New York, Arizona, and California. It’s always incredible, no matter how far away we always seem to find someone with fond connections to Vilas County.  

How do you give back to the community?  

We support several local community organizations, lake/chain associations, and community programs with financial, gift, or in-kind donations. 

However, we believe our greatest impact is in mentorship service to our employees and service businesses. 

Local talent can be found in some of the most unsuspecting places. We are here to help open doors for that talent and, when appropriate, we help to cultivate new business startups particularly in the luxury home market like chef services, laundry services, craftsmanship, and detail services. 

What would you tell other business owners looking to start a business in Vilas County?

The odds of success improve when you feel the welcoming support behind you. This is something you won’t find in all communities. We credit the VCEDC and the Vilas County communities for their role in encouraging and mentoring our local businesses.

Congratulations!