If with every glance at your daily calendar, you become increasingly convinced there aren’t enough hours in the day, you’re certainly not alone.

Trisha Flaherty became all too familiar with that feeling, first as a busy professional woman and again when she became a mother in 2003. But the rush to fulfill family and work obligations also allowed her to realize that a service designed around “lifestyle management” was perhaps what other people just like her desperately needed.

“At some point in all of our lives, we make the decision to spend money to allow us the freedom of more time, whether it be more time at work, more time with family or simply more time to do the things we enjoy,” said Flaherty, who launched Metropolis P.A. in November. Though lifestyle-management businesses have become prominent in large metropolitan areas, she said they are just beginning to catch on in Greater Des Moines.

Metropolis provides services to individuals, such as running errands, grocery shopping and event planning. A list of services is available on the company’s Web site, but Flaherty won’t put a limit on what services she’s willing to provide her clients.

But with some businesses already offering these types of services in Greater Des Moines, Flaherty has tailored Metropolis’ offerings to place a greater emphasis on serving the business community. Her services range from office and workspace organization to mailing projects, organizing trade shows, event coordination or an evaluation of staffing needs. But she also plans to work with companies to include her services in employees’ benefits packages.

Metropolis is set up as a one-woman business, though Flaherty hires contract workers on an as-needed basis when she requires additional help. She expects to have two or three full-time employees within the next six months, and says the growth of the business could require as few as five and as many as 50 or more employees. All of that will depend on direction the business takes in the coming years.

Her long-term plans call for “lobby concierge desks” in Greater Des Moines’ larger office buildings and residential complexes. Metropolis concierges would be on hand to field requests for various services as people travel to and from work or home. The company’s other employees would then be dispatched to perform those services.

Fees range from $12.50 to $22.50 per hour, depending on the services requested. But Flaherty has also implemented a “Time to Donate” program, through which she will donate 10 hours of service each week for people in need of help, such as someone who is elderly or hospitalized. She will continue to evaluate the service and add weekly donated hours as the business grows.

Metropolis, P.A.

Address: 3727 Indianola Ave., Des Moines, Iowa 50320

Telephone: 480-2972

Web site: www.metropolispa.com

E-mail address: tflaherty@metropolispa.com