» Blog Archive re: Business of Staging Homes

re: Business of Staging Homes

I know, I write mean emails. But if you are not serious about making a career change into something you are not familiar with and you are easily intimidated, think again.

(photo by oberazzi)

—–Original Message—–
From: Aspiring Stager
To:cindy@staged4more.com
Subject: Re: Business of Staging homes

Thank you Cindy for your prompt response. Basically I want to know how
to go about getting into the home staging business. Do you need a
background in interior design or can it be something you pick up by being
in the industry. I have a background in Advertising and art, so I was
wondering if that could benefit me in any way or I need more.

If you have any suggestions and/or advice, I would greatly appreciate
it.

Aspiring Stager

————————————————————————-

First of all staging is very different from interior design. If you
can’t see the differences between the 2, you will be in trouble when you
get in the business. I would recommend to do some research and see if
this is something that you want to do.

I would recommend you to figure out first: why staging? Why do you want
to be in this business? Is it because it looks fun/easy/glamorous on
TV? I recently staged for HGTV, it was not glamorous at all. Staging
sounds like a great income opportunity? You want to release your inner
artist? Or you want to be a small business owner?

Second, do you like real estate? Simply like looking at houses are not
enough to cut it in this business. This business has a very high
turnover for a reason, a lot of stagers that started with me or before me are
no longer in business after 1-3 years. You will need to be able to
transition from hot to cold markets, especially entering into the market
as a new Stager. It will be much more difficult for you to cope.

Third, do you like people? If you don’t, real estate is not for you.
This is a business about relationships and networks, more so than other
professions.

Fourth, are you prepared to work very hard in your business? Are you
going to treat this as a business or you are going to be a hobby Stager,
weekend warrior? It’s not a 9 to 5 job once you commit to it. I work
practically 24/7. I think about running my business in the shower, when
I eat, even at social occasions I talk to friend and their friends
about my business. I am almost always talking about it out there everyday.
I even had dreams where I staged clients’ houses. If you don’t have any
passion for it, the tedious and financial side of running a business
can quickly wear you out.

Last but not least, the most important one - what is your financial
goal and your finance’s past, present and future? I used to teach public
yoga classes (I still love it, I just don’t teach it anymore since my
business takes up a lot of my time), my teacher said something that was
very important: “if you can’t balance your checkbook, you have no
business to be a yoga teacher, because you will starve quickly.” just the
same with staging. If you don’t have a financial reserve before you get
started and have a clear goal of your financial picture and future, you
will quickly fizzle on the business side.

If you have thought about all 5 questions and still want to be a
Stager, the I encourage you to take a staging training. It helps you to get
foot in the door and align yourself with like minded people. I recently
wrote a blog on the subject, you can go to my site and read it.

Hope the helps,
Cindy