As soon as you come up with a name for your home staging business, you should waste no time in grabbing the domain name for it. If you don't know what a domain name is, it's the technical term for your website address or URL. If the domain name for your business isn't available, that means someone else is probably already using that name for their own business. If you're tossing around different ideas for names, checking if the domains are available can actually help you make your final decision.
If you're trying to start a home staging business, you might be wondering how you are actually going to get paid. This is one of the important steps in setting up a business - determining whether you'll take checks, cash and/or credit cards. The ability to accept credit card payments is appealing to home stagers, especially since the amounts you're getting paid are usually quite high. Setting up a merchant account, however, is very expensive. Not only do you have to pay a large sum to the bank just to apply for and then set up the account, you also have to pay a certain amount each month regardless of whether or not you have any transactions.
Colette Smith has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. This former owner and operator of a picture framing and gallery shop is now using her business acumen and talent for decorating to help homeowners in the Perth Metropolitan area of Australia sell their homes fast.
I get approximately five calls a week from people interested in shadowing me for a day to see how I work as a home stager. I have yet to say yes, and if you're trying to find a successful home stager to shadow before you start your own business, you're not making a good use of your time.
Becoming a home stager doesn't mean you have to get yourself into credit card debt stocking up on art, accessories, towels and bedding. If you've been putting off your desire to learn home staging because you're not prepared for these expenses, you should know you have other options. When it comes to accessories, towels and bedding - those types of things - when I need to purchase them for a client, I use their money and everything ends up belonging to my clients.
You know that kitchens and bathrooms sell houses, but that doesn’t mean you can ignore other parts of a house when it comes to staging it to sell. One of the most neglected yet biggest selling features of a home is the garage. Many homeowners think they can simply close the garage door when they put their house on the market and hope potential buyers won’t notice the clutter or hope they will forgive the mess.
Part of the reason for the current foreclosure situation is that people were buying homes they just couldn’t afford. This was due in no small part to the fact that home prices were increasing at unprecedented rates, and salaries could in no way keep up with these inflated prices. If the real estate market becomes more realistically priced, is that really a bad thing?
If you’re trying to find out everything you can about being in the home staging business, you’ve probably heard of a program guaranteeing employment as a home stager at a rate of $24-$30 per hour. While that might sound like a lot if you’re used to earning minimum wage, it’s actually a very low salary for a home stager.
Many moms are feeling like it’s time to do something for themselves. Especially in these tough economic times, many are also looking for ways to contribute to the household income. When the kids head back to school after March or Spring Break, is it time for Mom to look at new ways to spend the time while they are at school?
When you aspire to be a successful home stager, drowning in debt is not a good place to be. You should only borrow money to pay for things that will help you make money. In other words, borrow only to invest in your success. You already know that it’s not a good idea to drown yourself in debt, but when you borrow money to improve your future, it is not a debt so much as an investment.
A career in home staging is unique in many ways including the flexibility it offers, the minimal cash investment needed to get started and the satisfying income you can enjoy as you grow your business. Not all start-ups offer the same benefits as a home staging business does especially in this economic climate. After looking at the following list of other design-oriented business types you’ll quickly see why a career in home staging can be much more enjoyable, secure and profitable...
If you’ve been dreaming of starting a home staging business but are hesitant to quit your job to do so in this recessed economy, you should consider a few things. For starters, all you have to do is turn on the news to know there’s no such thing as job security anymore. Even if you currently have a job, it’s not a bad idea to set up your home staging business on the side!
Too many of us are being sucked in by all of the negative news coming from every direction. But we aren’t taking the time to step back and look at things from a more balanced perspective. A steady stream of negative news stories about the real estate industry might have you particularly concerned if you have been hoping to start a home staging business.
Many design-oriented individuals decide to become home stagers without any kind of business training or marketing knowledge. While they mean well, they often stumble into some terrible marketing tactics that will likely put them out of business faster than you can say, “What were they thinking?” In part one of this article series, I discussed why using sex appeal and inappropriate humor are awful ideas for home stagers trying to build their businesses and be taken seriously. Today I’ll share another marketing tactic that will probably put your home staging business under...
Because the home staging industry is completely unregulated, anybody can call him or herself a home stager. This is one of many reasons too many real estate stagers get into the industry with no business or marketing training whatsoever. Many of these home stagers have good intentions, but end up using awful marketing tactics to try to grow their businesses, and end up sabotaging their businesses instead.
Unfortunately, many individuals with a talent for decorating attempt to become home stagers without any kind of business training or marketing knowledge. With the best of intentions they stumble into some awful marketing tactics that will put them out of business faster than you can say, "What were they thinking?"
In this slow real estate market, how long would you let your home sit on the market with no offers before looking for a solution? Would you accept your real estate agent's advice and cut your listing price dramatically to generate interest? What if giving up all your equity by selling at a rock bottom price still wasn't enough to generate a sale?
If a career in home staging is what your future holds, there are many opportunities ahead for you and there’s no better time to start preparing than today. In part one of this article series, aspiring home stagers were given the first two steps they can take now, towards starting their businesses; determining if home staging is the right career for them, and thinking up a name. The following are three additional steps that can be taken immediately to help build a profitable home staging business...
If you’re considering a career in home staging, you could be heading towards a bright future with many amazing opportunities. Even if the idea is still being tossed around inside your head, there’s plenty you can be doing now to help set yourself up for success if and when you decide to take the plunge and follow your passion.
Some home stagers mistakenly believe they need to carry their own furniture inventory because they live in a small town where there isn’t a large furniture rental company. Unfortunately, many of these stagers end up broke and out of business with nothing but truckloads of furniture and a pile of debt.
