Home staging Business 101( All you need to know )

HGTV anyone, raise your hand if you love watching that show.

I watched like tons of it, I loved watching how ugly homes were bought, transformed and sold at a good amount.

I loved Fixer-upper Flip or Flop and Love it or List it.

My love for interior décor and design started long ago when I moved to a new home.

I was involved with the designer that designed my home, I got to pick the colors that worked for me and that home turned out perfect.

Today I will be talking about starting a home staging business from the perspective of Home business.

I know that sounds cocky but I guess I will let it slide.

For those who love to watch HGTV or are interested in real estate, you will always see those guys who offload the furniture and arrange empty homes to make it look beautiful before it is listed for sale, those people are called home stagers.

The work of a Home stager goes a long way to help increase the value of a home.

Real estate agents have been known to sell property well above their value because they engaged a good home stager who brought out the beauty of the home.

They also help to create an ambiance which makes people consider buying a property.

Update

Since the COVID19 crisis started, people have often wondered how can they start home staging business when everyone is staying home and avoiding going out.

Due to the crisis, a lot of people are more cautious because of the impact of the disease.

The good thing is also that the house prices are going down and a lot of people are selling off their properties.

This translates into more business as a home stager .

So what do you do to ensure that your social distance while you work as a home stager?

Here are tips that can help you

Social Distancing Tips for Home stagers.

👉Do most of your client meetings online to avoid in the face appointments

👉Use videos to show the work you have done before when marketing your business

👉Create social distance guidelines for your collaborators and ensure they follow the guidelines.

👉Disinfect your staging pieces and furniture to ensure you are not spreading the virus while moving furniture around

👉Use protective gear and masks and ensure that you wash off after your work

👉Avoid eating during office hours, this prevents you from touching your mouth during work periods.

To start a Home Staging Business here is what you need to do.

1.Understand your Market

Home staging is like an accessory to the real estate market.

This means that most Home staging business jobs are in conjunction with real estate agents or homeowners who are looking to sell their homes.

Home staging helps to bring out the beauty in a home and also enhances the essential qualities in a home.

This makes it appealing to the buyer.

You will need to study your Real estate market before you decide to start your business.

For instance, here are some questions you may need to answer before you proceed.

-Where are the homes selling, what seasons do you see for sale signs everywhere?

-Who are the Real estate agents who are involved in selling these homes and how will you approach them to market your services?

-Where is the next Real estate fair taking place and how will you participate?

These are some of the questions you need to ask yourself so as to get a good knowledge of what the market is about before you dive in.

2. Put together a Portfolio

One of the beautiful things about Home décor and Home staging is the fact that a picture is worth a thousand words.

This means that once people see your pictures they quickly have an idea of what you can do.

So in starting Home staging business, the first thing you may need to do is to put together a photo album that you can use as your own portfolio.

This will give people an idea of what you can offer.

Remember to take the before and after pictures so as to illustrate the difference that your services made in the home you staged.

If you are just starting out you can use your own home or a close friend’s home.

You may even reach out to Homeowners who are trying to sell their homes and offer to home -stage for them for free in exchange for recommendations and referrals.

3.Network with Real estate Agents:

When one is starting a business, one of the most daunting tasks is always where do I start from? how do I reach out to people who need my services?

I think the first thing you may need to do is to connect to people who are selling homes, that is the Real estate companies and agents and offer to work with them.

You can choose to start by showing them your portfolio or even offer free services for a start so they can see your handwork before perhaps making a commitment to you.

Another set of people that you need to connect with are furniture sellers, renters, and logistics people and generally, stores who sell their goods to homeowners.

You can also connect with local people who live in your area, they are often the ones who know what homes are hot on the market and those who are eager to sell.

4. Write a one Page Business Plan

A business plan is a document that enables you to know how to make money from your business.

I know that when people hear the word business plan, their mind gets switched off.

Especially if you don’t consider your self-business savvy.

But it does not have to be something fanciful, just a one-page business plan will do.

If you want one, please go here.

Your business plan will enable you to plan and itemize your income streams and decide how you are going to make money from those income streams.

5.Marketing:

Your marketing plan is an integral part of what you will be doing in other to land your first client.

Getting your name out there may require the following marketing drives

–Set up a one-page website

To learn how to build a one-page website you can read my post on how to start a Blog when you are not Techy.

Yes it’s not a blog that you are starting but a simple website is no different from a blog setting, that’s why I refer you to that post.

You can also hire me to build one for you, go here to book an appointment.

Set up your Online Presence:

Start by setting up your different social pages like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Because Home staging business is a visual-based business, you should be on Instagram and Pinterest, It pays to understand what platform will enhance your business.

Build an email List

Nothing assures easy sales like having a quality email list that you can market your home staging services to.

Building your email list is the number one marketing activity you should embark on as you start your home staging business.

Why is this important? Because it will help you to build quality leads that you can actually launch your service business to.

If you want to learn how to build an email list, read my post on how to build an email marketing plan for your small business

I also went ahead to create an email marketing strategy planner that will help you to create your email strategy and implement it.

My email marketing strategy planner contains 72- pages of planner sheets with tips, guides, and plans on how to create and implements a solid email strategy for your home staging business

Tap the button below to get it

Offline Marketing Activities

-Attend local Real estate fairs and distribute your marketing materials aka, Cards, Fliers, and Banners.

-Check out your neighborhood for recent listings or even properties that haven’t sold in a while.

Perhaps your staging business can contribute to enhancing its value.

-Submitting your portfolio to Real estate offices.

Skills that you may require to start 

Home staging business is an unstructured industry, therefore, you may not need any kind of licensing in other to set up your business.

Except of course incorporating your company, businesses want to deal with businesses, not individuals.

-A natural talent for decorating, designing and staging

This may be an innate quality that you have within you, in that case, you just need to brush it up by reading up materials that are related to the business and increasing your knowledge.

You may also decide to take a course if you can afford it.

One of the people I will advise you to take a course from is an industry professional who knows what she is talking about when it comes to home staging business.

You can look up Debrah Gould from stagingdiva.com

She is all-time industry personnel who offers courses in Home Staging.

Her courses are pricey but I know they are worth it

-A good Knowledge of interior designing and home décor will be of enormous advantage.

A keen eye for organizing things:

Since home staging is about arranging stuff to tell a story or create an ambiance, you should have a keen eye for organizing things to make it work.

Love for shopping and decorating:

You love to shop for furniture decor accessories, you know how to get a good bargain.

Revamping furniture:

Love for refurbishing and refinishing furniture to make it look new.

Color combination:

Natural sense of color combination and coordination.

Business skills:

Which includes marketing, budgeting, negotiating, proposal writing, contract drafting.

Photography:

Ability to take pictures from an angle that gives the best benefit.

P.S: You may not have all these skills.

But if you have a love for decorating and interiors, you can begin to actually learn and implement on your small projects till you perfect it.

Types of  Services You Can Offer as Part of your Home Staging Business

Home Staging  For Sale: This involves when you are staging a home for Real estate agents who want to sell a client’s home.

Home staging for Rent: This involves staging a home for rental purposes, perhaps to vacationers or even long-term living.

Color Consultation: This involves color consulting for the homeowner to know what types of color suits them.

So as to guide them in choosing the best color spectrum for their homes.

Home decorating: This involves furnishing and decorating homes for individuals who want such services.

But are not interested in hiring an expensive home designer.

General consultation: This is a general consultation that can be done online.

it is mainly for people who desire to decorate their homes themselves but have no idea where to start from.

This could involve, coaching calls, online written instructions.

Resources you will require to start a Home Staging Business

-A business license and structure

-A good camera

-Laptop

-Phone

-Home office

-Initial start-up capital

A home business planner: To help you brainstorm all your ideas, put them together and get a business strategy for your business.

Click the buy now button below to get it

For more resources on how to start a Home Staging Business visit here

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