5 Steps to Starting a Home Staging Business – Part 2
Article Overview: The Staging Diva® advises aspiring home stagers on the five steps to take before starting a staging business.
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5 Steps to Starting a Home Staging Business – Part 2
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:
3. Practice, practice, practice. Arrange and rearrange your own home and the homes of friends and family members who will indulge you! While you’re at it, take lots of before and after photos that you can use for your home staging portfolio and ask for endorsements from the people you’re decorating for. When the time comes to develop your portfolio, you’ll be glad you thought ahead!
4. Fill your head with knowledge. Learn as much as you can. Read home staging blogs and become familiar with your local real estate market. This is key because as a stager, you are decorating houses to sell which means you need to know what's happening in your local real estate market. Sign up for newsletters that will help you grow your business, those that are home staging specific and others that are targeted towards entrepreneurs.Knowledge is power. You can’t have too much of it when you’re starting a new business.
5. Start saving money. You’ll feel better about your self-employment if you have a nest egg stashed away. Home staging is a very low-cost business to start, but you will need some money to live on in the early stages. Plus you will have to spend some money on a good digital camera, your logo and business cards, registering your business and so on. Many people who start a home staging business get their first client right away, but you never know how long it could take. It’s recommended for anyone starting a new business to have some money set aside to live on for at least a couple of months.
Related Articles
5 Steps to Starting a Home Staging Business Part 1
Home Staging Offers Job Security
Is the Home Staging Business Right for You
Aspiring Home Stagers, Don’t Count on Job Shadowing
Home Staging in Rochester, New York
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Related Forum Posts
Re: How do you budget your life?
- Here is my financial management categories for today:
15% Long Term Savings;
10% Home Expenses;
45% Business and Marketing charges;
10% Friends (Meeting);
20$ Scientific and Law Books.
But this will change when it is August or September.
Orxan
Business Innovation
- Hi Simon
If you can finish off the Business Plan and think about your strategic direction or how you are going to use your product to convince people it's a great idea, it will set the foundation for your programming project. You see, when you are looking for funding you will need a Business Plan and Strategic Plan that will convince companies to invest into your new idea.
Has anyone achieved this idea before using another industry besides health and fitness that you know of?
You should also design some mockups as a "preview" for your programming project. This will also help reduce your programming costs as everyone will know exactly what you want if you have detailed mockups already completed including any functionality you require.
Starting mockups for websites and software applications on paper is the best way if you're not a guru in graphic editing software.
My entry
- 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read
- this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody.
2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto.
3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book
Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Business Coaching Internship Review
- I joined in during the first phase of the internship and at this point we are committed to doing research and development of RSC Business Group operating in Toronto.
RSC Business Group already has products and services in Coaching Small businesses in Los Angeles but we didn't want to assume that the same products were wanted and needed in the Toronto market. Our goal at this point is to commit to interviewing 1000 business owners to capture this data.
Through the teleconference internship I've been involved in we've been focusing on Communication Skills and on active listening which are practiced when we conduct our interviews and Coach our clients when they come on board. This is a lot harder than it sounds!
Part of the internship is also creating the Toronto RSC Business Group's departments, job descriptions, Marketing and Communication plans etc that a business owner would create for their own company. This trains us in the way we would coach a company as well.
The internship is phased in two parts and there is compensation plan involved as well for the clients you personally bring in. These clients are coached directly by Robert Chun as you begin but you are given a chance to learn his techniques. I haven't gone through this experience yet though.
It's hard to explain Robert Chun's method of Coaching as it happens at a psychological level in his ability to listen and question the person being coached into the next steps they need to take.
The Teleconferences are 2 hours long but it's very interactive. If you have a desire to explore this area of Business I'd recommend contacting Vwodek listed above and get invited to a Coaching Conference call. You can decided then if it's for you.
Note: it is a commitment but the skills you walk away with whether you plan on working with RSC Business Group or not is invaluable.
Getting Started In Your New Internet Business
- I always think it’s fun and exciting to start a new Internet business. I know for me that I would do something that I’m interested and passionate about. Otherwise the new venture doesn’t last for long. As it’s just as important to have passion, motivation and interest, there are a few areas that help me succeed in business.
Promoting Your Internet Business
I would call this the “show me the money” part of the business. Without money or income, there is no business. Therefore it’s important to promote your business and turn your promotional activities into sales. At every opportunity, try to promote your business through passive means: e.g. through your stationary, letterheads, emails, brochures and any other promotional material you may use. Even if it’s just an article you write for a directory, remember to put your website address at the bottom of it. In the past, I made stickers of my logo that I could easily stick on my products. Also I made sure that every email I sent out to a customer had a company logo in it. This all helps with creating the brand for the business.
It’s crucial to develop a marketing plan that will not only sell your products, but also your brand. Here are some other articles I recommend to read to help you promote your Internet business:
* Spreading The Word: Turbocharge Your Traffic
* Converting Traffic Into Sales Part 1: Generating Leads
* Converting Traffic Into Sales Part 2: Profiting From The Back-End
* 12 Sales Effective Marketing Tips
Operating Your Business
This is the “lifeblood” of the business and I’m amazed at the amount of businesses that still operate without having good systems in place. An electrician I use from time to time asked me how I maintain my book work and said he doesn’t know how to do it. I was shocked because I’d known him to be trading for over 2 years and he probably doesn’t know how much money is being made in his business or let alone lost. What I am saying is to not be like my Electrician friend and make sure you buy an accounting software to track all your accounts and paperwork. I would suggest hiring a book keeper because it will save you the hassle and time of doing it all yourself. Some good software packages out there that are under $500 like MYOB Accounting and QuickBooks will be more than sufficient when you start out.
Another area that most people forget or get caught out on are getting the appropriate insurances for your business. The most common are public liability insurance, fire, burglary, vehicle and workers compensation insurance. All these can be easily found via a quick search on Google. I would recommend ensuring both public liability and fire insurances are in place before even running your business.
Keeping Pace And Staying Up To Date
This may sound all too overwhelming when you have to promote, operate your business and keep up to date with your industry. Believe me it’s not as hard as it sounds. Take the first step and join a trade association or your local Chamber of Commerce. You will find it both informative and beneficial to your business. To know what is happening in your area and within your industry can help you make better decisions for promoting your product or service. Whether it may be time to change a product line or add more services to your business, you will be keeping up with the industry and making sure you are not missing out on opportunities. Also it’s a great way to network and promote within your trade associations and Chamber of Commerce. Simply write an article to contribute and it can be used as great public relations (P.R) for your business.
Also I emphasise to have a well prepared business plan created before starting your business, because this will be your starting point. A business plan is useful for so many areas for your business from sourcing finance to implementing a growth strategy for the next 5 years. Once it’s written down, it will become a living breathing document that you can update and review over time. I’ve just finished preparing my business plan for this business which took nearly 3 weeks to complete but I can tell you that it is well worth the time and effort to do. Learn how to put your own business plan together and I can guarantee you that you’ll get finance and negotiate business deals much easier.
The Future Of Your Internet Business
Starting your Internet Business is rewarding and if you look into those areas I have mentioned, then you will have a good foundation to running a successful Internet Business. Take action today and know that you deserve to live your dream.
Tyrone Shum
Internet Business Coach
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