Entrepreneurship is like parenting

Your business was conceived the moment you had the big idea that would free you from the daily grind of working for someone else – becoming a home stager! You worked hard to bring your business into the world; drafting a plan, coming up with a name, finding a designer to create your logo, a developer to get your website online, all of that is like labor. That business is your baby.

You were there throughout its infancy – losing sleep, doing what you could to keep it growing, healthy and thriving. You put everything you had into it; you read everything you could get your hands on about growing your home staging business just like a new mother devours parenting magazines and how-to books.

When a business is new, it’s almost a novelty and it’s absolutely thrilling to watch something you created from nothing grow into something real. When you’re complimented on your brand you feel proud as a parent showing off baby pictures.

Then as your business moves from its infancy, all of a sudden the adrenaline has worn off a bit. You see how much work it is just to keep everything going. Of course you love your business, your baby, but the long nights are catching up to you, and you’ve been tending to it all by yourself; it’s taking all your energy. It’s at this stage that we are likely to lose our momentum when it comes to building our businesses.

If you’re coming out of the infancy stage of your home staging business as we slip into an economic recession, you might be tempted to give up, more so than if the economy were good. As a parent you can’t just decide you’re bored and discard the baby, moving on to something else! So as an entrepreneur, why would you just let your business fade away?

When you’re a parent and times are tough and challenging for you, you look for support from a spouse, another parent, or an online network made up of people in the same situation as you. You continue to nourish your child when money’s tight (like you must continue to invest in marketing your business) and you think about how rewarding the entire process will be in the end.

With the real estate market doing unpredictable things, some home stagers are feeling nervous about their businesses right now.

Home staging will continue to be a sought after service no matter what the real estate market is doing, but not all stagers are going to remain optimistic.

Staging Diva Graduates have the option of joining the Staging Diva Network, which is an exclusive online community for Staging Diva students. Belonging to a community of peers like this can keep you focused on your business and it can help you remain positive as you share in other members’ successes.

Staging Diva Graduates are also given the opportunity of joining the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers which is more economical than developing a standalone website if you’re watching your spending, and it’s a powerful marketing tool that sends potential home staging clients right to your door when they’re searching for you online.

No matter what, you owe it to yourself and your business to realize its true potential. If you give up the moment you start to lose momentum, or you fear the economy will force you out of business then you’ll never know what could have become of your enterprise, your dream, your baby.

Like parenting, being an entrepreneur is one of the most rewarding things you’ll do in your life.

If you haven’t read The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It (which should be required reading for entrepreneurs) you should pick up a copy as soon as you can.

Author, Michael Gerber spends a great deal of time forcing you to look at your business as if it were a child going through different developmental stages. He takes you through the reasons why most small businesses fail and how to prevent that outcome yourself.

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging

Intrepid entrepreneur and home staging expert Debra Gould, also known as The Staging Diva, has been running her own business since 1989. She knows how to make money as a home stager and has taught over 1000 others to use their decorating talents and run their own home staging business in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.

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Home Staging Resources
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