If you’re considering a career in home staging, there are several steps you can take right now to bring you closer to your goal. In a blog post on Monday, I shared the first two; confirming you have what it takes to be a stager, and coming up with your business name.
Here are the next three steps you can take now to support your goal of becoming a professional home stager:
3. Practice, practice, practice. Arrange and rearrange your own home and the homes of friends and family members who will indulge you! Don’t forget to 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’re 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 and 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’ll have to spend some money on a good digital camera, your logo and business cards and registering your business. 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.
Did you realize there were steps you could be taking today to help you start your home staging business, even before you’re completely ready to ‘take the plunge’? If you’re an established home stager, do you have a story you would like to share about the first steps you took to start your business? Please share your comments and add to the discussion!
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging
There are 12 more free tips to having a successful home staging business covered in a new e-course created by Debra Gould, creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and has taught more than 1000 others to do the same. The author of three home staging guides, Gould has been featured on HGTV, CNNMoney, The Wall Street Journal and others.
Related posts:
- The first steps to starting a home staging business
- Turn off the news and focus on growing your business instead
- Home Staging Business Report gets new look for 2009
- Free home staging course from Staging Diva
- Staging Diva Graduate hits HGTV in first year of business
Home Staging Resources |
|
|---|---|
|
 More about Twitter Guide |
More on Design Guide |
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Hi Debra
I have liability insurance for my Home Staging business. Is this something you have and recommend as well?
Love your website!