Graduates of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program know that while I teach the pros and cons of having your own home staging inventory, I’m a big fan of not having it.
It’s really not necessary to invest tens of thousands of dollars in home staging furniture, art and accessories and I say this as someone who has staged hundreds of homes, many of them vacant or only partially furnished.
There are tons of pitfalls of furniture rentals for home stagers.
Early in my home staging career I was invited by an “established” home stager to tour through a condo she had staged. She was selling her furniture rental inventory and assured me I could get a real steal by buying all the contents from her.
We Made The Same, But I Had No Overhead
She was quick to point out that she’d made $5,000 staging that property so my investment would pay back quickly.
What she didn’t know was that I had already staged a number of vacant properties using inventory from an actual rental company and made just as much profit as she did, without having any of her overhead.
Needless to say I didn’t buy what she was selling and appreciated that early view of how much better my business model was than hers. After all, she was selling her inventory!
If she was making so much money from it, she wouldn’t be doing that!
I’ve been a home stager since 2002 and have communicated with thousands of home stagers over the years in more than 24 different countries. A certain pattern has been obvious to me throughout that time.
The home stagers most likely to go out of business within their first or second year are the ones who maintain their own inventory.
Their sizable upfront investment, plus the ongoing cost (and hassles) of storage, pick up, delivery, cleaning, maintenance and insurance usually have a lot to do with this.
“You Don’t Know What You’re Talking About”
Many new home stagers believe I don’t know what I’m talking about. Their situation is “special” they tell me, “it’s different where I live.”
Hey, if you really want to get into the furniture rental business, go for it!
But before you do, I’d like to share some actual comments word-for-word that home stagers have shared in emails with me, on Facebook, etc. I’ll leave their names out since they might not want this to be public:
“Had another Glamorous Day in the life of a Home Stager: Inventory maintenance in +100 heat followed by a refreshing round of washing and drying one of my tubs of bath towels.”
“I have selected each and every one of our pieces of inventory, and including cushions, towels, bedding, artwork, accessories and hard furniture we own around 7,500 pieces of stock. While that seems a lot, when you cover off pillows, cushions (oh the cushions!!) and then designer accessories, the list grows quickly.”
“I am so upset! I am out of the country and I just heard the house that I staged was broken into. They took a lot of my inventory and the owner said he has nothing to do with it: it is my problem!”
“Anyone have storage suggestions for lampshades? I’m tight on space, so putting a couple into a plastic tub is not very efficient. They’re currently in boxes which is not very protective either.”
“I already own enough stock to furnish 12 large condos but since the market slowed down all that inventory is tied up indefinitely. Now whenever I get a new client, I have to go out and buy more stuff. I bought everything on credit but a year from now I’m going to have to come up with close to $100,000 to pay off the debt.”
“A REALTOR just called to see if I was interested in purchasing the inventory she just purchased from another Home Stager who’s leaving town. Anyone else interested?”
“Vacant House was Staged. Stager put up rods and drapes. In buyer’s Contract, they asked for window treatments. Sellers knew they were not theirs, so it was crossed out and agreed to by buyers. At Closing, the Buyers wanted the rods, as they were affixed to the home and not disclosed as being Stager’s inventory.”
“Yes, that’s me double parking a U-Haul filled with my home staging inventory because there’s nowhere else to park that’s anywhere close to the house I’m staging.”
So if you don’t want to take my word for it, based on my years of experience and all the home stagers I’ve taught or coached, I hope these comments have let you glimpse the realities of owning your own home staging inventory.
Consider also the potential hassles and liability of bringing bed bugs from one property to another (or potentially your own). You can read my free report on how home stagers can protect themselves from bed bugs here.
I’d love it if my readers would add their own experiences with the pros and cons of having your own inventory. Please add your comments below!
Debra, as you know, I do not have my own iinventory of furniture as thankfully I live in a city with 3 well-known furniture rental companies. I think some stagers are forced to buy furniture to rent because they don’t have access to a furniture rental company due to their location in rural areas. Frankly, I wouldn’t have gone into this business if I had to buy furniture.
I do have my own inventory of decorative accessories and it is both a blessing and a curse. Blessing because I have just the right pieces at my fingertips, and also have rented them over and over again recouping my investment many times.
Curse because of storage expenses and hassles, inventory maintenance spreadsheets, destaging angst when you have to schedule your team to do a pick up.
I also would like to add that in those situations where I have purchased accessories for clients and the house has sold, I sometimes ask if they would be interested in selling me the pieces for a substantially reduced price. The reason I ask is that I usually LOVE what I’ve bought them and feel emotionally attached to them and realize I might not find them again when I shop.
All good points Donna! I can understand falling in love with the pieces you’ve personally selected for a client. Do they ever let you buy them back at a discount? That’s actually a great idea!
Donna – what a great idea! I have fallen into the business of inventory as all my listings thus far are vacants and the rental prices are so sky high that I can buy them for almost the same price (with the goal of recouping the money with the next use). But with all vacants, I’m constantly buying! I love your idea of changing my model to buy things for them (they pay) and then I buy back items at a significant discount. You may have just helped me more than you know if I can make this work! Thanks for your post.
Hi Debra, I’m new to staging but have been decorating for over a decade on and off. I just had a job for a vacant home that was very “country”. The problem i faced with the rental companies was finding furniture pieces that weren’t so streamlined and modern. I was looking for a rolled arm sofa and a few painted pieces but could find nothing, so I started looking for second hand furniture and was able to find what I needed. I approached the homeowners and let them know that I could supply what the house needed, save them money on taxes and insurance, but the stipulation was they would have to pay in advance and I would let them keep the furniture in the house for 4 months. So they actually paid me to buy instead of rent which actually came out to the same price as the rental companies would have charged and I get to keep the merchandise an re rent it, or I can sell it. I am concerned about future inventory space if I continue to do this for other jobs (it’s in my garage now)but I’m thinking of doing half my own stuff (as much as my garage will hold) and half from rental companies. In my estimate I will add in the cost of pick up and delivery. I can still make a commission off the rental companies as well, it’s just that the sellers will have to pay for 2 deliveries and pick ups…(maybe just bury in estimate…) I’ll see if it’s going to work out and how much trouble it is and if the sellers think its worth the savings. Right now I’m just so excited about how fast I got these jobs! As soon as I added staging to my services my phone rang. Sorry to ramble.
Thanks for sharing your success and experience with us Marie! I’m teaching a mini course by telephone conference call tonight called “5 Simple Secrets to Making More Money in Your Home Staging Business.” I think you’ll find it most helpful at this stage of your journey. You can grab a FREE pass at: https://stagingdiva.com/homestagingfreepreview.html
‘
I am a California Bay Area Stager. It is a BIG hassle to own so much inventory. What I have learned after 5 years is BUY SMART! The biggest dilemma: shopping a rush, overshopping. The most successful stagers in the Bay Area own basic beige, cream furniture pieces….use them over and over with colorful pillows and accessories. Talking with Bay Area Stagers, renting furniture is a hassle. The rental companies charge a arm and a leg for the pieces of furniture, when the items are delivered, they are not in tip top condition, wrong color or late. The available rental companies are at a distance also. EVERY city and state is different. Consultations are not needed in the Bay Area, esp from the start of the property preparation to the fixtures, down to the paint color. The Realtors do all of that here. They want the stager to put the furniture in….that’s all, and quickly! I appreciate the idea of renting furniture and charging $300 and up for a consultation, but it doesn’t really exist that way in the Bay Area. (I hope this comment gets posted) Thank you.
Thanks for sharing your experiences Voni. I like your advice about the biggest dilemmas shopping.
I would bet that even within what you’ve described there are home sellers (selling a property they’re already living in to trade up or down to something else, change neighborhoods, etc.) who have plenty of furniture already, it just needs to be pruned, and arranged in different and better ways. That’s where consultations come in and there is definitely money to be made doing them. Not all agents will (or should) take the time to provide that advice to the level that a professional home stager would.
I really love the idea of not having staging inventory . . . but living in a smaller town, I don’t have the luxury of a CORT or BROOK. There is a furniture rental company that offers 3 different packages (their main business is furnishing apartment complexes). Choices are very limited (only sofas/loveseats, no chairs, for example), but I’m making due furniture-wise by renting from them. Accessories, however, are another story. Here’s the two dilemmas I have with not owning my own accessory inventory: 1) since I do not have a rental option for any accessories (especially artwork), by the time I’d add up the cost for all the accessories (thinking about vacant homes especially), I believe most homesellers in my small town (which is still not very open to staging in the first place) would balk at how much it would cost, and 2) if homeowner is out-of-state now, it seems VERY inconvenient for them to now “own” all these accessories when they weren’t even planning on returning to the area again. I’m still thinking about giving it a try, but just not sure if homeowners will go along with it . . .
Jennifer,
These are all good points but remember to keep your own business (and profit) needs in mind when you make these decisions. There are ways to get furniture and accessories even in locations that don’t have the conventional rental places that you’ll find in larger cities. Refer to the Staging Diva Course recordings for how to do this. Lastly, remember that you are in control of the types of projects you take on. Thanks for stopping by and adding your comments!
Hello Debra, as always very informative and interesting comments and tips, inventory is this is one of my favorites so far.
I am about to move from TX to NC business and all; I’m so happy that inventory is not something I have to worry about. I listen and applied what I learned from you and I never got into the inventory nightmare.
This brings me to another subject for your discussions: Relocating Your Business.
For me this means starting allover again, including changing the name of my staging business since there is another staging business with a similar name. I need all the tips I can get, the city where I’m moving to is heavily populated with home stagers, which means that I have to concentrate in an area of expertise to stand out from the rest, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance to you and all the stagers out there with great ideas and support.
Liliana
Hi Liliana, Congratulations on your upcoming move. While it may feel like you’re “starting over,” you really aren’t because look how much knowledge and experience you bring to your next location! As for how to stand out from the new competition, this is a great topic to go into detail about in our next Staging Diva Dialog call on September 8. As a Staging Diva Graduate, you’re welcome to join me for this event. Learn more about it at:
https://stagingdiva.com/divadialogpromo.html
For less than the cost of pizza for 4, you can spend an entire hour with me on the phone in a small group coaching session! Hope to talk to you then.
There are some good points you raise in all of this Debra, and then there are some good ones you have missed too. I am based in a location where there are no rental outlets, none. My business would not be what it is now without offering the rental side of things and I personally love managing the inventory.
– I don’t have to worry about price rises from the supplier
– I don’t have to worry about clients signing contracts with the third party (they are with me)
– I don’t have to worry about stock outages with the rental company
– when I am at a property I know what I have and can plan jobs quicker and better
– I know the stock I have and the styles to suit various properties
– I maintain my own insurance on my stock while in a job which is charged pro-rata to my client
– I engage professional removalists so their parking issues and distance from the home is their issue
There are many things to consider in this topic, both pros and cons, but if you are in a regional environment without the services of a rental company, having your own stock can be a lifesaver.
You just have to go into it knowing the on costs such as insurance, warehousing, repairs, replacement, transit etc. Weigh it up for your own circumstances and see how it goes.
Adam, thanks for stopping by and sharing your observations. I know you’ve done well in Tasmania with your own inventory and your portfolio is certainly testimony to the beauty of the inventory you’ve invested in and your talent for putting it all together!
In this post, I especially wanted people to realize it’s not something to be entered into lightly, despite the “glamor” factor.
There are also many stagers who earn a very nice living on home staging consultations, which don’t require them to have (or source) any inventory at all.
In other words, there are tons of ways to make money in this industry and it’s key for everyone to really think about the types of services they want to offer given their: situation, location, personal limits, interests, budgets, etc.
Thanks again for sharing your experiences here.
Yes, Debra, I recently bought back most of the items (except bedding and throw pillows, of course) I had purchased for a staging client for 20 cents on the dollar. They had been “used” for about 7 months. The items included artwork and decorative objects. They were all great additions to my inventory and at a great price. I also once bought back items that had only been there a month at 50 cents on the dollar (probably should have negotiated more).
Way to go Donna, thanks so much for sharing this!
Debra,
I agree with you that purchasing inventory is definitely not to be entered into lightly; especially in the first year or two of business. I think a lot of Stagers are so excited about starting business (and shopping) that they start purchasing too early. First, owning a staging business is so much more than actually staging. You have to know how to market yourself and get jobs! And second, I can’t tell you how much our staging inventory has changed since we first started business in 2005. You have to consider your niche, your staging style (which does change) and of course evolve with the ups and downs of the housing market. Owning inventory has worked well for us, but we have also become a full service leasing company to Stagers in the Denver area.
Tammie, Thanks for sharing those points. I especially agree with your observation that new stagers get so excited about starting and shopping that they can get carried away and that your inventory needs/styles will change over time. That’s something that many stagers probably won’t think about.
Interesting that you’ve taken your own inventory and created a new income stream by renting it out to other stagers in your area.
Hi Debra!
This inventory topic is ongoing but I learn something new every time the topic comes up! I think all the points are valid but I am especially grateful to you for keeping our feet on the ground as we all started our home staging businesses with stars in our eyes! This very topic has me up one month, then down the next. Would I have more business if I had inventory? If I had inventory would the real estate agents hire me and my revenues go up? Are the headaches that go with carrying inventory going to be offset by earnings that will make it worth my time and effort to offer the service? While I do feel that my home staging business has been at a disadvantage because I don’t offer furnishings or accessories, I’ve learned this first year that I can be a successful home stager even if I don’t stage vacant homes! In fact, this week I made the decision pull vacant home staging from my website and my marketing materials. Why? Because the process involved in working with furniture rental companies and real estate agents has not been pleasant or profitable, so why continue! I think each of us has to decide our priorities and define our own success. For me, success is enjoying my home staging business and getting paid for every aspect of it. I’m done with hours of preparing staging bids for vacant properties only to have real estate agents ignore my emails about their final decision. I am also done with rental companies who aren’t invested in helping me succeed because I am too small for their bottom line. Instead I can zero in on what I love doing and where my talents shine; managing a project, organizing, helping home sellers through the home staging process and then sharing in the excitement when they succeed! Because of the lessons I have learned in my first year as a small business I am so glad I didn’t rush to buy inventory!
Stacy, Thanks for sharing your story. It’s a great example of what I was talking about in Course 4 when I said to carefully consider the type of business that will make YOU happy when choosing between the various marketing approaches I teach.
One of the joys of having your own business is that you can create the type of business you want. It’s often tempting to watch what others are doing and assume we need to do the same, when this is not the case at all.
Thanks Debra for sharing this! Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States, and we’ve yet to see a staging company that fits any of the traditional business models. Your opinion on the topic of inventory really helped us to discontinue our vacant staging program! We’re running a business, not a charity. The Houston Real Estate community demanded our charity with the promise that our kindness would be repaid…….. cue crickets chirping! It’s a you-get-what-you-pay-for world, and in Houston, they don’t pay for furnishings, so no furnishings is what they’ll get from Houston Home Staging!
My suggestion to others is to listen to your market. If your market supports a business model that includes owning inventory, you’ll know it right away. Our mistake was in letting the market tease us into believing that someday, they’ll support our furniture business if we:
Work harder
Have nicer things
Have more things
Have blue things
Have yellow things
Have this thing, or that thing………
But, somehow, we never have the right thing!
My job, is to create a business, not build an industry. We’re proud of our contributions to the Houston home staging market. We hope that our colleagues benefit from our experiences. Would we do a vacant staging project? If they pay us, we will!
Again, many thanks Debra!
Tom I sincerely appreciate you sharing this experience with our home staging community! Real world stories like this help others realize the pitfalls they can fall into when they listen to advice and empty promises from the wrong people. Of course potential customers want you to have lots of great stuff to choose from at low prices. It doesn’t mean they’ll ever be prepared to pay you adequately for it.
Too many home staging training programs and a certain association advise investing large sums of money in inventory. Sadly, many of the people advocating this have never actually had a profitable home staging business and this advice gets too many home stagers into financial trouble.
And congratulations on getting out of the furniture rental business! Great things ahead for your company in the new year!
Debra, thanks for the article. I’ve been carrying my own inventory for years now and I hadn’t considered going the rental route until reading this article. I feel like I spend more time handling inventory problems than the actual job of staging. Thanks for the advice. I’m definitely going to consider rentals soon.
Thanks for commenting Rhonda! I’m sorry that you’re spending “more time handling inventory problems than the actual job of staging” and so appreciate you bringing that up so others can see that it does add a whole layer of complexity to the business. Glad I could introduce you to a new way of looking at your business.
This may be the single most important blog I’ve read about staging as I move towards my business launch. Also…. it doesn’t seem very green to carry that my stuff around.
Thank you.
Thanks so much for commenting Claudia! If you’re just starting in staging, I strongly encourage you to attend a 90-minute course I’m teaching called, 5 Simple Secrets to Making More Money in Home Staging. You can grab a FREE pass for it at this link:
https://stagingdiva.com/homestagingfreepreview.html
I was a successful Real Estate broker for 23 years and Interior Decorator for 30 yrs as well. I dealt mostly with developments and construction. I have set up many model homes and improved used houses considerably just by placing furniture differently and always concentrating on how to get more light in a room and making a home look as new as possible! Needless to say “I was a stager before staging was cool!” In the late 70’s and 80’s furniture companies were glad to loan furniture for advertising and even in the 90’s because of the relationship that I had earned in the business. But now it is more difficult to find a store to loan furniture on a handshake and a promise because of the cost of deliveries, insurance, etc. However, I still think there are young companies and manufacturers of furniture that would welcome the opportunity to get their name out there. Great business, I miss the creativity of it all and am considering getting back into the staging side of it.
Thanks for commenting Mary! It’s never too late to get Breezy Hill Designs back to what you love to do! You may find these three articles interesting given that you have staging/decorating experience and a real estate license.
What If I Have a Real Estate License and I Prefer Home Staging?
When You’re a Home Stager With a Real Estate License
When Home Stagers Get Hired First
Hi, Debra. Thank you so much for this article/post. I am a Realtor in the Hampton Roads Area and completed a class/started my own business in home staging and redesign in June of this year. I was so excited and immediately purchased some additional accessories. Well, this brought about a storage issue….I don’t have any. And, I refuse to rent a storage unit and increase my overhead for a business that really hasn’t made a great deal of money. I’ve noticed I was using my real estate commission to fund my staging business. In other words, using staging as an excuse to shop. Thankfully, I didn’t do a great deal of damage because I completely stopped when I realized what I was doing. I want to run a successful business, and I was definitely going about it in the wrong way. Now that I’ve come to my senses, I’m getting ready to sell the accessories I do have on hand. I also work a full time job and my co-workers are waiting to see what goodies I have. So, thank you again. Your post is what helped me make a firm decision to be smarter about running my business….I was on my way to going out of business as quickly as I started.
Angelia, Thanks so much for writing and sharing your experience. I know it will help others! Really glad I could help you make a wiser decision about how to proceed! There are a lot of unprofitable business practices out there in the home staging industry. In part, because many of the programs are taught by people who have never had successful home staging businesses. Anyways, thanks again for commenting, most appreciated!!
Hi Debra,
I see some of the points listed here, however if a person thinks smart and does not go into debt, having inventory is highly lucrative. I built my entire 300k inventory in small doses, never being debt and that means the first time it goes out the door it’s profit.
Do I need to pay overhead? Yes. But the great part is that it easily does and I have freedom to price jobs the way I want to and I am not held in chains by a a rental company’s pricing, availability of stock or condition of it. The look of my projects is never compromised which has set me apart from others and increased my sales. So I win because clients see the difference.
The biggest issue I had prior to having my own inventory was that the furniture rental would arrive torn, stained, broken etc and the headache and problems with client satisfaction was not worth it. Not to mention the embarrassment of putting my name on the final look.
Having control over my product and look has taken me to new levels. Since I am serious about owing an actual company (not being a hobby Stager ) This was important to me.
My inventory rentals alone net over 6 figures every year and that gives me choices. Choices to hire staff, to grow and expand services and to keep my company at the top.
I appreciate your perspective, as a positive example. All of the others seem to be negative. I literally have no other option than to keep some inventory. I’d love to hear more about how you handle this aspect of your business.
Agreed! We specialize in vacant only so our products need to be great and owning them myself guarantees that.
Thanks for commenting Jill. You raise some excellent points to consider and I’m glad you found a formula that works for you. I’ve never considered myself a “hobby stager” because I don’t have my own inventory, nor have the media when they’ve interviewed me, or my clients who hire me.
Being a “real company” is not necessarily a function of investible assets, especially in this day and age. I do take your point though that in your market, you were able to distinguish yourself by the approach you took.
Do you find having staff to hire and manage, and ongoing overhead every month weighs on you? Personally, I don’t love that stuff. So I know your business model wouldn’t work for me. Of course that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work awesomely for you!
So, I’m glad you shared another view. My intent is to help people know the pro’s and con’s so they can make a decision that works for them 🙂
Hi Debra! Great article and advice for anyone getting into the staging business. It’s inspiring to see folks create remarkable value for their clients and themselves as an entrepreneur.
I want to share with folks who are in San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, Austin and New York: if you’re looking for rental inventory, we have a resource you can turn to, http://www.usetrove.com (we are a resource to buy and sell home furnishings wherever you are, but rentals are confined to partners in the areas I’ve listed).
I personally agree with Debra that buying inventory is a very risky decision for a new business owner. There are ways to keep your staging business more nimble and adaptable – renting inventory is one great way to do that. You may also look to low-cost options / great finds if you believe owning inventory is the right decision for you.
Thanks Mason!
Hi Debra
Very interesting
I live in Spain and here the people dont know the home staging
So there is only one rent fourniture Enterprize in Madrid and don’t have nice things
So, what do you do in this case?
There are lots of ways to negotiate for rental items besides from traditional furniture rental companies. I discuss these in detail in Course 3 of the Staging Diva Training Program.
Another thing to consider, is that you can make a great living doing home staging consultations on resale homes that aren’t vacant. You’ll be working with what your clients already have. I discuss this in a mini-course I’m teaching by conference call. (You can use Skype to join us at no long distance cost).
You can grab a FREE pass to this event, called 5 Simple Secrets to Making More Money in Home Staging at this link.
Gema, so glad you commented! We have home stagers in 23 countries and I’m delighted to hear from you from Spain!
Hi
Reading all this, has now got me thinking which way to go. I’ve just GRADUATED interior design Advance Home Staging & Property Styling. And once I get my business, up and running I know what I will do, I really can’t wait to start Home Staging.
Fantastic Lorraine, glad I could inspire you. I hope you’re following the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program formula so you’ll know how to maximize your income from both interior design and home staging!
Not entirely true at all, especially in California. Brite Ideas Home Staging has been in business since 2004, and we only started. Really making money when we invested in our own inventory 100 %. We are the largest home staging biz in Sacramento and we only got here by owning it all..
Happy to hear of your experience Charles, appreciate you sharing! I’m not saying my model is the “only” way to go, but it is the least complicated and in many cases yields the highest profits.
Thought about you this week Debra. I remembered your wise words of advice…I have 2 vacant homes to stage for an investor and I told them right up front that I DO NOT own any inventory. Since they plan on doing these flips as winter projects, they agreed to purchase the items I selected. I don’t have to store the items, maintain them or update them. Pillows take up so much space!!!? I used to have “some accessories available to rent” on my website but I removed that (along with the “staging report” upgrade)
That’s fantastic Jackie, so glad I could steer you clear of all those hassles. Isn’t it amazing, when we stand our ground and say “this is how it works”, clients will often agree. And if they don’t, perhaps it’s not the right client.
I see too many home stagers bending themselves to fit everyone else’s needs and before they know it they have a business they don’t enjoy or they discover they aren’t making any profits.
Thanks for sharing your experience, I know it will inspire others to stick to a business model that works for them!
Hello Debra,
We are a furniture store who’s thinking of branching out home staging.
We do have our own storage and have access to pretty much anything you can think of in terms of designs.
I understand that your approach is different but having basically paid 1/4 for the retail value of any furniture and having storage, would you say that there are other hindrance that is a bigger issue than storage. I know theft can be one but our contract will have the full responsibility of the seller for any lost and damages.
Yes Gian, there are many issues that come with renting out your furniture. I outline these in full in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. If you’re thinking of staging as a revenue source, I think you’ll find my business model quite helpful!
I also offer one on one business coaching for anyone looking to combine home staging with another business. I have an MBA in marketing and have been a consultant to businesses of all kinds since the 1980s.
In Australia furniture hire is quite popular so for home stagers it’s not really worth it to invest in inventory (at least not in metros like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane etc.). Additionally, there are different demographics various houses appeal to, you wouldn’t stage a family home the same way you would a studio, and buying everything you need in this sense would cost you quite a bit. Also, just wanted to mention that I discovered these guys not that long ago (https://valiant.com.au/ if anybody’s reading this from Down Under) and what I really like about them is that they also have an event furniture range, meaning that they have all sorts of interesting “hero items” that you can rent, which I like to use when I need an item that really stands out and gives that wow effect. Thanks for your amazing blog btw. Very helpful.
Thanks for sharing that resource Ellen. I have a good number of highly successful Staging Diva Grads Down Under who follow the complete business model I teach in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. They don’t invest in their own inventory either.
After reading many comments here it’s clear that it is not a good idea to buy inventory. I completely get it but I’m being forced to consider keeping inventory because I am in a small town with absolutely NO good options for rentals. We have a couple of the typical chain stores but their furniture is ugly as sin and they have no art or soft furnishings or greenery. They won’t order in anything new for a short term rental (less than a year) so my options are limited to the beaten up stuff on their showroom floor. The nearest larger city with a CORT rental co charges $400 just to drive to my town and has a 3 month minimum contract. I even approached a furniture store to try and create a partnership but they will not do rentals for “insurance reasons”. I am stuck! I’ve been buying a little here and there, staying very frugal, and charge 20% of the retail cost, per month. There is A LOT of leg work that comes with it but I just don’t know what else to do!
Molly, I could go on and on for pages in answer to your assumptions, but blog post comments are not the place to do that. The short answer is you need to completely flip your thinking.
For example, you’re assuming that it’s YOUR responsibility to make it easier for your clients by not making them pay the $400 charge from CORT. So you’re suggesting you should go into debt buying a bunch of things to address that. NO, you shouldn’t and NO you don’t need to.
Another example, you’re assuming you can only make a living by furnishing empty homes. That’s not the case, there is money to be made in consultations.
Lastly, you are assuming that all your work has to be in the small town you’re living in. Is that necessary or realistic?
I suggest that you re-listen to all the Staging Diva Course recordings as I’ve addressed these issues and opportunities in more detail there. Also, when you purchased the training program you had a free 2 month membership in Staging Diva Network, our private online discussion group for students (membership in renewable). That would be the place for more detailed answers from me than I can provide on a public blog. I don’t recall ever seeing you post in there. I also offer group coaching by phone every 8 weeks. You would find that helpful as well.
I think one thing that may help you flip your thinking is to focus on what you do have rather than focussing on the limitations. That’s where you can open up to new possibilities that present themselves. I’m not for a minute suggesting this is easy. And I do know from experience that the most creative (and effective) solutions can arrive when it feels like our backs are against the wall. 🙂
Molly, Debra makes a good point about the Cort delivery fee. Maybe because I’m from NYC, but I use Churchill Furniture (we have a Cort here too), and they charge a roundtrip delivery and pick up fee of $350 plus tax for a 2 bedroom apartment. This is disclosed upfront and is on the invoice they receive from the furniture rental company. There is another small furniture rental company here that charges much much more for deliveries and pickups, because they are small and don’t have the volume. I guess my point is you shouldn’t shy away from using Cort because of their fees. It’s just part of the expense of renting furniture that the client must pay for.
Second, I don’t totally agree with Debra about making money with consultations alone. Even if you happen to book one a day, it’s only a couple of hundred dollars. Not enough to sustain a business. You can make much more money doing vacant stagings, but you can also make money carrying out the consultation advice and doing occupied stagings. If needed, you may be able to purchase some furniture for the client to use in the staging and bring to their new home. But many times, it involves only eliminating or rearranging what they already have.
Regarding staging accessories, you may want to consider keeping an inventory of your own and renting them for vacant stagings only. That’s what do but I don’t do that for occupied stagings. Instead I shop for items the client pays for. The advantage of having your own inventory is that you can quickly pull items for a staging, especially a large home. You can also make money over and over again on the items. You will always have at your fingertips accessories you like. Downsides are the cost of a warehouse and time and expense for inventory management systems and people. But that is eliminated if you buy items on a staging by staging basis. Less expense but more time to source the items and may be difficult to turn around a staging quickly. A few hours in a warehouse vs. a day or two of shopping and loading up and unloading your van/car/truck. With vacant stagings, i hire a moving company to come to our warehouse to pick up items and deliver them to the staging site, and the reverse on destaging. I charge this to the client since it’s above and beyond our fee for staging services. This moving expense is just that, an expense, not a service. I include this in a line item called Reimbursable Expenses and it also includes tips we pay to furniture and accessories moving men, parking expenses, and miscellaneous expenses like light bulbs, etc.
Donna, what I love most about your reply is that you’re clear that you don’t have to absorb costs FOR your clients. There is a cost to staging a home and that’s for the client to pay, not you.
I have to disagree about not being able to sustain a business just with consultations though. You can make an excellent living with consultations, when you follow the pricing strategy I’ve laid out in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. I get emails every week from my students who are doing exactly that. When you don’t have your own inventory and warehouse space (in other words when you have no overhead, and all sales revenue is profit), consultations can be enough for most people to earn the income they’re looking for.
Thanks for taking the time to reply to Molly’s concerns 🙂
Fantastic blog! Thanks for sharing this information.
Thanks Richard!
Great story. Wish I had thought about your approach sooner.
I already have my own inventory (about 15 homes worth in a 3000 sq.ft warehouse). Luckily I always have a few houses out so I don’t have to try and squeeze it all in. Although during the winter months it does get tight in there.
So another point for people to think out is the tax. After I had already rented the warehouse and started buying furniture, I had a visit from a local city employee wanting to value the contents for Inventory Tax. As it turns out I have to pay an annual tax on the value of my furniture even though it is the same furniture I had last year. Not to mention sales tax that I have to collect and pay to my local taxing authorities on a quarterly basis. Sales tax on the rental & moving charges (even though I am not selling them the furniture). I have to send in quarterly reports with sales tax payment where I break out the amounts by jurisdiction based on the exact street address of each property. Not fun and tons of work.
I think I would be better off letting the furniture rental companies manage all the taxes. That way I could just focus on the design service part of it. Well… Something to think about as my inventory ages out. I appreciate your thoughts on it!
Rebecca, I appreciate you commenting and sharing some of the complexities of getting into the furniture rental business, when really you just want to stage and decorate homes.
Many Staging Diva students took other home staging courses first and bought inventory like you did. Then when they take my program they learn an entirely different business model that not only makes them more profitable but shows them how they can gradually get themselves out of needing their own inventory.
I think you’ll find this article helpful too, Home Staging Business Can be Simple or Complicated.
Thanks again for commenting!
Thank you, I will definitely check that article out.
And I forgot to mention the loss we took on a house full of beautiful furniture during Hurricane Harvey. Our contract stated clearly that the client was responsible, but he refused to pay and threated to give us a ton of bad reviews if we pursued it in court.