It’s amazing how much time and energy we can waste wondering about something. Isn’t it better to get a yes or no answer sooner, so you can move on?
Here’s a typical scenario I run into with people who love decorating houses.
You think you’d enjoy being a home stager. You’re not sure you want it bad enough to invest in staging courses and other start up costs. Here’s the thing:
How do you know if it’s for you or not until you try it?
You’d be surprised to know how many Staging Diva Graduates have taken their staging training later in life as a “second chance career”.
Most of them say they wish they’d done it years ago. They regret the time they wasted in jobs they hated, stifling their creative spirit.
You need to ask yourself why home staging is attractive to you in the first place.
One thing I hear all the time from aspiring stagers is:
“I’ve been decorating all my life, since I had my first dollhouse. When I had my first apartment I spent hours decorating and redecorating it and now that I have a house of my own, anyone who comes over laughs because the furniture is always moved around since I’m constantly decorating.”
Do you spend weekends going to open houses because you’re curious about how the homes are decorated?
Do you spend time browsing real estate listings online even though you’re not buying a house?
Does your perfect night involve curling up with a beverage in front of HGTV?
There’s a good chance that if home staging is attractive to you and you’re doing all these things, it’s been in your blood forever.
It’s been a hobby but never a business and the big thing holding you back is fear of the unknown.
Wouldn’t it make sense to take that interest and talent and turn it into a business so you can make a living doing what you love?
It might work and it might not but most people spend their whole lives trying to figure out what it is that they love.
If you already know in your heart that it’s being your own boss as a home stager then don’t you owe it to yourself to give it a try?
The other thing you need to ask yourself is what do you have to lose?
The entire Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program costs just under $1000. Perhaps that sounds like a huge investment.
In the big scheme of things, it’s not, it’s about the cost of a mini-vacation from the life or job you’re not currently enjoying.
If you make the investment, do everything you learned in the program and get two or three clients, your program is paid for and you’re on your way to living the life you’ve dreamed of.
The great thing about home staging is that you don’t need inventory or a storefront.
You’re not buying a franchise or anything like that.
There are very few out of pocket costs besides the cost of your training. You’ll need a car, a portfolio, a camera (or the one on your cell phone), and business cards and you’re on your way.
If it doesn’t work out, you have the experience of stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying something new.
You’re out $1000 in home staging courses, but not really because you would have made that back with a project or two.
And, you won’t live the rest of your life with regret and constantly wondering ‘what if’. And I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life being disappointed in myself for not taking a chance that could have given me and my family a better future.
Home stagers, did you overcome a particular hurdle or obstacle on your road to becoming a stager? I would love it if you’d share by leaving a comment below. Your story could inspire someone to take steps towards following their dream.
I have already graduated from Interior decorator school online schooling. I know you can procrastinate some. I am moving in my first home and I haven’t been thinking about Homestaging and know I should start soon. iT IS VERY EASY TO DO.
Thank you, Debra, for this timely message. I am suffering from “paradigm paralysis.” Having always been a dedicated employee, I assure you that the structure required by a job is easy to meet, and I’ve excelled. Structuring myself and relying on myself rather than earning a paycheck would be new–akin to trying to swim without knowing how. From what reservoir comes the courage to embark on one’s own without ever having done it?
in this day and time of it being mandatory for you to have Health Ins and being able to afford that independently is crazy high .so that is the issue that keeps me from leaving a full time job that I’ve been @ for almost 10 years .so maybe to start slow on the side like weekends might be the better idea for me .just thinking here .
Mattie, you can start your staging business on the side and when it’s built up enough (or when you realize you can make more on a Saturday afternoon than you normally do working all week in your current career), you can switch to staging full time. It’s entirely up to you. I have many students who have started this while holding down very demanding outside jobs, or while home schooling their kids, or whatever.
The beauty of home staging is you can fit it in around whatever else you have going on because you book your clients according to your schedule.
Learn more about my training at: https://stagingdiva.com/homestagingcourses.html