Starting a Home Staging Business - A Lucrative Business as a Home Stager Part 1

Entrepreneur Magazine recently named home staging as one of its Hot businesses for 2006. And with start-up costs of $1000 or less, barriers to entry are low. So you can jump right in with very little risk while you keep your current job.

Learn about home staging (hint: staging is also called "home redesign" or "interior redesign" or simply "redesign") by reading everything you can find on the subject. There are many great resources out there and they all explain the principles a little differently. You will probably take a special liking to a particular author's style, but it's good to read as much as you can. You'll be more comfortable working in the field if you've read all of the home staging books you can get your hands on. Not all of them agree on every point, and you will be able to decide for yourself what you think works the best after you gain a little experience.

You can find many types of home staging courses to sign up for.

Some home staging courses are home based while others are conducted in a seminar-style classroom format. The home staging courses that are classroom based are often weekend sessions set up in meeting rooms at hotels - not at a permanent home staging training school.

After your home staging course, you'll be ready to work on business building.

Practice on your own home and then branch out. You really do not need to get certified or attend expensive programs. The people selling those programs would very much like you to believe you can't enter the business without their backing. That just isn't true.

You can keep your current job because home staging is perfect for weekends. Start marketing yourself and use your cell phone as your business phone number. Change your voice-mail message to something professional sounding, stating your name and youe business name. Or just say "Jackie Riley, Professional Home Stager" for now. You do not need to come up with the perfect business name right now--don't get stuck on that part.

In future articles we'll go over how to market yourself as a home stager. We'll also discuss various add-ons so you can offer extra service to your clients while boosting your income.

Visit http://www.homestagingsuccess.com for info on staging business start up. I offer an e-book as well as an e-mail coaching service (e-mail me for info)

Jackie's also helped on a new home staging resource site called the Staging Source at http://www.thestagingsource.com where you can get free home staging tips along with info on a home staging course, home staging checklists for homeowners, and more.