By Kirsty Fischer – Lemon and Lime Interiors
As The Home Staging Business Course is about to launch, Elaine asked me to review its modules with my experience of having been the project manager for Lemon and Lime Interiors for several years now. She wanted to know what I thought and whether the content was what other stagers need. I have had a look through the whole course and what can I say, it’s a course that encapsulates the learning from our 4 years in business in a matter of hours!
There is a lot to learn when setting up any business but when it is home staging, a service that until quite recently in the UK has been unfamiliar to many people, it can be challenging finding the right route down the unknown path. There are courses that touch on certain elements of ‘being a home stager’ but often their flaws lie in not providing learning on individual business scenarios and what it really takes to succeed. Do you have processes for everything you do, in place? How do you deal with the emotional anxieties of your clients? How is your business plan looking?
You could say that we ‘stumbled through’ to where we are now but it hasn’t come easily! A lot of hard work and perseverance has guided our journey. We’ve had our share of dealing with difficult clients, people not paying on time and a lot of “shall we just try that and see how it turns out.†That’s the reality. Thankfully we have a fantastic team and bouncing ideas around the home staging community has been a blessing when we have needed it the most, after all, we are a community and we feel so lucky to be involved. This course is a reflection of our now being ready to share our experiences and help you figure out what is stopping you from getting to where you want to be!
The first session jumps straight into business planning and costing your service, two of the most important elements of your business. Elaine will tell you from experience how vital it is to get the costing right and charging the amount that your service is worth. You can probably relate when I tell you that some of our clients expect to pay no more for a full 5 bedroom property dressing than they would for the cost of a few fancy meals out! I think it is easy to under sell yourself, particularly when you are finding your feet but if you are wanting to run a successful home staging business you are not going to stay in business for very long doing it for nothing!
What’s great about this course is that it incorporates action learning workshops, peer discussions and lots of coaching. Elaine has been a coach in both sport and business for over 30 years, something that shouldn’t be overlooked. The style of learning on this course is one of the most crucial elements, and you may not even realise. I can’t list on my hand how many times I have been to ‘lecture’ style talks and come away thinking about the lasagne I’m having for tea as opposed to what amazing, inspiring people I have just met!
Believe me, I’ve been in the middle of the discussions between Elaine and Paloma and there are some super amazing ideas which they have in store. With lots of feedback from clients they have made sure to incorporate every single nugget of knowledge to make this course the best it can possibly be to enable you to run a successful business in the way that suits you!
Find out more about the course or register your interest here.