Aspiring Home Stagers, Don’t Count on Job Shadowing

I get approximately five calls a week from people interested in shadowing me for a day to see how I work as a home stager. I have yet to say yes, and if you’re trying to find a successful home stager to shadow before you start your own business, you’re not making a good use of your time.

There are many reasons why I’m not interested in having someone shadow me. First of all, I would have to screen them beforehand because that person would be a direct reflection on me. We would have to meet ahead of time and then try to coordinate times to meet at the consultation and staging day and I’m not getting anything out of this arrangement. Also, the fact that someone in my market wants my help in entering my market isn’t very attractive.

I’m sure if you’re looking to shadow someone, there’s no malicious intent there, you’re probably thinking it would be a lot less scary if you could follow someone around and see what there is to it. But the thing is, what you do when you get to a client’s house is the easiest part of operating a home staging business. What you do there has everything to do with the natural talent you possess. The difficult part of running a successful home staging business is figuring out how to get those clients and how to get paid for your time. Nobody you shadow is going to teach you those things. That’s why I created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, to teach you the nuts and bolts of starting a home staging business. It’s valuable information and nobody is going to give it away.

Remember, if you’re considering starting a home staging business, you must already have the talent. Since I’m betting nobody is going to want you to job shadow them, a better way to gain confidence that you will be able to do this is to go around to open houses on the weekends. You don’t have to say anything when you’re there, you don’t even necessarily need to introduce yourself. Just walk through and pretend you’re in a client’s house for a home staging consultation. Imagine what you would be recommending for different rooms.

The more houses you go into, the more comfortable you’ll become. Go around to other cities to get a feel for real estate prices and different types of properties. Every house you go into, you’ll learn something new. You’ll encounter all kinds of “don’ts” that you can figure out how to correct. You will never encounter a house that is completely perfect and that will help you learn that there’s always something to be done.