How to Start and Scale Your Home Staging Business

Host: Joké Durojaiye
Guest: Tanya Nazaria, Founder of Brilliant Staging and Home Design

Episode Highlights:
Introduction to Tanya’s Journey

1. • Tanya shares her unexpected path from law enforcement to home staging, starting Brilliant Staging in Seattle, and recently selling it after eight years.
   • Background in business, marketing, and accounting set Tanya up for success, helping her transition into a new industry.
2. The Unexpected Start in Staging
   • Tanya’s passion for design was discovered as she staged her own home for sale, receiving overwhelming positive feedback.
   • After quitting her job and researching home staging, she decided to start the business, focusing on growing her skills and learning along the way.
3. Key Advice for Aspiring Stagers
   • Understand your “why” before starting a staging business. Decide if you want to focus on design or on running and growing a business.
   • Emphasizes that staging can be a creative career without owning a business by working for established staging companies.
4. Importance of an Exit Strategy
   • From the start, Tanya planned to build a sellable business, structuring processes and systems to support an eventual handover.
   • Highlights the difference between running a business and creating a job for oneself, emphasizing the value of becoming an absentee owner.
5. Building Operational Systems
   • Documenting processes, creating standard operating procedures (SOPs), and planning for scalability.
   • Intellectual property, branding, and team building as foundational aspects that support smooth operations and eventual sale potential.
6. Challenges in Selling a Business
   • Professional appraisal helped Tanya understand the market value of her business, balancing emotional attachment with realistic numbers.
   • Insight into how assets, inventory, and intellectual property are valued differently by buyers and brokers.
7. Navigating Emotional and Practical Hurdles
   • Tanya explains the importance of detaching emotionally and focusing on profitability to attract buyers.
   • Leveraging intellectual property, unique branding, and explaining these aspects directly to potential buyers to convey business value beyond the numbers.
8. Building a Reliable Team
   • Discusses the significance of hiring team members who share the business vision and contribute positively, sharing insights on making difficult personnel decisions when necessary.
   • Tips for finding employees who bring fresh ideas and support growth, reinforcing that staging businesses cannot thrive alone.
9. Fun Closing – To Chop or Not to Chop?
   • Tanya and Joké share a fun, light-hearted debate on the popular design question: “To chop or not to chop pillows?” Both agree – they’re on Team Chop!
10. How to Connect with Tanya
    • Tanya now offers business consulting services to help other home stagers plan and execute an exit strategy for their businesses.
    • Find Tanya’s services at NazariaDC.com.

Key Takeaways:

• Approach your staging business with an end in mind; have a clear exit strategy, whether it’s selling, handing down, or retirement.
• Building a sustainable business requires well-documented processes, a reliable team, and strategic growth.
• When selling, focus on bottom-line profitability and market valuation while also emphasizing the unique brand and systems you’ve created.

Quotes from the Episode:

• “Know your ‘why’ before starting a business – are you in it to stage or to build a business?”
• “Hiring the right people is crucial; one good team member can elevate the business, while one wrong hire can bring it down.”

Connect with Us:

• Follow Joké and the Business of Home Staging Podcast for more insights and inspiration.