Home Stager Income and Lifestyle Changes Depend on Starting Point

Do you imagine yourself scrimping, saving and starving during your first and second year in business as a home stager?

While it's true that you may have to make some adjustments in your lifestyle when you set out to be your own boss, it's important to remember that it's all relative to what you were earning before.

When I started my home staging business in 2002, I was living in a very expensive city and I had just come from a career where I was making more than $100,000 per year. In a situation like that, with those variables, it is almost impossible to maintain your previous lifestyle and income level in year one whether you're talking about staging or any other new business.

In that first year, I made about $40,000 as a home stager. Since that was about the same as the median household income in the US, and I was earning that in my first year of a new business on my own, it was pretty good. I also hadn't yet figured out how to properly charge for my home staging services, something I teach my students in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, so they can have a better first year than I did.

Given that the average minimum wage in the US is about $7/hour, most people who earn $20 an hour figure they're doing pretty well. If you're used to making about $20 an hour, you'll probably make as much in a single day of home staging as you currently earn working full time for an entire week (likely doing something less enjoyable). If you'll be leaving a full time job where you make $50 an hour (or $100,000 a year), sure it will take awhile to get back to that level but then again, you won't have all of the typical costs of being an employee in that salary range.

After all, you won't have to worry about many expenses including: Buying lunch every day, dry cleaning, taxis, parking, maintaining an expensive wardrobe, manicures, hiring a nanny, gardener, house cleaner, etc. (As an exec you don't have time for these things but your schedule is more flexible as a home stager.), takeout dinners and expensive morning coffees.

Essentially, if you're wondering if starting a home staging business will mean major lifestyle changes, it depends on your previous financial situation and where you live.

But of course there's more to "lifestyle" than how much money you earn. Many people earn less, but are way happier because they have a more balanced lifestyle working in their own business. Many find, like I do, that their actual cost of living goes down because they don't have to buy all the things that are required of a high-paying career in an office tower.

Above all else, remember that the more you invest in your learning about the proper set up and pricing of a home staging business, and in marketing your services, the more you will get out of it!

Home Stager Income and Lifestyle Changes Depend on Starting Point

By: Debra Gould

POST COMMENT

Instructions On How To Grab Bargain But Important Products In Fixing Thinsulate Insulation For Sprin Guide On How To Look Low Priced But Vital Components In Improving Thinsulate Insulation For Rainy Se Instructions On How To Avail Cheapest But Invaluable Components In Creating Water Pipe Insulation Fo Knowledge On How To Look Cheap But Recommended Products In Setting Up Roof Insulation For Cold Weath Guidelines On How To Plan Inexpensive But Recommended Products In Creating Basement Insulation For H Drug Test Club Offers the Best Home Drug Test for the Greatest Value Secrets On How To Create Bargain But Important Products In Upgrading Home Insulation For Any Time Techniques On How To Create Budget But Crucial Products In Installing Attic Insulation For Any Envir Freelance Home Writers - What is the Best thing to Write About? Tips On How To Nab Great Value But Invaluable Components In Improving Basement Insulation For Any We Tips On How To Get Cheapest But Important Products In Upgrading Sunroom Insulation For Rainy Season Bank Homes Foreclosures And Home Path Mortgages Freelance Home Writers - How Much can I Earn?