As a personal and professional development coach, I have spoken with many seasoned home staging clients who started their business because they are creative and talented and love to express themselves through their work. When it comes to marketing and packaging a house for sale, they are Rockstars.
Ironically, these same Rockstars that understand how to market and package a home, fall short when it comes to marketing and packaging their business so that potential clients see their value and want to hire them!
They are great at staging but don’t really understand what it takes to grow their business. They play smaller than they should because they don’t expect enough for themselves or they feel as though others have something that they don’t- a secret sauce that they can’t access.
The truth is that growing a business takes work! It takes focused attention on the small steps that move you towards the larger goals-the mundane, every day steps as well as the glorious big leaps of faith that propel you forward.
It takes courage to learn about yourself, push boundaries on what you might think is possible and break your self imposed glass ceilings.
Many of these same seasoned stagers find that their unpredictable schedules, demands for their time, high maintenance clients and need to please everyone causes them overwhelm and frustration. They are working really hard and feel as though they should be making more money. They simply are not sure what they need to do or which direction they should go in so that they can up level their business.
After all-their days are already filled with endless responsibilities and they fear that adding one more thing would tip them right over the edge. So they stay stuck and nothing changes.
Let’s face it, change is not easy. It takes focused effort and the willingness to reach outside of your comfort zone. It takes guts to change! It also takes deep introspection because, frankly, your business is a reflection of who you are.
That is the really cool thing about business-it reflects back to you who you are from the inside out!
Think about this:
- Your business needs to continually evolve or it will become stagnant. So if your business is going to grow, you need to grow.
- If you are not intentional about what you want to create-your business success will be random
- If you don’t believe in yourself and reach outside of your comfort zone, your business will not reach its full potential
- If you are not always learning and growing, your business will suffer.
- If you are cheap about investing in your personal growth as well as inventory, marketing, etc. your business will reflect that
It is that simple!
Bottom line is-it is up to you!
It up to you to take a good hard look at your business and determine what you need to do to make it work. Most importantly, take a good hard look at who you need to become!
I firmly believe that success starts with an inner game strategy. You have to understand yourself and how you hold yourself back from being successful.
Perhaps you have to rewrite your inner game story about being visible or fearless or making a lot of money. Many of you have fear based assumptions around charging what you are worth and it has nothing to do with what people will pay!
Perhaps you have to get out of your comfort zone and shake things up. Inner game strategy is also important when deciding to work with ideal clients and setting boundaries so that you don’t spread yourself too thin and burn out. Inner game can make or break you!
It seems so simple, doesn’t it? The truth is that we often don’t do the things we know that we should for various reasons and some of these reasons are subconscious.
Growing a successful business is an inner game job! You can’t lead your business if you constantly sabotage your efforts!
Here are a few ways that you may be sabotaging yourself from great success!
1)Not enough time saboteur– The truth is that everyone has the same 24 hours and yet some people use that time strategically. They stay focused on what they want and allot time to achieve it. They understand that some days they may only have an hour to work towards their business goals and some days they may have 2 or more. They understand that it is a marathon-not a sprint and they consistently schedule time to focus on their goals.
2)Not enough money-Often small business owners fail to allot money for building their business and personal growth. They undervalue what this costs them in the long run. It is essential to invest in you and your business during any growth period. In any growth period, you may feel as though you are working harder and investing more for less. The reality is that you do this so that you can ultimately make more money in less time by working strategically. You are investing in your future!
3) Not thinking like a CEO- Home stagers often go into this business because they love staging homes and designing rooms. However running a business requires a different skill set. There are many hats that you must wear. You have to wear the hat of the business developer, accountant, laborer, marketer, visionary, branding expert, etc. And you have to become proficient in all of these areas or hire people who are. Yikes! This is where business strategy is so important. As the stager you are looking at your business from the bottom up. However you must look at your business as the CEO and see the meta view so that you will grow. It is a different mindset.
In order to fire up your home staging business you need to take a good hard look at what is stopping you from your own magnificence. Start by looking at you! How do you stay stuck? How do you hold yourself back? What are you afraid of doing that you know would be a game changer for you?
Now that’s what I am talkin’ about!
Cheers to you and your fabulous business,
P.S. If you would like more information on this topic listen to my podcast with Luann Nigara of A Well Designed Business. Here is the link:
http://windowworks-nj.com/marianne-cherico
P.S.S. If you would like to book a complimentary discovery session with me or are interested in my Mastermind for seasoned stagers, please email interiorsbymarianne@comcast.net
