In January, at the 2012 RESA Home Staging Convention, I polled nearly 300 home stagers and asked, “Where do you want your business to be in ten years.” It was a live poll, where attendees were given the opportunity to text or tweet their anonymous answer, much like the voting on American Idol.
Seeing as my talk was on Team Building, Your Key to Profitability and Success, I thought I had some idea of what to expect. I was in a room with some of the top professionals in the industry. The stagers represented in the room were both new and seasoned, but they were all there network, educate and create ideas and systems to grow their business.
Imagine my surprise when my survey revealed that 24% of the home stagers in the room – at the Real Estate Staging Association Convention – didn’t even want to own their business in 10 years!
See live polling results below:
So, what does that mean? It means that home stagers need to create systems and exit strategies as part of their business plans. It means that team building is a crucial part of building a successful business.
Team building helps create the bridge between the present and the future of your business. You should build a team for:
- Time Management & Profitability
- Branding & Image
- Security
- Company Valuation
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be exploring each of the reasons above. If you are ready to build a team, but need guidance, Linda Barnett, of Home Matters, LLC in Indianapolis, IN has created a Team Building for Growth & Success online course. This course is also available for RESA Pro credit.
Kim Nicholas says
Of the 24%, did they indicate why? Burn out? Profit of building and selling a business? Retiring for other interests? Really curious.
melissamarro says
Hi Kim. We don’t necessarily have the answers to that specific question. I suspect that the majority of current home stagers are looking to retire within the 10 year window based on the median age within our industry. It has only been in the last couple of years that home staging has begun appealing to a younger demographic. I know when I talked to many of the people in the audience after my presentation, where I asked the question, they cited retirement as a common goal.
Of course the point of the article was that whether you want to stay in the business, or retire, it’s important to understand that it’s no longer an industry that can really be done alone. Teams play an important role in the development of a successful, thriving company.