Know Your Worth:

Part of every successful business model is (or should be) that you need to know your "bottom line".  That is, what is the minimum amount of money you need to make each month, week, day to at least cover your overhead: insurance, storage or warehouse fees, rental trucks, mileage, gas, additional hired help or payroll, inventory, etc. just to name a few.  This then should translate into, "What is the minimum amount I charge for...." Consultations, Re-Designs, Stagings, etc

Karen Otto of Home Star Staging recently commented that she charges a small fee  for Vacant Home Staging Bids to, as she said, "weed out the lookie-loos"  which I though was extremely smart for her business model. Often times we can weed these out over the phone and sometimes we can't - but Karen KNOWS her worth!  She knows that she may have wasted too much time in the past chasing every lead that floated her way and then adjusted her business model accordingly.

Recently, my company had to do the same in regards to our Interior Design Services.  We have grown by such leaps and bounds that we are now (thankfully) able to pick-&-choose our clients and leads.  Some we will jump through hoops for, others we have had to reconsider.

 

Case in point: almost 2 years ago we did a semi-Staging/Interior Design Consultation for a Client which looked to have the potential of turning into a larger job.  They dangled that proverbial carrot and we took it...  Only to discover that these clients needed a LOT more hand holding than anticipated and ultimately ended up losing money on the job (hours spent in payroll, mileage, gas, traffic, etc) and only to find that the "other" projects never panned out.  They then called later with "a client referral" who only wanted draperies for one room of an entire house....  Needless to say, we got the call from them again, "We have a small bathroom that we want your opinion on... and need to ask you about this, and maybe that.... and we still have that house in BFE we want you to look at....." (the house that was the "carrot" 2 years ago)

 

 

As anyone hungry for business, and I always am even when busy up to my eye-balls, I wanted to jump on it!  But this is where, as a Professional Business Owner one needs to stop, think and reflect:  "Is this what I want to spend the next month on?"  ,  "If they only want my 'opinion', are they then going to hire me?"  ,  "How long will this take?"   When really the biggest question you might need to be asking yourself is, "How long will I continue to be taken advantage of and not get paid for my Professional Services?"

So I called her back and cheerfully quipped, "I know when we started working together 2 years ago, my fees we x$.  Our fees have changed and they are now x$ per hour for what you asking us to do  or  x$ per room to start for the Interior Design Services which you are requesting.  If you are still interested I would be happy to put you into our schedule for later next week as we are currently booked until then.".... the silence on the other end of the phone spoke volumes until she slowly said, "OK, let me think about that and call you back." 

She never called back, and that's OK because I KNOW MY WORTH! 

Do you?

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Platinum Home Staging, Inc. (805) 553-9952

 

       

•  Connie Tebyani 
• Principal Designer / Owner Platinum Home Staging, Inc. 
• www.PlatinumHomeStaging.com
• (805) 553~9952
• Preferred Interior Designer for Pottery Barn
• Member of the Real Estate Staging Association
• W  ar