Sounding board

[Vishenka69]

Thanks, I'll look those up. For now I ordered $100 worth of books from Amazon on starting a small business, becoming an interior decorator and starting a staging business. I just can't justify $6K for 2 semesters at a community college. Thanks for everyone's advice.

[Tenacious_D]

Can you also hook up with a few realtors to help with staging some homes as a first step?

[reciprocity]

The problem is that I'm not sure I would love it. I like decorating our house but I have no idea if I'm any good working for/with others.

This x 1,000 - it's totally different to work for clients (especially in a creative capacity) I totally understand where you're coming from!

I like the idea of trying out some staging sorts of things. I have a friend here in Chicago who does interior design photography and I know one of the ways he started building his book was shooting houses and condos for sale.

I think the books are a good compromise for now!

[Vishenka69]

Who wants to name my business? I'm going to get in contact with a couple of realtors I know to see if I can consult their clients on staging or decorating a new purchase, but simultaneously I'd like to come up with a catchy name and get some cards made. I'm drawing a blank. Will definitely give credit to whoever comes up with a winning name. Anyone has a marketing background?

[HouseofWool]

Okay - give us some more information about what exactly you are hoping to do. Is this for staging homes? Are you comfortable using your name in the business name?

[Vishenka69]

I'm thinking of hitting both the staging and decorating markets at the same time. So far all my web research showed that those who do one also do the other. I don't mind using my name but don't want to go with just Design by Julie. The only thing that comes to mind though are cliches or names of HGTV shows (sadly I can probably name all of them). Right now I'm thinking along the lines of "Live your dream" and "Express yourself" but would also love to somehow work in the budget angle. As in doing all that on a small budget. Does that help narrow it down?

[HouseofWool]

I agree that Design by Julie isn't right, but Julie LastName Designs sounds great to me. YMMV

[SoonerTexan]

Make sure any name you are interested in isn't already registered. You cant get a DBA with it if it is. Not a bad idea to check and see what domain names are already taken too.

[Vishenka69]

What do you think of Live Your Dream Interiors? I did a Google search and nothing came up.

[SoonerTexan]

I can't get to it right now, but you need to check with your states database. I just went through all of this with setting up my photo business. People can register business names without actually using them. The SBA website has a lot if info on this

[Michele]

My uncle has a very successful interior decorating business and it is named WW Designs. It came from his original business name Walls & Windows. I kinda think Live Your Dream is kinda cheesy. I'd opt for something more simple.

[Vishenka69]

My initials are taken and so is everything else that I could come up with that is shorter. I'm all for simple, please suggest away. I'd prefer not to use my whole name unless I can't come up with anything else because most people have a hard time pronouncing the last name and if they can't pronounce it, they won't remember it.

Doing some online research into existing businesses in the area, it seems that everyone is claiming some sort of certification. Would you be more likely to pay extra for someone who claims to be certified (there are several different certification programs for stagers alone) or would you take a chance on someone cheaper who just has a good eye and passion for decorating?

[ladymoreta]

I'd be most likely to choose the person with the best website... Before and after pictures, clear pricing, no Flash, etc.

[Vishenka69]

It seems that there's only one decorator/stager in our area that is under 40 and has a nice web presence. I wonder if that means that most of the client base is older and isn't very web savvy or there's an opening I should jump on. I do need a name though, so that I can register a web domain.

[Michele]

Dawkter Designs.

Ha ha. I'm just kidding.