This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
In this week's first $1,000 segment, we're gonna hear from Emma in Pittsburgh, who transformed her talent for decorating into a profitable home staging business. Learn how she earned her first $1,000 and more by helping homeowners and realtors prepare properties for sale. Welcome friends, welcome listeners. It's Side Hustle School. I'm your host, Chris Guillebeau.
Today, we're gonna talk about transforming homes to sell faster in Pittsburgh. Well, at least that is the story, but the context for the story is the framing, the wrapper, I should say. You know, it's all about how somebody gets started and goes from idea to income. Like they've got an idea to start a side hustle or they've always wanted to have a small business, but they're not sure what it should be. There's a lot of conflicting advice and ideas out there, and they're trying to figure out what do I do?
Like how do I go from here's this list of skills that I have, here's a list of hobbies, things I like to do, is that the best starting point? How do I navigate from the starting point to the point where I've actually got money going into my bank account, which is really fun. That's the goal, that is our objective. And I've also learned, and as we've seen through many stories, once you begin to earn real money, the steps required to go to the next level, whether it's a thousand to $2,000 or to five, $10,000, $100,000, you know, those steps are often easier than that first real paycheck. So that's how we choose that level.
Without further ado, let's just hand the microphone over to Emma. I like to get out of the way for these stories, although I will have a few words, a few comments at the end to wrap us up. But for now, Emma from Pittsburgh on transforming homes as a home stager. [Music]
Hi, I'm Emma from Pittsburgh. I've always had a passion for decorating and transforming spaces.
And a few years ago, I realized I could turn this talent into a business. Home staging, which involves preparing a property for sale by making it look appealing to potential buyers, was the perfect fit. I decided to start my own home staging business to help homeowners and realtors sell their properties faster and for higher prices. My first client was a realtor friend who had a listing that wasn't attracting much interest. The property had been on the market for several months and potential buyers just weren't connecting with it.
I offered to stage the home, confident that a few strategic changes could make a big difference. For this initial job, I charged a modest fee of 250, which covered my time and some basic decor items. I focused on decluttering the space, rearranging the furniture to improve flow and adding a few stylish touches to make the home feel warm and inviting. The transformation was impressive and within two weeks, the property received multiple offers and sold for above the asking price. My friend was thrilled and began referring me to other realtors.
To grow my business, I developed a clear pricing structure. I charged a flat fee for initial consultations, which included a walkthrough of the property and a detailed staging plan. The fee was typically 150. For staging services, my price varied based on the size of the property and scope of the work. Basic staging package for small homes and condos, $500.
Standard staging package for medium-sized homes, $1,000. And premium staging package for large homes and luxury properties, $1,500. These packages included the rental of staging furniture and decor items, which I sourced from local shops and my own collection. I also offered add-ons such as professional photography for $300, which helped listing stand out even more. One of the biggest challenges I faced was managing inventory and logistics.
Coordinating the delivery and pickup of staging items required planning. Especially as my client base grew. To address this, I partnered with a local moving company to handle the transportation of furniture and decor, allowing me to focus on the creative aspects of staging. Within my first few projects, I reached my first $1,000 in earnings. The combination of consultation fees and staging packages added up and I reinvested part of the earnings into expanding my inventory and marketing my services.
Today, I've built strong relationships with realtors across Pittsburgh and my staged homes consistently sell faster and for higher prices. The key to my success has been providing personalized, high quality staging services that highlight the best features of each property. The journey from earning my first $1,000 to running a successful home staging business has been a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun. - All right, all right, thank you so much, Emma. We have featured such a breadth of stories, a wide range of stories in case studies over the years, but yet we keep finding new ideas or new sub industries or niches, if you will.
Different ways that people are going from idea to having that money in the bank account, which as I said, is our goal and our objective. Listeners, I wanna make that happen for you as well. If you have not had the experience of having a profitable side hustle, not just a hobby, but a money-making activity and preferably something where income arrives passively or maybe there's some work involved, of course, but something that is truly helping you get ahead. That's the whole point, helping you get ahead in finances and life. So hope you found this story, this episode encouraging.
Much more is coming up. Of course, if you don't connect with one, there's gonna be more. This was episode 2,795. If you've got a question or an update, sidehustleschool.com. I also write a tri-weekly, three times a week, newsletter on mentalhealth, Europementalhealth.com.
Check it out there. It's always completely free, both the newsletter and this podcast and most other things I do. And of course, I'll be back tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
