Purchasing Inventory For Your Home Decor Business
When first starting out, it’s important to start small with your overhead to get a gauge for what people want.
Just remember – if you order a line of items that don’t sell, it’s nearly impossible to recoup the money lost.
Buying the right inventory takes research and planning in order to get it right.
Pro-tip: It’s easy to become biased based on your own fashion preferences on what types of shoes/apparel to purchase. This is where a lot of fashion businesses go wrong. It’s important to base purchase decisions on current buyer behavior, trends in the market, and specific to your niche.
Erin Hooley, founder of Bailey’s Blossoms tells us how poor inventory projections led her to lose over $2M
Affordable And Online Sourcing
There was a time when hiring professional interior designers was a luxury. Now, its easy and can be done quickly through online platforms. You can start an online home decor sourcing portal where customers can upload the images of their space and designers from across the globe can share their design samples or bid for a particular. The client can then proceed with the designer they choose. Its like a job portal where employers post their job requirements and candidates apply for it by sharing resumes. The main goal here should be to provide customers with every kind of home decor services and products from furniture providers to interior designers.
To know about this home decor business idea, check out Thumbtack, an outsourcing platform that ensures customers can find small home decor businesses across the US.
S To Import Home Decor And Household Decoration Items
To import home decor household decoration items, you need first to understand what youre going to import. Home decor and household items are a very large and vast category of products. Next, you need to fully understand who youre going to buy it from through product sourcing.
To learn more, you can read 5 Steps To Import Home Decor and Household Decoration Items by .
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Cons Of Starting A Home Decor Business
Crowded Space
Competition is high when it comes to your home decor business, so it’s important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.
Finding The Right Supplier
Most businesses in this space go the supplier/manufacturer route, which isn’t a bad thing! However, finding the right supplier can take a lot of time, energy and trial/error. If done properly, this process can save you months of time and energy. More on this below in the “finding a supplier” section.
Niche Market
A niche business is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be the key to your success. However, it can be more challenging and time consuming to find the perfect niche market and target audience.
High overhead expenses
With starting a home decor business, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below.
Work can be repetitive
You may find creating the same product over and over repetitive and tiresome. One way of avoiding this is to diversify product lines and revenue streams – this will keep things interesting!
Time commitment
Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone!
You might struggle financially !
Work is not always glamorous
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Write A Business Plan
Writing a business plan from the start is critical for the success of your home decor business.
Why?
Because this allows you to roadmap exactly what you do, what your overall structure will look like, and where you want to be in the future.
For many entrepreneurs, writing out the business plan helps validate their idea and decide whether or not they should move forward with starting the business.
You may want to consider expanding upon these sections in your business plan:
- Executive Summary: Brief outline of your product, the market, and growth opportunities
- Overviews and Objectives: Overview of your business, target customers, and what you need to run your business
- Products and Services: Specifics on the products and services your business will provide
- : Analysis of customer demographics, buyer habits and if your product is in demand
- : Outline of your marketing plan and how you plan to differentiate yourself from other customers
- Competitive analysis: Analysis of your competition and the strengths and weaknesses therein
- Operations: Hierarchal structure of the company and what it will take to run the business on the day-to-day
- Leadership Team: Detailing roles and responsibilities of each manager based on their specific skill-set
- Financial Analysis Understanding of all expenses, operating budgets, and projections for the future.
Learn more about how to write a business plan here
Its The Right Time To Start A Home Decor Business Online
Now that you know all the details of how to sell home decor online, its time to take action! Follow the above steps to stay ahead of the game and start a successful home decor business online.
If you are someone who is selling home decor on social media platforms, the next step is to start selling on your online store. You need a platform where you can make customers understand the quality of your products and give them a personalised shopping experience.
With Instamojo, starting an eCommerce store and managing it is easy!
Get started for free today and take your first step in following your passion!
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Why Should You Go For Sustainable Home Decor
Whether its refurbishing your interiors entirely or bringing a few green changes into the décor, decorating a home isnt child`s play.
The entire process of redecorating while keeping sustainability in the front-end is intimidating.
The most affordable and simple way to positively impact the environment is to buy pre-used furniture.
If you are a fan of rugged and distressed décor, this is the best way to attain the theme without affecting the environment.
Vintage decor looks chic and will cost you way less than purchasing brand-new furniture from the store.
If you are passionate about turning your home green, then work with companies or dealers that promote ethical labor standards and fair trade.
Select the best raw materials for your furniture, but ensure that they do not contribute to the natural epidemic like deforestation.
Make sure all your raw materials are sustainably sourced. It will also support your local artisans and communities that promote eco-friendly décor.
More often than not, people assume that making your home sustainable and green is expensive.
But that is ultimately a myth, which is why it needs to be busted. Truth told, Green is for everyone.
Choose home décor that is recycled, reused and will last for a more extended period with little or no maintenance.
Plants are essential for our living. And a well cared for indoor plant can infuse a breath of fresh air into your interiors as well as your lungs.
Diversify Your Product Line
Adding new products to your business is a great way to expand into new markets and grow your business.
It’s important to note that adding new products and diversifying may not be in the cards for you right this moment, and that’s okay. You can always consider it down the road.
Here are some reasons you may want to considering adding/diversifying your product
- Meeting the needs of your customers
- Establish yourself as a top provider in your industry and stay ahead of the game with competition
- Resistance to downturns/trends fading
- Create new revenue streams
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How To Retain Customers For Your Home Decor Business
Retaining customers is one of the most effective ways to grow your home decor business.
Oftentimes, it’s easy to find yourself focusing on generating new customers, vs retaining your current ones.
Look at it this way – you are 60-70% more likely to sell a new product to an existing customer than you are a new customer.
That’s not to say that finding new customers and revenue streams is not important, however, the easiest source of new revenue is right there in front of you.
Here are some ways you can retain customers for your home decor business:
- Responding to comments on social media
- Send discounts to loyal customers
- Provide valuable content, for free
- Write a hand written thank you note
- Provide awesome customer service and build relationships with customers
To find out more tips and tricks on retaining customers, check out this article here
James Wolfer, founder of Valhalla Wood Forge dives deep into the process of attracting and retaining customers:
Lately, Ive found that engagement seems highest when I post a good mix of high-quality product photos, as well as lifestyle photos showing us in the shop working, or out and about living life while wearing a ring. For example, I often post photos that customers send in of their flags hanging in their houses, or wedding photos their photographer took of them with our rings on.
Etsy order history YTD – I started using Etsy ads heavily starting in September
How To Open A Home Decor Boutique
The popularity of home improvement and home makeover shows has brought the world of home décor into the living rooms of Americans across the nation. Show followers and individuals who are into decorating their homes are always on the hunt for good home décor boutiques that carry the goods they are looking for. Thus, opening a home décor boutique may be a lucrative business venture for you. With some time for planning and a monetary investment, you can open a home décor boutique to service clients in your area.
Apply for and obtain a business license. Contact the county clerks office of the county where your boutique is located to see what you need to do to obtain a business license. Since it is a retail location, you may need to obtain a retail license on top of a business license. Application and processing fees vary by location.
Rent a retail space. Choose a location where there are related businesses such as a furniture store, grocery store or home improvement store. This ensures that your boutique is in an area that attracts the types of clients who are interested in your home décor products.
Order inventory. Purchase the various products that fall in line with the type of home décor products you want to sell. You can buy home decor items from wholesale suppliers such as gifts, home furnishing and home decor.
Tips
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In addition to the county, contact your state department to check state business laws and requirements for operating a business.
References
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Be Prepared To Work 7 Days A Week Or At Least To Be Thinking About Your Shop 7 Days A Week
I did not know that I would spend most of my waking, sleeping moments thinking about the shop, the merchandise, the displays, the product mix, the
customers, the employees, the finances, the buying, the researching. It really is all-consuming for me, and I believe this is true for most shop owners. In fact, I do not think I have met a shop owner who is not completely engrossed in their business 24/7. Sometimes it is taxing, sometimes it is exhilarating.
If you decide to open a shop, be sure you love everything that happens unconditionally. Be positive – this is key – as there will be many highs and lows along the way.
Locally Sourced Home Decor Products
Some retail stores will look to source some products locally from some local craftspeople. This is also a great way to be able to support your local community and to be able to get some unique items into your store.
Some of the most interesting retail stores that I have been to will purchase from local craftsmen, buy from overseas, and then buy from wholesalers. This way their stores have an interesting mix of products to sell.
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What Is The Difference Between Supply Chain Management And Logistics
Supply chain management is about the collaboration and partnerships to get the goods from raw material to the end consumer it is about the partnerships and collaborations within this supply chain process. Logistics is one part of the supply chain management logistics is about moving the goods from one place to another. In some instances, the logistics providers will also store the goods and send them on to the end consumer.
You can learn more by reading our blog What Is The Difference Between Supply Chain Management and Logistics? by .
What Is Home Decor
Home decor is an industry based on science and commerce. Scientifically, it is the study and implementation of creating an external and interior space more functional while increasing its aesthetic appeal. Commercially, home decor refers to the business of selling and procuring home decor items like flower vases, plants, wall clocks, antiques, and showpieces. Thus, in general, a home decor service or product incorporates colour, style, and value to the existing interior of a space.
When you start a business in the interior designing industry, your knowledge about the profession is a given. Thus, your first plan of action must be to decide from one of the many types of home decor business that you will be operating on. Living room design, bedroom designs, kitchen, walls, ceilings, porch, or garden, are some areas in home decor for you to specialise in.
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Home Dcor Crowdsourcing Platform
If you like the idea of creating a platform where customers can find every and all kinds of home décor businesses, then this could be the home décor business idea for you. By creating a platform not only are you making it easier for customers to find what theyre looking for, youre helping businesses to be found.
Here is an example of a home décor business you can gain strategies from:
Business Name: Thumbtack
Established Date: 2008
How To Create A Slogan For Your Home Decor Business:
Slogans are a critical piece of your marketing and advertising strategy.
The role of your slogan is to help your customer understand the benefits of your product/service – so it’s important to find a catchy and effective slogan name.
Often times, your slogan can even be more important than the name of your brand.
Here are 6 tips for creating a catchy slogan for your home decor business:
1. Keep it short, simple and avoid difficult words
A great rule of thumb is that your slogan should be under 10 words. This will make it easy for your customer to understand and remember.
2. Tell what you do and focus on what makes you different
There are a few different ways you can incorporate what makes your business special in your slogan:
- Explain the target customer you are catering your services towards
- What problem do you solve?
- How do you make other people, clients, or your employer look good?
- Do you make people more successful? How?
3. Be consistent
Chances are, if you’re coming up with a slogan, you may already have your business name, logo, mission, branding etc.
It’s important to create a slogan that is consistent with all of the above.
4. Ensure the longevity of your slogan
Times are changing quickly, and so are businesses.
When coming up with your slogan, you may want to consider creating something that is timeless and won’t just fade with new trends.
5. Consider your audience
6. Get feedback!
Here’s some inspiration for coming up with a slogan for your home decor business:
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