It’s time to deck the halls. It’s also a great time to start a holiday decorating service. A holiday decorating business can be started quickly with very little expense. You can offer indoor and/or outdoor decorating depending on your skills and interests. You can even offer your homemade decorations and crafts to make more money.
To start a holiday decorating service:
1. Decide what type of decorating you’ll do. Will you focus just on indoor or outdoor decorating or offer both? Will you create decorations, such as wreaths from cuttings or will you use what the client already has? Will you include planning and obtaining materials as part of your service or will you simply show up and decorate with the materials the client has on hand?
2. Decide what to charge. Be sure to include the value of your time, as well as your overhead, such as travel expenses and materials.
3. Pull together needed materials such as ladders, scissors, wire and any other items you’ll need to decorate the home.
4. Contact your city or county about a business license. These are usually easy and affordable to obtain.
5. Decorate your own home. Take pictures and use them in a portfolio and brochure to show to potential clients. Consider offering to decorate a family member or friend’s house for free in exchange for portfolio pictures and a testimonial.
6. Create a marketing plan. Start by identifying the most likely people to hire you such as seniors or busy families. Run an ad or send a press release to the local paper about your service. Develop a brochure and business cards that you can give away to people you meet. Use your network of family and friends to get referrals. Post fliers in local hot spots such as grocery stores, gas stations, banks and churches.
While a holiday decorating service is a seasonal business, you may be able to parlay it into a full-time business by adding it to a home staging or decorating, or handyman business.
To learn more about opening a holiday decorating business, check out these resources below:
Decorating elves find fun in the details – News story about a holiday decoration service
I love information like this. It is empowering – it helps us all know that no matter where we happen to be financially there are ways to generate a stream of income. I also agree that a decorating service can be transitioned into a year-round business.
All the best!
Debbie
I’m glad you found the information helpful and inspiring. There are many ways to generate income, but sometimes the ideas can be difficult to think of. Thanks for posting, Debbie!