Cindy Lin

Cindy Lin is the founder of Staged 4 More, Home Staging and Redesign. She is also one of the Pow.wow Officers and helps manage new members and member benefits. Thank you Cindy!

Cindy, can you describe the importance of your services to our readers?
My company’s mission is to transforms a home into a salable product through staging and styling the interior to make the listing easier to sell and possibly for more equity. We create interior by offering flexible and affordable solutions to homeowners and real estate agents. By staging their listings, the sellers are able to sell the home faster and for top dollars, which will help them to jumpstart the next chapter of their lives. That’s the idea behind the company name “Staged4more.”

What background did you have before staging?
Prior to becoming a full time stager, I was working as a Realtor and also managing a high end rental property. Prior to that, I was working in the non-profit industry in the capacity of fundraising and development. A lot of my skills as a grant writer and fundraiser have translated into running my small business. I also had a brief summer job working in Beijing for a venture capital company as a translator which changed my world view. My undergrad was at UC Berkeley (Cal) and I double majored in Legal Studies and Interdisciplinary Fields Studies (Visual Representation & Manipulation).

What did you choose Staging?
It was really by chance, which I am grateful for and I feel very blessed that I stumbled upon staging. I returned to bay area after my summer opportunity in China, and found that there were no jobs available in the non-profit sector. My mother suggested real estate, since I have the personality for it. I finally caved in after weeks of “persuading.” (My mother’s form of persuasion often takes the form of persistent nagging.) After working awhile as a Realtor, I found staging. The rest is history!

Where does your inspiration come from?
From other women entrepreneurs and small business owners.

What would be the biggest professional reward for you?
Happy clients and happy relationships. Whether it’s with clients, vendors or people I meet through my group. (I started a support group last year for small business owners who are women and under 40.)

What would you change with your business?
Consistent marketing, PR, implementing better systems to streamline various processes and daily grinds of running a small business. Also research for more business opportunities. I don’t see staging as a limited field, in fact, it’s still in its infancy that I see there are many more pathways to be explored!

How do you find new clients?
Internet has work great for my business model. Majority of my new businesses found me through internet and since I don’t have a store front (not yet anyway), my “storefront” is my website. Majority of our portfolio is on our site and blogging about this industry has helped my business tremendously. I started to build from 1 client, then grew through word of mouth.

What is the one piece of advice you would give someone just starting out?
Really research and see if this is what you want to do. There are a lot of people jumping on the stager bandwagon because it appears glamours and fun on TV and in newspapers. It’s actually a lot of hard work, physically and mentally. I carry inventory so I move all the furnishing myself, loading and unloading, boxes, couches, etc. Sometimes I come home after a job and I lay in bed for hours because I hurt my lower back and my knees. Running a small business on your own can also get hairy with the financial pressures, prospecting, marketing, etc. People do get burned out from it. I also have seen many stagers come and go. The industry is new, there is not that much support out there. Also most people dive in because they feel that they have a “flair” for interior decorating, which is not staging. Both are similar but processes and results are different. Additionally they didn’t spend time to cultivate their business skills. So research before you make the leap!

Where do you see your business in the next 5 years?
I see we carry more inventory with more supporting staff. Also larger warehouses to service our clients, as well as adding other services like truck rentals, movers, house cleaning crew, and options to buy new furnishings and artwork. I am very excited to see what the future holds. Also staging is really not about “decorating” the home. It’s about packaging and marketing the listings. Staging is about marketing a product. I see my company becomes more proficient and efficient in helping our clients marketing their listings through continuing offering flexible solutions and affordable prices.

Thank you for your thoughts & showing us a glimpse of your world!

Look her up, you won’t be disappointed!
Cindy Lin, Staged 4 More
www.staged4more.com