One of the most fascinating things I observed during 2020 with the emergence of Covid 19 and lockdown was how much time people got to spend in their homes. In the process, many people experienced the home they had created and were not so happy with it. Early on there was a flurry of spending on home design and decor. This is one of those things that is here to stay with us, at least in the short to medium term, even as we begin to open up. There’s a business opportunity there for the savvy and trendy in small home decor supplies.

Decor supplies

Home decor is of course a huge business and a category filled with so many products. As a start, you would want to focus on small-ticket home decor supplies. So we are talking about small ornamental items like picture frames, vases, artificial flowers, coricraft items, wall stickers, led lights and other items that have trended their way into the hearts and minds of people.

Supplies

As the world further globalises people are starting to be a little more homogenous particularly when it comes to trends. Gone are the days when a trend in Korea was just a trend in Korea. These trends travel quickly across the world. What does this have to do with supplies? You make a profit when you buy the right stuff and identifying emerging trends and being early to market with them is part of your winning strategy. The obvious place for these items in China via their large eCommerce stores such as Wish. However, not everything comes from China. There is also the case for finding great items created locally or on the continent.

Trends

You will need to keep up on trends and that is not negotiable. Remember the porcelain dogs that dominated Zimbabwean households? Those things are probably still in many households today. People these days draw from multiple influences and it is not uncommon to see elements of Asian influence mixed in with African influences. That’s just the world we live in.

Show don’t tell

It is much easier to sell your wares by showing them rather than telling. This means it’s all well and good to show people pictures of the items but showing pictures of the items in situation or typical settings goes a long way towards selling the idea behind the product. To achieve this you may need a showroom of sorts. This may represent quite an investment but it’s worth it as it helps with your photography for online displays of your products and dealing with customers face to face as we open up.

Selling

One of the things you will have to invest in is your ability to sell. This seems like stating the obvious, I mean you are in the business of selling. However, it goes deeper than that. You see, in a business like this, you are hardly selling products. Most if not all of the products in this category have little to no intrinsic value. They do not perform any special functions. They do however sell on an emotional basis and selling to peoples emotions is something you will have to learn to do. Thanks to the Internet half the work is done for you. You will still have to do the heavy lifting.

Start small

I’ve already mentioned that it is best to start with small ticket items. This will reduce your investment in inventory compared to if you wanted to stock big-ticket items like furniture. Not to mention storage space.  These small items are what we can call the finishing touches to hone decor so you may find your customer base will not be limited to individual homeowners but also design and decor businesses. Focusing on a specific room may also be a good idea. Bedroom, lounge and kitchen are the rooms that people are most willing to invest in.