Entrepreneur-Why investor would give me capital to start a decorating den? With the spiraling demand for housing, the demand for interior decoration market is also rising in tandem. Concern regarding making the home interiors beautiful and plush is high on the wish list of many home-buyers. Modern and aware customers who view popular channels on TV dedicated to interiors and subscribe to the magazines flooding the market are valuing the quality of interior decorating in an increasing manner than ever before. Rising on this demand for interiors among the people is a great opportunity to take up the Franchise offer of Decorating Den. It is an investment in the future compared to other franchise offered in the market and a completely new way of life. (Opportunities in a New Economy - Message from the President)

Convincing the Venture Capitalist for guaranteed profitability:

By taking up the franchise, owners of Interiors by Decorating Den are backed by an exceptional marketing program devised to build confidence of the client, reliability and brand image and a significant competitive advantage. The franchisees can place orders for professionally designed monthly mailers and made-to-order newsletter, mailers and postcards all of which can be customizable online in order to make marketing in a simpler manner. Apart from that are also available newspaper inserts that are downloadable, decorating columns and press releases that target important customers in the business owner's exclusive marketing areas. Extra marketing support is available through professional TV and radio advertisements, direct mailers targeted towards particular groups like new homeowners, advertisement in the business Yellow Pages and advertisement released in popular national publications having a wide circulation. The strong national and international public relations network of Decorating Den has produced hordes of articles, which displays the performance of the decorating activity of the company. The feature "Dream Rooms' have appeared in the pages of important magazines and various segments on "This Old House" have drawn millions of viewers from all over the world. (One of Today's Top-Rated Franchise Opportunities)

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:

The Company "Interiors" by Decorating Den among the oldest companies since the year 1969 is the biggest independently owned franchiser of interior decorating business. The company is an organization which has been created around the spirit of entrepreneurship of people looking for freedom of operating their own businesses, and at the same time enjoying what they are doing. The teeming bulk of the owners crave for more freedom and scope without stagnation in careers in professional life and limitations in earnings which is observed in the conventional workplace. Decorating the interiors of homes permits people to express their inimitable taste and style while at the same time improving the value of their homes. In case of some individuals who have a natural talent, for them decorating can be an exhilarating experience which gives a lot of inspiring challenges, continuous variety and relentless creative rewards.

Individuals have understood the requirement for decorating help and look for advice or support from others, as well as from acquaintances, retailers and professional decorators. Decorating Den is inimitable in their capability to offer people the scope to perform in an extremely creative setting while operating their own business supported by a nationwide image of strength, size and brand image. A majority of the ones who take up the franchise offer are in pursuit of a dream and a quality of life, which comes from making other people's lives, and the environments in which they live more beautiful. It is the belief of the people at Decorating Den that their bottom-line transcends the immense financial aspects of business ownership. The people who have already taken up the franchise bear testimony regarding the emotional rewards are important as well. They have discovered that the customer praise and satisfaction to be satisfying and empowering as well. They discover a feeling of belongingness that comes from the recognition which they get from their fellow owners. The outcome is a sense of genuine accomplishment and increased self-worth. (A Beautiful Business)

The vast repertoire of professionally trained decorators throughout the United States and other countries are unique. The company presents thousands of samples from the top brand name producers directly to the homes of the client through their own logistics transportation. Starting from that point the focus of the company on personal lifestyles, budgets, long-term necessities and requirements of the clients has been playing a key role. One of the major strengths of taking up the franchise is the...

(ii) Flexible hours of working (iii) complete independence as regards creativity are concerned. (iv) Complete absence of the corporate glass ceilings (v) Ownership satisfaction (vi) No necessity of prior experience. (vii) Corporate Training:- Basic and continuous training is imparted to the franchise owners which is a basic component of the system which is inclusive of principles of design elements, product knowledge, and sales and marketing.
The training commences with a 45-day home-study preparation program. Thereafter, the new franchisees participate in the program by the Professional Decorating and Sales School, a complete classroom training spanning 2-weeks held at the Lifestyle University situated at the corporate headquarters in Montgomery Village, Maryland. (viii) Merchandising: the Company Interiors by Decorating Den has entered into partnership with more than 100 of the leading names in home decorating, the prominent among them being Kravet, Waverly and Hunter-Douglas which presents the clients an outstanding product line. The purchasing power of the franchise network presents a lot of special benefits which are not available to an independent decorator. (ix) Technology: the Company Interiors by Decorating Den employs the latest technology in order to streamline business functions and improves communication within the organization. The Intranet system of the company, Deconet, allows the franchise owners to establish communication among themselves and as also with the regional directors and managers and other employees of the corporate office. (One of Today's Top-Rated Franchise Opportunities)

Weakness:-

Among the weaknesses are (i) the access to capital (ii) Unpredictability in the cash flow position (iii) Owners are going up in the retail experience curve wherein the prefer to visit the stores for their purchases of interior decoration materials (iv) Business heavily seasonal in nature and new designs arrive at a fast rate making the earlier designs obsolete. (Interior Views: Sample Plan)

Opportunities:

The home interior decoration market has immense potential to surge ahead with increased demands in the coming years. The report entitled American Demographics has made a projection that the number of households in the United States will grow by 16% within the years 1995 and 2010, which in absolute terms shows an increase from 98.5 million to 115 million. Among the households including people within the age group from 35 to 44 years, roughly 50% of them are married couples having children under the age of 18. Based on the research conducted by the American Demographics, households with the age range of 45 to 65 have grown to 34 million during the year 2000. These households will go up to another 32% to amount to 45 million in 2010 as the baby boomers join this peak earning and spending age group. While nearly 46.2% of the country's 93.3 million dwellings have been constructed prior to the year 1960, a lot of these homeowners are anticipated to update. (Interior Views: Sample Plan)

These factors add to a growing need for home decorator fabrics meant for window treatment, upholstery and other fabric accessory requirements. The bulk of the homeowners spend a greater percentage of their disposable income on home goods in the space of two years following the purchase of a new house. Thus encouraging trends in the new activity shows growth and scope for home textiles. Another crucial factor to be noted is that the married couples in the age group of 35 to 65 age range represent a growth segment and enjoy larger higher incomes compared to other family structures. They enjoy the choice to spend their disposable income on various amenities of life. There is a possibility that they might demonstrate "cocooning" by rendering their home a comfortable and attractive place. These groups choose to spend resources in home decoration instead of other discretionary options. This group forms a bigger sub-segment of the target market. (Interior Views: Sample Plan)

In the current ever changing job market, long-term security is frequently measured in number of months. Increasingly, people are coming to the decision that there is nothing like owning a business. While making a career planning, the first decision remains to take up a job or to get enhanced control of one's future through business ownership. Prior to thinking about the idea of beginning a decorating business, it is important to perform a self-test like (i) Do you find the decorating business enjoyable (ii) Is career change in your mind (iii) Do you possess a desire to earn according to your worth. (iv) Do you have a feeling that you possess good people and sales skills? (v)…