Let’s face it: our homes are our private sanctuaries, and it makes sense that we want to make them as comfortable as possible. Also, as more of us are entertaining at home instead of heading out for expensive nights out on the town, it’s no surprise that we all want to ensure that our spaces are as inviting and welcoming as they can be for our guests.
Enter, the home improvement craze. That being said, with the cost of living the way it is at the moment, Australians are increasingly taking on completing their home renovations themselves – giving rise to an ever-growing market of DIY home improvement just waiting to be exploited by savvy businesses.
If you’re a business owner trying to break into the popular market niche of DIY home ‘renos’, here’s how your business can capitalise on the home improvement craze.
The Growing Popularity of DIY Home Improvement
The rise of the DIY home improvement craze can be attributed to the cost-saving measures of doing it all yourself. By saving on expensive tradie labour, and instead, counting on yourself to lay your own floor tiles, craft your kitchen cabinetry, and self-install upgraded bathroom amenities, you can save a great deal of money.
If you’re intent on doing it yourself, some of the elements of home renovation you’ll need to take on include:
- Interior upgrades – like repainting your walls, and updating your light fixtures, doorknobs and curtain rods.
- Bathroom improvements – such as installing a new shower head, taps, sink faucet, and towel bars.
- Flooring renovations – like upgrading your bathroom floor tiling, replacing old carpet, or revealing and polishing your hardwood floors.
- Kitchen fixes – including reinstalling new cabinets, and upgrading your old cupboard and draw knobs and handles.
- Exterior, backyard, and garden upgrades – like adding greenery or colourful flowers, or perhaps, a complete landscaping revamp.
Of course, if you want to ‘DIY it’, you’ll need to be confident in your abilities to execute these elements of your home renovations properly. Installing fixings and finishings incorrectly or putting down shonky flooring can be a costly mistake, as these types of errors can end up costing you more to fix in the long run.
Benefiting from the Home Improvement Craze As a Business
As a business, it’s clear that there’s money to be made from the home improvement craze. To tap into this trend, consider procuring home improvement items from a home decor wholesaler to resell to your customers. Some of the home renovation accessories you can market to your DIY audience include:
- Home upholstery such as curtains, blinds, throw pillows and rugs.
- Finishings such as taps and faucets, door knobs and cupboard handles.
- Floor lamps, table lamps and other lighting options.
- Decorative items for those extra finishing touches – like picture frames, ceramic figurines, and other aesthetically pleasing knick-knacks.
But how do you stand out to potential new customers when you’re trying to break into the niche of home improvement? You’ll need to do some marketing.
Consider building a website to attract customers to your business – ideally, one that has a built-in payment gateway to facilitate online sales. Next, you’ll need to drive traffic to your site – your customers won’t find you on their own. Digital marketing options like search engine optimisation (SEO) can help generate site visits by improving your online visibility when prospective customers search for home DIY accessories online. Social media marketing can be equally successful in attracting buyers, especially if you target your ads correctly.
For savvy business owners, keeping an eye on trends and crazes can enable them to tap into emerging markets and maximise their sales. The home improvement craze, in particular, is one that businesses can make a mint from, especially if they’re procuring the right products.
From upholstery to bathroom finishings, lighting and home decor, the home improvement selling possibilities are virtually endless, and the DIY market appears to be insatiable at present. Blame it on the cost of living, or the fact that more of us are entertaining at home, but the fact of the matter is that as more of us take on our home renovations ourselves, the more businesses can profit from it.