What is a home inventory business?
Home Inventory business owners go into homes and businesses and inventory valuable items for insurance purposes. A record is made of all items and a dollar amount on what those things are worth is established. Typically a finished portfolio that an inventory professional creates for his or her clients includes recorded CD's/DVD's and written documentation. This information enables their clients to settle loss claims quickly and without dispute. Often home inventory professionals also assist people in estate planning, moving and storage preparation, asset liquidation and more. Would people actually pay to have someone create an inventory of what they own? Yes. Absolutely – for several reasons: Having an up-to-date inventory of possessions, complete with video and photographs, saves people a great deal of stress, frustration and aggravation should there be a need to report a loss to an insurance company. Insurance Companies require information about the circumstance of a claim. Detailed documentation of the home's contents is also required as evidence to justify the amount being claimed. When a person experiences a loss, it can be very stressful. It’s not a time to relying upon memory. Insurance companies, law enforcement, and estate planners recommend that their clients have a complete inventory of their personal and professional property. The National Insurance Industry’s statistics reveal that people who have a complete inventory actually collect more when submitting claims compared to people who do not. Many people recognize the importance of having a professionally prepared inventory of what they own for estate and financial planning purposes. Such an inventory provides a complete picture of all personal property, including the total value. This is factored in as a component of one’s net worth. An inventory of one’s possessions also helps determine how much homeowner's or business insurance one should carry.What are the advantages of having a inventory business from home? There are numerous advantages to having a home-based inventory business: Your start-up costs are low. You can operate your business either full or part-time. Because this is not a franchise, affiliate or partnership business, you keep all of your profits. You’re providing a service that is in demand. You can run your inventory business as a stand-alone business or easily incorporate it as an additional service you provide in your current business. While there is no guarantee how much anyone will make with their business, some inventory business owners have been known to make as much as $75K to $100K a year.Note: How much a person makes with his or her home inventory business depends upon the amount to time devoted to the business. On average, the estimated charge for a home inventory is between $200 and $400. You can use this range to determine how much you might be able to make with your business. You can develop another source of income from your inventory business through annual renewals. With annual renewals you can provide your clients with on-going service by updating their home inventory at least once a year. How do I start a home inventory business? There a several steps you need to take to start your home inventory business. It’s important that you take all the steps and avoid cutting corners. Get your business off on the right foot, so you don’t have to back track and potentially loose business: 1. Get the required license or certification. Either the state in which you live or the insurance companies that you’ll be involved with may require a license or certification. Start this step by contacting your state’s Insurance Commissioner. 2. Take a course in home inventory. Check with your local colleges, community colleges, and online for what types of courses are available and which one’s suit your needs. Don’t skip this step. Typically home inventory courses are not expensive or difficult. A course will inform you on: What you should inventory,
What the appropriate values are for certain items, and
How much insurance companies will payout.3. If you do not already have the following equipment, you will need to purchase it for your home inventory business: A digital camera, A video camera, A laptop or desktop computer with a CD Burner, A quality printer.4. Research and purchase your home inventory software. The software you choose should make it simple for you to document your client’s possessions, the value of those possessions, and update information when necessary. As you conduct your research you’ll discover that there are home inventory business kits available to help you start your home business. You may find that you want to purchase one of these kits, which typically range anywhere from $200.00 to $350.00. Depending upon the price, home inventory business start-up kits typically contain some or all of the following: Customer management and inventory software. The software should allow you to enter information about each item easily, on-site, and directly into your laptop where you can also attach digital photograph. You should also receive electronic versions of operational forms, service agreements, and guarantees. An operations and business plan which will provide you information on how to: set-up and operate your home inventory business, register and license your business, get bonded and insured, keep business records, set-up banking and telephone service for your business, and arrange to accept payments by credit card. Information about insurance and estate planning, such as: homeowner's insurance policies, renter's and home business insurance, state insurance departments, insurance company claim's offices, property loss and filing a claim, working with claims adjusters, insurance company loss payment process, and working with attorneys and financial/estate planners. Resources to assist you with marketing your business, such as: ads, brochure, marketing letters, business cards, and website templates.5. Prepare a
business plan.
In creating your plan, make sure you look at the
business plan
information on this site. Also, consider the following: Are you going to work your business part-time or full-time?
Are you going to hire people to assist you with your home inventory business?
How are you going to keep track of the accounting associated with your business?
Do you have
space in your home
home for an office?
Do you need to purchase any of the equipment listed above?
Do you need any financial assistance to start your home inventory business?
How long do you see yourself running your business – a year, three years, until you retire?
How big do you want your business to be and how are you going to get it to that point?
How are you going to market and advertise your home inventory business?
Speaking of marketing your business: Establish yourself as the home inventory professional in your local community by getting your name out there with people in related businesses. Talk to: Estate and financial planners. You can help these professionals provide more value to their customers as they complete their planning goals. Attorneys who settle probate and property dispute claims. Collectors who document and value collections of all types. Moving and storage business owners. You can assist them with documenting their customers’ property and the condition of it before and after a move. Rental Agents. You can provide a service to them and their customers where you document the condition of the property at the beginning and end of rental agreements.Also make sure you network across the United States and Canada with other home inventory business owners. Why? Because people all over the U.S. and Canada are seeking this service. As you find out where other home inventory business owners are throughout the U.S. and Canada, you can refer people to their local home inventory business owner. In turn, other home inventory business owners can refer people to you.
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