Hoarding is a bad word to use in conjunction with humans, Marla Stone, MSW reveals. “It was initially a term for animals. Hoarders is a lousy word for humans as well.”
Stone claims over-accumulating and collecting can be an “embarrassment” for people who have too much stuff. According to statistics, around 5% of the world population displays signs and symptoms of hoarding disorder. That means the number of people suffering from Hoarding Disorder is two times those diagnosed with OCD and four times those with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Hoarding behaviors can be a sore subject for families and neighborhoods. When you have a loved one suffering from over-accumulation and collecting behaviors, your options are minimal. Researchers, therapists, hoarding task forces, and professional organizers are still scratching their heads to figure out how to help people in the long term.
The current interventions often involve a lot of drama and a reoccurrence of the behaviors. According to Stone people tend to reclutter even after expensive professional organizing companies and therapists have come in to help. Stone explains her background as a mental health expert and psychotherapist of 17 years allowed her to see how to help people stay organized long-term, even with the more serious cases. I-Deal-Lifestyle founder Marla Stone said of her almost 15 year-old company. ”I realized that forcing someone to get rid of things or encouraging purging was more cruel than curative, and so I created a simple and easy way for people to live clutter-free, without a tug of war.”
The decluttering and organizing business is a million-dollar-a-year industry. I-Deal-Lifestyle – The Clutter Remedy Experts owner Stone confirms it is a busy business with a constant flow of people who want help to stay organized long-term, not just a quick fix.
Stone has some words of wisdom for people entering the industry. “Know that a background in mental health is as important as a background in business administration and spatial design. When you don’t understand Hoarding Disorder and the mental health challenges that go along with a cluttered life it will be like stepping into quicksand.”
Stone learned how to build websites and increase SEO, and she believes the organic word of mouth has helped her serve over 3500+ properties in 15 years. She has been filmed during tough jobs by the USC film department and has published a book called The Clutter Remedy: A Guide To Getting Organized For Those Who Love Their Stuff. Stone has written over 1000 articles online and has a current blog. You can easily search for Marla Stone and organizer on an internet search to learn more about her strategies or buy her book The Clutter Remedy.
Suggestions for starting a professional organizing business are, first of all, you want to love helping people at your core. The following recommendations are:
Learn about the industry. Attend conferences, talk to other organizers, therapists, and researchers, and see if you can handle mild to extreme hoarding cases.
Work with a professional organizer who has been doing it for at least five years. Choose someone who has successful techniques, cares about helping long-term, carries liability insurance, and has a sense of design and business operations. The broader the services the organizer offers, the more you will learn. Go to the clutter remedy.com to learn more about becoming a certified clutter remedy expert.
Learn how to market yourself by building a platform, starting a blog, and becoming an expert in a niche area or broad if you have a solid background in many things. Develop techniques and a structured way of doing your jobs so you can walk your talk. Create an uplifting and catchy name, domain name, and logo. Design a website that emanates from you and what you have to offer.
No shame, no harm policies are the most critical aspect of the decluttering industry. You want to clear yourself of any misperceptions, misunderstandings, and judgments. It is not your place to tell someone what to do with their stuff. It is your job as an organizer to figure out where everything will go so the customer can easily access their property without stepping over everything they own.
Become an expert at space design and going paperless since everyone is looking for solutions to display their objects and put away their personal items.
Your clients want their homes or business offices to look aesthetically pleasing, and they want to keep their stuff close at hand. A professional organizer’s job is to clear the space of cluttered piles, junk drawer chaos, and personal piles. The organizer’s next job is to categorize all objects and help the person calculate what will be kept. Next, all kept items are finely tuned and contained and put away in a home designed for them based on how often, when, and where they use their stuff.
Figure out a product line that works and is cost-effective for professionally organized homes and businesses. Stone has researched organizing products and knows the amount and what will work to remain organized. The clients I-Deal-Lifestyle have worked with, kids, moms, dads, CEOs, and people who love to collect, have been happy with their strategies and have remained organized for years.
It is not about expensive baskets, boxes, or bins. It is about quality and usefulness when it comes to products. Stone explains, “Decluttering/Organizing services are a high-end, luxury service that lasts longer than any spa treatment or vacation. Stone’s clients are often so grateful they cry and revel that they can keep up the organization system themselves.
Stone opened first in Irvine, California, and serves San Diego, Los Angeles, the greater Los Angeles South Bay area, and the San Fernando Valley, Riverside, and Palm Springs. The website is the fundamental way people get the services, but the benefits speak for themselves and keep the clients coming. The philosophy is to help people understand their space and stuff and that getting help is not shameful.
