Summary
About Olivia Conlon
Many of the world’s most successful business ideas are born out of frustration, and 20 year old Liv Conlon’s million pound Property Stagers business is no exception.
When Liv’s mother Ali struggled to sell her investment property after three months on the market, a then seventeen year old Liv had an epiphany;
About Olivia Conlon
Many of the world’s most successful business ideas are born out of frustration, and 20 year old Liv Conlon’s million pound Property Stagers business is no exception.
When Liv’s mother Ali struggled to sell her investment property after three months on the market, a then seventeen year old Liv had an epiphany;
“We knew about staging (the art of giving your home a ‘show home’ look to achieve a quick sale) as a concept and decided to engage a staging service. However we couldn’t find anyone who offered this service at an affordable price - so I decided to do it myself.
In three days it sold above the valuation, selling the furniture to boot with a nice healthy profit…and so ThePropertyStagers was born!” explains Liv.
Currently operating throughout the UK, ThePropertyStagers and their team of ten, furnish around 300 properties per year in the UK. What makes the business unique, aside from its exemplary reputation in the sector, is that its young founder has grown revenue from £30,000 in year one, to £1 million in the space of twelve months.
Tenacious and entrepreneurial to her core Olivia canned her early plans to go to university, having suffered years of being bullied at school Liv decided to leave school aged sixteen without a business plan, determined that she would be her own boss. Years earlier aged 13, Olivia had begun importing nail foils from China and reselling them via eBay at a profit, after school.
It comes as little surprise then, that today the young business woman is fast accruing a mantle full of business awards, 6 in the past 6 months, including the Legacy Education Alliance National Product Award and the Association of Scottish Business Women’s Young Inspiring Business Woman of the Year & more recently FSB Young Entrepreneur of Scotland 2019
Having worked twelve hour days for the past three years, laughing in the face of reverse ageism and delighting as her mum Ali left her job to join the business a year ago, the mother-daughter duo are now reaping the rewards, with expansion from Glasgow to nationwide across the UK, and an exciting partnership with one of the biggest property training companies in the world, Legacy Education Alliance.
Beyond continued business growth the remarkable Liv’s goal is simple – to furnish her generation with the message that there are alternatives to the cookie cutter traditional academic route and champion the notion of profit with purpose. To that end, she is currently part of a joint initiative between STV and Entrepreneurial Scotland which showcases inspirational stories exploring the entrepreneurial mindset and highlighting the value to the economy and broader society.
“The best advice I have received in business would be; Stay in the one lane & don’t watch what anyone else is doing. I have stuck by it, which is why I think the business has been so successful. It’s really tempting to jump into the “next big thing” but by focusing on our niche I have built a business so successful that our biggest competitors have asked to merge with us.
I was fortunate to have parents who always encouraged me to do what I loved rather than just take the perceived ‘safe’ route. I’ve made sacrifices and had many nay-sayers, but last year I was flown out to Las Vegas with my mum to be inducted into a property training company’s ‘Hall of Fame,’ and it all feels wonderful because it’s the culmination of our hard work.
Everything is possible, and life is too short not to create it on your own terms.”
On learning that 80,000 families will wake up in temporary accommodation such as hostels this year, Liv recently launched the 100 Home Christmas Makeover in partnership with London based charity Home Finder. Liv’s mission is to bring true Christmas spirit into the temporary homes of 100 families by providing items donated by homeware brands including Christmas trees, lights and soft furnishings to uplift their living space.
Olivia just launched a 1 Day Classroom Course in London for those looking to start their own staging business or want to take it to the next level. More info at: www.superchargeyourstagingbusiness.com
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