Interior Design Business Resources

The New Year offers a fresh start and the end of the year is the time that you can focus on preparing for that fresh start. It’s always nice to make sure that the clutter and chaos don’t follow you into January.

Here are 8 things to do before the calendar flips:

1. Get Accounting in Order

Catch up with your bookkeeping, pay bills, send invoices, pay your sales tax. You may want to meet with your accountant to make sure you’re current on your estimated taxes and talk to them about any year-end tax savings (like buying a new computer or making a charitable donation).

CEO MindCapella KincheloeDecember 19, 2018new year's resolutions, interior design plan, interior design business planComment

Business Resolutions for Interior Designers

After working with so many designers in all shapes, forms, and stages of business, I wanted to share with you with you the resolutions I would wish for designers. These are the ones that I see repeatedly in almost every single interior designer out there.

Imagine if we could nail these resolutions in 2019 - how much better would you feel about running an interior design business and how much we could collectively raise the industry up!

CEO MindCapella KincheloeDecember 12, 2018new year's resolutions, running an interior design firmComment

2019 Interior Design Business Planner

Too often, instead of making choices in our business, we allow the circumstances in our business to choose for us. Meaning, we simply react and respond to what comes our way.

Our businesses are like boats and I see so many designers have yet to pick up the oar and steer towards a destination. They’re just floating along, going where the current takes them.

One of the side effects that I heard over and over from participants in The Golden Blueprint was that they felt so much more confident during and after the course. For a long time I couldn’t pinpoint why that was.

Client Gift Guide

With the holidays around the corner, I've rounded up the best gifts to give your interior design clients. This should be part of your marketing plan as well as a nice gesture and relationship building.

Your marketing plan should include a yearly holiday card (any holiday is good, not just the December ones!) or a card on their birthday or anniversary at minimum. This keeps you on their mind. It is also nice to send cards to vendors you work closely with or who had great customer service this year.

The secret to being a good gift giver is paying

Working with Trades

There are a few things I feel strongly about when you’re running an interior design business. Most of the time, it doesn’t matter how you do it, just that it gets done. One of those things I feel is a critical part of running an interior design business is telling people what to expect.

Unmet expectations are one of the most common reasons for unhappy clients and issues on projects. (You can read more about that in Why Projects Fail.)

But setting expectations isn’t just for clients, it is also important …

CEO Mind, FundamentalsCapella KincheloeNovember 7, 2018finding trades people, working with trades, working with contractorsComment

Developing Vendor Relationships

How can I find good vendors is a popular question from new designers. Finding vendors takes time. It’ll take trial and error and research on your part. There is no quick fix. You can read more about finding quality vendors in this article.

So after you’ve found vendors, you need to develop good relationships with them for maximum benefit in your business. (I’m using a blanket term “vendors” for tradespeople, workrooms, suppliers, manufacturers, showrooms, etc.) These people are extensions of your business and will help you run your business smoother and more efficiently if you consider them part of your extended team.

How to be Profitable in Interior Design

As a business, you deserve to be profitable. Running a business is a challenge and too often we settle for “just getting by”. We shouldn’t settle. We shouldn’t compromise on profitability. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to forget that we’re running a business and the goal of any business is to make money.

Otherwise we’re not running a business, we just have a hobby.

Should You Give Clients Options?

Something came up last night during our local designer’s dinner that I wanted to share with you. One of the designers had created a package option in which she did all the shopping and none of the procurement, almost like a local e-design.

She shared that she doesn’t provide options for that package, just the single design plan, and was considering doing the same for her full-service clients as well.

We were all shocked

Uplifting the Interior Design Industry

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the future of interior design. I feel like so many companies are capitalizing on the industry (HGTV, Houzz, Laurel & Wolf, and the like) and the independent designers & vendors are suffering for it. These companies aren’t going away and designers aren’t doing a great job of differentiating themselves. We’re undervaluing ourselves, lowering rates, dealing with crappy clients, and giving away work to try to stay relevant.

Creating Interior Design Business Policies

When you work for someone else and you are put into an existing system and culture. They’ve created their systems, policies, and procedures and as an employee you’re expected to conform. These policies set up the rules of conduct within an organization and expectations of both the employee and the employer. Working for someone else’s business likely means there is an employee handbook, policies surrounding job performance & duties, and procedures for job performance.

Real Designer: Leslie Cutler

All this month I’m interviewing real-life designers about what it is like to run a design business. As you’ll see these ladies have all different backgrounds and experiences, but one thing they all have in common is that they have taken my course, The Golden Blueprint.

About Leslie Cutler

Leslie has had many a creative careers and a life of travel. After growing up around art & antiques, she graduated with an Art History degree and went on to model for 15 years. After modeling she worked in event design and planning before ultimately settling into interior design. She has been working as Leslie B Cutler Interior Design off and on for 20+ years.

Real Designer: Claire Parkinson

All this month I’m interviewing real-life designers about what it is like to run a design business. As you’ll see these ladies have all different backgrounds and experiences, but one thing they all have in common is that they have taken my course, The Golden Blueprint.

About Claire Worth Parkinson

Claire grew up in Southern California and always loved interior design. Like so many of us in interior design, she was constantly rearranging the furniture in her childhood home and even painted some kitchen cabinets while her mom was out of town! She graduated from UC Berkley and received an MFA in Interior Architecture and Design. She's worked with several design firms in both residential and commercial design, including AirBNB's San Fran headquarters. As the Elite + Celebrity Design Manager for Decorist, she had plenty of experience with e-design. Claire lives in Los Angeles, has been running her own design firm, Design Worthy, for about a year.

Real Designer: Oksana Kreiman

All this month I’m interviewing real-life designers about what it is like to run a design business. As you’ll see these ladies have all different backgrounds and experiences, but one thing they all have in common is that they have taken my course, The Golden Blueprint.

About Oksana Kreiman

A native of Russia, Oksana moved to the US as a teen. After getting an associates degree in Interior Design, Oksana worked for another Denver design firm for 10 years before setting out on her own with Pure Design in 2013.

Real Designer: Corrine Wilbur

About Corrine Wilbur

After earning a Bachelors & MBA in International Business and working in International Trade for 9 years, Corrine left her job managing a team in exports/imports and customs documentation. She got a certificate from the Interior Design Institute and started Boo and Rook in July 2016. In addition to her residential interiors work, she does interior and creative design work for a consulting and branding agency as well as designing cases and displays for a jewelry company, styling several sets for a photoshoo for the same jewelry company, and she'll be styling a launching event coming up in the next several months.

10 Steps to Launch Your Interior Design Business

Launching an interior design business is not for the faint of heart, some people want to get it up and running in a matter of weeks and others can spend years before they feel like they can hang their shingle. I see designers get stuck in the process needlessly because they become paralyzed with decision-making. Keep this in mind - you can always change it later. I tried to give the steps in order that I would go if I was starting from scratch, but the thing is many of these steps can and should be done simultaneously. You can't build a great brand without first knowing who you want to sell to and vice versa. But that's what I mean about changing it later, you can always go back and refine what you've got.