Have a client that keeps changing their minds? That selection after selection they want to see more options and it’s stalling the process?
While you may want to chalk this up to being your client’s personality, there are steps that you can take before and during the process to help curtail this.
I’ve presented you with some ideas below that you can use to keep clients focused, keep your project on schedule, and get to that beautifully designed home that you both want.
Read MoreHere's a question I've been thinking about as I just signed a client and encountered this situation. How do you navigate the beginning of the concept & design process with a client who has almost zero reference points? Who can't identify a style they like, doesn't have inspiration images, doesn't provide many answers on questionnaire, and house is essentially a blank slate? Especially if this is an e-design client and you can't go through a laborious process of discovery? I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.
Thanks,
Sam
Read MoreThis past month we had someone come by the house to quote a built-in bookshelf. He told me that he’d get a quote to me that evening. A few days later another message telling me that he’d been very busy and would get the quote later that day. Haven’t heard from him. Someone else is building the bookshelf.
Why do I tell you this story?
Read MoreI realized something yesterday, interior designers have a hard job made harder by having to do something that is not our strength to get to the work that we do excel at. Interior designers have to “sell” our creativity. We literally have to do something that, let’s face it, most of us hate doing before we can do what we love. Getting a client to sign your contract and all the stuff to get to that point can be a struggle.
Read MoreOne of the things that you must deal with when running an interior design company is the cyclical nature of the business. Some times of the year are naturally slower than others. Depending on where you’re located seasons, holidays, school schedules, and daylight savings time (I’m not sure about that last one, but I wish it would go away) can have an effect on the flow of work into your design firm. This means that we all likely have to deal with income ups & downs.
As a smart business owner, you must plan for this. So what can you do when you’re dealing with inconsistencies with your income?
Read MoreI picked up some pretty good habits when I worked for my last company - things that helped immensely in running my own business. One of those things was to get paid first (by the client) before paying the vendor. The goal was to never pay out before being paid. We’re not in the business of loaning anybody money, interior designers are not a bank.
Read More“My own business is still young and the thing I feel like I struggle with the most is the very first client consultation. My struggle is this: how to get the client without giving away too many ideas. Clients all want to hear your ideas of their space or your inspirations but sometimes I feel like they take your initial suggestions and run away with it without me. How do I inspire confidence and trust with out giving too much away and getting the client to sign that contract?”
Thanks! Kaitlyn
As I think back amongst “trends” in interior design over the past few years, I think of Kuba & Mud cloth, Handira, Suzanis, Juju hats, Indian block print, Hmong fabric pillows, ikat - design elements that are considered exotic, eclectic, ethnic, global.
But these design elements are “exotic” in the generic sense of “other” or “different” and in their rise to trend, most people didn’t know or didn’t care about the origin or cultures behind what was simply considered an interior design trend.
Read MoreToday, I’m going to touch on some accounting principals, markup and margin. These are two terms that you may have to think about when you’re calculating profit and pricing in your business. These are numbers that you should be familiar with and how they play into your business because they can help with your profitability.
Markup and margin are not the same, even if occasionally you may hear them used in the same way.
Read MoreI get asked about these quick e-design companies quite often.
Are they a good option (to work for?)
How do they make money?
How can full-service designers compete?
Read MoreCreating interior design packages can be great additional revenue streams in your business. They can be quick ways to generate a bit of income without a huge time or effort commitment from you. It’s also nice to have an option for prospects who contact you, but may not be a fit for your signature service or meet your project minimums.
Read MoreSo, you want to scale your business this year? Or maybe next. Or sometime in the future.
Some people start their interior design business without any idea of where they ultimately want to take their business, they may not even realize they are actually starting a business. They are just working IN their business, head down, trying to get something off the ground. And often, the business takes off because of all their hard work and they are just along for the ride, rather than steering the ship.
So first, you need to steer the ship.
Read MoreSometime within the past few months I came across the headline: “Online Interior Design - How To Hire A High-End Designer For The Fraction Of The Price”. Ugh. Yes, let’s just keep making design cheaper and cheaper.
First, let me say, this is a complicated economic and societal issue that I am certainly not going to solve in a blog post, I’ll probably not even scratch the surface. However, I do want to get you thinking. Thinking about your contribution to the interior design industry.
Read MoreHow much do you want to make this year? Specifically, what do you want your business’s gross profit to be? Do you know how you’re going to get there?
Read MoreThere have been lots of studies and reports on habits, success, and productivity. Many emphasize the importance of repetition and dedication. Habits take time to become habits. To become a master at your craft it can take 10,000 hours (or more). Productivity can be increased by creating and using systems. This is where things like the Pomodoro Technique, time-blocking, habit-stacking, task-batching all came from.
Despite this being an extensive topic, today, there is something really simple that you can do to increase your success and productivity in your business. Something that will help you form habits, gain success, keep you focused, and up your productivity.
Read MoreBelow are the list of the top 10 posts of 2018. I have broken them down into the ones that are the most popular of all time - though may not have been written in the past year they are still relevant today. Then there are the top 5 that were written this year.
Read MoreThe 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:
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).
Read MoreAfter 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!
Read MoreToo 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.
Read MoreWith 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
Read More
