Interior Design Business Administration Tasks – The Big Yuck!

Perhaps the biggest headache for small design firm owners – and small business owners in general – are the administrative tasks that must be handled. After all, you got into this business to explore and put to use your creative side, not to be pulled into interior design business administration tasks every day, instead.

Luckily, there is help available. From services like ADP and Paychex that manage payroll to Virtual Business Support Services and Virtual Assistants (VA), you can get your payroll taken care of, along with a myriad of other admin tasks. From HR to marketing and from helping to put in place policy and procedure manuals to client follow-up, VA support services can handle all of it for you at huge savings over the time you’re spending right now.

De-yucking the Big Yuck

An eye-opening article at BusinessOfHome.com brought clarity to the issues that small design firm owners run into frequently:

“Ten years ago, Penny Francis didn’t think she needed an employee manual—or dedicated HR resources, or a formal goal review process, for that matter. But when interviewing job candidates, the founder of the New Orleans–based firm Eclectic Home found herself reinventing the wheel each time and realized that there had to be a better way. ‘I was lacking consistent policies, procedures, and interview resources,’ says Francis. “I needed steps for documenting and following up with both hired and non-hired job applicants.’

“Francis was already using Paychex to manage payroll; when she realized that the company offered a human resources administration service as an add-on, she signed up. The process required some upfront time and energy but paid off exponentially. ‘After a few days of working with their consultant to help them understand my business’s needs, they created a supervisor’s manual and another manual for staff interviewing and selection. Each manual provides resources, forms, and state-specific compliance laws, along with procedures, sample letters, and forms for easy implementation.’”

Your Time is Your Greatest Asset

Current admin cost: What are your time, energy, training, and talents worth? Because right now, YOU are your greatest business admin expense. In other words, whatever you charge your design clients for your time, be it $150, $200, or $300 per hour, has to be included in the overall project price you quote them.

Now take that number, let’s pick $225 per, and multiply it by the time you spend on these tasks. Spending just 15 hours a month on admin is $3375 a month down the drain. Or, $40,500 per year. (It’s likely closer to 20 hours per month at five a week, but we’ll stick with the number we used.)

Dang! What could any small business owner do with that kind of extra cash every year? Not to mention the time you’ll save for doing what you love – interior design!

From hiring and firing to ordering products, creating estimates, and billing clients, the value of the time you spend on admin currently is almost inestimable. Getting help with the drudgery and time-suck that is business administration can only benefit your design business, and you.

Recall that our guide and mentor, Ted Fall, remains available for business consulting to the trade. He also has contacts with virtual business support firms that are dynamite at helping take the business administration load off the shoulders of small business owners. Feel free to… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

Design Revenue Streams – Can You Think of Ways to Create More Revenue?

OK, all you lovely, loved, and faithful TD Fall’ers, it’s time to talk about creating revenue: finding alternatives to your regular design revenue streams. This notion came to us thanks to a recent article from the Business of Home website titled, “4 designers share how they landed their side hustle”.

BTW, while the phrase “side hustle” is massively popular these days, it seems to be a bit tacky to us and undervalues the importance of generating alternative streams of revenue. (But hey, maybe that’s just us?)

As the article’s author Marina Felix writes, “Creating an additional revenue stream in your business may come with a clear financial incentive, but that doesn’t mean it has to lack passion.”

Pump Up The Revenue (examples)

The following examples will be largely taken from the article highlighted above:

• Go ahead, get artsy

“The [painted] art walls [I make] called ‘Wow Walls’ came about in 2018 as a desire to have my interiors be a little bit more creative. I also wanted my clients to feel like they were the muse. Of course, they are the muse, but this gives them a larger-than-life mural that is inspired by them as part of the space. A lot of times the walls are part of my projects, and I have had some clients reach out to me for extra walls later on. I also have some people [who] call me … to have a mural commissioned like a piece of art [which] adds another layer of income for me. – Alicia Bailey, Bailey Li Interiors, Glen Ridge, New Jersey

• Memberships are All the Rage Today

“I always envisioned Jenni Kayne as a lifestyle brand encompassing apparel, home, and all the details of everyday living, and the apparel side of the business existed for many years before we decided to venture into home decor and furniture. I’ve always been passionate about interior design, and as we started to pursue brand projects … it felt like a natural next step to launch Jenni Kayne Interiors. While product design plays a major role in my work in interiors, in April 2022, we launched our membership program, The JKH Membership. For $150 annually, our members receive 20 percent off every furniture and home decor purchase—they also have access to exclusive perks from partner brands … JKH Membership is also open to designers through our trade program, so in addition to all of the perks that regular members receive, trade members get an exclusive 25 percent off all furniture and décor … [A stunning]70 percent of all furniture purchases are made by members. … and we have seen high renewal rates.” – Jenni Kayne, Jenni Kayne Interiors, Santa Ynez, California

• Preach It… Teach It… Workshop It!

“I worked at [hospitality brand] Sonder for a couple [of] years as a senior designer. I had people coming to me all the time – on LinkedIn, or friends of friends – asking, ‘How do I get into interior design? I really want to do it, and my job is not fulfilling.’ This happened so much that I thought there was really a need for something there that helps people with the business side of [setting up an interior design business] … When I created The E-design Workshop in 2019, there were a lot of up-and-coming websites like Havenly and Decorist that were hiring freelance designers consistently to serve their clients. It seemed like a good opening to create something useful that people want. It’s [become] kind of an evergreen thing.” —Rachael Simon, Rachael Simon Studio, Chicago

• Get to the Root of Your Creative Side

“I’m a fourth-generation artist. My family is full of women artists, painters, and musicians. I’ve always loved painting; I’ve just done it more as a hobby and a meditation. It was something that was part of my heritage, but I never knew how much of it. I worked for [the] textile company Holland & Sherry for a few years, assisting with product development and designing the showrooms … there, I learned a lot of resources and about color and texture. During Covid, when everything shut down, I pulled out my paintings and was like, ‘Oh, my goodness, I need to start putting this together in the textile form.’ So I started researching. I found a great local printer, and they use eco-friendly inks, which I really loved. Designing wallpaper was something that I just felt very moved to do, and I’m doing it slowly.” – Kathryn Hunt, Kathryn Hunt Studio, Mattituck, New York

What’s Up With That?

Existing as we do in such a creative industry, we find it surprising that so few of us figure out new ways to generate new revenue streams outside our comfort zones. These talented “industry pros” however, do not seem to have that problem.

Have you found ways to generate more income? Have you even thought about trying to? If you were to accept such a challenge, where inside yourself would it come from?

Remember, our hero Ted Fall remains available for business consulting to the luxury furnishings and design trades. Maybe he could help you brainstorm ideas to generate new revenue streams. Couldn’t hurt, right? So, go ahead and…   Contact TD Fall today.