Designing Your Design Business – New Year’s Business Detox

A new year is traditionally a time for making personal changes, often including a detox to make the body feel better and improve energy levels. Others remove clutter from their houses and/or garages as a way to free up space and clear their minds. Then again, though rarely thought of, a business detox presents opportunities for reducing stress, increasing energy levels, and improving overall health.

What do we mean by a “business detox”?

It’s not about “defining your mission”, “articulating your vision”, or even “setting realistic business goals”. While there is nothing wrong with those (and, in fact, they have great value), a business detox is more like a body detox; an effort to cleanse your business by removing impurities and toxins that may reduce profitability, and could be getting in the way of enjoying your work.

Perform a Business Cleanse

These include the things that make running your design business stressful (and less than enjoyable), such as:

• Collections – Outstanding invoices are a real drag. Knowing you’ve completed a project but have yet to be paid is stressful and emotionally exhausting. It’s time to get busy on collections by creating a list of anyone who owes you money, contact them and demand payment, then follow through on any payment schedule you agree to. Diligence is the key to getting paid all you're owed.

• Clean up old debt – Owing money is no more pleasant than being owed so, make a plan and do all you can to pay down your business debt and try to work on a cash basis as much as possible. You’ll be very pleasantly surprised by the sense of freedom you experience from dumping business debt.

• Flush stale emails – Hate to say it but, that email link to an article you had to read – from five years ago – needs to be deleted. If you haven’t had the time, or the inclination, to take action on emails that are 4-6 months old, you probably never will. So, DELETE. If, on the other hand, you have important communications that need to be saved, schedule some time to set up folders for them, then schedule a time for following up – so you can finally get rid of them! 

• Fire problematic clients – This may include some of those “slow pay” clients you've put on your old debt list. The old adage “The customer is always right” is not (and never has been) true so, when they are more trouble than they're worth, get rid of them. You would do well to remember though, that some clients are profitable despite the problems they cause and, in the long run, may still be worth the hassle. Schedule some time to detox your client list by cherry-picking the ones who spend enough that you want to keep them; then, go ahead and fire the rest.

• Dump non-supportive suppliers – Not all suppliers are created equal, and neither are all sub-contractors. Life is too short, and business too demanding, to have to work with companies and people you dislike and who refuse to support you. Make 2020 the year you finally choose to detoxify your supplier list, and while you're at it, get rid of those subs who think they’re doing you a favor by working with you, too.

One last tip to help you detox your business is – delegate tasks that you should not be doing every day. You can easily outsource things like billing, tracking, and even project management. This will give you the time you need to better serve existing clients, acquire new clients, build relationships with suppliers and sub-contractors, and run your design business the way you imagined when you began.

Looking for more tips on designing your design business, how to perform a business detox, new home design trends, designer marketing tips, and product ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.

Designing Your Design Business – Successful Designers Business Model

designers business model

While it would be unethical to copy the work of a more successful interior designer, learning from a successful designers business model makes perfect sense – and does not present the question of ethics.In his latest article for BusinessOfHome.com, columnist Maury Riad presents a glimpse of just such a business model and offers it as a guide for both fledgling and established designers to follow on the path to lasting success.While it should go without saying that clarity of focus and organization are two of the most crucial business principles every design business should follow, many designers struggle to achieve them. If profitability depends on performance at every level, and it does, then building a cost-effective process for implementing the work you do is crucial.3 (+1) Characteristics of a Successful Design BusinessSo, where does Mr. Riad focus his attention?

1. Operational Procedures – “The big difference that I’ve noticed between a designer who is just starting out and a more established studio lies in their operational procedures. It may sound obvious, but a major key to any design firm’s success is business practices that are organized, efficient, and thorough. Where working with a new designer may require a lot of back and forth about a handful of purchase orders or invoices, an established, profitable firm can juggle thousands of these processes at any given time.”

2. Vendor Relationships – “Profitable designers know how to leverage their vendors as extensions of their teams to get their work done. Any given design firm works with a wide range of vendors – whether they provide fabric, furniture, or flooring – and knowing what their vendors can do for them is crucial to their success.”

3. Elevated Design Opportunities – “The whole impetus behind hiring an interior designer – besides having someone else do the legwork for you – is the idea that they can find the decor that clients can’t achieve themselves. This ties back into maintaining good relationships with your vendors… [and] involves knowing who to go to and what to ask for. The right pieces or components elevate your design above the ubiquitous DIY aesthetic that is so popular today – and are the reason your clients will seek you out.”

What’s the +1 Design Business Characteristic?While each of these business characteristics of successful designers is vitally important to your success, we would add:

1. Contractor Relationships – The contractors and subs you work within any design project can make or break your business. These folks will often have more direct contact with your client than you do, which makes the relationship you have with them critically important. Building positive relationships with talented and committed contractors foster loyalty toward you – investing them in the success of your design business because they know that their success is dependent on yours.

While most of these characteristics of aa successful design business may seem obvious, the truth is that many designers struggle to craft and implement something that matches the most successful designers business model. By focusing on these four areas of your business, you are far more likely to enjoy long-term success.Are you looking for more tips on designing your design business, new home design trends, designer marketing tips, and product ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.

Designing Your Design Business – Your Design Studio is a Good Investment

Does it still make sense to invest your hard-earned revenue in a design studio when online shopping has become so popular? In a word, yes.In a previous post, we shared the importance of designing a strategic business plan for your business. Here, we argue that investing in a design studio should be an integral part of that plan; a comfortable and stylish place to schedule face-to-face meetings with potential clients, as well as a beautiful space that allows you to share your vision with them.The reason for this is simple: despite the popularity of internet shopping, and your concurrent need for a quality website to showcase your talent, potential clients will want to touch and feel samples while also meeting you personally. You also get to know them better and both of you will benefit from engaging in an environment that promotes building a relationship.This is simply impossible to accomplish in the impersonal world of the internet.Brick-and-Mortar Locations Remain Valuable Client Acquisition ToolsIn a recent article at BusinessOfHome.com, editor-at-large Maury Riad makes a compelling case that traditional brick-and-mortar design centers remain important to vendors in the age of internet shopping.If that is true, then investing in a design studio also remains important to interior designers, for some of the same reasons:

• Brand building – Building your brand, a unique identity within your market, is difficult to do in an environment that is flooded with competitors from around the world (as the internet is). On the other hand, a well-designed retail location puts you right in front of clients and potential clients. Being able to see and speak with you directly will only enhance your brand as one of the few designers willing to make such an effort – and investment.
• Reputation enhancement – Like building your brand, building your reputation in a highly competitive marketplace is difficult in the extreme. In-person contact with potential clients, and being available to existing and past clients, ensures that you will be seen as a designer who is committed to customer service and satisfaction. And, since interior design is above all things a local business, enhancing your reputation locally offers massive potential for success.
• Relationship building – Building relationships is critical to your long-term success as a designer. We’ve said it before (here) and will say it again: repeat customers are more valuable than new customers since they are more likely to buy from you and are less costly to engage, offering you a far greater ROI. Your design studio is the perfect place to re-engage with them and build a lasting relationship that can lead to future work for them. It’s a win/win for both of you.
• Vendor support – Vendors love to support interior designers who feature their furnishings in their design studio. They tend to offer better pricing and larger discounts, sneak previews of new designs, priority shipping, enhanced payment terms, and even cash-back promotions that can help reduce overhead. Such vendor support can be invaluable to your business and you should take advantage of these types of relationships whenever possible.
• Community involvement – Being seen as an integral part of your community will automatically build brand recognition, enhance your reputation, and leads to great relationships and profitable networking opportunities. It is also fulfilling on both a professional and personal level. Get involved and make your mark in your community, if you hope to have long-term success.

While it may seem to make sense that the expense of maintaining a design studio in the internet age flies in the face of logic, for the reasons listed above, and more, a brick-and-mortar location makes perfect sense for the success of your design business.Looking for more tips on designing your design business, new home design trends, designer marketing tips, and product ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.

Designing Your Design Business – Designing a Strategic Business Plan

It occurs to us that we may have erred in our first post in this series about designing your design business. In that post, we took for granted that our audience was already familiar with the idea of designing a strategic business plan that would increase their odds of success. Today, we hope to remedy that error.Regardless of niche, building a successful business requires planning, as well as implementation. Strategic business planning focuses on all areas of your business, with goals for both short- and long-term success. Without this type of planning, you will be forced into a seat-of-the-pants approach to running your business, adding stress, sapping energy and focus and, almost guaranteeing your dreams will not be realized.While it’s not our goal to offer a template for creating an actual business plan, something you might submit to your bank to acquire a business loan for example, we would like to share some ideas for strategic business planing. These are the broad strokes we have found invaluable for successful interior design and furnishing businesses, whether online or brick and mortar.Successful business owners focus on the big picture as well as the day-to-day minutia of running their business. They know the details are important, like paying bills and employees and handling paperwork but, they are also conscious of the larger issues; what the competition is doing, latest market trends, how their clients are being satisfied (or not), and more.Thinking about the Big Stuff and the Small Stuff all the time can be taxing yet, that is what a leader must do.

Designing Your Strategic Business Plan

Here are some things that can make this easier for you:

• Goal setting – for the moment and the future. Having a Big Goal for your business is great but you can’t focus on end-of-year stats while ignoring daily, weekly or monthly performance. In other words, if you hope to grow sales by 10% for the year, you will need to focus on increasing sales by a bit less than 1% per month. In other words, setting incremental goals will make achieving your larger goals much more likely.
• Vision and mission – including your dream and purpose. The vision you have for your business can be anything you dream of achieving, while your mission should be about how you plan to get there. It should also be client-focused and benefits-based; that is, how your business goals and philosophy will make a positive impact on the lives of your clients.
• Focus on relationships – with clients, suppliers, contractors, and subs. In both the short- and long-term, your greatest business asset is the relationships you build. Working with contractors and subs whom you know and trust (and who know and trust you), has value that is almost impossible to quantify. The same is true of existing clients, who are far more likely to work with you than a prospect (see this post for more on the value of current clients).
• Be realistic and practical – when setting goals. Goals are used to help a business grow and achieve its objectives. You can use them to promote teamwork and help describe what you want to accomplish. However, setting too many goals for the year (or too big a goal) can lead to problems. Too many goals can diffuse your focus and too big a goal may well be impossible to achieve. If you “keep it real” and use incremental steps to get there, you are far more likely to get where you want to be.
• Stay focused – on your vision, your mission, and your goals. When your business goals are tied to your vision and your mission, along with realistic steps to achieve them, it becomes much easier to stay focused on things that matter and ignore the rest. This reduces stress and helps you maintain the mental and emotional energy you need to run your design business effectively. That’s a big win/win for you as both an interior designer and business owner.

It’s very important to remember that your business plan should be used as you start your business (to obtain funding or direct operations, for example); while your strategic business plan is primarily used for implementing and managing the overall direction of your business.The difference is significant and critical to the long-term success of your design business.Looking for more tips on designing your design business, new home design trends, designer marketing tips, and product ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.