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 Trends and Marketing Priorities After the Pandemic

By now, you know how much we love to share interior design trends here. And yet, we also know that the world may seem a very different place in the wake of the health crisis we’ve dealt with this year. In fact, even marketing priorities have taken a back seat to simple survival for some. 

With that in mind, we’d like to mention a recent article at DesignersToday.com, some industry news about a survey which says “designers rely on resilience, creativity, partners to succeed during a pandemic”.

It comes as no surprise that, according to the survey performed by Steelyard, some “30% [of designers] said that between 50% and 100% of their business with clients was now conducted online.” Despite this shift to online interaction with clients, the survey also found that “virtual appointments with sales reps were ranked as the least-important tool on the list with an average rating of only six on the scale [of ten]”.

Challenges of Virtual Marketing

Needless to say, respondents to the survey were concerned about their ability to market design services in a virtual world. The perceived need to present clients and prospects with samples they can touch and feel rated high on their list of concerns. “Physical samples for finishes, fabrics, etc., will always be important to us regardless of how much we do online,” one designer wrote in the survey’s comments section.

Further, “Outside of virtual appointments, 54% of those surveyed report that they plan to do more product research and sourcing online even after restrictions are lifted. But the challenge of communicating feel, depth, arm height, and more outside of [a] showroom is still a concern and was brought up several times by survey respondents.”

Finally, product availability, safe and timely shipping, and transparency from suppliers were all important to respondents. That is, designers, hope to see a variety of shipping options that address the need for social distancing; so-called “white glove” delivery services that allow clients to feel safe.

What You Can Do

Innovative solutions for client interaction will be the norm for the foreseeable future. While being able to think outside the box will benefit you greatly, you don’t need to do it all yourself. In fact, a little research into what other designers are doing may be all you need to jump-start your business and get your own marketing priorities in order.

Give these ideas a try:

• What services are the busiest designers in your area offering? Check out the social media profiles and websites of some top design professionals and look at their “Services Provided” section. You're likely to see some developing trends that you can work to your own advantage.

• What services are you NOT commonly seeing? There are sure to be categories where services are needed; areas where you could fill the void. Develop services to meet these needs and work to promote them both short and long term.

• What services can you provide that are unique, superior, or at a more competitive price point? You may discover a need for a design pro who is willing to take on smaller projects (or medium or large projects), or with a different pricing structure.

• What home renovation or design challenges do customers have that are unique to your area? Develop plans and services that enable you to better help homeowners solve those challenges.

• Finally… Where have your competitors made changes in their design businesses as a response to the pandemic? Look for specific practices they’ve put in place, such as virtual meetings and other social distancing steps – especially in how they are handling client relationships. (But, don’t forget relationships with contractors and subs, as well.)

The answers to these questions about design trends and marketing priorities in your area will make it clear whether there’s an unmet need you can fulfill to attract clients safely.

Ted continues to offer business consulting support to interior designers and furnishing store owners. With more than 25 years' experience in the luxury furnishings industry and through all sorts of economic crises and natural disasters, he should be able to help you cope with all the changing trends and priorities.

To get in touch with Ted, or for more design trends, business tips, and marketing ideas… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

What’s the Point of Studying Interior Design Trends?

After reading a few articles about the latest interior design trends, articles which tend to conflict we admit, one might wonder what is the point? If trends change so regularly, do they even matter?

To take this a step farther, there are “current” trends that are so out of date that one wonders if the designer understands the meaning of the word. It’s far too easy to take a space beyond kitsch to campy, tacky, and corny and, despite what “everyone else” be doing, a sharp designer will avoid such trendy traps.

As explained in an article at Forbes.com (admittedly not our usual source for design trends), author Amanda Lauren writes: “Just because a look is heavily featured on social media or HGTV, doesn't mean it's a good choice for everyone from an aesthetic or even a practicality standpoint.”

(You might wan to check out this article to see some of the “least favorite” trends among designers today.)

Why Design Trends Matter

At the most fundamental level, interior design is about making a space livable. Moving well beyond the old, simplistic design business model of offering good taste and “sensitivity”, contemporary designers focus on the process:

“… a process that provides [clients] with a set of aesthetically pleasing but efficient solutions for a better use of the space in question. The goal of interior design is to improve the user experience by better managing the space available in the intervened environment.” (EssentialHome.eu)

 In other words, the most important design trends are not simply about colors, weaves, and textures; or whether wallpaper has become more popular than paint or whether hardwood floors are better than tile. It’s not about impressing the neighbors or family members.

Ultimately, the only “trend” that should matter to an interior designer is how you can transform the lives of people who live within, or enjoy a particular space, and improve their quality of life through professional design, beautiful decoration, and quality home furnishings.

Looking for more interior design trends, design business tips, marketing tips, new products, and furnishing ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.