Starting Your Career as an Interior Designer: The Business of Interior Design

Looking Back With Thanksgiving

As the holiday approaches I can’t but wonder whether or not we are thankful for what we do have.  I know, this isn’t the best of times but it isn’t the worst of times, either.  I have actually been thinking back to the Thanksgiving week of 1989.  Do you remember how we were all feeling after the major slide in the stock market that September?  Well, we thought the sky had fallen then, as well.  There is actually better economic news this week.  The market is up again.  For how long we don’t know, but it is up.  Our telephone continues to sit quietly in the corner as if I had given it a time out for bad behavior.  I keep picking it up and making sure the dial tone is working.  I make phone calls to associates in the area and continue to contact past clients in a number of ways.  We will get busy again.  So, I’m thankful for what we do have.  We have a new office in our home with a grand studio just right for clients to enjoy.  We can go outside when the weather is fine and do presentations and we have the time to work around the house when things are very slow.  That’s OK.  I like to try new recipes and with the portable phone at my fingertips clients need never know I’m not sitting at a desk when they phone.  I’m working over the stove testing a new soup or stew.  Not exactly interior design but it helps with the food writing gigs I keep getting.  Being optimistic is not being a Pollyanna about the very real hurt we all feel, but we can’t dwell on what is, for many, a very unthankful time.  Is your family well?  Do you have a roof over your head?  Will there be food on the table?  If so, you are blessed.  As I am blessed.  So, I am looking back at other Thanksgiving holidays and looking forward to future holidays.  Oh, heck, Christmas is just around the corner.  Can New Years be far behind?  We’ll be thankful then, too.  So, Happy Thanksgiving.  Get ready for the work ahead.

I'm So Afraid

In the world of interior design the client reigns supreme.  Their every want and need is met and supplied by professional designers all around the country.  They can be demanding and particular about their selections and persnickety and tedious with observations on recently delivered product.  You see your peers out there working with clients all the time with a smile on their face and a skip in their walk as they maneuver through the world of project management.  Their clients seem to hang on every word uttered and the collaboration seems to be made in heaven.  What do these designers do to make it so easy and why can’t you find the same type of client?  The answer lies in the fact there is more here than meets the eye.  Would it surprise you to know many of these very same clients are afraid of you?  Yes, afraid.  They actually feel almost naked in your presence.  How, you ask, is that possible?  There are a number of reasons why clients dread designers coming into their home.  First, and foremost, they worry you will judge what they have done before calling you.  Second, they are terrified you will spend far more money than they have budgeted for the project.  Third, they are embarrassed to admit they don’t necessarily know all the terms you will use while creating the project.  Forth, they obsess about making the correct decision.  Fifth, they are afraid they will have no say in what the space will look like. 

As a professional interior designer it is up to you to allay these fears and create a project that is exciting, fun and devoid of judgmental observations.  Not as easy as it sounds when clients are in the throes of worry and doubt.  The easy going designers you see at the markets all the time have worked long and hard to create a nurturing environment for their clients and make it easy to move the project forward.  They have studied who their best clients are and spend hours creating the right marketing campaign to reach these clients.  They have honed their creative and presentation skills and have infrastructure within their firms to support project management and product delivery.  In short, they are professionals in a sea of mediocrity.  Without a clear understanding of what makes a client tick you will never succeed in the very competitive world of interior design.  Although creating lovely interiors is what brought most of us to the field it is client and project management that sustains a business and separates the professionals from the wannabes. 

 

Perpetual Anticipation

Don’t let times like these get your nerves all atwitter.  It’s easy to just sit around waiting for the next phone call to bring business but playing solitaire won’t get the job done.  Heck, dusting the office and running the vacuum is all part of anticipating new business.  I know you’ve done your marketing and you're ready for the next phone call but you also need to anticipate what will be required once business starts coming in again.  When we moved our office week before last I knew I would need help with the computer set up in the new office and decided to also ask about updating what we had or purchasing new computers.  We use desktops in the office and have laptops for travel and speaking engagements.  I use a professional IT guy for this type of thing and I suggest you do the same.  Not the 19 year old kid who’s a whiz on computers but a professional who can ascertain what your needs are based on what you share about your business.  As it turns out we have decided to simply add memory to our existing computers.  It will improve speed and help when we get busier.  It’s only going to cost about $ 210.00 including installation.  Much better than the cost of new computers and not something I could have necessarily come up with on my own.  By anticipating what my needs are going to be I make the job easier in the future.  We will be ready for the next clients and able to perform tasks in a quicker and more efficient way.  Anticipating needs is also part of your business plan and everything should be reviewed every six or eight months.  Unless you really want to take a three day retreat this review is the type of thing that you can do in a morning.  Just set aside quiet time that will give you a chance to review the present situation and what you think the future might hold.  Once you’ve decided what‘s needed the next step is to implement.  Oh, yeah, you’ll also have to start anticipating what the future might hold.  Yes, it is ongoing but worth the time you spend now for better performance and better profits. 

Do You Want to Dance?

Just like in Hollywood or on Capitol Hill, business relationships are the living, breathing life force of our industry. 

     Strategic Alliances

Take it from me; you will never make it in this business unless you develop an effective means for selling yourself, not only to your clients, but also to your team of business allies.  Who are they?  They are the people who are going to turn your concepts into reality.  Not to state the obvious but your allies aren’t lining up to scratch your back for their health, they’re doing it for theirs.  That means if an ally agrees to do you a favor (by cutting you a designer discount or introducing you to prospective clients), guess what, you can be certain they want something from you.  But what can we designers do for our villagers? 

 That should be an easy one, we help put food on our villagers’ tables by giving them business.  Are you starting to understand the whole give-and-take process that goes into any great working alliance?  The objective when seeking out business allies is to form strategic alliances, which are informal partnerships between you and any professional who works in a business that can be aligned with yours.  I don’t mean hanging out with the guy who sells you staples at Staples, I mean forming lasting relationships with anyone who can substantially help your business.  Here’s how a few well-oiled strategic alliances can work for a designer:  Realtors giving designer referrals, Architects introducing designers to clients, Builders working with designers to produce renovations.  Sounds simple but alliances go a long way toward establishing a design career so (just like networking) get out there and meet anyone who may be of help.  Avoid limiting your search to only people who can help your business operate.  Any person who may be able to refer you to individuals that fit your target profile is inbounds and fair game.  Before you start haphazardly forming alliances with every Courtney, Chad and Ashley on the block, first sit down and identify what design products and services you are going to need to launch, and sustain, a business.  Then, like a game of connect the dots, match your needs with potential allies who may not know your name yet, but they will.

 Say you love furnishing your client spaces with antiques.  Call antique dealers in town and see if they are interested in forming a strategic alliance with your firm.  If you appreciate fine art, work on forming a strategic alliance with an art dealer or with individual artists you like.  This isn’t rocket science; it’s merely a game of connecting the stars in your design universe.  You will find some of your allies may burn brighter (and command more attention) than others but all must coexist interdependently for your universe to prosper.

Some strategic alliances can be no-brainers, like aligning your firm with a dependable house painter, upholsterer or moving service.  Why not focus attention on scooping up these kind of low hanging fruit first?   With those ripe relationships in the sack, move on to filling your more specialized wants and/or needs like that outrageously cool “green” fabric wholesaler in town.  Once you’ve honed in on a potential ally who is interested in doing business with your firm, arrange for a meeting so you can sit down and talk about what each of you can do for the other’s business.  If after the meeting, you come to the conclusion that both of you supply something the other demands see if you can come to a fair agreement.  During negotiations, you both should come to a mutual understanding of the following key factors:  What are the ground rules for the alliance?  How does the alliance operate?  How do both parties benefit?  Although you may be compelled to jot some ideas down on paper, I suggest you keep your alliances as informal as possible.  The truth is most relationships are informal and made with a verbal agreement as opposed to a contract or LOA.

That’s not to say you couldn't create some sort of written document to spell out exactly how the alliance works.  But if you had written contracts for every relationship you have in the industry, you wouldn't be able to have more than one strategic alliance for each need would you?  Make sense?  Good Lord…the process almost sounds like Survivor!  Anyway, keep the agreements informal, as it’s important you remain flexible, especially starting out.  Flexibility is important because in many cases, after testing out an alliance, you may decide it is not working out the way you envisioned and decide to move on.  No crime in that if there is not a written contract.  See what I mean?