3 biggest lessons I learned working as a designer
Working as a designer is a lot more stressful than most people expect it will be.
People go into the industry thinking it will be “fun” to help people renovate their homes.
But what they don’t realise is that the reality can often look more like this:
🤯 demanding clients
🤯 mistakes (that aren’t necessarily your fault but result in cranky clients anyway)
🤯 periods of too much work followed by periods of not enough work
🤯 clients who go behind your back in search of ‘better deals’ of ‘better options’
🤯 working all the time and not making as much money as you feel you should be (for how much effort you put in).
I’m not here to put you off being a designer, there’s lots of parts of the job that are fantastic (e.g. seeing your design come to life and clients loving their new home).
But with so many people now wanting to start working in the industry because they think it will be ‘fun’ - it’s important to share what the reality can look like as well.
Here are three of the biggest lessons I learned working as an interior designer.
1: Not all clients are worth it
If your initial instincts tell you the client will be difficult, they probably will be.
Run away!!
If you’re not sure how to spot a difficult client, then this post will help you…
And if you are looking for ways to get on the front foot with clients so they don’t overtake the project (and your life!) then I share some advice in this post:
2: Don’t DIY your legal work
Working as a designer is harder, riskier and more stressful than most people expect it will be.
Make sure you have solid legal documents in place to protect you if something goes wrong. Too many designers DIY their legal work, which is a terrible idea. One day you may need to rely on the legal documents or contract that you’ve pieced together by copying stuff off the internet (which, by the way is also a copyright infringement).
Instead of doing this, put money aside to engage a lawyer to draw up proper legal contracts for you that will actually protect you if you ever find yourself needing to rely on it. Having professionally created legal documents will also give you confidence in what you are doing. Remember, you are working on your clients’ biggest financial asset (their home). It’s your responsibility to set yourself up professionally to help them with this.
If you want to read more about the legal side of running a design business I wrote about it in this post:
3: Communication is everything
If you don’t want your clients to walk all over you, you need to over-communicate and develop your client leadership skills.
Here’s a post I wrote about how to improve your client leadership skills:
The other secret to happy clients is to provide them with the best client experience possible. I have also written in detail about that in previous posts as well.
Courses and Templates for Designers and Architects
DO YOU WANT TO….
Improve your professionalism?
Find more clients?
Bring in more revenue?
Create better systems and processes?
Then check out my business courses and templates for designers and architects.
These courses and templates leave you with work done - not just a long list of things you need to do next. We have a really strong focus on taking action and getting things created that improve your business.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
