In this post I’m sharing the 5 step framework outlining the path I’ve used to take my service based interior design business to a multi-million dollar business that is now entirely online.

As you read the post keep in mind that this process has taken me about 10 years to move through. It’s not something that has happened overnight.

Here are the 5 stages my business has moved through.

STAGE 1: LEARN OR HAVE A SKILL (PRE-REVENUE)

The first stage of any journey to build a business of your own is to have a skill to share that is valuable enough that people want to pay you for it.

If you aren’t confident in that skill yet then you need to get some experience or qualifications in this.

There’s a number of ways to do this including:

working for someone else
formal training or education
teaching yourself via online courses, YouTube videos and obsessing over getting better

My example:

I had renovated many houses over the years and learned the skill of design that way (combined with taking many online courses and obsessing over teaching myself what I needed to know in order to deliver high quality client work).
I had a desire to turn this passion into a creative outlet and started a hobby blog about interior design on the side of my full time corporate job (at the time).
In the early stages of my hobby blog I had no expectations with where it was headed. It was purely something for fun and to do as a creative outlet.

STAGE 2: WORK FOR FREE ($0)

Most people who are starting a new business from scratch go through a period of working for free or for very little money.

This phase should only ever be short - as your time is valuable and you should be charging for it.

But this free/low cost work period is really helpful for a new business because:

you get experience working with clients of your own
you can set up systems and processes for your workflow
you can get some testimonials/client stories you can use on your website/social media as proof you do a good job
you build confidence working with clients
you learn whether you actually enjoy doing this type of work before you get too far into creating a full blown business

My example:

After writing my hobby blog for a few months some friends and family members started asking if I could help them with their homes.
My design business officially started by working for few friends for almost no money. This gave me some experience and some images and testimonials I could use on my website.
It also helped me realise that I loved it!

STAGE 3: SELL YOUR OWN TIME AS A SERVICE ($0-$300K)

After you’ve had a few free or low paying clients it’s time to start selling your services properly.

For a service based interior design business this typically involves offering client services 1:1 in return for money.

A service based business is typically pretty easy and low cost to set up. If you’ve had experience working as a designer in for someone else you can typically charge at least double (if not more) what you used to earn as an employee - so that’s the good news!

The problem with selling your time as a service (i.e. working with clients as a designer) is that it is difficult to scale unless you hire staff and move yourself more to a project management/oversight role, which not everyone wants to do and can be a complicated and stressful way to build a profitable business.

In addition, without any productised element you rely on finding new clients over and over, rather than looking for ways to provide more value to existing clients over the longer term (e.g. via a monthly recurring revenue type model).

My example:

I started taking on paid design client projects and working with them 1:1 to deliver design work for their home renovation projects
I did this for about 5-6 years before my time was maxed out (and therefore my revenue was capped).

STAGE 4: PRODUCTISE YOUR SERVICES ($300K +)

Once you’ve worked with a number of clients you’ll typically see there is a pattern of what you do for them and what they need help with.

So in Stage 4 you might start to add some productised elements to your 1:1 client offerings.

This is where you might productise the workflow or pattern you have with clients into an offering that you can create once and sell multiple times.

For example:

group coaching with 1:1 or live call component with you
templated reports that are easier for you to prepare
packaged up services (e.g. website design package, content writing package, small business set up package, bookkeeping package)
retainer models where clients pay monthly for you to deliver what they need (e.g. legal, accounting, social media management)
online design or curation
unlimited small tasks for a flat monthly fee (e.g. Wordpress website fixes on demand, graphic designer on demand)
courses or workshops that have an online component paired with a 1:1 component
turn part of your workflow that is repeatable into a piece of software that you sell alongside your services

Find even more ideas in this other post - Product and Service Ideas for Designers

Typically when people first productise their services they still retain a certain element of 1:1 in their package. For example they might have products that deliver part of their service but they are still offering 1:1 coaching calls, regular live sessions or other in-person/zoom components.

But the good news about this model is that it typically means more steady and reliable monthly revenue and less reliance on always having to find new clients each month in order to hit your revenue targets.

My example:

A few years into my business I created some online products to sell alongside my 1:1 design services - these included digital supplier lists and other templates that I was already using with my design clients.
I also added a retainer element to parts of the the design process that was more predictable for me to deliver.

STAGE 5: CREATE A SCALABLE ONLINE PRODUCT ($1 MILLION AND BEYOND)

The final part of the model is to build out your offering completely online in a way that is scalable and doesn’t rely on you or your time for delivery.

This is where all 1:1 elements of your delivery are stripped out and your offering is now entirely online.

The fully scalable product is built once (which does rely on your time) but then is sold over and over (which doesn’t rely on your time).

For example:

online courses
online training/qualification programs
a membership program
templates, checklists or other digital downloads

Typically you will charge less for these fully productised offerings that you used to for your 1:1 work but you can now reach a much larger number of people so your earning potentially becomes limitless.

My example:

I stopped working 1:1 as a designer and now only sell online courses that have been created on topics I have learned in my own journey as a design business owner

If you have a service based interior design business that you want to take online then I hope this has given you some ideas to think about!

Thanks for reading and catch you in my next post :)

Clare x

Dr Clare Le Roy

PS: If you enjoyed this then don’t forget to follow me @thelittledesigncorner for my daily tips on growing a profitable design or architecture business.

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