Posts in Business Operations
Should interior designers pass on their trade discounts?

Today I’m sharing some thoughts on whether or not interior designers should pass on trade discounts to their clients. This is always a controversial “hot” topic amongst designers and it can be confusing to know what to do, especially if you are new to the industry. So what I want to do in this article is to present the different options when it comes to trade discounts and help you understand the pros and cons of each option.

Read More
Why you should charge for initial design consultations

I often talk about how I strongly believe in charging for your initial design consultations and I get lots questions about why this is the case and the logistics around how I suggest this is done (e.g. should you get payment before the consultation? should you ever do any free consultations? - all sorts of questions).

So today I’m going to share as much as I can about why I so strongly believe in getting paid for your first meeting with a design client and how you should go about doing this.

Read More
Why your design business isn't growing

In this post I share some ideas on why your design business may not be growing and why you may not be as profitable as you would like. This is a problem that I see time and again with designers. Perhaps you aren't getting enough clients or perhaps you have enough clients and lots of work but you aren’t seeing the financial results that you feel you should (or would like to!) have. Here are four reasons why that might be the case…

Read More
How to improve your initial design consultation: a guide for designers

There's quite a bit that goes in to a great initial design consultation. You have to find a balance between providing value during the consultation while also selling the next step of your process (i.e. a larger, more lucrative project). The consultation is a chance to build rapport and trust. It's not only a chance for your client to see if they like working with you, it's also a chance to see if you like working with the client. In this post I share some of my top tips for how to make the most of this meeting.

Read More
Strategic tasks to do when client work is slow

The nature of running a design business is that you will sometimes have months where you have too much work on and you will sometimes have months where you don’t have enough work coming in. In this post I share some ideas for strategic tasks you can be doing in those quieter months that will help move your business forward and create a more consistent stream of clients over the long term.

Read More