As interior designers, you often focus on creating beautiful spaces for your clients. But what if I told you that the key to success in this industry lies not just in the design skills but also in building and nurturing a strong community? In this blog post, we'll explore why community matters for interior designers and how it can help you thrive professionally and personally. So grab a cup of coffee, and let's dive into the power of connections in the world of interior design!

I am going to share with you some of the training that I've been offering in my AIM with Intent methodology to my private group. I am an advocate of doing all the planning in advance as much as we can so when it comes time to execute your plan, you already know what to do. We will be thinking about worst-case scenario/ best-case scenarios, when it is time to implement your plan, you are free to do just that. We will also be discussing transition plans and why you need one. This is information we should all have about and for our business.

As an interior designer, you have a unique eye for aesthetics and a passion for transforming spaces. However, to truly thrive in the design industry, you need to master the art of financial planning. Creating a solid financial plan is necessary for your business's success. Without carefully considering expenses and revenue streams, your business may struggle to stay afloat in the competitive market. A well-thought-out financial plan can help you assign resources effectively, making sure that funds are spent on necessary supplies and equipment. Also, having a clear understanding of your cash flow, projections, and budgeting can prevent overspending or running into unexpected financial difficulties down the line. You want to ensure that your creative vision remains sustainable. So, let’s dive in.

Interior design is a highly competitive and demanding field where one's creativity and skills are put to the test daily. However, despite the hard work and talent that goes into this profession, many interior designers struggle with being underpaid for their services. This issue not only affects our financial stability, but it undermines our worth as design professionals.

We have heard and maybe even talked with others of being burned out and looking for inspiration in different ways. But today, I want to talk about being exhausted in all ways: mentally, physically, emotionally, and even spiritually then discuss what we can do about it.

Let’s talk about leadership. As many of us are growing our teams, we should consider how our role, and perhaps that of some of our team, is shifting into more of a leadership focus and not simply executing details.

As owners, we build and build and work and work on our business. But what happens when we need to step away for a time? Can the business move on without us? What if we are out for a hot minute and someone needs to step in on our behalf, have we established a company that they can move into? Let’s look at the areas we need to consider for continuity of service if we, the owner, need to take a sabbatical.

Do you currently create a budget for your new year and then manage to it? If so, you are going to enjoy this blog. If not, I ask that you read with an open mind and perhaps are swayed to begin this process of financial management. Either way – let’s talk about budgets and how to manage to them effectively in your firm.

Each year we go through a process of setting our financial goals for the following year, or at least we should. And I don’t use the “should” word without consideration. Many of us hate to be told what to do, so my hope is that as you read, you understand the why behind it and you decide for yourself that you ‘should’ create financial goals.

Every year I choose a word and a focus. In 2019 my focus was marketing, and the word was “intentional”. In 2020 my focus was adapting and codifying my AIM with Intent™ methodology and the word was “grace”. And goodness knows we had to heap loads of grace on everything that year. 2021 brought new challenges and my focus was on building strategic plans. My word that year was “ease”. How do we scale with ease was the biggest question I worked through and tackled in my company and offerings. In 2022, the focus is on metrics and the word for the year is “analysis”.

Owning an interior design business has many challenges and some of the yuck parts of being the boss could be managing people or projects, giving bad news, clearing up miscommunication, and managing parts of the business that are not in your wheelhouse (such as finances, marketing, or HR). No matter what, we all have areas of our company or tasks that we would like to avoid.

Have you ever thought to yourself, “This is all I know how to do?” I have. And therein lies the opportunity to find someone who knows more than you do about that topic. And what you do next depends on the resources you have. Maybe you have lots of time, then you might want to investigate, listen to podcasts, or read books – perhaps even take a course. But what do you do when you don’t have time, and you do have money as a resource? You invest in finding the right answer to fast-track you where you want to go. Today we are going to dig into the question, “Have I taken my design business as far as I can alone?”

If you are like me, your task list grows daily from either new clients, new ideas, or work that has piled up over time. Welcome to business ownership. Much like homeownership, we are never really done.

Let’s focus on how to be nimble in an ever-changing world, and how to grow and scale while maintaining flexibility, which is not always easy. This will allow us to maneuver through any change.

I have seen it before. We go through a goal setting process and then move forward without continually checking to see if the goal is truly attainable and realistic. Maybe you have heard of SMART goals: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound. Today we are going to talk about stress testing our goals to check for attainable and realistic.

The goal in our business is to create management strategies allowing us to easily accomplish our financial goals. In our last blog post (click here to read), we discussed the 5 main money goals that needed to be established in your firm. It is not enough to set the goals if we don’t manage to them.

You have heard it said before that you get what you inspect, not what you expect. Or maybe you have heard this quote, “What’s measured improves,” by Peter Drucker. Both are true. What we focus on expands – so not only the object of our focus, but the way we see it.

Are you feeling overwhelmed with work? Many businesses are right now due to the massive desire our clients are having to control where and how they live since we are spending more time at home.

When I started my company over 21 years ago, I did not even consider that I was building a team from day one. In my mind it was me, myself, and I. In some weird way that could have been a team. Nevertheless, as time went on, I immediately realized I could not do all that needed to be done in my business all by myself. Maybe you remember the truth bomb I dropped in a previous podcast that alone, you are not enough (click here to listen). As my business has progressed, my idea of team has expanded dramatically to merge in with every aspect of my business. In my AIM with Intent™ methodology, we look at team in three ways: internal, external and support. Broken down very simplistically, this means that anytime we are working with ANYONE else, we are a team. This could be a vendor, a client, a contractor, or an employee. Anyone. See, no one is ever in business alone. Because by the very term of business we are creating a transaction with someone – somewhere.