Get Tips from the Pros: How to Start and Grow an Interior Design or Architecture Business
Everything you need to know
ensure you take the strategic steps to launch your interior design business
So you are starting out as an interior designer and you need some advice. Where do you start? There is no defined roadmap to beginning any business, and interior design is no exception. However, there are a few basic things that any beginning interior design professionals should establish before they can grow their interior design business
Get Operational
Make sure that you have the backend sorted. Ensure that you have considered how you are going to set up your business: sole trader or limited company? Be aware of the legal and financial implications of both. It may be more expensive and time-consuming to set up a company, but this will protect you personally if something were to go wrong.
Bring onboard a legal practitioner that can advise you on the right way to set up your business, and get all your contracts sorted both for clients and with any staff you may employ. Another professional that is important to consult is an accountant to give you initial advice. Book keeping can become very complex and difficult (not to mention boring ). Once you have had some initial help, you could subscribe to a service such as Xero, allowing you to meet your accountant when you need them.
The correct business licenses, insurance and invoicing structure are all things that the two professionals can advise upon.
2. Get Branded
In a sense, you are not just selling your professional services but your brand. It’s important to develop a consistent brand identity that you can use in all aspects of your business. Branding is more than just a logo design (though this is important too). It should encompass all aspects of your work, from your invoicing, and design collateral (cards, letterhead) to your website and social media. You need to take time to develop your branding strategy.
Use social to build your brand presence and identity. Let your clients get to know your identity and face, but ensure that the image you are creating is consistent. Make sure that your branding fits the work you produce and the clients you want to attract.
3. Attract your Ideal Client
Make sure that you have defined your ideal client from the get-go. When you are starting out, it may seem that you are throwing your net too narrowly, but if you have your ideal client in mind, everything you create will target them. Niche is important, this is how you will develop a name for yourself to attract jobs that you want to work on. It can be tempting to say yes to every client at the very beginning, but once your reputation grows, it is important to pick projects that you feel comfortable working on that are in line with your design vision.
4. Develop your processes
There is a big difference between being a designer and running a business. Even though you may be extremely talented, it's important to have a good understanding of the process of business—consider how you are going to manage projects, communication and clients. Ensure that you know pricing structures and understand how you bill and what profit you need to make. A robust project management system with checks and balances built in will save a lot of headaches and make you more profitable in the long term.
5. Ensure you have a website and social media presence
These two things will ensure that once clients find out about you, they will understand you and how you work on a deeper level. A great website will be able to help you communicate to potential clients how you work and what you do. They will be able to explore past projects and get to know you as a designer. Your social media presence will allow them to delve deeper into your day to day. The go-to apps for interior designers are Pinterest and Instagram. Pinterest is a way for you to drive traffic to your site pins that target content. Quite a few opportunities for work come via DM’s rather than via email. Ultimately, your social media and your website work together to create a portfolio so that potential clients can be converted to your clients.
Check out our courses on branding and websites specifically for interior designers just like you who want to start and scale up their interior design businesses.
Are you :
✔️ looking for more clients✔️ wanting to launch your new interior design biz effectively?
✔️ wanting to upskill your offerings?
I’ll be launching a series of courses and resources soon…check out our courses page
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