Setting a budget - and sticking to it - can be one of the hardest and most stressful parts of an interior design project. Especially today! Costs are rising every day on both supplies and furnishings, and it's so important to lock in pricing when you can. But once you FINALLY have set a budget,...

Delegating is one of the HARDEST things for interior designers to do! We tell ourselves that if we just do a task then we'll save money. Or that it takes longer to tell someone else how to do it than to just do it ourselves. None of that is true!! You are the biggest money-maker in your company,...

There's been a trend away from formal employee reviews with the long documents and the metrics. And I understand that - it can be a pain and it seems weird to do in a small office. BUT - it is actually critical that you have a performance review system in place. Even if your team is just you and...

Too often we wish things in our businesses could be one-and-done. But that is never the case! Whether it's your financials, your business practices, or your client pipeline, you want to schedule regular times to review and refine. That is especially important with a client pipeline because - if...

A recent study by Express Employment Professionals of over 18,000 business owners showed that having a disorganized company can cost six working hours per week. WOW! That's almost an entire day just wasted. Having systems, processes, organized files, and templates can make a big difference...

Working as part of a build team can be amazing, or it can be a disaster! But a lot of what determines which way it goes is in OUR hands. We need to be just as responsible for making sure things move along smoothly as anyone else on the team. After all, it's about making the CLIENT happy. If...

The number-one thing that can hurt your business more than any other thing is your cash flow - or the LACK of cash flow! That single issue has brought down huge companies - especially when bills have come due before there are funds to pay them. It's something that businesses of all sizes need to...

The end of March not only means that it's finally spring, but it's also time to do a little spring cleaning in your business. The beginning of the second quarter is the perfect time to review how the year has been so far for your company, and what you still need to do to meet your goals for 2023....

Finding the perfect potential clients can be a time consuming job - but it is CRITICAL to your future success, and it's something you should be doing all the time. Networking, marketing, and a lot of outreach can pull in some great possible clients, but then what?? It's almost like a dating...

This is one of the hardest boundaries to keep in place as a small business owner!! Because you already know the answer to the question in that headline. You really shouldn't be friends with your employees, but in a small business, it can be really hard to avoid blurring the lines. And OF COURSE...

One of the best ways to be sure your project rolls along smoothly is the work you do with your clients BEFORE you even start! It's important to educate your clients so they understand how everything is going to move forward. That's ESPECIALLY true if they have never worked with a designer before....

That headline may seem like a trick question - but this is actually something that a LOT of designers can't answer. They may think that because they hired the photographer, and they designed the interiors, that the photos belong to the designer. Nope. Surprised?? I'll explain WHO owns those...