Business Tips and Advice for New Interior Designers
If I could go back to 2014 and give myself some words of wisdom as a new business owner, I'd have a lot to say. I'd give myself a heads-up on every mistake the "older" me would make and share how the "younger" me could avoid those pitfalls.
The thing is... Those experiences, especially the bad ones, brought me something incredibly valuable as an entrepreneur: Wisdom.
Yep, I now know 5% of things rather than 0%. Ha! Not bad for eight years of having no idea what I was doing. Have you ever felt that way... Clueless? You know where you want to go (sort of) and have no idea how to get there, but you just know that somehow it should be possible.
My friend, this blog post is for the newbies. If you recently started your journey in the home industry, as in, you launched your business less than two years ago, you'll want to listen closely. I'm not dropping any wisdom that is new to the face of the earth, but if you can take a nugget of something with you to make your journey easier, then my job will be complete and I'll shut down my blog.
Just kidding, I have a lot more blogging to do. Let's dive into the 6 wise tactics every new, creative business owner needs to know.
6 Wise Tactics for New & Creative Business Owners
Before I dive into this rant, I want you to pause for a minute and hear me out: Please remember that your new business won't be profitable right away, AND THAT IS OKAY. I was once one of those new business owners that wondered why I didn't have a full load of clients within six months of registering my LLC, and that expectation of quick success and fast growth really discouraged me.
I'm not asking you to walk around thinking you won't be successful from day one. Instead, I want you to look at success differently. Success in the early phase of business looks like setting up your internal processes, creating a brand, and working on your marketing. Success in the early to mid-phase of business looks like marketing yourself consistently for 12 months while not expecting to get a single client from it until much later. This way, you'll be surprised and delighted if you get a client sooner than this rather than depressed if you don't.
You are not one Instagram reel away from stardom. You are 2,000 emails, 12 networking events, and 3 online courses away from your first client. Adjust your expectations and use your time wisely by avoiding trendy marketing and shiny object syndrome.
Case in point: If you are spending more than a half hour a day on social media, that's 2.5 hours per work week (or 10 hours a month)! You could instead spend that time on your own education, financial management, internal workflows, or real-world networking.
This brings me to my first point...
#1 | Social media isn't the answer to your income problems.
If I had a dollar for every time a new business owner told me, "I don't have any clients, and I know it's because I don't use social media correctly," I wouldn't even have to charge for my services. The idea that social media prowess will generate income is so prolific and so vastly misunderstood that it almost hurts my brain.
It hurts my brain because: 1) the idea that more people who see you means more people will hire you doesn't make any sense, and because 2) posting on social media won't make it any easier to sell a poorly branded business or improperly constructed service.
As a new business owner, your focus should be on your ideal client and their needs, not on reaching the social media masses. If you are unsure who your ideal client is, narrow down the service that you are most drawn to offer. Tighten up your service packages so that each one spells out exact features and benefits. Use flat fee or "starting at" pricing to make your business more transparent. Set up your workflow with purpose, thinking through the forms, questionnaires, email reminders, and contracts your client will need to experience and how those things will be delivered in a timely fashion.
#2 | Ads won't bring you new clients; ads put leads in your sales funnel — but only if you have one.
We've been sold the idea (likely through an ad) that running a print or digital advertisement will result in clients knocking on our proverbial doors. If only! The actual purpose of an ad is to get the attention of the right person. The design, placement, and call-to-action of the ad determine whether the ad will be successful in getting people to take the next step.
But...that next step is not for them to hire you. After all, what type of irresponsible person sees one ad and writes a big check? No, the next step for your future client to take is to do their research. Your job is to make it easy for them. Your ad should promote a free offer, such as an ebook or video, that requires them to opt-in with their email address.
Next, your lead should receive an automated email from you that contains the freebie and introduces them to your brand. Subsequent emails (think: monthly email newsletters) should showcase your expertise, explain your services, and show your leads that you truly understand their pain points. However, you can't cram all of this goodness into one email. Each month, pick one pain point and illustrate how one of your services can remedy it. Include a call-to-action that tells your newsletter readers to book a discovery call with you.
That discovery call, once booked, allows you to determine whether this lead is a good fit for you. If yes, the next call to action should be for the client to book a paid consultation (on-site or virtual). From there, your internal workflow (you know, the one you were creating while everyone else fooled around on social media) will kick in and you'll be on track to creating your first highly satisfied client. That client will refer you to similar clients, and you'll keep steadily marketing yourself in this fashion.
But wait — do you even need to run an ad for this sales funnels to work? Thankfully, no. You just need a reason for people to go to your website and sign up for your freebie. A few free ways to accomplish this include blogging 1-2x per month, attending networking events 1x a month, and reaching out via email to friends, family, and other contacts to ask them to refer clients to you. Ads aren't necessary. They are just one tool in the toolbox.
#3 | A conversation over coffee has more ROI than your best Instagram reel.
The home industry is built on personal relationships (every established home pro is nodding their head right now). You can have the funniest reels and prettiest Instagram feed but your colleague who seeks out the coffee dates and barely posts on social media will get the job. Why? Because absolutely no one is in business with a social media feed, but every professional in the home industry will refer clients to other professionals that they personally know, like, and trust.
If you enjoy social media for your brand, have fun, but don't mistake your social media efforts for income generation. There is no replacement for face-to-face (or face-to-Zoom) interactions. You might not be in a geographic location or life situation where physically meeting with referral partners is possible. That's okay — use technology.
Case in point: I've never met most of my agency's clients or referral partners in person. While I'd love to, I'm not going to fly all over the U.S. and Europe for it (I have kids to raise and a team to manage, yo!). Instead, I've said yes to virtual events and podcast interviews. I've sought out specific people that I don't know and asked them to be on my own podcast. I've had to intentionally and strategically forge relationships with professionals and businesses that serve the home industry and that could refer clients to me in the natural process of how they serve their own clients.
Look for these people in your circles, ask to be introduced, or just introduce yourself. You don't need to pitch them. Just tell them who you are and how you can help. Never ever lead with, "Here's how YOU can help ME." Biggest turn-off ever. I get DMs and emails with these types of offers frequently, and I always delete them without responding. No one is in business to funnel leads into another business, but everyone is in business to grow their network, look good in front of their clients, and hopefully, serve those clients even better than before.
#4 | SEO is the best non-monetary investment you can make in your marketing.
SEO is a mystery to most people. Let me try to simplify it: SEO is like putting your website in a filing cabinet. Because you want those files to be easy to find, you need to label them in a folder. Those labels should match what that folder contains. The contents of the folder should pertain to the person you are trying to reach. When someone is looking for a particular thing, they'll go to the filing cabinet (the internet) and look for something in particular. If your folder matches what they are searching for, they'll open and view your files (your website).
Ta-da, you've just improved the research process by making yourself easier to find by people who are looking for exactly what you offer. That's SEO.
But what if someone opens your folder (your website) and finds a stack of papers with words crammed together in a scrambled mess? They'll close the folder and keep looking elsewhere. That's why the design of your website, from the copywriting and photos to the buttons and links, needs to be arranged in a certain way. It's not good enough to simply have the words on your website that match their Google searches. You need to be clear and organized in your presentation and specific about whom you are targeting.
Simply put, if you are a design-build firm that specializes in new builds for multi-generational families, SAY THAT on your website. Yes, just like that. Additionally, think about how your ideal client might verbalize their need. They might not just search, "I need a multi-generational home," but they might search things like, "how can I add an ADU / granny flat to my property?" or "how to live with my in-laws" or "how to design a home for elderly or disabled people."
Bingo, you now have more keywords you should include on your website: ADU, granny flat, living with in-laws, aging in place, accessibility, disability, etc.
#5 | Don't get so focused on income that you lose sight of the outcome.
I know it might be hard to believe right now, but there will likely come a day when you reach all your financial goals and find that the goalpost just keeps moving. To a point, this is good. Stagnancy that is caused by complacency is often the beginning of the end for most businesses. However, if you are constantly chasing the next goal or next revenue marker, you will get burned out and the overall quality of your life will suffer, from family time and personal vacations to how you feel when you wake up every morning.
It isn't wrong to be content with your business while also steadily marketing in the background to prevent the feast-to-famine cycle. You don't always have to be pushing toward the next million-dollar idea, product launch, or service expansion just for the sake of pursuit.
For example, I would actually like to start a second business while also expanding the services of my current business. However, I'm not in the phase of life in which I want to pursue those dreams. I have two young children who take priority over my entrepreneurial goals, plus I really want to keep pursuing my husband through these "little" years. He's stuck with me even after the kids move out, and I couldn't do any of this without him. 😘 (In fact, that's why I hired him in mid-2022 as Socialite's new CFO.)
#6 | You really do need to stay in your lane.
Running a business is like driving a car; if you're too busy watching other drivers, you'll have a hard time staying in your lane and reaching your destination. Don't get distracted by what other designers, stagers, or organizers in your area are doing. Sure, you can learn a few helpful tips from them, but don't fall into the copycat trap. What they are doing might be working for them (or it might not — you don't know) and it might not work for you. That isn't the point. Stay in your lane by serving your own ideal client, which will naturally be different from theirs, and build your business around what that client needs rather than around mimicking what your colleagues are doing.
The Big Truth About Owning a Business
Running a business is an emotional journey. You're going to second-guess yourself. You're going to make mistakes. You're going to say yes to the wrong clients. You're going to let clients use and abuse you a few times before you build the confidence to set boundaries and say no. You're going to spend money on advertising that doesn't work, and you're going to try a few marketing tactics that don't pan out.
I know because I've been there.
And don't think for one second that being in business longer or becoming successful means you won't have any problems or stress. The bigger the business, the more potential for stress and problems. Whether your business is big or small, it all just comes down to how you manage it.
But know this... If it scares you, you're probably doing it correctly. 😉
