INSIGHT business coaching
7 Keys to a More Profitable Interior Design Business Having a clear vision, good understanding of your profit model and well-defined processes and procedures will help your business succeed
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BY GAIL DOBY, ASID ou put a lot of time and effort into your interior design business. Why not get more out of it? Having a more profitable business does not come from working harder. It comes from working smarter and adhering to proven principles for business success.
From my own experience running a successful interior design business and helping other designers to grow their businesses, I’ve identified seven critical factors that can turn a revenue-generating business into a profit-generating business. It all starts with choosing to focus on the areas of your business that matter most.
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CLARITY OF VISION
Once you’ve established your vision of your business, you can create a branded experience that embodies that vision. A well-defined brand experience permeates every aspect of your business, from your graphic and marketing identity to the types of projects you do, your interaction with clients and suppliers, and your firm’s culture, values and business operations. Your brand is your reputation. Your brand experience is delivering on that reputation time and again in order to provide excellent customer service, instill confidence and build trust—the foundations of a successful business.
A well-defined brand experience permeates every aspect of your business.
You can’t achieve success if you don’t know what it looks like. There are lots of different interior design firms out there. What kind do you want your firm to be? Who are you serving and why? What makes your firm different? What does success mean to you? How will you know when you’ve achieved it? A well-defined vision gives you direction and allows you to measure your progress in concrete, meaningful ways.
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WELL-DEFINED BRAND EXPERIENCE
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IDEAL CLIENT PROFILE
An ideal client is one you want to work with, who appreciates the value you bring and who can offer the types of projects you want and need to do to make your work satisfying and your firm profitable. Knowing the characteristics of your ideal client will help you to identify who they are and how to attract them. In addition, it
