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You're not manipulating them, 
you're guiding them. 

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Sales can just be guiding and 
it's for profit, which is great.

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That's why you're in business. 
Nothing to feel bad about here. 

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Also, This is why I like in my 
presentations to just present 

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one strong solution to the 
client because it's really easy 

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to sell one solution because you
have your heart and soul behind 

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it. 
I believe this solution is the 

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best for you client because I've
thought it through all different

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ways. 
Yes, there's an alternate here. 

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There's an alternate there. 
If you want to look at it, we 

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can explore that. 
But I've already made this 

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decision for you. 
In my professional opinion, this

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is going to be the best solution
for you. 

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And here's how much it costs. 
You're now listening to Design 

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Curious, a place where you 
creative one, are here to learn 

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about what it really is like to 
be an interior designer. 

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00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,720
And I'm your host and mentor, 
Rebecca Ward. 

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If you're worried about how to 
succeed in a creative career, if

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you're ready to learn your next 
steps to become an interior 

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00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:13,640
designer, and if you want the 
satisfaction of doing something 

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you love every day, you are in 
the right place. 

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Grab a coffee, a notebook, and 
let's dig into today's episode. 

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Hello and welcome to episode 185
of Design Curious Podcast. 

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Today on the podcast, I'm 
talking about 3 mistakes that I 

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see people making when they're 
starting their business. 

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These are also mistakes that I 
made, so I want you to learn 

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from them. 
When you start your design 

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business, you think that maybe 
the biggest challenge will be 

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creating those beautiful spaces 
that you are dreaming about and 

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loving. 
But it's not. 

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The hardest part isn't the 
design, it's the business part. 

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I know that you guys are 
talented. 

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I know you care deeply about 
your projects, but you could 

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make mistakes that can cost you 
time, energy and confidence. 

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And so I don't want you to make 
these mistakes. 

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So you're going to learn from me
today about that. 

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So let's get into it. 
OK? 

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So all of these mistakes are 
things that I also made when I 

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was starting out. 
And so that's why I'm sharing 

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with you today to make sure that
you are not repeating my 

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mistakes when you're starting 
out in your business. 

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All right, so the first one is 
letting the client drive the 

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project. 
We've talked about this before, 

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especially when we talked about 
getting your dream client. 

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You need to set up boundaries. 
But the root issue is that you 

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don't have a clearly defined 
process, that you're feeling 

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like an imposter. 
You are probably a people 

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pleaser, which I definitely am. 
I call myself a recovering 

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people pleaser. 
And lack of boundaries. 

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I have worked on creating 
boundaries in my life, something

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that did not come easily to me. 
I loved reading the Boundary 

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Boss book, so I definitely 
recommend everyone to that. 

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It's on my book list if you're 
wanting to check that out. 

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I have a slew of books that we 
read in my Design Mentor, but 

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I've made it publicly available,
so we'll include that link for 

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you. 
A lot of great books on there, 

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but Boundary Boss is one of 
them. 

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Because you are the expert, 
right? 

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You are the designer and your 
client is not. 

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They are not. 
They probably haven't done as 

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many projects as you before, or 
else they wouldn't be hiring a 

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designer, right? 
Designers aren't naturally 

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empathetic and collaborative, 
and it's beautiful and people 

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love that about them. 
But without structure, your 

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projects will start to turn into
a chaotic mess. 

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We don't like that. 
And I was there and I would go 

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shopping with my clients, even 
though I did not like it. 

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And they were indecisive and it 
would take hours. 

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And we had no conclusion at the 
end because every new place that

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we went, they were like, oh, I 
like this one better or I like 

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that one better. 
And can we even remember what we

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were looking at three hours ago 
in the other shop? 

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Probably not. 
So that's when I decide I'm 

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going to stop going shopping 
with my clients. 

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When you're shopping with your 
clients, they're really leading 

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the project because they're 
walking around the showroom and 

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saying, oh, I like this. 
Oh, I like that. 

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Instead of you walking around 
and saying we're going to work 

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with this sofa and this chair or
you know, and then we don't even

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work with that. 
We don't design off a showroom 

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floor. 
Typically we use wholesale 

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products. 
And so but yeah, you don't want 

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your client to lead the project,
right? 

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You are the designer, you have 
all the experience, the instinct

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to lead them in the right 
direction. 

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So just be firm on that unless 
you really like shopping with 

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clients. 
I don't know, some clients, I 

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think just hire desire because 
they want a shopping buddy and 

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they think that's what they're 
going to be doing is that 

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they're just going to go to 
their local home store and, you 

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know, pick up accessories and 
pillows and talk about the 

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fringe and, you know, maybe that
lights you up. 

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So if that it if that does, then
that's fine. 

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You still need to, though, lead 
the client in the direction that

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they should go and be firm about
your opinions and say no, that 

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pillow is not going to work with
our color scheme. 

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We're going to select this one 
instead. 

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OK, The other examples of things
that I've let clients lead which

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was wrong is when they want 
their neighbor or their daughter

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or some family member or friend 
come and sit in on the meetings.

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The problem here is that usually
that friend or neighbor is very 

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opinionated or else that person 
would not have had them there. 

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Likely also the client is 
susceptible to this other 

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person's strong opinion and not 
decisive. 

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So by having another strong 
person in the meeting, that's 

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going to conflict with you. 
Now from the beginning, you 

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should be asking your client who
the decision makers are on the 

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project. 
If it's a couple you know or 

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both of them going to be making 
decisions, they should both be 

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at that presentation, of course.
But anyone outside of the house 

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who's not going to be living in 
the house probably should not be

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at these presentations because 
they're just going to make 

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suggestions that they don't have
to live with. 

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And so it's going to be based on
that person's experience. 

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But that person does not have 
professional design experience, 

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more than likely. 
And if they do, then why didn't 

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they hire that person, right? 
So just say no when they say I 

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want my daughter or someone to 
sit in you. 

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I mean, you could probably say 
yes, but they are not going to, 

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you know, they can't have any 
input on this presentation 

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because this is your house. 
I've designed this project for 

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you and you need to be the 
decision maker. 

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You know, once. 
Well, we'll have clients who 

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bring like their kids along and 
they'll just be sitting in the 

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background. 
They're not actually telling us 

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like no, I don't like that 
pillow. 

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Go back to the drawing part, you
know, so, so say no to nosy 

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neighbors and other people who 
tried to barge in with their 

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opinions because their opinions 
don't matter, right? 

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You need to lead your client to 
make confident decisions, and he

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can't do that if they're getting
20 different directions thrown 

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at them. 
OK, so then the other thing that

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I did that was a problem, and 
this is still in the category of

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not leading, letting my client 
lead and not me was with the 

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schedule. 
So I would say yes to a Friday 

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night meeting, Saturday morning 
meeting when I did not want to 

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be there and I started to feel 
resentful of the client. 

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Even if they were the nicest 
client, I would still be like, 

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I'm giving up my Saturday. 
I don't want to be here. 

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So that just means that I was 
crossing the boundary that I 

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didn't verbalize, I didn't set, 
and I needed to have my own back

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on that. 
I would be happy to meet with 

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them Thursday afternoon, no 
problem. 

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Everyone's in a great mood, but 
not me on a Saturday. 

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So I had to learn to set that 
boundary and just say no to a 

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client. 
And I've had clients come to me 

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and say like, well, I can only 
meet in the evenings and on 

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weekends. 
And then I I have to tell them 

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we're not a great match. 
You'll need to find a designer 

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who can meet with you in 
evenings and weekends because 

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it's not going to be me. 
OK. 

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Allowing drastic design pivots 
after the presentation, I mean 

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basically that's a redesign, 
right? 

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So that rarely happens and often
that can happen if you haven't 

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fully explained the design and 
or have not exerted that you 

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believe in what you have 
designed and that you are the 

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expert. 
And so if the client lacks 

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confidence in you, they might 
totally pivot away from what 

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you're showing them. 
Then you don't want that. 

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So you need to present 
confidently and not confuse 

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having flexibility with 
professionalism. 

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And it's OK to say no. 
Saying yes does not equal good 

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service. 
Sometimes saying no is being a 

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great service to the client 
because they don't know what 

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they don't know, right? 
OK, so they hired you for a 

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reason and you're not their 
personal shopper. 

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You don't need a design 
committee and you are the 

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professional. 
So with this first point of 

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letting the client drive the 
project as being a mistake, some

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00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:06,720
action steps for you can be to 
create a defined process. 

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Even if it's simple steps 123 
easy to follow, client can 

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follow that too. 
Decide who is allowed at the 

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presentations and then make sure
that they know ahead of time. 

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Establish your meeting hours or 
your work hours. 

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Don't answer the phone outside 
of your work hours. 

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Don't teach the client that you 
can break your own boundaries. 

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00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:33,320
Script some boundary language in
advance so you don't have to 

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come across angry or anything 
like that. 

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They do cross the line. 
Just have it all written out in 

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advance. 
So that's easy to for you to 

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follow and easy for them to 
understand and clarity, 

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00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:47,000
remember, builds trust. 
So boundaries can only reassure 

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your clients and it helps you to
be a happier designer. 

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So we all want that everybody 
wins in the end for that. 

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00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:58,040
So OK, the next mistake kind of 
touches on something I had just 

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talked about. 
Mistake number 2 is forgetting 

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that you are a salesperson. 
So like in the presentation 

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example that a client might 
pivot away drastically from what

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00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,000
you're showing them, it's 
probably because you didn't sell

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00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,480
it to them, right? 
Being a salesperson is actually 

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00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,120
a mistake a lot of people make. 
They don't understand that 

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00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:21,960
design is all about sales. 
We've had some interviews with 

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00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:26,240
marketing people talking about 
this before, but when you own a 

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00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:30,040
design business, you are in 
sales because sales brings in 

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00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:31,960
money, right? 
Money. 

196
00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:35,080
You need to make a profit to 
live or else you are 

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00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:37,600
not-for-profit business, which 
is not what you're going to be 

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00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:39,640
doing. 
Now if that makes you 

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00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:42,120
uncomfortable, let's unpack 
being sales. 

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00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:47,120
I mean, typically people think 
salespeople are not all that 

201
00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:49,920
approachable. 
Nobody likes to be sold, you 

202
00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:52,960
know, used car salesman's kind 
of the imagery that comes up, 

203
00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:57,160
but that doesn't have to be you.
Sales are really for the benefit

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00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:00,040
of the buyer, right? 
You have an inquiry and they 

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00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,600
like your aesthetics. 
So that's the top of your sales 

206
00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,080
funnel that they've actually 
reached out to you and contacted

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00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:08,960
you. 
Then you talk with them. 

208
00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:11,280
It's a great fit. 
You sell them the consultation. 

209
00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,080
So you're selling them the 
consultation. 

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00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,960
That is sales. 
It gives you money, it brings in

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00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,440
revenue. 
The consultation is the next 

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00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,240
step for the client. 
They get a benefit because 

213
00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:25,720
you've come out and you've 
shared your expertise with them.

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00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,160
You have ideas. 
Win, win. 

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00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:32,120
OK, next step is that they need 
to sign the contract and give 

216
00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:35,360
you a retainer. 
So while you're at the 

217
00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:38,040
consultation, you can sell the 
next step, which is the 

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00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:40,960
contract, so you can bring it 
out. 

219
00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,840
You can talk to them about how 
you have this great process. 

220
00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:47,920
It's makes your project run 
smoother. 

221
00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:50,920
You don't do any work without 
this contract because it's 

222
00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:53,080
really just the backbone of your
business. 

223
00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:55,040
You're selling them the 
contract. 

224
00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:57,760
You get them to sign, they give 
you your retainer. 

225
00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:01,160
Then you're going through the 
design process. 

226
00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:06,160
You come up with a beautiful 
design is going to really 

227
00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,000
improve their lives. 
Now you need to show it to them 

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00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:12,720
and sell it to them and say, you
know you're selling it to them 

229
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something that they want, but 
they really need to understand 

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what it is that they're looking 
at, right? 

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So you need to tell them why you
selected these colors and why 

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you selected this finish and 
thinking about it through all 

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the details of how they're going
to live in that house and you 

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want to have breakfasts in this 
area. 

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So let's have these windows 
larger and we're going to dress 

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them this way. 
So that really lets the light 

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in. 
And you're selling to them a 

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lifestyle. 
And it's not just the items that

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you've selected, it's the 
lifestyle that they're going to 

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receive, which is great, which 
is what they hired you for, but 

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they just need you to explain it
to them, right? 

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That's part of the sales 
process. 

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Then they love the design. 
You've sold them the design. 

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Maybe you've sold them some 
furniture along with it and then

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you have the specific 
selections. 

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You've told them why you're not 
manipulating them, you're 

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guiding them. 
Sales can just be guiding and 

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it's for profit, which is great.
That's why you're in business. 

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Nothing to feel bad about here. 
Also, This is why I like in my 

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presentations to just present 
one strong solution to the 

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client because it's really easy 
to sell one solution because you

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have your heart and soul behind 
it. 

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I believe this solution is the 
best for you client because I've

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thought it through all different
ways. 

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Yes, there's an alternate here, 
there's an alternate there. 

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If you want to look at it, we 
can explore that. 

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But I've already made this 
decision for you. 

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In my professional opinion, this
is going to be the best solution

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for you. 
And here's how much it costs. 

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So how nice is that for the 
client that they don't have to 

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make any of the extra decisions?
Looking at three options for 

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every single chair, for every 
single fabric, for every single 

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floor plan, that is 
overwhelming. 

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That is not a service to the 
client. 

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So I guess I feel strongly about
this, but presenting one 

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solution to the client is really
what they're asking for in the 

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beginning. 
Unless they're asking like I 

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need you to send me 3 because I 
need to see three for whatever 

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reason. 
I like to be overwhelmed. 

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OK, so all of these things, you 
can assure the client that 

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you've explored the alternatives
behind the scenes, you've 

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filtered their needs, that your 
job is to reduce decision 

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fatigue. 
So that's why you're not showing

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them five different layouts. 
You can show them one or two if 

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you want, just to reinforce, 
because sometimes I'll do that. 

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I'll just show them the one and 
then I'll be like, we might have

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a whole discussion about it. 
Yeah, I have a sectional here 

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instead of two sofas because of 
this and this. 

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And then I might pull up that 
the other sketch that I did, the

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not finished beautiful floor 
plan of the layout with the 

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other way. 
And like you can see how this 

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might block your flow of traffic
or whatever reason is I didn't 

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select that one. 
You can always pull that up and 

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show them and that just, you 
know, that can reinforce even 

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further that you know what 
you're talking about. 

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So they hired you for your 
professional opinion and don't 

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hand the job back to them in a 
PowerPoint and just be like 

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here, it's all organized now you
get to make all the decisions 

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again. 
I don't think that's why they 

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hire a designer. 
And to be honest with the client

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up front, I kind of tell them 
that's how I work as well so 

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that they are not expecting to 
see three different layouts. 

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A lot of them appreciate that 
I've done all that filtering out

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for them. 
So they just have to say yes or 

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no or just say tweak this, you 
know, less decisions is better 

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because they're busy with their 
own job, their own life, and 

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they don't need to have a 
million other decisions to do. 

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Clients will trust you more of 
this process as you're taking 

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them through the sales process 
and they can say yes. 

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And if you get them to say yes 
on little things, that can help 

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get them to say yes on bigger 
things later on that they are 

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building trust with you along 
the way. 

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And designers aren't just 
selling products, they're 

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00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,960
selling clarity, confidence, 
Peace of Mind. 

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So action steps for you is to 
get comfortable talking about 

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00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,920
money, practice explaining your 
reason. 

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So if you need to do your 
presentation to a friend or 

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00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:23,000
family member first before you 
show it to the client, that 

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00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,760
might be good practice if you're
not used to doing presentations,

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because then they might ask some
clarifying questions that you 

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00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:30,400
might not. 
You might have assumed your 

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00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:32,280
client would understand, but 
they don't. 

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00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:36,240
And so you'll know what areas 
you need to elaborate on or have

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more understanding around so 
that your client increases their

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00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:43,640
confidence in you. 
Stop apologizing for your 

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00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:46,680
pricing if you're doing that. 
The price is what it is. 

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And remember, sales is a service
when it's done ethically. 

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So that is mistake #2 that 
people make. 

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And then the last one that I see
a lot, and I did part of this 

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starting out was not making the 
business official. 

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00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:03,160
So I did make the business 
official in certain ways. 

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When I first started up, I did 
not get an LLC. 

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00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:10,680
I did not know I needed business
insurance right off the gate. 

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But the other things I did do, 
so that I was going to say is 

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that some, this is what I see 
often is that people don't get 

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00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:22,760
their LLC or have insurance, but
sometimes they don't track their

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00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,040
sales tax properly. 
They don't hire a bookkeeper or 

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00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,560
they mix their personal and 
business accounts and tiptoe 

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into business. 
So that's the problem, you need 

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to make your business official 
from the start. 

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If you're doing a business, 
either you're doing it or you're

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00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:39,280
not, right? 
So let's reduce your risk and 

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00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:42,240
personal liability or penalties 
with taxes. 

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00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,320
Make sure you have cash flow and
there's no confusion around 

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00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:47,080
that. 
And you want to look 

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professional to your client. 
So be sure and have some 

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00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:52,040
systems. 
And you know, having a 

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00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:54,880
bookkeeper doesn't have to be a 
full time person. 

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00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,960
They can just come in a couple 
hours a month to get you cleaned

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00:18:57,960 --> 00:18:59,960
up. 
Then it's another person on your

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00:18:59,960 --> 00:19:02,840
team. 
And then also you can start 

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00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:06,360
saying we as a company. 
It kind of gives you a different

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00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,240
perspective when you're telling 
your clients we do this and we 

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00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,800
do that. 
When it's just you, you have a 

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00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:16,120
hard time saying we as a like a 
royal sense, you know, of your 

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00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:19,920
company. 
So having a bookkeeper on hand 

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00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:24,360
can help you understand that you
actually are a team of people 

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00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:26,960
coming together to create this 
design for the client. 

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And of course, you don't want to
have any fear around money when 

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you're first starting out making
your business official. 

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00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:37,360
So if you want to be taken 
seriously, you have to take 

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00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:42,680
yourself seriously first. 
You know that design is creative

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00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,480
and business is structure, and 
you need both if you're going to

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00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:50,840
have your own business practical
starter list for you. 

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00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,960
And we do a lot of this in boot 
camp if you need some to help 

356
00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,240
you along the way to get all 
these things checked off. 

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But a few of the things that we 
cover is to form an LLC. 

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00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:06,280
We had a great podcast episode 
on this with llcattorney.com. 

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00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:09,200
So we'll link back to that so 
you can listen to that. 

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It's very helpful and it's a 
great company. 

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00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,440
I've had a lot of people coming 
through boot camp work with them

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00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:19,160
to set up their LLC and you want
to set up a separate bank 

363
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,360
account so. 
Make sure you're doing that. 

364
00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:27,640
Set up your sales tax permit, 
get your business insurance, get

365
00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:31,680
a basic bookkeeping system and a
Britain contract. 

366
00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,200
Always, always so many different
ways that a contract is helpful 

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00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,680
to you not only for your 
liability, but clarity for you. 

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00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,000
And then it also gives you 
backbone and structure for your 

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00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,760
business. 
So all of those things are 

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00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:49,000
necessary when you're wanting to
make your business official. 

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00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:52,120
And if you haven't done any of 
those, then reach out to me and 

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00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:55,560
I can help you make sure that 
you have accountability on 

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00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:59,440
getting those set up. 
So don't make any of these 

374
00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:03,120
mistakes that I made when I was 
starting out and hopefully you 

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00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:05,600
can learn from me and avoid 
them. 

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00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,760
So if you are making these 
mistakes or you have made some 

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00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,880
of these, then it doesn't mean 
that you're not a talented 

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00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:22,200
designer. 
It just means that you're new 

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00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:27,040
and that you need to adjust your
approach so we can fix all of 

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00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:30,560
these things. 
Every designer has lessons that 

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00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:33,720
they've learned over time, but 
the faster that you can embrace 

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00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,520
this, the more mature your 
business will be and the more 

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confident you'll be. 
So if you are wanting help with 

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00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:44,520
that, you can join my design 
mentor or you can get on the 

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00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,840
wait list for launch your 
business boot camp. 

386
00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:53,720
Or you can also listen to the 
webinar that I recorded for you.

387
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,480
It's called From Passion to 
Profit and five many mistakes 

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00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:59,640
that people make. 
So more mistakes that I want you

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00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:04,360
to avoid so you can learn what 
those are in the links in the 

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00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:06,640
show notes. 
All right, that's all I have for

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00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,000
you this week. 
Next week we'll have another 

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00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,960
great episode. 
And until then, stay creative. 

393
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Thanks for listening. 
If you love this episode, please

394
00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:19,320
leave a rating and a review. 
This helps me reach other 

395
00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:23,080
curious creatives like you. 
If you have a topic request or 

396
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,360
would like to contact me, simply
head over to my website 

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00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:32,680
ourawarddesign.com or e-mail me 
at podcast@ourawarddesign.com.