The Interior Design Business Handbook

A Complete Guide to Profitability

Mary V. Knackstedt

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781118328200
• Edition: 5
• Topic: Arquitectura
• Subtopic: Diseño de interiores

Thousands of interior design professionals have come to rely on The Interior Design Business Handbook for comprehensive, accessible coverage of the essential procedures, tools, and techniques necessary to manage a successful interior design business. The Fifth Edition of this essential resource has been revised to address the latest trends and changes in the field, with new and updated material on business size and structure, building a brand, client development, social networking and Internet marketing, finances, purchasing, technology and software programs, and other key areas.

Complete with more than 75 sample forms and letters, this Fifth Edition is a one-stop resource for all aspects of establishing and running an interior design business—from choosing a location and managing day-to-day operations to growing a business and putting it up for sale. All of the techniques and procedures in the book are rooted in real-world experience and are used daily in successful design firms throughout the United States.

Filled with valuable information for solo practices and small firms as well as larger businesses, this book is an indispensable resource for seasoned professionals as well as interior designers who are at the start of their career.

CHAPTER 1

Finding Your Place in Interior Design

Whether you are considering entering the field, or you have been practicing for many years, it is valuable to consider its different aspects. A review of the abilities that are usually part of the successful designer will help you define if these talents are natural to you, or perhaps you need to design your career to have others fill in where you have weak spots. A review of the specialties is also very worthwhile.

As designers, we are usually not happy in doing the same thing year after year. This is why we create change. So, as you review the specialties, consider the ones that may fit your market. You may want to add them to your practice, or find another designer with that specialty to partner you.

Interior design is a very socially interactive discipline. We work with clients to define their needs. We often have many consultants on our team to develop design solutions. We then orchestrate the workings of many different types of resources, craftsmen, and artisans. Today, there are not as many large design firms as there were in the past. Considering the special needs of today’s clients and the independent spirit of many of those in our industry, there is movement toward teams, joint-venture groups formed on an as-needed basis.

This often permits design work to be done on an even-higher level. The team leader can select the very best talents for the job.

We see the entrepreneurial trend in many types of businesses today. Interior designers are entrepreneurial by nature. So, this process is really very effective and practical and also provides a growing and developing opportunity for each member of the team. Designers enjoy new challenges. The system really fits their personalities.

Interior design is a profession, a career, a vocation, and a lifestyle. It is not just a job. To practice successfully, it is important to have a clear idea of what interior design involves, as well as an appreciation of its demands. It is important to have the combination of personal attributes and interests a professional interior designer needs.

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE AN INTERIOR DESIGNER

Design expertise comes from exposure and experience, a combination of academic study and on-the-job learning. Every one of your experiences contributes to your design vocabulary. Design education stresses problem solving. The four-to-six years you spend in the formal study of interior design gives you the informational tools to use in your work. Problem-solving skills may be the most valuable tool of all. Interior design demands a tremendous amount of ongoing research. To be a responsible designer, you must study new technologies; new-product specifications; laws and regulations; changes in building, fire, and safety codes; and environmentally responsible issues. With each new project there is more to study and learn. Your education never ends. Learning is part of a designer’s lifestyle.

Interior design work, by nature, requires that those who practice it learn to temper their innate idealism with the practical demands of reality. You design for real people in the real world. In every design project you undertake, you must be willing to strike a balance between what you envision as “the ideal” and what you can achieve within the project’s practical constraints.

Interior design is creative work, and it attracts talented, creative people. In fact, without talent, you cannot go far in this field. Your challenge is to direct and focus your creativity. You will have no problem coming up with new ideas, but it is often difficult to determine which ones should have priority.

The days of sitting at a drafting table and drawing pretty pictures are over—if they ever existed. Designers have to make things happen. Social contacts are important in acquiring new projects. You must like people and be able to get along with all kinds of people and inspire their confidence. Take the following personal inventory to help determine whether you have what it takes to be an interior designer.

Personal Inventory for Prospective Interior Designers

1. How important is interior design to me?

2. What kind of lifestyle do I want to have?

3. Do I have the innate creative abilities to become a successful designer?

4. Am I willing to spend the time and money required for the necessary formal training?

5. How much time do I want to devote to design work?

6. In general, do I like the people in the field enough to work with them?

7. Do I have the personality to work with any kind of client?

8. Do I enjoy planning and organizing?

9. Am I self-disciplined?

10. Am I self-motivated?

11. Do I have better-than-average physical and emotional stamina?

An interior design career depends on organization. From beginning to end, every project involves myriad details; keeping on top of things is absolutely critical. Even if your firm has someone on staff whose job it is to expedite the projects, you will always have to deal with mountains of details.

Interior design demands high energy and passion. It is almost never a nine-to-five business; on occasion, it is a 24-hour-a-day profession. Interior designers need physical and emotional stamina to fuel their long hours and to cope with the pressures of completing a job on schedule and to their clients’ satisfaction.

Most extremely successful designers—those with annual personal incomes of $200,000 to millions per year—are addicted to interior design. They live it, eat it, and sleep it. It is a passion they cannot live without. But design addiction can also be destructive, and the most successful designers are those who have managed to merge good business practices with their positive “addiction.”

This book is about how you can integrate your love for the creative parts of interior design—and the way of life that comes with your career—with good business practices. It is about success with profitability.

FIVE TRADITIONAL WAYS OF WORKING

Today’s world is different. Designers often specialize in subjects they have never heard of before or needed. The field is ever-changing and requires a creative mind as well as an understanding of business to position oneself properly in a profitable way. As you look through the traditional ways to practice, you will find you will incorporate a number of them or grow from one to another. It is wise to look at the traditional standards to see the possibilities.

Designers may fill many different roles in their relationship with clients. Traditional roles that designers have held in the past include designer, agent, merchant, employee, and contractor.

Designer

In this capacity, the interior designer provides only professional design services: drawings, documents, and purchasing specifications for required interior elements and furnishings. The scope of the work may include parts of or the entire interior plan.

Agent

The designer acts as an agent on the client’s behalf, placing the client’s orders with manufacturers, dealers, or showrooms. The monies go through the designer’s firm or under his or her name. The designer is responsible for managing this process. The designer may also do the design and charge a fee for it.

Merchant

Many design firms procure and sell merchandise. The designer becomes a merchant when selling merchandise. In some smaller communities, there is no choice for the designer but to act as a source of materials and to see them appropriately installed. The design firm may also charge a fee for the design.

Employees

Some designers are employed by design, architectural, or facilities-management firms or retail stores. They are usually paid salaries. In some situations they are paid commission. The designer’s services may be included or offered for a fee.

Designers often work for companies that manufacture products for interior projects. They may assist in designing or selling these products. Since many products are unusual, a designer’s input is often required to demonstrate the proper use of the products.

Contractor

The designer may act as a contractor by employing the workers required to do construction, hang wallcoverings, finish surfaces, do drapery and window treatments, and so on. In some states, the designer will be required to carry a contractor’s license when providing these services. The craftspeople may be directly employed by the design firm or work on a freelance or contractual basis.

WORKING STYLES

Interior design is a very socially interactive discipline. We work with clients to define their needs. We often have many consultants on our team to develop design solutions. We then orchestrate the working of many different types of resources—consultants, contractors, craftspeople and artisans, and others.

Today there are not as many large design firms as there were in the past. There is a strong movement toward joint-venture groups forming on an as-needed basis.

This often permits design work to be done on an even-higher level. The team leader can select the very best talent for the job.

We see the entrepreneurial trend in many types of businesses today. Interior designers are entrepreneurial by nature. Designers enjoy new challenges. The entrepreneurial system really fits their personalities.

Independent Practice

Lifestyle is so important in today’s world. Designers and many other professionals select to practice alone because it fits their style. They often team with other professionals. This style of working gives designers the opportunity to control their own schedules, the type of work they do, and those they work for and with. Technology permits designers to have others perform many of the required tasks virtually or on a part-time or as-needed basis—and often at a very high level.

If you work independently, you can do whatever you want at whatever speed you choose. If you want to work only one day a week, you can. If your forte is specialized work, perhaps you will need to work alone. If you are certain you have mastered your art to the point that you can perform every task within your specialty, and have the personality to work alone, an independent practice may be for you.

Apprenticeship

The value of an apprenticeship cannot be overestimated. Working with a firm or directly under a person of great talent can be a designer’s way to the top. When designers see something done, they can usually replicate it. Often designers are limited in their careers because they did not serve an apprenticeship or residency before beginning their own firm.

Apprenticeships are often very difficult to find today, but they are ever so valuable. They are not only for the beginner but are an excellent way for a practicing designer to learn a specialty. We all want to grow; this is a great way.

Teams

Teams are the way many designers work today. The team may be part of the company or corporate structure, or it may be composed of principally independent designers or specialists. They may be in the same city, or in different parts of the world.

Group Practices

Interior designers are also working together, as attorneys and physicians often do. They may share a business manager, an expediter, and other professional management personnel. This gives them opportunities that they could not have alone.

When designers work with other designers, they have the opportunity to test each other’s designs. When three other people look at a design and all say, “I don’t see any problems,” obviously the chance of the design being done successfully is much greater than if it is done in isolation. This process is important to high-quality design work.

Increasingly, clients want one firm to control the entire project. Multidisciplinary design teams of architects, landscape architects, interior des...