Interior Design Business

Launching an Interior Design Business?
Follow These 10 Steps

Entrepreneurialism is growing at its fastest ever pace. The main reason is that it’s never been easier to start a business so many people are making the exciting career move. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t have a plan and a strategy to make a success of it. In fact, you need the following 10 stages to ensure your business gets off the ground.

Have a Business Plan

Before you do anything, devise a business plan to define exactly what services you intend to offer to potential clients and which areas to focus on. Residential or commercial? Bathrooms, bedrooms or living space? Small or large offices? Whatever your strengths are, it’s important to know them from the beginning to build your business plan around it.

Define Your Individual Style

If you have already decided to set up an interior design business, it’s likely you already know your style. Minimalist, maximalist, art deco, art nouveau, brutalism – whatever your style, you must focus on that as your unique selling point (USP) and avoid those that you are not so comfortable applying. Don’t try to be all things to all people; focus on your style(s) and you will excel in your venture.

Come Up with a Memorable Business Name

There are no hard and fast rules about coming up with a business name, but it must be memorable – ideally, it should also be short. With a memorable name, your customers will find it easier to remember you. Your reputation could hang on how well customers remember your brand name.

Define Your Intended Goals

Without a goal in mind, its likely your business won’t get off the ground. The size of the goal doesn’t matter but they should adhere to the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound) or FAST (frequent, ambitious, specific, transparent) principles. Long-term, you may wish to become a major player in the world of interior design. Short-term, focus on gaining a set number of realistic clients and growing your outreach.

Consider Money Issues

It doesn’t usually take a lot of money to set up an interior design business today. It is important to consider the costs you will be required to cover such as transport, accounts with suppliers, insurance, membership of any trade associations, certification and the normal cost of running a business. Understand how much you might need to set up and survive financially before you begin trading as a business. That way, you’ll understand your minimum income needs.

Work Out How Much to Charge for Each Service

Once you’ve considered your costs, work out how much you should charge for each service over and above materials cost. Look at local competitors for a guide on what is realistic. Don’t be tempted to undercut them as it could have the opposite effect – customers may wonder whether your service is inferior.

Social Media is a Must

Few businesses can survive today without a web presence. The most important element is social media. With a business that deals in visuals such as interior design, without social media you will be damaging your business. In fact, you can build an audience for your business before you have even set up the business. The right content will get you noticed.

Build a Website

Should you have social media accounts before a website? The answer to that in 2019 is “yes”. It should be carefully planned and organised and explain who you are and the services you provide. Link to social media and drive traffic from each account to your site.

Promote, Promote, Promote

It isn’t enough to have social media accounts and a website. You will need to spend time promoting your services throughout the web, harnessing good SEO practices and your social media to drive customers to book your services. Tell your friends and family about it too and get some business cards. The more people know about your business, the better the chance you have of succeeding.

Offer Good Service

Your first few customers will be crucial to ongoing success. Offer good customer service including follow ups, handling problems effectively and correcting them, and striving always to put the customer first.