Do you want to know how to run a successful interior design business? It's actually a lot of work so. In this guide, we are going to get you set up with a checklist of things that you need to do in order to set up your interior design business and run it successfully.

1. What services will you specialize in?

The one thing that you want to consider when you're looking to set up a business or if you're already got your business going and you want to make sure that you can be successful with it, is you want to know what your niche is and what services you're offering to clients. When people first start interior design they are worried that they don't want to niche themselves into something, because if they do, they're concerned that now they're not going to get as many clients as they could if they're too narrowed down in their type of service that they offer. 

So if you're just starting out and you want to kind of give it a little more open then that's fine but just make sure what the services are that you're going to offer. Once you're into your interior design business, you're going to realize what it is that you love about design and maybe some of the things that you don't really love doing so much in the business, and that are your answer to figuring out what your niche is going to be. So you may want to niche into kitchens and baths, you may want to be the one to go to for nursery rooms or for custom living rooms design.

2. Always begin with an initial consultation meeting

Then once you know what services you're going to offer almost always you're going to start any sort of service with an initial consultation. Once you know what services you're going to provide, then you're going to need to know what kind of software you may need in able to provide your clients with these services or what kind of tools you need for your business. You need to have software that's going to be fabulous to show clients what their space is going to look like before they actually start a renovation or a decorating project. Just use one that you feel is best for you and fairly easy to learn. The key tool that you use in the interior design business is a large color board because you want to be really confident when you are providing clients with colors and you are specifying paint color for their wall tiles. So you use my large color boards and take them with you that way you can explain to the clients why you are choosing that color.

A fabulous tool for your business as well also consider any accounting software. There are Quick Books, Fresh Books, and design Docs and again there are a lot of other ones that you can use. But if you're just using the Excel spreadsheet, it's really hard to figure out where you're at with your books, how much money you're making or how much something costs, and when clients are your money when you first started. So if you have accounting software, it's going to make your life a lot easier. Also your bookkeeper and your accountant later that they can do their work more efficiently. It's going to take them less time which is going to cost you less money.

3. Investing in a great looking website and professional portfolio pictures

Having quality photos leads to quality clients and it really is so true. If you want a website that's easy to navigate consider which form you're going to use and what platform. You can use WordPress, Wix, and square space that you can design your own. You can always check other designers who are doing what you want to aspire to be like, what are they using, what tools are they using and then you look at them. So WordPress is a big one because you can do a lot of plugins on that, later on, you can look into affiliate marketing and it just gives you a little bit more flexibility. Do your investigating and figure out what's going to work best for you in order to run a successful design business.

4. Organized processes are essential

You need to have organized processes. Everyone thinks that having a decorating business is fun, but it actually is a lot of work. There's a lot of stuff to keep track of especially if you're looking to order furniture for clients through different suppliers, you want to know the details of which specific fabric you're putting on a sofa and are you doing nail heads and what colors are what of the chairs, not to mention if you're doing a kitchen design, you want to be able to maybe have a questionnaire that you can specifically ask clients over and over again about specific kitchen needs. So you need to know how you're going to be designing the kitchen for your clients. 

4. Establish relationships with quality tradespeople

As we do our business we conduct business with clients, they are going to want to know if you can refer them to trades. Absolutely, this is a massive part of why people hire an interior designer because they want to be able to get great referrals from someone who has been in the business for a long time. So make sure that you go out there and you set up your relationships with your builders with general contractors, make sure you have a painter, plumber, or electrician. Again there are different ways how you can run your business and how you actually want to set things up. If you want to manage the projects and then you have to make sure that you have great relationships with all those trades. because it will be down to you to make sure that you are scheduling them in on time that they're showing up when they need to be. Otherwise, the project can get delayed, everyone gets frustrated and that's never good.

5. Set up accounts with vendors & attend interior design events

In addition to having fabulous tradespeople that you can refer to your clients, you also want to set up accounts with vendors and different suppliers for furniture. If you want to be offering that kind of service. You can always attend trade shows such as the high point market that happen twice a year once in the spring and again in the fall. There's a Las Vegas show and many other shows throughout the year. Check locally first, go to those shows, and build those relationships with your local vendors first. And as you progress your business, you may want to expand on that and be able to purchase furniture from suppliers around the world depending again on your aesthetic and the type of service that you want to provide.

When you are in your interior design business, you want to make sure that people can find you. So you're going to have some great marketing strategies in place. You need to make sure that you're promoting yourself whether it be on social media, or whether you want to do more face to face within the community. But it's really important that you let people know what you do. One fabulous way of doing that is by video. If you can have a few key videos on your website that you're sharing with people and you can say hey these are the services that I provide these are the benefits of my services, then that is such a useful tool. 

Think about what your marketing strategies are, think if you want to have some printed brochures, you would want to have those done up with the professional pictures that you've had taken, these you can give out to your trades, you can give to clients at the initial consultation or maybe you just leave some in your car and every now. when you meet somebody, you can pull them out and you can give them that to show them what you do and how beautiful you can create spaces, and that way you are getting the word out there and letting people know that you are running an interior design business and that you are passionate about what you do and that you can really change their life for the better.

6. Reviews are huge

A lot of people are looking at reviews, so you also want to make sure that in order to run your business successfully, once you've had a happy client, you want to be asking them for a testimonial. You choose where you want to do this, you can do it on the house because that's where you get 50% of clients from. Keep all of the testimonials and one area, so you haven't got like a few here, a few on Facebook, some on Google. Make sure that after you get that client at the end, you are contacting them and you are asking them if they would be happy to write a really quick review for you and how much it would mean for your business and it really does help to boost your credibility.

7. Profitable business

If you are running a successful interior design business, it has to be profitable. You need to be making money, there's no point in doing this whether it's your passion or love. It is a lot of hard work and it's really important that you make money at the end of the day. So what are you going to be charging for your services, how are you going to be getting different revenue streams, are you going to be doing markup on furniture, are you selling the furniture at a specific price, and make sure that you're getting your commission on that. You'll find that in running an interior design business, you have a lot of outgoing. All of these things cost money, so you need to make sure that you're constantly bringing in that revenue and you're making sure that your business is profitable.