12 Things I Don’t Do in My Business

Jun 24

Updated June 2023

I’ll start this post by saying everyone is different and every business is different, and you should absolutely do what is working for you. I’m coming from a place of having a very busy personal life (three little kids, a gigantic dog, a husband who travels, a serious love of reading psychological thrillers and exercising, and so much more). My team and I also provide hands-on done-for-you implementation for our clients so with each client we book, it’s not just a one-hour call/week and that’s it. It’s a big chunk of time each week with lots of behind-the-scenes work that happens before and after each call. Like our interior designers and event planners, we are service providers who create the plan, then bring the plan to life.

All that being said, I compiled this list of the twelve things I don’t do in my business that I believe serve my company, my clients, and my team well. I pulled from my experience in my wedding planning company, my family’s catering business, and this business. Rather than share a bunch of things to add TO your already overflowing to-do list, this post is meant to share some things you can take OFF your to-do list.

Here goes!

01 | I don't follow or subscribe to competitors’ newsletters or Instagram accounts.

Owning a business is hard work and can do a lot to your brain when you take wins (and losses) personally. And, it’s a big world out there with a lot of talented, educated people doing a lot of the same things for the same people.

By keeping my circle of influence tight and doing what I like to call “cross-training for my brain” I’m exposing myself to select businesses and having conversations with attorneys, CPAs, PR consultants, financial advisors, marketing executives, Fortune 100 sales teams, and more → and that is when my brain truly expands. I believe my cross-training outside the industry plus the done-for-you 1:1 work I do with my clients across the US and Canada plus not being influenced by competitors is what sets my company apart and allows us to create such helpful resources for interior designers and event planners.

02 | I don't consume knowledge I don't need.

12 Things I Don't Do in My Business Dakota Design Co Operations Consulting interior Designers

I worked with a business coach a few years back who said to practice “in-time learning” and I absolutely love that. This means I focus my professional development time on learning skills I need to do something specific WHEN I NEED TO DO THAT ONE THING.

That might mean I’m spending an hour or two learning something technical, like how to make reels or how to fully maximize Zapier, or I’m learning something that will help with the bigger picture. As I plan my schedule for each month, I slot in two hours for professional development, if needed, and I always always ask myself: What do I really need? Where are our gaps? What challenges do we keep coming up against?

Then I find the resource I need to solve for that.

On the flip side of this, it means my downtime is actually spent relaxing and my brain space is quite clear. I exercise and listen to music, read psychological thrillers (2022 goal is 52 and I’m on track for that), and spend time with my family without the constant pressure to learn more, do more, and be better (or a million things in my head because I feel the need to keep learning).

You might like this post: Why You Don’t Need an Online Course.

03 | I don't get on calls with prospects who haven't been screened.

If you’ve been here for longer than a minute, you know ain’t nobody got time for that. Truly. I am paying a gazillion dollars a week for childcare so my kids can be in daycare and summer camp and so we can have our amazing chef nanny be home with the girls in the afternoon and make all our fabulous meals. And because of that (plus the fact that LIFE IS SHORTER THAN WE THINK), my time is at a premium. I’m guessing yours is, too.

Potential clients should have an idea about what the starting price is to work with you. Put starting prices on your website. Send an investment guide. Read their inquiry and don’t let them book a call if they want Verellen and Made Goods (tomorrow) but they have a Home Goods budget.

You might like these posts: Organize your Client Experience with an Investment Guide and Your Proposal Shouldn’t be the First Time Clients See Pricing

04 | I don't have wide open availability.

What Not To Do in Your Interior Design Business Dakota Design Co

When I work with clients, we’re doing deep brain work, like fine-tuning processes, writing copy and content for every touchpoint of their business, incorporating all their specific details and language into everything we create for them (every designer is SO different), and coming up with solutions for their challenges. I need stretches of time where I’m not task switching and being constantly interrupted so I can GSD.

So, I only take calls 1-2 days/week. Typically new clients start on Wednesdays and client and sales calls are on Tuesdays. I also try to block the last week of the month for no calls. It is amazing.

Sometimes this doesn’t work perfectly, like if there’s an emergency (nothing’s an emergency unless it’s medical) and I need to take a call on a Monday.

But I NEVER EVER take calls on Thursdays. That is my favorite day of the week, my GSD day (get-stuff-done). DND. BRB. BYEEE.

You might like this post: How to Save Your Sanity as a Business Owner., Client Experience Tech Tip: How to Have Fewer In-Person Meetings

05 | I don't throw my contract to the wind when a client crosses boundaries.

I have my contract for a reason. To protect me. To protect my company and my IP. To protect my team. I spent a lot of money working with my attorney to create it. And to refine it when we experienced challenges. And to refine it again and again and again as the business has grown.

And yes, sometimes it would be easier to just say to a client “Fine, we’ll do it even though it’s outside of scope; it’s not included but we’ll do it” but a big thing we see with our clients is an issue with boundaries and by HOLDING TIGHT to ours (especially our contract terms) I know I’m showing my clients how to hold tight to theirs. Many have told us our clear boundaries have inspired them.

This is why we set up our client experience process to remind clients how to stay within their scope (what’s included, the timelines, etc.) and we remind them when they’re coming close to the end of their scope/timeline/service. Then when they cross it, we pull from our contract and share that with them.

You might like these posts: The Contract Terms You Need, How to Say Yes to Clients Every Time and 9 Mistakes Designers Make with Interior Design Contracts

06 | I don't try to do everything myself.

12 Things to Take Off of Your Business' To-Do List Dakota Design Co Operations Consulting for Interior Designers

Back in the day, I would think, “I’ll just do it myself” (and sometimes, yes, it is easier to just do it yourself which is why we’ve started including back-end implementation in our Designed to Scale Intensive) BUT more often than not, it’s actually going to save me a lot of time and money to have someone else do it.

This is why I have a team of women (woop woop) who help me with the company and with our clients. Ashlee and Maria help with the day-to-day and with client projects. Gloria is our newest copy editor and writer and Teri is our previous copy editor and writer who joins us for our Happy Hours and Coffee Chats (she’s on a book deadline so she’s shifted away from day-to-day Dakota work).

In addition to that, I have my attorney, Meghann, who helps me with my own client contracts and my contract templates in the Design Library. A copyright attorney, Thomas, who helps me protect my IP. And my CPA, Justin, who is also an attorney. I also book quarterly calls with a bookkeeper, Megan, to make sure everything is looking good in my QBO.

By having a team of people to help me, I’m able to delegate work that makes me want to pull my hair out and isn’t in my wheelhouse (and would take me ten times as long to do). It has also helped me to scale my business because things happen, clients are served, all that, when I’m not working (because my team is handling it).

It also expands my brain power by a million (I get to use THEIR brain power too!!) and makes things feel pretty legit knowing I have all these really talented and educated people who are familiar with my business and available to provide perspective and professional assistance when I need it.

07 | I don't try to remember everything with just my brain.

If you know me, you know I have the worst memory. I have to write everything down. Even if you just told me your name, I’ll forget it in ten seconds. It’s the worst. But, I know this about myself, and that’s why I rely heavily on our systems.

We are obsessed with making a rinse-and-repeat process for everything, and we run the business on those processes and the templates within those processes. We couldn’t live without Asana, Google Drive, Squarespace, Honeybook, Acuity, and so many more.

Tip: USE YOUR SOFTWARE! It’s one of the easiest ways to scale your business. If you don’t want to delegate, then AUTOMATE. Even if you’re solo, software is how you will be able to remember all the things you need to so you CAN take on more clients without worrying about dropping the ball. My clients who don’t use software recreate the wheel with each and every client.

You might like this post: My Favorite Software for a Luxury Client Experience

08 | I don’t do anything without a clear ROI.

Some things are hard to track so I track the things I can. My time and my team’s time (we use and love Toggl). I track my lead sources (for clients, sales, and lead magnets), and I compare month-over-month analytics to get a higher-level picture of what’s really happening and what’s working/not working. This allows me to make decisions based on what has the highest return.

And sometimes, hey because I’m the boss, we simply do things because they are FUN and that is important to mix in every now and again. For example, when we started doing our Happy Hours for Interior Designers and Wedding Planners, I didn’t know what the ROI would be to take the time to set it up, promote it, prep for it, pay my team to prep for it and join, then do the follow up afterward with sending the recording out. BUT guess what: after the first one, I didn’t care if it translated to dollars or leads, because we LOVED doing it and our designers who joined said they enjoyed it so much (and this is why it has grown 2x since we started!!).

But be careful with this one, because not everything will have a clear or instant ROI. In fact, a lot of things in my business take a loooong time BUT I know this because my marketing strategy is heavily based on long-form content, and that takes time to start generating traffic. (This is also why I use Pinterest, Verified Merchant heyyyyyyyyy, and Google My Business). If you don’t have a Google My Business account, go there now and set one up!

Long story short: track your metrics. Lead sources. Traffic sources. Growth on your marketing platforms.

Once you’re tracking your metrics, your time, and your effort, you’ll be able to quickly STOP doing the things that aren’t working. Save yourself SO much wheel spinning and frustration in the long run.

09 | I don't worry about the size of my Instagram following.

I like to think of Instagram as where I hang out with my friends and make light of client challenges. The core of my business is my clients, my blog, and my email list, and Instagram is the least performing platform in all of my marketing efforts–and this is why it has to be fun for me. So yes, my reels and posts might not be perfect, but they are fun for me, and my designers and planners like them, and that’s the whole point.

But my clients, my email list, my website traffic, and my Pinterest analytics → that’s what I worry about. I know what converts to sales and clients, I know what makes clients happy and gets them results, I know what brings traffic, I know what gets responses from my audience, I know what people are searching for → and that is what I focus on.

10 | I don’t work through burnout.

My summer slowdowns are integral to my ability to be a good mom, person, and business owner. They also allow me to restore my brain and do the best work I can for my clients. Perspective during a slowdown is such a gift.

By slowing down after busy seasons, we’ve been able to focus on refining our services and products so they work better for us and our clients. Slowing down has allowed us to adjust pricing or scope because we made the time to reflect on what was (and wasn’t) getting results for our clients.

If your brain is anything like mine, you’ll definitely feel like you’re destroying your business by intentionally limiting clients, but I promise, give it a week or so and you’ll see the benefits!!

You might like these posts: How to Take Time Off in Your Business and What’s Really Happening During My Summer Slowdown

11 | I don’t squeeze anyone in.

I will do you a disservice if I take you on as a client when my team and I are at full capacity. It won’t be the best experience (or it will be for you, but we’ll be over here dying on the inside). I work with my schedule and am respectful of my team’s capacity when booking clients.

How do we do this? By knowing how long each service takes to deliver (for me and for my team) so we can block it out on a capacity calendar to see what we have the bandwidth for amidst our other ongoing work for both partnership clients and Dakota projects.

You might like this post: Don’t squeeze me in.

12 | I don’t let clients disrespect my team.

I have had ONE tough client in the last five years, and it was one where I immediately called my attorney and reworked my contract after we wrapped. It was also the only client I ever fired (okay I’ve actually fired three clients in this career: two who instantly whipped themselves into shape, and the third who was in a “no return” type of situation).

This particular client, the “no-going-back” client was rude to my team.

SERIOUSLY → If you want to get me fired up, just try to be rude to one of my team members (or my kids….). I immediately pulled my team off this project and fired the client. I was LIVID. And in tears (not in front of the client). I am so grateful for the women who help me and my clients succeed and that means I am very protective of them. If you have beef about something, you tell me–not my team.

As the boss, I signed up for this; they didn’t. It’s not fun, but it’s real. You have to protect the people who are working for you and helping you to build your business. If you don’t, what the heck are you doing?

Alright, so those are 12 things I don’t do in my business and I could really keep going, like: