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As an interior designer, I know you love the magic of designing a room from scratch, seeing it all the way through to the final installation, and professionally photographing it so you can showcase it in your portfolio. Designers tell me that executing an entire project soup-to-nuts, from initial conception through final staging IS the most fulfilling professional experience they have.

But, sometimes—whether it’s your capacity and availability at a specific time, or whether your experience level means you don’t do full-scale projects, or whether your current clients do not have those all-encompassing needs—a full-service project format may just not be a service type that aligns with your business.

Enter: a Designer by Your Side service.

Designer by Your Side is a service where you sell a block of hours to a client. You bill time worked on their project against the hours they’ve purchased, and when all the hours have been used, the client can either purchase another block of hours, or you can wrap up and offboard them. It is an IN-AND-OUT design service, with you working alongside your client.

Now, this is DIFFERENT from a full-service project that’s billed hourly (want to learn more about offering this service, be sure to join the waitlist to know when we’re enrolling the next cohort of our signature program, The Designed to Scale® Method), because, well, you are simply NOT going to provide a FULL service.

A full service includes a detailed scope of work that outlines the project in advance. Then, the designer does everything to bring the project together for the client from start to finish. The designer handles all parts of project execution and delivery for the client.

A Designer by Your Side service is much like a retainer agreement you would enter into with a done-for-you-service provider or subcontractor. It is much like the on-demand nature of a retainer agreement that a lawyer or consultant may provide.

In this service, you are NOT bringing the project together for the client from start to finish. This is a situation where you are brought into a project that is already underway with a client who does NOT want you to do it all for them.

What they WANT is to execute the design themselves, but with your expert guidance. They want someone to look over their shoulder and advise them every step of the way. Or, as the name says, they want to make decisions with a designer by their side.

This may be a client who would not spend the money for, or may not be able to afford, a full service experience with an interior designer. But, this client DOES recognize the value that a trained, experienced interior design visionary can bring.

I love this service for designers at a more preliminary stage of business development. It is also ideal for designers who have certain skill sets and preferences that work well with this kind of service delivery.

Reasons you may consider offering a Designer by Your Side service to your interior design clients?

They are mid-project and realize they are in over their heads. They can purchase a block of hours with you to get things back on track, assess the project and what needs to be done, and help them bit by bit, as needed.
The project scope is unclear. Different from a feasibility study (obviously), but if the project is already underway and you and the client aren’t quite sure of all the expenses and moving parts, a DBYS service could be a great way for an interior designer to offer ongoing design advice to their clients on an as-needed basis.
The project scope is all over the place. A little bit here, a little bit there. A DBYS service could be great for clients who need help with bits and pieces and they aren’t in a rush and want to go little by little.
The timeline is flexible. I always share this example—when my house flooded and we needed to bring two floors down to the studs and replace several rooms of furnishings, I wasn’t in a rush to order, but I was in a rush to make decisions in phases. I hired a designer to help me with the finishes in phases, then the furnishings much later. It was a flexible, laid-back process (aside from the flood and mass destruction, of course) and—because I was fine handling all the ordering myself—I was fine with having it done over time, rather than all at once.
The budget needs to be spread out over time. If a client has to be conservative with their budget, offering this service is a great way to let the client make a choice or two now, a choice or two next month, etc. so they can slowly purchase items for their rooms, as their budget allows.
They are a DIY client but they don’t want to make mistakes. In this case, a client may have chosen many items, but before they pull the trigger, they want an expert opinion to make sure they are making the best choices. In essence, they are purchasing your expertise and having access to you and your brain on-demand.

There are very specific differences between a Designer By Your Side, a Paid Advice Consultation, and a Full Service Project that is billed hourly and different ways to set boundaries and timelines for each of those services so they are profitable.

With a Designer By Your Side service, there are many things you’ll want to include in your contract and onboarding materials to set the project up for success.

For example, you’ll want to spell out the scope of services (what’s included and what’s NOT included), any deliverables included, communication boundaries and turnaround times, the service timeline, and the type of support that’s included in the service.

If you’re considering offering a Designer by Your Side service to your interior design clients, you’ll want to make sure it is clearly marketed and isn’t confused as a full-service project with an hourly scope of work. We all know you don’t want ongoing projects in your pipeline that have unknown scopes that never end and never result in a finished room.

Learn more about designing the right menu of services to attract dream clients to your business in our signature program, The Designed to Scale® Method. Add your name to the waitlist here.