How to Take Time Off in Your Interior Design Business
Updated September 2023
Are you thinking about taking some time off from your business for summer? Or maybe you just want to reduce your workload so you can enjoy fewer work hours and more family time?
In this blog post, I’ll walk through some reasons you might want to slow down your business for summer, and a few ways to do it depending on how you work.
HOW I HELP INTERIOR DESIGNERS TAKE TIME OFF IN THEIR BUSINESSES
But first, I have to share a little backstory, because you can’t simply stop working over the summer when you have clients.
My clients never come to me saying, "I need to make more money."
They are already established. They have a client list a mile long. They are buried in work.
They come to me saying, "I want to stop spinning my wheels. I want better projects. I want to increase my profit margins. I want to hire help. I want more balance."
It takes time to create the balance they’re craving, and we work through their backend systems, their client-facing processes, and all the things that will help get them out of overwhelm.
Then they start to feel some control over their workload and see what they can hire out. They start to build out their pipeline so they can have a steady client load (no more feast or famine). They start to reduce their workload so they can spend more time with their families over the summer.
WHAT IS A SUMMER BUSINESS SLOWDOWN
When summer and the holiday seasons approach, I help some clients to slow down, and I also slow down myself. This typically means no new clients OR doing just intensive style services that are a quicker turnaround and have a very clear scope. Read more about packaging your design services here.
This means during my intentional slow times I’ll continue to support my monthly clients either through my ongoing retainer, my intensives, or through a smaller support package I created for clients who are also wanting to work less and have more family time.
I also like to use intentional slow-down periods to continue to train my team, refine my backend processes, and create additional valuable resources for my clients and their teams so they feel even more supported. When we move back to the regular workload, I’ll be able to do it with even more ease. Check out these resources to grow your team and implement standard operating procedures during your slow time.
Slowing down in my business also means more afternoons reading books. More playtime with my girls. More walks with the dog. More fun with my family. More exercise.
And with this downtime comes a necessary break that all business owners need to come back refreshed and ready to do their best work. Taking a break from the regular day-to-day grind gives your brain more space to think and dream about your business and your clients’ projects, it sheds new light on how to make things better, it gets you back in touch with your creativity, and it all comes full circle.
Slowing down helps you to be at your best.
INTENTIONAL BUSINESS SLOWDOWN TIPS FOR INTERIOR DESIGNERS
If you’re thinking an intentional slowdown is in your future, here are a few things that might be helpful for you:
Don’t start any new client projects until the end of your slowdown. This means you’ll still have calls, still send out proposals, and still take deposits/retainers. You’ll simply let clients know you won’t start their project until you’re back from your slowdown. Then, use a waitlist email sequence so your clients still feel supported even when they wait. Read my tips for creating a client waitlist experience, and be sure to check out the client waitlist emails as well.
Intentionally limit the number of new projects you take over the summer and the holidays, and stagger the start dates for a manageable workload.
Only promote and sell your services that have a clear start and end date and don’t include project management or additional support (design days, consultations, distance designs). This way, you’re not on the hook during your slow time with out-of-scope requests you aren’t able to accommodate.
Block off one week each month for no client meetings/calls/deliverables due.
Email your clients whose projects will occur during downtime over summer or holidays (the lull in wedding planning once everything is booked and designed, and the quiet months in design projects once orders have been placed), and let them know how they’ll be supported during these next less busy months. Of course, make sure it matches what’s in your Interior Design Service Agreement, but also set boundaries around communication and what they should reach out for.
Post about your availability in your online marketing so prospects know about your timeline for starting new projects.
Include your availability information in the initial email that goes out to prospects when they first inquire so they know right away about your start date. For some clients, it will be no issue. For others, they won’t be able to wait.
Email clients to let them know about your summer/holiday hours and any upcoming time off, and also use this as a time to remind them about communication (no texting!!) and any other challenges you’re experiencing related to client boundaries.
Read more about giving yourself this gift of time in an intentional slowdown.
Have you already been planning to slow down for summer? What steps are you taking to be able to do that?
And, if you know you're going to want 1:1 help this year with your business, I encourage you to add your name to the waitlist here. In the meantime, you can focus on tightening up your client experience process--and my Client Experience templates for interior designers and wedding planners are just the thing to do that. Learn more here.
Talk soon!
Katie
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