How Interior Designers Can Streamline Procurement in a Changing Financial World
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Each year, we compile insights and tips from interior design industry experts to help make the year ahead more seamless and profitable. We gather these contributions into our annual playbook, and in this blog, we’re sharing tips from Fiona, a brand ambassador at Design Manager.
WRITTEN BY FIONA SANIPELLA, FOUNDER OF DESIGN SPEC & BRAND AMBASSADOR AT DESIGN MANAGER
This year, tariff calculations add a step to the workflow of designers doing procurement. At Design Manager, we’ve seen designers navigate the new tariff situation by opting for transparency. Rather than trying to hide the tariffs or absorbing the costs themselves, designers are typically making the clients aware and keeping that cost separated out as a line item on their invoices. When you create invoices within Design Manager it’s a simple exercise to add additional costs onto invoices.
Source Creatively When Costs Rise.
If tariff fees are cutting into your client’s budget, consider sourcing locally, have items custom made, or select vintage items from the US. If you warehouse FF&E Items, dig into your stock and sell off some pieces you’ve been holding onto for a while. Design Manager allows you to keep track of your warehoused items so you know what you have on hand without needing a site visit.
Build Relationships With Vendors.
We’ve had people ask if the profit margins for designers are changing – overall, we haven’t seen a huge shift yet in the way designers are marking up their products. However historically we’ve noticed that the longer a design firm is in business, the better their relationships with vendors become, and the better pricing they’re able to get through their trade account! Building relationships with vendors who have strong trade programs is a great way to become more profitable.
Speed Up Cash Flow With Modern Payments.
Get paid faster! Some of the traditional methods for collecting payments from clients can slow down your process – waiting for checks, ACH payments and wires to clear takes time. But we have a new system in place called DesignPay that gets you paid faster, so you can get your orders completed and items delivered in less time than ever.
Keep An Eye On Emerging Payment Trends.
A big shift in the financial world is taking place right now; cryptocurrency is becoming more mainstream right before our eyes. It’s not common for designers to accept cryptocurrency as payment for procurement on projects just yet, but it will be interesting to see if that changes in the coming years. Designers need to be prepared to learn about this new financial world and adapt if needed. As that shift starts to happen, Design Manager will be there helping guide our accounts through any transitions that occur to ensure you can stay profitable and keep your revenue growing.
Here’s how Design Manager can help ensure you’re on top of the points we covered:
1. Track your profits: Instantly generate a detailed Profit and Loss Statement so you can see where your budget started and how much revenue you ended up making.
2. Price with confidence: Base them on past billable hours tracked directly through Design Manager.
3. Simplify tax season: When spring rolls around, easily export all your financial data and tax documents from one system. Design Manager becomes your reliable system of record.
With over 30 years of experience in the design industry, we understand how the environment is changing and we do our best to help our community adapt to that world. We’re seasoned, thorough, and passionate about helping you stay focused on creating spaces. Let Design Manager handle the rest!
Want more insights like this from other pros in the interior design industry so you can fine tune every aspect of your business?
Grab the complimentary Year End Playbook for interior designers here:
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