Organize your Interior Design Business with Asana and Google Drive

There are a million tools and methods available for organizing your interior design business—and, in our 1:1 consulting and software implementation services, we’ve helped interior designers set up many of them. What I’ve learned through my years of operations consulting and owning two businesses is that it doesn’t matter what tools you use or how robust they are.

What matters is if you are using them consistently (and properly).

As a team, our favorite business management tools for interior designers are Asana, Google Drive, HoneyBook, Flodesk, Loom, and Zapier.

✏️ Want to see how Asana can streamline your interior design business? Grab our complimentary Asana Blueprint for Interior Designers here.

If you’re looking for my favorite software to manage your product library and sales, that’s a separate conversation.

When interior designers come to me and say they are using any of these tools, my team and I jump for joy because I know there are SO many ways they can integrate these tools to elevate and streamline their client-facing and behind-the-scenes operations.

When I had my wedding design and planning business, I used my website and blog, a reputable directory site, and client and vendor referrals to grow my business. My biggest focus back then was sharing valuable resources on my blog (I posted a new blog every.single.morning), serving my clients well, consistently asking for testimonials, and sending handwritten letters to every client and vendor I worked with (I even sent cards to the parents of the couples I worked with).

Back then, Asana and Google Drive literally didn’t even exist yet!

😱😱😱

So, how did I run a multi-state business with multiple high-touch service offerings in the luxury market?

Paper checklists.

I had a multi-page checklist for each service I offered for each new client. This checklist was printed out and then went into the top of each client binder, and I would work through that list and check things off as I went for each project.

Once the wedding or event was over, it didn’t stop there. I had about twenty items on my post-wedding checklist, and I never missed a thing.

I also kept a communication log to document who I spoke to or met with and what we discussed. This allowed me to remember all the to-dos and details for various clients.

This meant all of my business management documents were created in Microsoft Office (Google Drive wasn’t a thing yet!) and then printed on paper. Even when it was busy wedding season and I was working with brides in multiple states, this system worked well because I consistently used it with every project.

While it matters what software you use based on your specific needs, it matters more that you use your software consistently and to the fullest.

🔑 Read the rest inside The DTS Files — my members-only collection of advanced strategies, industry insights, and behind-the-scenes advice for running a profitable, elevated design firm.

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