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ACTIONABLE BUSINESS STRATEGIES
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MEMBERS-ONLY ARTICLES PUBLISHED WEEKLY
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PRIVATE LIBRARY OF EXPERT INSIGHTS & ADVICE FOR INTERIOR DESIGNERS
| ACTIONABLE BUSINESS STRATEGIES I MEMBERS-ONLY ARTICLES PUBLISHED WEEKLY | PRIVATE LIBRARY OF EXPERT INSIGHTS & ADVICE FOR INTERIOR DESIGNERS
What’s the Difference Between an Investment Guide and a Welcome Guide?
One of the most common questions I receive and one of the biggest mistakes I see people make in their client process is confusing an Investment Guide and a Welcome Guide.
These are two completely different things with very different purposes. In today’s post, I’m sharing when to use each of these important documents and some common mistakes to avoid with each.
Dear Dakota | What Steps do I Need to Take to Build a Team for my Interior Design Business?
Dear Dakota,
In order, what steps do I need to take to be able to move forward and grow and build a team to help me realize my income goal and dream interior design business?
Join The DTS Files for my advice and insights.
Client Experience Tech Tip: How to Elevate Your Instagram Client Experience
The first impression says a lot about your company and whether a prospective client will inquire about working together.
This week’s tech tip is all about elevating your client experience from the first time a potential client sees your stunning portfolio on Instagram.
Say “byeeee” to sending traffic (and dollars) to LinkTree and “hello” to sending traffic to YOUR website.
Mistakes I’ve Made Running My Own Business
Owning a business can feel a bit like an experiment at times. Packaging things up, testing them, refining them, and testing them again. It’s only by going through this process that you can actually know what works and doesn’t for you and your clients.
With Dakota Design Company being my second business (my first was a wedding and event planning company that I ran from 2007 to 2014 in Arizona and Illinois), I’ve certainly experienced my share of failures, but I’ve always learned from them (even if I needed to grieve and beat myself up for a bit first).
There are always lessons to be learned in failure. Something that I think resonates with my clients is that I am a done-for-you service provider, just like they are.
Join The DTS Files for my advice and insights.
Dear Dakota | How to Define Your Interior Design Process
Dear Dakota,
Can you help me design/define my process and place it against timelines?
Join The DTS Files for my advice and insights.
Interior Design Business Trends for 2023 from My Point of View
Working with interior designers day in and day out offers me glimpses into the inner workings of interior design businesses across the world. I often see patterns and trends in the challenges my designers are experiencing.
Being able to share my insights to help designers all over, even ones I’m not currently working with, is one of the best parts of my job. In this post I’m sharing three trends I’m seeing for interior designers and their businesses in 2023, and giving my top three tips for taking your interior design company to the next level this year.
Here’s what I’ll cover in detail in this post:
Dear Dakota | How Do You Handle Storage Fees if There are Long Wait Times?
Dear Dakota,
How Do You Handle Storage and Receiving Fees when there are Long Wait Times?
Join The DTS Files for my advice and insights.
ACCESS A PRIVATE LIBRARY OF EXPERT ADVICE for INTERIOR DESIGNERS
My strategies have shaped the way thousands of interior designers and luxury service providers do business.
Inside The DTS Files, you’re getting the original insights straight from the source—tested, refined, and backed by my experience working with 100+ design firms.
And because this is a members-only space, I can go deeper than ever before—sharing the real strategies that help designers build profitable, sustainable businesses with confidence.
HEAR FROM SOME OF OUR MEMBERS:
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PRICING PLAYBOOK for INTERIOR DESIGNERS
The Complete Guide to Pricing Your Design Services
Grab my pricing playbook, The Complete Guide to Pricing your Interior Design Services, to learn:
the six most common pricing models for designers
who each one is best for, and
how to know if your pricing model is broken
NEED BUSINESS SUPPORT ASAP?
SHOP TEMPLATES
Plug-and-play templates, questionnaires, processes, and guides for interior designers who want to stop reinventing the wheel with every new project.
The Design Library helps you streamline client communication, set clear expectations, and protect your time—so you can spend less time in your inbox and more time designing. Inside, you’ll find:
✔ Professionally written client emails and marketing guides for every step of the process.
✔ SOPs to standardize service delivery and create a seamless, high-end experience.
✔ Contract templates with sample scopes to protect you, your team, and your clients.
What took me years to refine can be in your inbox in minutes.
*for interior designers only, not interior design business coaches, consultants, mentors, strategists.
SHOP WORKSHOPS & TRAININGS
Learn from my team (comprised of industry experts and educators) and me all the things they don’t teach in design school. And we know because two of the women on my team went to interior design school!
After consulting with and doing hands-on implementation for over 100 interior design business owners, I’ve seen what works (and doesn’t) across every business model imaginable. We are familiar with various software types, team structures of 1 to 20, and the challenges that are coming, whether you’re on your way to your first $100,000 or already making multiple millions.
On-demand trainings for your busy schedule.
*for interior designers only, not interior design business coaches, consultants, mentors, or strategists.
JOIN 16,000 DESIGNERS EVERY FRIDAY
Proven strategies and tools to streamline and elevate your interior design business.
COMPLIMENTARY QUIZ FOR INTERIOR DESIGNERS
Feeling stretched thin in your design business?
You’re busy—but is your business actually working for you? If you’re constantly putting out fires and second-guessing what to focus on next, this 2-minute quiz will show you exactly where to start.