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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
Dear Dakota | How Interior Designers Can Handle the “Discount” Conversation
Dear Dakota,
I presented the final design to my client along with the invoices for their rooms and they balked that there was no discount. I don't offer discounts or market anything about discounts. What do I do, and how do I prevent this from ever happening again?
Join The DTS Files for my advice and insights.
Dear Dakota | The Best Form of Additional Income for Interior Designers
Dear Dakota,
Outside of direct services, what is the best form of additional income for interior designers? What avenue is the most profitable and worth pursuing for a company with three employees? Furniture sales? Passive income downloads? Courses? Affiliate income?
Join The DTS Files to see the advice I gave this designer.
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.
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.
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?
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Dear Dakota | Why You Have No Leads Coming In To Your Interior Design Business
Dear Dakota, I have no leads coming and haven't booked a new client in a while. Do you think I should invest in having my website rewritten, or should I have it redesigned?
This question was submitted by a designer via The Weekly Install®, and here’s the thing: if you don't have leads coming in, it's …
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Dear Dakota | What to Do When an Interior Design Client Won’t Pay
Dear Dakota,
What should I do when an interior design client won’t pay?
When a Client Won’t Pay: How to Handle Non-Payment & Protect Your Business
There’s nothing worse than chasing a client for payment after you’ve poured hours into their project. Suddenly, you’re not just an interior designer—you’re a collections agency, too.
But before you assume the worst, it’s important to understand why a client may not be paying—and more importantly, how to prevent it from happening in the first place.
Inside this post, I’m breaking down:
The most common reasons clients delay or refuse payment
Proactive strategies to avoid non-payment before a project even starts
How to structure contracts, invoices, and payment schedules so you never have to chase a client down again
What to do when a client refuses to pay, including the steps to take before resorting to legal action
This is a must-read for any designer who wants to protect their revenue, set firm payment policies, and confidently discuss money with clients—without the awkwardness or stress.
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Dear Dakota | How to Handle Scope Creep as an Hourly Designer?
Dear Dakota,
How do I handle hourly clients who keep adding to their projects? The additional requests are hard to keep track of and I feel like I’m never able to complete a project because there are so many little things that are always open. HELP!
If you’ve ever had a client start with one room, then slowly add "just a few more things"—a light fixture here, a paint color there—until you feel like you're stuck in an endless cycle of selections, this post is for you.
Scope creep can derail your process, push your workload over capacity, and train clients to expect on-demand access to your expertise. So how do you manage additional requests while maintaining a clear process, ensuring profitability, and keeping your projects on track?
Inside this post, I’m sharing:
How to set scope boundaries from the start—even as an hourly designer
The red flag moment when a new request should become a new project
Why "just saying yes" leads to burnout and client dissatisfaction
How top designers structure their process to keep projects moving
If managing client expectations feels like a constant struggle, don’t miss this one.
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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
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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.
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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.