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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 Should I Present Furniture Pricing on An Invoice?
ear Dakota,
I do flat fee billing and am a huge advocate of “the fewer invoices the better.”
The question is: how do I invoice?
I love the invoice capability of my product management software but it lists each item by price. I can’t decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I love the idea of high-low design and sometimes it takes one expensive piece to make the space. I always panic when I list prices individually in case the client will see the expensive item and give pushback (even though the total is coming in on budget.) They will see the price of an individual item and think it’s too much to pay for whatever item it may be.
I’m curious how others are invoicing. Are they sending a general invoice with only final pricing, or are they itemizing each item listed with an individual price?
What have you seen work the best?
Join The DTS Files for my insights and advice.
Dear Dakota: What Do I Do When a Client Doesn’t Provide Timely Feedback?
Dear Dakota,
What do I do when a client doesn’t provide timely feedback?
This is a question we hear all of the time from our 1:1 clients.
In our experience, most designers give between …
Join The DTS Files to get my advice.
Dear Dakota: Should I Give Friends and Family a Discount?
Dear Dakota,
Should I give friends and family a discount? If so, how should I structure it so I don’t get burned?
Join The DTS Files for my advice and insights.
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?
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 me and my team (comprised of industry experts and educators) 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 and are professors!
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 and live step-by-step trainings for your busy schedule.
*for interior designers only, not interior design business coaches, consultants, mentors, or strategists.
COMPLIMENTARY QUIZ FOR INTERIOR DESIGNERS
You don’t need to overhaul everything. You just need to fix the right thing.
This 2-minute quiz will help you identify what’s holding you back and how to fix it.
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