A friend of mine is in the process of starting a business and asked if I could share a few pieces of advice with her. I don’t often talk about my own business, but I thought my response to her could be helpful for those in the beginning stages of starting a company or for those who might feel stagnant in their growth.

Here are the tips I shared with her:

Dear Dakota,

Our clients feel nickel and dimed paying for freight, receiving, storage, and white glove delivery. I want to consolidate these costs and collect them when invoicing for the product. How do I calculate what this number should be?

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Dear Dakota,

With the holiday season approaching, should I consider offering holiday decorating as a seasonal service?

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This topic was inspired by a recent Squarespace Circle member email. They shared an article about “nightmare website stories,” and I was immediately inspired to do a spin-off for interior designers about nightmare client experience stories.

You know the interior design client experience is my all-time favorite topic, and since this IS the scariest time of the year, I’ve pulled together a few of the most horrific stories our interior designer clients have shared with me and my team over the years to share with you. Bonus - with each “scary” situation, you’ll get tips for handling them and (most importantly) preventing them so they NEVER happen to you.

Ready for some full body chills? Let’s go!

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Dear Dakota,

How do I not give away all my ideas, solutions, and advice during a free consultation walk-through for a potential project? 

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A recent discussion among several experienced interior design business owners during a group consulting call led to a reflection about things designers wished they had known earlier on in their careers. 

We all get wiser as we move along life’s journey, and everyone can probably relate to the wish that — had they just had greater insights earlier on — they could have saved themselves significant frustration, anxiety, sleepless nights, or even embarrassment. 

So, we wondered, what do interior designers specifically wish they had known sooner to avoid some professional and personal anguish. We asked designers via The Weekly Install® “What is something you know NOW that you wish you knew when you started your business?” and are so excited to share their responses. (All confidential information has been removed.)

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With so much trust placed on the line at the beginning of an interior design project, where the client has to wait months OR YEARS to see the actual finished product, it is CRITICAL that clients trust their interior designer and know they will be able to deliver them the results they are seeking.  

The more credible you are as a company, the more streamlined your entire interior design client process will be.

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Dear Dakota,

I have been working with a builder for almost 3 years. He is continually changing his process and his projects are a time suck. He is not accountable for his own process and I found out last week he threw me under the bus to cover his own ass. I'm finally at a crossroad and wondering if I need to stop working with him. However, his business is a consistent cash flow. One of his "project managers" hates working with designers. He will purposely not call anyone on my team for tile walks, paint walks, etc. because he doesn't want to deal with us telling him things are installed incorrectly. I have spent hours and hours of my time with his clients and honestly feel bad for them. I know they have no idea what's going on behind the scenes and I feel totally stuck. HELP!

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