Design Business Foundations: Start Your Interior Design Business with 1:1 Support
FOR NEW DESIGNERS WHO ARE JUST STARTING OR LAUNCHING THEIR BUSINESS! Start your Interior Design Business with 1:1 Support! With the Design Business Foundations program, you’ll discover how to build a solid foundation for your design business. Get six weeks of expert support from my team (starts whenever you join!), detailed step-by-step instructions, pro tips, industry insights, and more. Create your business plan, set up your legal, financial, and marketing foundations, learn how to work with trades, vendors, showrooms, workrooms, and buying groups, choose software for managing your business, and explore bonus resources to expedite the process and save you money. All the details below!
ALL THE DETAILS:
FOR NEW DESIGNERS JUST STARTING OR LAUNCHING THEIR BUSINESS!
Dreaming of launching a successful interior design business, but overwhelmed by information overload, conflicting advice, state legislations, and the fear of making a mistake you might regret?
Skip the stress, save the time it takes to do this on your own, and avoid the mistakes we’ve helped many of our 1:1 clients fix. It all starts with building a solid foundation for your design business. One that supports you, sets you up for success, and gives you confidence as you grow your company and work with clients.
That’s why we created Design Business Foundations — the ultimate framework for building a streamlined design business like a pro, from day one. I’ve taken everything I’ve learned from working with designers making their first hundred thousand to those making multiple millions a year, then reverse-engineered those insights to create the exact process you need to build a business you’ll love.
Trust me — get it wrong from day one, and you’ll be crying in your car at job sites, cringing at new inquiries, and dreaming of the day you can burn the whole thing down.
We like to think of Design Business Foundations as being equivalent to having a business consultant for interior designers and an interior design college professor in your back pocket, at a fraction of the cost of hiring a 1:1 consultant or taking a college course.
Feel confident, organized, and supported while you build the interior design business of your dreams.
WHAT’S INCLUDED:
Design Business Foundations
Instant access to your materials in PDF format, plus a weekly email to deliver one chapter at a time.
Step-by-step instructions for setting up each core pillar of your business foundation with the why, what, and, most importantly, the HOW
Establishing your legal foundation
Choosing a name you won’t have to change in three years
How to protect your company and personal assets
What to include in your agreements (design contracts NOT included)
And more
Setting up a solid financial foundation
How to bill clients when you’re first starting
What to include in your payment terms
A sample scope of work
How to know when it’s time to change your business structure
And more
Note: this program does not include 1:1 assistance with setting your prices or preparing scopes of work and proposals
Choosing the right software
The mistake many designers make when choosing software
The bare minimum programs you need for designing
The most popular software among our 1:1 clients
And more
Setting up a professional marketing foundation
Exactly what to include on your website
The thing many designers get wrong when marketing their services
How to up your chances of clients finding you online
Identifying your referral network
And more
Building your vendor list
The ins and outs of working with vendors, showrooms, retailers, and buying groups
The path most designers take when sourcing products for clients (and what I definitely DO NOT recommend)
How to know what price to share with clients
When you will and won’t need a receiving warehouse
How to bill for white glove delivery
The nitty gritty of when you need to collect sales tax and when you don’t
How I recommend billing
Common markups
Types of accounts you can have
And more
Establishing local partnerships
Working with trades (and how to handle it when your client wants to work with their own)
The ins-and-outs of workrooms
How to bill for your workroom
Sending work orders
And more
Pro tips for building your business based on what has brought our 6- and 7-figure clients success with their interior design companies
Interior design glossary with industry-specific terms commonly used in showrooms, with manufacturers, and with clients
And more!
Six Weeks of Private Email Support from Me + My Team
Website Audit upon completion of the program, by request
Six Weeks of Accountability and Private Email Support from me and my team during our weekly Office Hours
Ask questions as you work through each topic
Make progress and stay on track
Send us your real-life problems and get advice
Have a sounding board as you build your business foundation
Bonus Templates & Resources
Printable Getting Started Checklist
Business Plan Template for Interior Designers (cut through the noise and follow our prompts!)
United States Interior Design Specific Attorney List
Vendor List Template with over 100 to-the-trade vendors to help you get started
Industry Introduction Outreach Email Templates
Sample Chart of Accounts Guide for Interior Designers
15% Savings in the Design Library on select products
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
An email account to receive your materials and the six weekly support emails
A free Google Drive account
A desire to build your business professionally from day one without making any expensive or rookie mistakes
TERMS OF USE:
Design Business Foundations is intended for unlimited use by one person (the Purchaser). The Purchaser cannot resell, duplicate, share, copy, distribute, or offer the documents or related materials to any third party or marketplace without express written consent from Dakota Design Company, LLC. Dakota Design Company, LLC retains title and ownership of all items included in this template. Dakota Design Company, LLC reserves the right to take action against you if you violate the terms of use.
DISCLAIMER:
The material and information provided by Dakota Design Company, LLC should not be construed as and is not intended to constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. The Purchaser should see the advice of licensed professionals in these areas prior to acting upon any information.
Dakota Design Company, LLC makes no representations concerning the sufficiency, completeness, or accuracy of any information or documents as they relate to the Purchaser’s specific tax, legal, or accounting needs.
NOT A DESIGNER?
A commercial license is required if you are not an interior designer and want to use this product with your clients. Please email katie@dakotadesigncompany.com to inquire about pricing and availability.
RETURN POLICY:
Due to the instant and digital nature of this product, there are no refunds.
NEED HELP?
Want to make sure this is right for you? Email me.
CLIENT LOVE
“Initially, when I started my business, I was flying the plane as I built it. However, having a corporate background in strategy, I knew this would not be sustainable. At MIT, they say the fastest and best way to get something done is to go to someone who has already done it, so I knew Dakota Design Co. would be an invaluable resource to reassess my business, processes, communication, services, and more.
After due diligence and reviewing several companies, I decided to take the plunge. The only downside is that I didn't do it sooner!
I was thoroughly impressed with the support given to every question I sent in [during] Office Hours, and every response was thoughtfully compiled versus being told to read a blog post or upsold on another product.
Katie and her team have been nothing but helpful, resourceful, and kind throughout this entire experience! I absolutely will be referring their services and products as well as continuing my education with them!”
-Ali, Interior Designer
“The program was great for keeping me on track and taking the guess work out of where to go next!”
-Teresa, Interior Designer
QUESTIONS:
Check out the FAQS below:
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Sure; how much time do you have?
And, what happens when you find conflicting information or take the wrong advice and then have to spend more time (and money) to fix it later? Also, you’ll want to make sure the information you find online is from a reputable source, you know, someone in the interior design industry, who has experience setting up and running a successful business, and who has worked with attorneys and accountants and consultants to clean up the messes that were a result of companies not being set up properly from day one.
In each chapter, my team and I share pro tips and industry insights so you know the what, why, and the how so you can avoid costly mistakes that my 1:1 clients pay me, my team, attorneys, and accountants thousands of dollars to fix.
Plus, you’ll have six weeks of access to us during our Office Hours which are held Fridays from 10-3 central time. Simply respond to your weekly lesson email and let us know your question. You’ll have a response in your inbox on Friday.
We've laid out the necessary steps in the order we recommend executing them, so you can simply follow along, cross each item off as you go, and finish with a solid foundation for your company. Everything we've included is intentional and based on what has been successful for our clients OR conversely, what has caused major issues for our clients and their business structures, so must be avoided.
Let’s avoid all that.
Oh, and following the Design Business Foundations process means your design business will look and feel LEGIT from the moment you launch. No more “Why do I keep attracting clients who don't want to pay my fee?”
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Whether you attended design school or not, if you are looking forward to starting your business, are in the process of starting your business, or are already a few years in, this will be a great fit to help you solidify the critical foundational elements of your company. When newer designers have shared with us what has been most challenging t, it’s often that their finances, software, vendor accounts, and marketing aren’t aligned with the types of businesses they want to run (or they aren’t set up at all — EEK!!); Design Business Foundations will walk you through the exact steps to build your business on solid footing.
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The Design Business Foundations doesn’t cover the principles of design, how to create floor plans, renderings, or elevations, how to source FF&E, how to project manage, or how to design an elevated client experience. Please join our email list for updates on workshops and resources that cover those topics. However, we do share information such as what software programs we recommend for designers, so you can at least have a system that supports your creative work.
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Yes! We formally update our products twice yearly, and whenever there are updates to codes and legislation impacting interior designers.
We also make updates if we get multiple requests from customers and clients to add more specific information on a topic, or in response to a particular issue that has arisen, so we can save you from making the same mistake. You'll have access to all future updates when you purchase now while locking in today's price.
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The Design Business Foundations is delivered in a PDF so you can instantly access all the materials and bonus resources at your own pace.
You'll also receive a weekly email walking you through each topic so you can proceed one step at a time with additional guidance from us. The weekly email will also provide an opportunity to ask questions and get support on that week’s specific topic, so you’ll have my team in your back pocket for six weeks.
You’ll get responses to your questions during our Office Hours, which are held on Friday from 10-3 central time.
You’ll also receive a printable two-page Getting Started Checklist so you can physically cross each task off your to-do list as you complete it.
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This has an ongoing enrollment and is self-paced. You’ll receive access to everything right when you purchase.
Then, each week, from the date of when you purchase, you’ll receive an email from us with an opportunity to ask questions and get support during our Office Hours, which we hold every Friday.
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While the legal and tax requirements differ slightly in every state and country, we have formulated the Design Business Foundations Blueprint to apply to designers outside of the US as well.
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We know you have options, and we’re honored you’re here! If you’re on our weekly email list, have ever attended a workshop or webinar we’ve hosted, or you’re a present or previous client, you know my business motto is to GIVE and GIVE GENEROUSLY. And when I create products to help the interior design industry, my team and I devote endless time, energy, and financial resources to ensure they’re perfect.
And remember, you’ll have six weeks of access to my team that includes college educators who are formally trained in interior design and previously worked at or ran their own firms. So our resources and advice combine what you would learn in a business or entrepreneurship course with what you would learn working in a design office (and we help you to avoid the mistakes many of our 6- and 7-figure designers hire us to fix).
In addition to that, I’ve drawn from my personal experience owning two companies and managing the operations of a 250-person company while single-handedly launching and running a subsidiary company. My recent work over the last six years with interior designers, architects, and wedding planners has allowed me to create templates and resources to support the various business models and team structures we’ve helped our clients streamline.
My company has helped over 100+ designers through our 1:1 services, so we’ve seen A LOT. With Dakota Design Company, you have the reassurance that our products are based on tried and true industry best practices (not theory that doesn’t hold up in a busy design office).
We’ve also worked with clients who have done it all — the courses, coaching, and training — and they’ve said our products, depth of knowledge, generosity, and customer service are superior to anything they’ve experienced.
Our hope is that we can save you from costly future investments that don’t actually serve your company.
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Of course you can. You can do anything you want, and that’s the beauty of having your own business.
Except that, if you don’t set up your business legally or have a process for collecting payment or use contracts with your “clients”, you won’t actually have a business; you’ll have a hobby — a stressful and expensive one at that.
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Once you join, you’ll get support and advice from me and my team during our Office Hours.
Office Hours are held every Friday from 10-3. As long as you email us your question before Friday, you can expect a personal email response from me and/or my team each Friday.
Everything is private (no other designers will see your email).
If we decide to offer coworking sessions or group calls, that will be in addition to the Office Hours.