10 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I First Started a Design Business
By Linda Merrill
After years of working in arts management from music sales, to running a small opera company and finally as a business executive at WGBH, Boston’s public television station, I needed a change. The real change was that I no longer wanted to be a supporting player in someone else’s creative life. After dipping my toe in the water by taking a three-week adult education decorating class, I enrolled at the Boston Architectural College in the certificate of decorative arts program. The final class in the course was called “Business Practices” and going into it, I thought it was the one I’d find the least necessary, as I’d spent years running businesses. Well, you don’t know what you don’t know, as they say. And truthfully, I wish “they’d” have said a lot more to me when I launched my business, which I named Chameleon Interiors.
Herewith, ten things I wish I’d been told:
1. Don’t name your business something that most people can neither spell nor pronounce, no matter how clever the reference.
2. Don’t think you’re too old to become an intern or entry level assistant. Since I’d had many years of business experience, I knew I could run a business and thought I should just dive in and start looking for clients, rather than work for little or no money for someone else. Big mistake. By not being willing to spend time learning the “design” business, I had no idea how to specify products, use a design center effectively, maintain a library or even what to look for in a good client prospect.
3. Seek out a mentor or several mentors for different purposes. I spoke with only one designer who had been in the business for a long time when I was launching my business. She graciously welcomed me to the field and said she hoped I wasn’t looking to make a lot of money, few designers so. As I’d always worked for non-profits, I assured her that for me, it was the work that mattered. But, it was still a wakeup call and I could have used more of those.
4. Don’t ever take advice from people who are either not actively working in the field or who are not qualified or experienced design clients. Well meaning friends offer advice to make you feel good, but they may not actually know what they are talking about.
5. Barter, barter, barter. Do anything you can to bump up your portfolio. Whether it’s offering to style a local shop in exchange for being able to take photos of your work, or decorating a friend’s bedroom for free, a variety of images that showcase you style will be invaluable.
6. That said, resist the temptation to simply “give it away” just get a certain client or have the perfect item included in the design plan. A client is only a good one if they are willing to pay what you’re worth and the design will not be ruined without that perfect fabric or accessory that is out of the budget. When you’re done with the job, you walk away with experience, photographs and income. Don’t sell yourself short.
7. Photographs taken of your work is about your work, not the client’s home. Do whatever is needed to make the final photograph the best representation of your work, even if it means temporarily moving client’s possessions out of the way.
8. Media coverage is great, but is not usually the “golden key” to gaining new clients. It’s what you do with the coverage that matters.
9. Establish a niche, you can always accept qualified clients who are outside the niche as well. Don’t shoot at the barn as a whole, hoping to hit the barn door.
10. Network and share resources with other designers. Everyone benefits.
___
Linda Merrill is a residential interior decorator based in Massachusetts. Linda's design style can be described as "comfortable luxury" and she believes in working closely with clients throughout the entire design process. Her clients are mainly located between metro-Boston and Cape Cod and the Islands. Linda writes a nationally regarded design blog called ::Surroundings:: and is the host of the design podcast series The Skirted Roundtable.
