Just as you painstakingly measure each project, select colors, and decide on furniture, getting your official interior design business up and running begins with planning. For most of us, this means writing a business plan, which is a roadmap you can follow down the path of your own success. Today’s tips can help you get started by having what you need in place to write the perfect plan.
Getting Started
First, it pays to know what you’re getting yourself into. From understanding what it takes to become a full-time interior designer to how much it costs to start your business, along with what you can charge for your services, you’ll need a guide to walk you through the process of starting an interior design business. The first few steps begin by creating a vision, which might be something as simple as a corkboard or something as detailed as a diary detailing everything you hope to accomplish.
Marketing Matters
While you might not yet be ready to book appointments, it is never too early to formulate a marketing strategy. Branding Creatively offers all you need to get your online presence up and running. Need a website? Custom designs and SEO optimization start at just $1299. Branding Creatively can also help you set up your social media sites and even create a logo for your brand-new brand.
Your marketing team can’t do all the work, however, and you will have to learn a few tricks yourself. Key of these for your industry is taking exceptional photographs, which interior designer Kathy Kuo explains involves cleaning, color correction, and aligning furniture so that it looks best in pictures.
Measuring The Competition
One key component to your business strategy and plan is a CMA or competitive market analysis. This is where you get to have a little fun and spy on the competition. First, you have to know who this is, and then spend some time scouring their content. Elmhurst also recommends analyzing their search engine efforts and then knowing how to stay a step ahead.
Where’s The Money Coming From?
Fortunately, starting an interior design business is not the most expensive of endeavors. You may be able to get away with raw talent and great design software, which may cost $1000 or less. But marketing and having furniture and accessories on hand (this is crucial if you offer staging services) can cost you big time. Lendingtree recommends several sites that offer small business grants, which are available through federal agencies. Your business plan must include information on how you’ll pay for your business, especially if you plan to seek investors.
Business Structure
How do you plan to run your business: as a limited liability company, a corporation, or a sole proprietorship. If you’re in operation of one, a sole proprietorship might make sense, but you must be willing to be responsible for liability. If you’d like to remove your personal assets from your professional earnings, form an LLC, which is a separate business entity that ensures that you are not personally responsible for business debt.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says there are more than 61,900 interior designers in the United States. In this industry, you can earn more than $99,000 per year if you’re willing to work your way up to the top 10%. But the work starts with a plan, and the plan starts with a guide. Take the time to get to know what you need to do, and then get to work on your marketing, competitor analysis, funding, and business structure. Once these pieces are in place, you’ll be ready to launch your brand-new business.
When you’re ready to get more out of your marketing, contact Branding Creatively today. We’d love to hear from you, and we can’t wait to help your brand stand out from the crowd.
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