Ok, I have a rant. I am frustrated. In fact I am downright mad.
Business is Hard. Being an Interior Designer is hard. Being an entrepreneur is hard.
And with the ever changing landscape of the design and business worlds, how are small businesses supposed to keep their head above water in the constant uncertainty and exhaustion of running their businesses?
I am both these things…designer, entrepreneur. And business is hard for me, too. And I have a whole team of amazing people surrounding me to help me make it all work.
But not everyone has that.
My last big rant was way back in 2019 when I asked the question “Is this the end of interior design?” And compared to 2019 things seem even more volatile now in many ways.
Business is slow for a lot of designers right now. And if it’s not slow for you, it’s probably just a matter of time. And that’s nothing against you. Creative Entrepreneurship is rife with ups and downs. It’s almost synonymous with the feast or famine cycle.
And I find myself once again asking the question, is this REALLY the end of interior design this time?
Not only are we post pandemic, in a softening economy (if not a full blown recession), we’re competing against instant gratification (thanks Amazon!), affordable prices (I see you Home Goods), and easy accessibility by the consumer to previously “to the trade only” products. And we haven’t even discussed what AI may soon do to the industry.
It can feel like a losing battle. I see Designers leaving the industry every month and I coach with many more who have at least considered it. I get it, I can’t say I haven’t asked myself if it’s a good idea to stay in the industry.
Traditional full service design may not pay all the bills anymore.
Because good design at the level we design professionals understand it, is only really affordable and achievable to the most affluent–the 1% of the 1%.
How many times have we all said, “if I weren’t me, I couldn’t afford me” ? And it’s true.
I make a multiple 6 figure salary and so does my spouse, but with house payments and car payments and a kiddo heading to college, we don’t have the cash to spend 5 or 6 figures on a design fee and two to three times that on furnishings, drapery and artwork to make our home look like a magazine. The reason our home looks the way it does is because we get the benefit of my design services for free and our products at designer or stocking dealer prices. And I know you know what I mean.
So what is a designer to do? Who do we have to become to complete in the world of constant digital media and democratization of design?
And don’t get me wrong, I am not against that democratization. I believe every human deserves a safe, beautiful environment. Life is hard enough already and our spaces can make things even more changing for so many reasons.
Yet making a living as an interior designer competing against all these changes in the industry can make success feel impossible.
It’s time to revolutionize how you make money, again. And we’re here to help.
