FEATURED ON THIS EPISODE:

INTERIOR DESIGNER’S GUIDE TO CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE:

WHAT TO AVOID WHEN TALKING TO POTENTIAL CLIENTS

WHAT TO PRIORITIZE

HOW TO PLAN YOUR YEAR STRATEGICALLY

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I know it’s January and everybody under the sun is talking about how to plan for the year. I get it is important, but I want to make sure everyone understands why it’s so important for their individual client work and how those are managed. 

Yes, it is all about spreading out your projects so that you’re not overwhelmed in the first quarter, and then hear crickets in the second, and then overwhelmed again, right? That is an important thing to focus on.

But the bigger, broader picture is to map out your goals and set year intentions for 2025 that will grow your business while keeping your sanity intact, which does, in fact, include planning, scheduling, and managing your client projects effectively for the year ahead, and far beyond. 

What to avoid

This all came about from my private course The Interior Designers Guide to Construction Management. I started seeing a common theme, starting with designers sharing very stressful situations they were facing. Projects that were costing them both monetarily and potentially effecting their reputation and they were definitely being emotionally impacted by their projects going completely off the rails. 

As we started unpacking each of these different scenarios I started noticing a common thread and that was that many of these issues that they were currently dealing with could have been avoided had they trusted their instincts far earlier in the project.  

This includes red flags, or as I call them, pink flags. And frankly, it’s the pink flags that are getting designers, myself included, in massive problems inside projects way past the time where we first started noticing or thinking, where my gut was saying, “Look out. Pink flag.” 

I call them ‘pink flags’ because they are more subtle. We all know how to recognize the red flags – they’re essentially beating us over the head, and we pass on the project. 

It’s the pink flags that sort of leave you going, hmmm…am I hearing that? I think I’m overthinking this. Those are the pink flags. And those are the ones I want you all to be listening for. 

Pink flags are what I want you to start watching out for. These are the ones that are subtle enough that we can convince ourselves that they’re no big deal.

These might not all turn into red flags, but they are ones that you must stop and pay attention to and you must investigate further. 

No matter why you decide to take on these projects, even with the pink flags, here’s the problem: fast forward to where you’re weeks or months into the project, your deep into it, right? Dealing with endless headaches and those pink flags, they are bright glaring, hell, sometimes blinking red at this point. 

Now, do not beat yourself up if this is all sounding familiar. I don’t speak about things I haven’t done myself, and I have lost track of the pink flags I ignored earlier in my career. 

But if you are looking for permission to say no to those pink flags today and moving forward in the future, please let me be that person. 

Saying no at the beginning might just save you from months of stress, financial strain, angst, and losing out on future referrals. 

If you don’t say no,  the exact goals you wanted for this project, whether it was income, photographs, or referrals, may have evaporated, or worse, the income you had hoped for is now coming in as a loss.

What to prioritize

Yes, this had to do with planning ahead, and this isn’t just about filling up your calendar, which, is important, but it’s being intentional with your time, your energy, and your business goals. 

We are so busy staying in the moment, getting that client, marketing for more, working through the project that we don’t take enough time to work on our actual business goals. 

So, you do need to start by asking yourself some key questions to define your vision for 2025. 

You want to ask yourself:

What type of projects align with my business goal? 

What kind of clients do you want to work with? 

What kind of builders or architects do you want to work with? 

How will you set boundaries to ensure that you stay on track with your goals?

You must be specific. You cannot just say things like, “I want to work with someone who has a large budget.” 

If your goal is high-end kitchen renovations, for example, then that is the filter you run every potential project through. That clarity, that filter will save you from taking on projects that don’t align with your vision. 

Plan your year strategically

I want you to plan your year strategically. I want you to map out your year with flexibility in mind. Be very careful overloading your schedule. Now, I don’t mean leave huge gaps in your schedule. It means building in buffers for unexpected delays or changes because there will be both. You won’t always know where they are, so create that room for you to breathe and get through them without panicking and completely stressing yourself out.

This is all about setting yourself up for success by creating a plan that works for you, not against you. 

Ignoring pink flags creates a plan that will work against you.

If something feels off, it’s probably a pink flag, and just so you know, in my experience, pink flags always turn red. It is so much better to say no upfront than to regret it later.