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RULES OF THE RED RUBBER BALL: FIND AND SUSTAIN YOUR LIFE’S WORK

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THE EPISODE:

WHEN AND HOW TO SCALE YOUR BUSINESS

THE POWER OF PROCESS-DRIVEN SUCCESS

THE IMPORTANCE OF RELYING ON THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH

WHY AGILITY CAN BE YOUR GREATEST ASSET AS AN ENTREPRENEUR

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If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, today’s episode is for you! I am so excited to have my friend Katie Decker-Erickson on today’s episode!

Katie began her career in commercial color consulting as a part-time passion project in 2007. Color Works, has grown into a multi-million dollar commercial design company, currently operating in over 20 states nationwide, with a fully remote team of more than a dozen individuals.  Katie is known for her business acumen (having grown her interior design firm 1500% in a single year).

As a business coach for interior designers, she knows firsthand what it takes to build a thriving, sustainable business while staying true to your creative vision. With nearly 20 years in the industry and a Master’s degree in Business Administration, Katie is actively in the trenches—elevating her own firm while helping other designers master the business of design through her coaching.

In her podcast, “Success by Design: Mastering the Business of Interior Design” she helps interior designers bridge the gap between creativity and entrepreneurship. Katie shares real-world insights, actionable strategies, and candid conversations to help you streamline your operations, increase profitability, and build a business that works for you—not the other way around.

She has a passion for teaching others (with 18 years teaching graduate & undergraduate university courses), devotion to her two young daughters, and commitment to women’s empowerment both personally and professionally. 

Katy has mastered the art of being the only girl on the job site because she understands the value of the process, relationship building, the language, and the pure education that goes into being a commercial interior designer. 

Commerical vs Residential

Commercial and residential spaces operate in very different ways. They have different sets of rules as well as different sets of vocabulary. It is design, but it’s different.  They are different beasts with different challenges and opportunities, and it’s figuring out which one syncs well with your personality. 

“I care about the project but I’m like, does it meet the deadline, does it meet the budget, does it meet the esthetic, does it out do the competitor, does it meet the target demographic needs, does it get the return on investment that the ownership or investor are looking for, doe sit have durability, it’s just a whole different sets of expectations and a completely different check lists,” says Katy

These are things that residential interior designers have never, ever had to think about and never will in their industry. 

With commercial design, you are dealing with the public, and anyone can use that space, so it opens your liability up.

“No one wants to talk liability, but oh my gosh, once you enter commercial space, that ratchets up about 100 fold,” Katy says. 

“If you’re going to get into commercial, do it well. Talk to your insurance agent and figure out what insurance you need. It’s not just about saying you can do XY or Z, then it’s do I have the industry partners to do XY&Z because ordering from those standard places you order from no longer works in a commercial application. Are those fabrics fire-rated? We should talk about that because if the building burns down, we have a slight problem on our hands if they’re not,” says Katy

“As far as durability, as graphic as it sounds, you have to think about bodily fluids, because you have no idea whose going to enter that space. Is it wipeable? Can some kid come in there and spill their chocolate whatever on it? There’s so many things, where it’s like a puzzle,” say Katy

Also, you need to rely on the people you work with, whether residential or commercial.

If you are a residential designer taking on some commercial work, your contractor’s likely going to be your best friend. 

You don’t have to know everything; you just have to know enough. 

“There’s a real reality check in this, where if you feel like you know it all whether you’re sitting on the residential or commercial side and you’re like, I got this. I’m good. – That’s a really scary place to be. Because there’s always more to learn.” shares Katy 

Those contractors are doing this work day in and day out. Ask them questions, ask for their advice, and have the conversations. 

What Commercial does is it tightens your processes.

You are truly the only girl in most rooms, most days, most weeks, most months. There’s no room for error. Katy has completely tightened up her processes to a point where they run themselves, and that allows her to do whatever she wants, and because of that, she’s scaled her business. 

“Well, it’s 80/20. 80% of the time, those processes are going to be dead on. 20%, you’re still going to have to tweak them or find out something new, and it’s going to affect that process, or the client just wants a little bit more in this area or that area. Agility is one of the beautiful gifts we have as entrepreneurs,” says Katy

“Processes work in the background and allow you to be creative so you’re not reinventing the wheel every time.” says Katy

Processes also allow you to know when to scale and how to scale.

When to scale

So many designers think they need to hire someone to scale or fill in the blank and they think they can make more money or take on more projects by scaling and that’s not always how it works out. 

“I always start out with what is your why? Why do you want to scale? And is now the right time for that? I think there’s an immense amount of pressure we put on ourselves as designers, especially if we’ve been in business for a hot minute, that if we’re not scaling, we’re dying.” says Katy

Do the loney work

You have to do what is called ‘the loney work.’ This is building the stage so that when your largest client does come to you, you can step into that space and do it well.  And that lonely work is getting your processes lined out. Are you using the right software? Do you have a process for onboarding? How is your contract? Do you have a photographer you love to work with? Let’s evaluate your marketing strategy. It’s more than Instagram, folks. When you take care of your lonely work, it is amazing what happens. Your clients and leads should be driving your scaling – not you,” Katy says. 

If you let the business drive, it gets really, really good. What do you hate to do? What’s holding you back? For most designers, it’s a bookkeeper. You have to understand your numbers to even know if you can hire. Ditch the services that aren’t making money. Ramp up the ones that are, that are meeting a market need where you can really help your clients. Then we can talk about your second hire, then your third. It’s letting the business drive it, but you are the driver of your business.

In today’s episode, we also talk about hiring virtually, how you don’t need an office space, and how it really is just a mindset shift, learning what your forte is in your business and what isn’t, understanding how money drives your business, why you need to look at your numbers, 

Ultimately, you need to be able to take care of your business so that you can do what it is you love.

If you want a business that is not only scalable but sustainable, you can’t be living in the world of ‘its sucking the energy out of me indefinitely.’ No one’s going to make it there. 

“It’s like mowing your own grass when the neighbor boy will mow and weed eat your yard for $20, and you can be spending your time on high-level activities. The same is true of your business. Find the people who can do it better, faster, cheaper, and will get you back to why you started doing your business in the first place – and scaling your business will take care of itself that way,” Katie says.