How has your business performed so far this year? Are you ready to finish the year strong?? These are questions I always ask myself every single July. WHY? Because this is the perfect time to course correct if you need to. You still have time to put new plans in place and to find new clients....

I started my entire Return on Interiors system for one reason - to help interior designers run more efficient and effective businesses! It's my PASSION! Because I've learned over many (MANY) years that having an organized business means that you're going to be more profitable. It's just a fact!...

One of the most important sales tools that you have is the one that is most often overlooked!! That's your website, of course! It's the first place many of your prospective clients will find you - so what does it SAY about you?? It's also the first place that press or potential partners will go...

I have said it so many times - confidence is THE key to your company's success! If you don't have confidence in your talent and in your business, it's going to be very difficult for you to convince people to hire you. You also tend to second guess yourself when you aren't confident. That can mean...

Things don't always go our way. A project can go sideways, one mistake can seriously impact cash flow, or we can get hit with something crazy, like a pandemic or economic crisis. Some things we can plan for, and some we definitely cannot. But the old saying is true: It isn't about how we fall,...

It is never fun to have a hard conversation with anyone, but it's especially difficult when it's your client. It doesn't matter if they're being difficult, if you've made a mistake on the project, or if you've got to tell them that their furniture order is delayed again. Those tough talks are one...

Setting a budget - and sticking to it - can be one of the hardest and most stressful parts of an interior design project. Especially today! Costs are rising every day on both supplies and furnishings, and it's so important to lock in pricing when you can. But once you FINALLY have set a budget,...

Delegating is one of the HARDEST things for interior designers to do! We tell ourselves that if we just do a task then we'll save money. Or that it takes longer to tell someone else how to do it than to just do it ourselves. None of that is true!! You are the biggest money-maker in your company,...

There's been a trend away from formal employee reviews with the long documents and the metrics. And I understand that - it can be a pain and it seems weird to do in a small office. BUT - it is actually critical that you have a performance review system in place. Even if your team is just you and...

Too often we wish things in our businesses could be one-and-done. But that is never the case! Whether it's your financials, your business practices, or your client pipeline, you want to schedule regular times to review and refine. That is especially important with a client pipeline because - if...

A recent study by Express Employment Professionals of over 18,000 business owners showed that having a disorganized company can cost six working hours per week. WOW! That's almost an entire day just wasted. Having systems, processes, organized files, and templates can make a big difference...

Working as part of a build team can be amazing, or it can be a disaster! But a lot of what determines which way it goes is in OUR hands. We need to be just as responsible for making sure things move along smoothly as anyone else on the team. After all, it's about making the CLIENT happy. If...