With an average growth rate of 3.4% per year between 2017 and 2022 the Interior Design industry doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Although the field was met with many challenges over the last few years, including finding new ways to work remotely and getting creative to deal with the never ending project and supply delays, it industry has managed to see consistent growth over the years. Although there is a steady stream of growth with individuals entering the design field, firms in Canada are what is considered a “mini-practice” meaning there are between 2-4 employees.
There are a many reasons that smaller firms carry the majority. Working with a small team often means better, more efficient lines of communication. Less people equals less confusion and miscommunication, in turn conflict resolution is typically limited and more easily resolved before it gets out of hand. Amongst communication, equal opportunity, efficient management, and higher engagement are all benefits of having a smaller staff.
Continue reading below for our 3 featured ‘Coaching’ series articles of 2022 and learn more about technology and running an interior design business.
Staffing the new way: what app to get instead of a person to do what you need?
A design practice is multi-faceted, unlike others. It’s at the cusp of four very different sets of skills that need to be mastered equally: highly trained professional knowledge, a tremendous amount of soft skills, especially people-pleasing skills, the capacity to communicate verbally and visually and last by definitely not least, be a masterful time-manager with superpowers to hold the rains on billable time. Aside from all this, there are so many tasks that one needs to cover that have nothing to do with design: accounting, marketing, advertising, daily operations, PR, and these are only a few.
So over the years and with the advent of so many apps, I took a different approach. Why invest so much time and money in people to only see them leave and apply the skills in the next job? Instead, I focused on building the professional happiness of a smaller team that I built and looked to technology to supply the rest.
Do you own your interior design practice? Where do you focus your attention and what do you prioritize? part 1
Being your own boss in interior design is not as easy as you think. If you work by yourself and generate enough income to support your basic self, live the life you want, save for a rainy day and, yes, save for that retirement that willy-nilly will come, then you’re good.
Do you own your interior design practice? Where do you focus your attention and what do you prioritize? part 2
If you have the will to succeed, by far the most important skills to build are those related to how to recognize, attract and leverage talent for your firm.
This is the only skill that will free up the time required for you to focus on the growth of the business, which is the absolute, and most important of all the things you as the owner need to do. The earlier in the carrier you focus on that, the easier your path ahead.
📷 Image Credits
all images via Unsplash
📌 Coming up next month, in the next Retrospective series
‘TRENDS: 2022 Design Retrospective’
stay tuned for the article coming December 10th 2022
🔔 Related
Did you read the latest article?
Retrospective Best Of ‘Get the Vibe’