Designer's Oasis Kate Bendewald

 
Interior Designer's Business Blueprint
 
In today's episode, Christina Canales joins me to discuss the importance of building a successful interior design business through fostering relationships with vendors and clients, and collaborating with other designers. We dive into the value of communication, mutual support, and taking back control of the sales process to navigate challenges. We share strategies for managing anxiety and impostor syndrome, including perspective-taking, reframing negative thoughts, and recognizing that these feelings are common and fixable.
 
Here’s a glance at this episode…
Christina shares the unconventional paths that led she and her husband Jose on a unique journey into the design industry, intertwining personal and professional endeavors. We discuss navigating diverse projects ranging from residential to commercial, each with unique challenges and rewards. We dive into juggling parenthood, homeschooling, and the demands of building a business and career. Christina shares how she worked to define her weaknesses and focus on growing or hiring to fill those needs. We discuss building a team and how to leverage your team member's strengths. We share our struggles with anxiety which resonate with many creatives who grapple with feelings of impostor syndrome and overwhelm.  
Mentioned in this episode: 
JOIN: Interior Designer’s Business Blueprint FREE DOWNLOAD: 7 Habits of Highly Profitable Interior Designers FREE Masterclass: 6 Part Framework for A Thriving Interior Design Business Dear Kate: Submit your questions for the show! Canales and Co Follow Christina on Instagram  
🎯 Learn More: Interior Designer’s Business Blueprint - https://www.designersoasis.com/blueprint
 
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EPISODE WEBSITE ⇗- designersoasis.com/episode/managing-anxiety-and-growing-your-interior-design-business-with-christina-canales
 
 

Interior Designer's Business Blueprint
 
Have you ever had a client who is questioning your most recent invoice, they want to do something outside of your contract terms, or they misunderstood information? So what can you do to salvage the relationships?
 
In today's episode, I tackle a listener question on how to handle challenging client situations. I'm sharing 8 strategies that can help you in ANY sticky situation and hopefully bring a resolution without sacrificing your dignity or your income.
 
If you haven't yet faced a challenging client situation, you simply haven't been in business long enough. Certainly, these situations are minimized with the more experience you have because you know what to look for, and how to circumvent issues that arise, and you have more confidence to take the wheel on projects.
 
Here’s a glance at this episode…
I share how and why to buy yourself some time before responding in a stressful situation. I discuss how to focus on the facts and out the story and emotion. I share how to activate your empathy in situations with clients who may not fully understand the design process. I discuss the need to normalize problems such as an item arriving damaged or delayed as a normal part of the process. I share how I make sure to put my clients best interest in center stage when addressing a concern. I share the importance of accountability and flexibility  
Running into challenges is an inevitable part of running an interior design business. It can be hard not to take things personally or feel like your character/integrity is being challenged but you have to separate yourself from the claim vs your intention.
 
After utilizing these strategies, you may occasionally realize a project/client doesn't have room to move forward and that's also okay. If you employ these strategies you can feel good that you did the best you could to come up with a viable solution. If they are inflexible, it's better to establish it now and cut ties instead of trying to force something that will never get easier.
 
 
Mentioned in this episode: 
JOIN: Interior Designer’s Business Blueprint FREE DOWNLOAD: 7 Habits of Highly Profitable Interior Designers FREE Masterclass: 6 Part Framework for A Thriving Interior Design Business Dear Kate: Submit your questions for the show! How to get out of the Perfectionist Trap Managing Client Expectations during Renovations 5 Business Lessons I Learned the Hard Way 7 Red Flags You Shouldn't Ignore You Have Time with Jenny Footle  
🎯 Learn More: Interior Designer’s Business Blueprint - https://www.designersoasis.com/blueprint
 
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🛒  Template Shop - 10% off the shop PODCAST10 (Limit one use per customer)
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EPISODE WEBSITE ⇗- designersoasis.com/episode/8-problem-solving-strategies-for-interior-designers

Interior Designer's Business Blueprint
 
The messes never clean themselves up but somebody who knows what they're doing has to get in there to help kind of right this ship.
 
In today's episode, Morgan Boudreaux, from Business by the Book, a full-service accounting firm that works directly with interior designers across the country joins me. Business by the Books started as a family-run business founded by Morgan's mother, Sherry Wilson. Today they have a team of bookkeepers who are passionate about taking care of financial tasks so that their clients can do the things that they love, design, create and build successful businesses, and spend time with their families. They have been my personal and trusted bookkeepers for four years and I can share firsthand the difference when working with their team who truly understands finances around interior design businesses.
 
Here’s a glance at this episode…
We discuss the difference between profit and loss statements and income statements. Morgan shares the distinctions between using cash vs accrual accounting. We dive into when to hire a bookkeeper and how to look at this as a necessary (and extremely beneficial) expense for your interior design business. Morgan shares the top 3 bookkeeping mistakes that interior designers make (and how to change them!) Mentioned in this episode: 
JOIN: Interior Designer’s Business Blueprint FREE DOWNLOAD: 7 Habits of Highly Profitable Interior Designers FREE Masterclass: 6 Part Framework for A Thriving Interior Design Business Dear Kate: Submit your questions for the show! Business by the Book PODCAST: Simplify your Bookkeping with Morgan Boudreaux 🎯 Learn More: Interior Designer’s Business Blueprint - https://www.designersoasis.com/blueprint
 
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🛒  Template Shop - 10% off the shop PODCAST10 (Limit one use per customer)
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EPISODE WEBSITE ⇗- designersoasis.com/episode/3-bookkeeping-mistakes-interior-designers-make-with-morgan-boudreaux  

Interior Designer's Business Blueprint
 
In today's episode, we have a returning guest, and my friend Jenny Karlsson - a certified money coach helping creative entrepreneurs develop practical financial resilience and stability strategies. She's also the creator of the Money Compass Deck, a tangible tool to help you cultivate your connection with money. Jenny offers a safe, shame-free environment to help creatives develop a healthy relationship with money so that they can experience greater ease and freedom.
 
Today, we are exploring the idea of financial resilience - what it is and how we can employ certain strategies daily to help us strengthen our relationship with money while handling the ebbs and flows of being an entrepreneur.
 
Here’s a glance at this episode…
We discuss the need for and difference between financial resilience and financial stability. We share advice on weathering unforeseen events without having a significant financial strain, but rather feeling prepared for these disruptions. We dive into how to build up resources and support systems within your business to allow you to adapt quickly. We share our thoughts on navigating the complexities of balancing work, family, and unforeseen challenges. We discuss how we each prioritize self-care, asking for help, and building community. We talk about the natural cycles of business that can lead to overwhelm, worry, or every overextending yourself. We look at how the financial health of your business impacts adding them members and outsourcing tasks. We share the fear around money and financial stability and how to put the right systems and support in place.  
Mentioned in this episode: 
JOIN: Interior Designer’s Business Blueprint FREE DOWNLOAD: 7 Habits of Highly Profitable Interior Designers FREE Masterclass: 6 Part Framework for A Thriving Interior Design Business Dear Kate: Submit your questions for the show! PODCAST: How to Prep your Business Finances for the Ebbs and Flows with Jenny Karlsson PODCAST: How to Transform your Relationship with Money Featuring Jenny Karlsson Financials for Creatives Follow Jenny on IG!    
🎯 Learn More: Interior Designer’s Business Blueprint - https://www.designersoasis.com/blueprint
 
WANT MORE? 
🛒  Template Shop - 10% off the shop PODCAST10 (Limit one use per customer)
🔖 Interior Design Business Articles  
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EPISODE WEBSITE ⇗- designersoasis.com/episode/how-to-handle-financial-ebbs-and-flows-in-your-interior-design-business

Interior Designer's Business Blueprint 
In today’s episode I want to share the 7 money tips that I live by as an interior designer! Maybe finances come easy for you or maybe you’re more like me where it needs to be built into your schedule and you need a clear list of what needs to be done, what needs attention, and what to focus on.
Here’s a glance at this episode…
I discuss making a ritual out of looking at your finances each week to create a habit and create a ritual of grabbing you favorite coffee or treat. I share how to start paying yourself first via auto-pay to create the habit that ensures you get paid and taken care of even from the start of your business. I dive into how to keep your money siloed and how I use this in my business to make sure my client money and my business money and profit stay separate. I discuss my method for how I use a recurring focused task on my calendar with a checklist to ensure that I can focus on what needs to be done without taking time as invoices, etc come in to stop and take care of those. I have questions for my bookkeeper throughout the month (as I’m sure we all do!) so I share how I manage these questions so that I can stay on top of what’s needed. I am a big advocate of auditing your projects to really get a feel for income and time spent on each project and share my methods. I share my simple method of using email tags to set up a system for knowing what needs to be paid or needs attention on the day you are doing your money work!  
Resources mentioned in this episode: 
JOIN: Interior Designer’s Business Blueprint
FREE DOWNLOAD: 7 Habits of Highly Profitable Interior Designers
FREE Masterclass: 6 Part Framework for A Thriving Interior Design Business
Dear Kate: Submit your questions for the show!
PODCAST: 3 Ways to Price Your Projects
PODCAST;3 Reasons Interior Designers Stay Stuck and Broke
Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones 
Harvest $10 off of your first month
 
🎯 Learn More: Interior Designer’s Business Blueprint - https://www.designersoasis.com/blueprint
 
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🛒  Template Shop - 10% off the shop PODCAST10 (Limit one use per customer)
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EPISODE WEBSITE ⇗- designersoasis.com/episode/43

Interior Designer's Business Blueprint
 
On today's episode, Carla Titus, the founder and CEO of Wealth & Worth Within shares about finances, scaling, profitability, and her mission to empower business owners to take control of their finances to grow profits, have cash in the bank, and pay themselves, so they can build personal wealth. Carla loves working with interior designers to help them achieve financial clarity and peace of mind so you can get back to the work you enjoy doing. Working as a fractional CFO, Carla can consult with interior designers looking to grow their business profitability and scaling their businesses sustainably. In this episode, we discuss how to use hiring, outsourcing, contractors and more to build additional revenue streams and scale your business in a manageable way.
 
Here’s a glance at this episode…
We discuss how a fractional CFO helps support your business. We discuss the process of financial decision making. We share the challenges in expanding your interior design business including hiring and integrating new team members into your business. We share how and when to outsource projects and tasks. We jump into how to utilize contractors as a method of business expansion. We share the struggle with trusting ourselves to make financial decisions. We discuss how to balance growth and financial health within your interior design business. Carla shows how to balance revenue and profitability and to focus on financial health over vanity metrics.  
There is transformative potential in taking action towards understanding and managing your business finances. While this require discipline, prudence, and commitment it will help you to cultivate a mindset of financial abundance and resilience. This lays the groundwork for sustained success in your interior design business.
 
 
Mentioned in this episode:
JOIN: Interior Designer’s Business Blueprint FREE DOWNLOAD: 7 Habits of Highly Profitable Interior Designers FREE Masterclass: 6 Park Framework for A Thriving Interior Design Business Dear Kate: Submit your questions for the show! How Hiring Can Help your Bottom Line Revenue Generating Activities for Interior Designers Mental Health and Taxes with Christy Taylor Money Routines for Interior Designers Simplify your Bookkeeping with Morgan Boudreaux Wealth & Worth Within Website Follow Carla on IG!  
🎯 Learn More: Interior Designer’s Business Blueprint - https://www.designersoasis.com/blueprint
 
WANT MORE? 
🛒  Template Shop - 10% off the shop PODCAST10 (Limit one use per customer)
🔖 Interior Design Business Articles  
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EPISODE WEBSITE ⇗-designersoasis.com/episode/financial-strategies-for-interior-designers-with-carla-titus