Interior Design & COVID-19

What to do in your interior design business to manage the Coronavirus pandemic and make it to the other side. #interiordesignbusiness #CKTRADESECRETS #CREATivebusiness

Wow, things are changing fast and a single news headline can make the world feel like it’s ending. But we’ve been through tough times before - uncertain times - and with the first countries hit with the virus improving, I can’t help but feel we will be on the mend soon.

The irony is that this year was supposed to be the year that I was more public and had more travel planned. Conferences, presentations, my Grandfather’s 90th have all been canceled. The universe has different plans.

My focus has shifted to flattening this damn curve and getting us all through this.

I’ve compiled all my thoughts and suggestions on how to make it through to the other side intact. We’ll surely be changed, we already are and my hope is that it is for the better.

I’ve shared this quote from Ben Horowitz before, but it becomes even more poignant now because it feels that there aren’t any obviously good moves.

For example, I’ve decided to go ahead and open my program, The Golden Blueprint, for registration. Months of planning and I knew if I chose to cancel or postpone some would be disappointed and there will also probably be people who are offended that I’m trying to sell something during these times. I get it. I am a small business just like you and I decided if there were people who had the time and wanted to work on their business, I wanted to be there for them.

In the coming weeks, I will also be working on some free resources for everyone. More on that at the end of this post.

Be proactive.

There is a lot that is out of our direct control right now, but one of the best ways to feel more in control is to be proactive and control what you can. We can control our reaction to the pandemic and resulting disruption.

Send a letter to your clients. Let them know how you are handling this. Are you still working? What is the status of client projects? Are there delays? How will you work moving forward? Do you have new offerings for people in quarantine? You want them to see you have confidence in your business moving forward and so should they. (Check out this example letter.) When you’re silent that creates doubts. (For example, I have heard nothing from our gym - so we canceled today. Another provider sent an email but didn’t share details on how they were protecting their product from potential contamination and so we suspended delivery, but will continue paying to support the business owner.) This is a helpful article from Studio Designer.
Serve. Be helpful. Is there something you can do to help people for little to no cost? People will remember your service when things improve, plus helping others always makes the giver feel better too.

Watch your spending. You want to be wise with your money - use it on small businesses and others who may be struggling as the rest of the world also tightens up their spending. Designer IQ is hosting a forum on Tuesday March 24th regarding finances and possible relief opportunities for your business - you can sign up here.
Spend time working on your business. The world will bounce back and when that happens you want to be ready and waiting at the starting line to dazzle clients and hit the ground running. This is the perfect time to tackle all those business-y things that you’ve been putting off. You know - the ones you don’t normally have time for.
Make a deliberate decision to not work on your business - maybe your body and mind are telling you to slow down - or stop. And that is perfect too. Take a break. You deserve it.
Start adapting your business to more online - can you put together a package for an online designer for a day - can you do more video calls instead of in-person meetings. Use this as an opportunity to look at your business differently and create something new or refine your online offerings more.

Non-design related things to do when in quarantine (& support small businesses):

Work on your creative writing: Free Resource or Story a Day Challenge
Learn or work on knitting skills: Knit Collage (tip: check out the “Knitalong” for some virtual social interaction.)
Transform your health: FitFeelsGood
Train your dog: Play to Behave
Join the online community of 35+ women: Dear Grown-Ass Women
Take an herbalism online course: I love plants and their natural magic: Evolutionary Herbalism

What I am doing (in case you want to join me):

I shared at the beginning of the year that I had hundreds of books that I had yet to read. Now is the time.
Stepping back and examining what is working and not in business. I am continually looking to how I can increase efficiency and streamline operations and since things have slowed down - I have time to go deeper now into one of my favorite things - systems and organization!
Working on house projects. On my list: finish office, workshop plans, landscaping, compost, gardening, install screen door, paint doors, closet organization, clean the garage.
Looking at the positives. Less pollution! Cleaner air! Social unification and caring. Less frenzied work pace. And for an introvert, being required to stay home is almost a relief. Since people are stuck at home - they may notice improvements that can be made and want to feel more at home at home. I look for articles like this.
Not getting sucked into sensationalist news. The news outlets are trying to make money, they do that by keeping you watching. I give myself a few minutes in the morning (not at night) to catch up and then try to go on with life. It’s really easy for me to go down a worst-case scenario rabbit hole, which isn’t helpful for anyone. Trying to live my life as normally as possible.
My husband and I are only going out for necessities. We have more food than normal, I already had plenty of TP and I know that staying away from people is for our benefit and theirs. The odds are in my favor that I would survive COVID-19, but I couldn’t live giving it to someone else who couldn’t. We’re washing our hands, not touching our face, aren’t visiting the gym, quarantining packages for a couple days, but mostly just not coming into contact with others. We are privileged to have already worked from home in a small town, but by staying away we are allowing those that don’t have our privilege to have a better chance of not catching this virus.
Don’t tell my husband, but I also filled out an application to foster dogs for a nearby shelter - I’m a softie when it comes to animals - so he’s afraid a “foster” will become permanent - and with three dogs we’re at capacity. But I know this particular shelter (and likely yours) is overcrowded and I can’t not help. Most shelters have online foster applications.

Design-related things to do in quarantine:

Free Pricing Strategy Course
Choose one topic or area in your business and go deep into it. Maybe it’s your website, your client onboarding system, social media, accounting - anything! Your goal when this is over to feel totally caught up and knowledgeable about the topic.
Create a client welcome packet.
Create a virtual coaching session for interior design clients. People are home - a lot now - they’ll be wanting to make their space as comfortable as possible. How can you help?
Create Designer-for-a-Day Package. Get on a video conference and walk clients through upgrades and improvements they can do while at home - and stores they can shop at or purchase later.
Create an E-Design Package. Maybe you have a client that wants/needs more help than a day provides - pull together an e-design package.
Host a virtual meeting for design enthusiasts. I like Zoom (so this is my affiliate link.)
Watch (or re-watch) Peak Financial Week replays. I had these archived, but now is the time you need good financial advice.
Watch The System to Sign More Clients Webinar (recorded September 2019). This was also in my archives, but I dug it out because if you’d like to work on your onboarding system - this is the information you want.