Most interior designers who own - or plan to own - their own firms are at a disadvantage because they lack formal business training. This book provides them with essential information on accounting, financial analysis, revenue operation, contracts, personnel issues and more.

Get organized and streamline your workflow with this A-Z accountability system. Design is only part of an interior designer’s job—you’re also responsible for scheduling client meetings, conducting design surveys, creating drawings and specs, and overseeing installation. Multiply by the number of projects on your plate, and you have a recipe for overwhelming disorganization. The Interior Design Productivity Toolbox helps you juggle multiple projects with ease, with a comprehensive self-management system tailored to the needs of interior designers and decorators. Features include: Detailed checklists that highlight weak spots and warn against common pitfalls Covers residential design, contract design, specifications, and renovations Best practices for meetings, design surveys, drawings, specifications, and renovations Customizable online checklists for tracking every phase of your project Exclusive online budgeting tool for tracking product costs and associated expenses to share with your team and your clients If you need to get organized and get back to work, you need The Interior Design Productivity Toolbox.

Overcome the challenges of interior design project management, and avoid project failures caused by unclear planning and objectives.

Clients are the lifeblood of any interior design firm and a sound understanding of how to manage those clients is essential. Interior Design Clients is an informative yet fun read for entrepreneurial designers interested in gaining a better understanding of how to build and manage their clientele. Tom Williams, designer, author, and blogger, deconstructs the pitfalls and challenges that can waylay even seasoned designers. As many professional designers learn, clients can be intimidated by interior designers and sometimes can even be fearful of the process. This unreasonable intimidation can often hinder the designer-client relationship and can even stop clients from asking for what they want. This leads to clients being unsatisfied and then walking away with a negative impression of their designer. Learning why clients fear their interior designer and developing strategies to allay those fears is essential for gaining and keeping a satisfied clientele. Everything from good client, project, and time management to interview techniques and staff and paperwork organization can all lead to making client interaction as rewarding as possible and are important aspects of the business rarely addressed by the interior design community as a whole. Interior Design Clients covers the subjects rarely taught in design schools such as specific presentation and interview skills and how to sell to market. Through frank discussion and practical examples, Williams weaves the art of selling into his lessons on interviewing, presenting, and pleasing the client as a natural part of the design process. Becoming a residential or commercial interior designer is not an easy undertaking, but Thomas Williams’ Interior Design Clients: The Designer’s Guide to Building and Keeping a Great Clientele provides the fundamental lessons and innovative solutions to help designers succeed in the ultra-competitive world of modern interior design. Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Interior Design magazine has assembled some of the most notable voices in the interior design world today under editor-in-chief Cindy Coleman to define contemporary interior design and its practice. Interior Design Practice provides aspiring and practicing professionals a perspective that is as broad as it is deep, encompassing design theory and education, global professional practice, and the experiences of design firms large and small. An overview is provided of the development and growth of the profession, along with an in-depth assessment of the legal and regulatory environment. An extensive section is offered on the work process, ranging from pre-design, programming, and design development to contract administration. Finally, a section on management provides a thorough exploration of issues in marketing, financial management, project management, and managing client relationships. Both comprehensive and timely,Interior Design Practice describes the changes currently occurring in the design profession and industry and suggests new, unique ways of thinking and working that will serve as a catalyst for designers who seek excellence in their profession. List of Contributors, their company, and their location: — Edward Friedrichs, (former President, Gensler) San Francisco — Derrel Parker, Parker Scaggiari,Las Vegas — Cindy Coleman, Chicago — Beth Harmon Vaughan, Gensler, Phoenix — Barry LePatner, LePatner & Associates, LLP, New York — Eva Maddox, Perkins + Will, Chicago — Sharon Turner, Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, London — Pamela Anderson Brule, Pamela Anderson Brule Architects, San Jose — Orlando Diaz-Azcuy, San Francisco — Stuart Cohen, Cohen/Hacker Architects, Chicago — David Boeman, Powell + Kleinshmidt, Chicago — Greg Switzer, Robert Sutter, Switzer Architects, New York — Lisabeth Quebe, (Former VP, Perkins + Will) Soldiers Grove, WI — Gary Wheeler, Wheeler Kanik, Richmond, UK — Kathy Rogers, Jacobs Facilities, Arlington, VA Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Providing a synthesis of practical blueprint and theoretical field guide to managing design, this comprehensive reference shows how the various disciplines of design - product, packaging, graphic and environmental - create value and contribute to company performance.