Some news, hot off the press: I'm launching a brand new business course for interior designers. The course is not just new for me but, dare I say, ground-breaking for the industry.

It has three innovative and distinct points of difference from the competition: 

1

It's a new teaching model: part traditional live (online) classes and group interaction; part 1:1 coaching, working privately with participants to target their very specific business development goals.

2

Along with materials traditionally taught as part of good interior design business courses, the course also considers client and designer psychology, with the aim of increasing mutual respect and professionalism. 

3

The course is based on the hypothesis that the most successful interior designers share common traits and qualities predisposing them to success, and that by making a study of and aligning with these, you can tweak your business in multiple ways and significantly increase your chances of success.  

I have been asked for a more in-depth exploration of the content of the course, so here it is: 

BUSINESS BOOTCAMP BETA - RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Learn the Secrets of the Top 10 Percent

5 weeks | 5 hours p.w. | 5 modules | 5 coaching sessions | £950 

 In over 20 years teaching interior design, I’ve had the privilege of observing several thousand freshly minted graduates launch their professional careers. 

I’ve made a study of the skills and mindsets shared by the most successful of these designers - the top 10%. Each has their own unique style, they are different people, but without knowing it, they all apply the same recipe for success.

During the Bootcamp I will work with you personally to align your performance more closely with this recipe.

In private 1:1 sessions we will:

• Audit your current business and professional performance
• Agree the areas for improvement
• Plan and prioritise your strategies and tactics for improvement
• Set goals for the next level of your career
• Agree measurable targets and review dates

The five-week course is divided into five modules. Each module conveys critical ingredients of the recipe for success:

1. MANAGING TIME
   • Setting goals
   • Prioritising
   • Planning
   • To Do lists 
   • Other time-saving devices
   • Procrastination
   • Completion anxiety
   • Saying ‘No’
   • Parkinson’s Law

2. MANAGING CLIENTS
   • How to speak to clients
   • Gaining respect
   • Retaining control
   • Training clients
   • Setting boundaries
   • Managing expectations
   • Understanding client psychology
   • When to speak, when to write, how to write 

3. MANAGING YOURSELF
   • Being a Designer…with a capital D
   • Many mindsets, including money
   • Armour and weapons - battle-training and self-defence for crisis situations
   • Defending your boundaries
   • Impostor syndrome
   • Confidence mindset and acting ‘as if’,
   • Presumptive or assumptive behaviour
   • Self-promotion, selling, and networking

4. THE DESIGN PROCESS AND CHARGING
   • The phases and stages of the design process
   • Skills you need, skills you can sub-contract
   • How to charge
   • How to communicate those charges

5. PROJECT AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
   • Project planning
   • Professional documentation
   • Working with other professionals
   • On time, on budget
   • Office organisation

Equipped with this recipe we’ll analyse how your business performs at each stage of the lifecycle of a project:

• Client attraction
• Client conversion
• Design delivery
• Referrals
• Financial returns

What The Bootcamp Needs From You

• Minimum five hours per week during the course timeframe (three hours of lessons, one hour of homework, one hour 1:1)
• Positivity
• Energy and determination
• Open-mindedness and willingness to try new approaches
• Complete and submit the pre-course “getting to know you” form

The 1:1 sessions will be bespoke, and appropriate for your current level of experience. The course materials are best suited to designers with more than two years' work experience.

DATES: The course will run for five weeks from Monday 15th April. Teaching sessions will be delivered at 10am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 90 minutes each.  1:1 sessions will be booked weekly at mutually agreeable times, on a first-come-first-served basis.