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Hothouse #88 - Business In A Box, and Life In A Box

Sep 20, 2026
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It is another short issue this week, and next week too. 

In the next fortnight I will be focusing on client work. Business in a Box opens tomorrow, with our first live session on Tuesday. The Interior Design Practice System launches a week on Monday. I am running a CPD for the BIID on Thursday, and the diary is full of client and accountability sessions. 

Alongside all of that, moving house was quite tiring. 

So the blog and the full newsletter are resting until Q4. The blog will return on Saturday 3 October and the full newsletter on Sunday 4 October.

Until then, to keep my my own accountability commitments, I'm simply sharing dates and the numbers.

I am very excited about what Q4 holds, and I will be back with a full head of steam in a couple of weeks' time. 


1. Dates for the Diary

πŸ“† Monday 21 September. Business in a Box opens. Twelve weeks of live group work, taking a new or pivoting business to a coherent offering with a plan you have written yourself. First live session 10am, Tuesday 22 September.

Here is your final call to join the group.

πŸ“† Wednesday 23 September, 11am. Branding and Marketing Webinar

Peter Burch, co-founder of March Branding, has spent over a decade branding AD100 and House & Garden Top 100 studios, and has scaled more than twenty-five interior design practices. He joins us in Hothouse this coming Wednesday to give advice on brand alignment, diversifying revenue beyond billable hours, and what to action today.

πŸ“† Thursday 24 September, 10.30am. Business Planning & Strategic Clarity for Interior Designers. BIID CPD.

I'll be presenting to BIID members, discussing business planning as a foundational operating skill for residential interior designers. We'll examine how a lack of strategic clarity leads to many of the challenges designers experience: inconsistent income, reactive decision-making, misaligned clients, and difficulty prioritising effort.

πŸ“† Monday 28 September. The Interior Design Practice System launches. Find out more here. This ambitious programme covers the behind-the-scenes and front-of-house operations of a residential interior design practice, from discovery to post-project. Complete with nine client-facing packs designed to convey the client elegantly across all the stages of the design process. 

πŸ“† Saturday 3 October. The blog returns.

πŸ“† Sunday 4 October. The full newsletter returns.

πŸ“† Monday 12 October. I'll be presenting at Decorex, as part of the "Design Circles" roundtable event hosted by Business & Interiors. 


2. My Week in Hothouse

Just the numbers this week. I look forward to having a bit more time for marketing in the next few weeks, and turning the data green again. 

The Big Push will be back for Q4, more news to come. My personal push will be on social media. 

Never mind Business in a Box, most of my life is in a box at the moment. Here's the view from my desk. 


Final Word

I can't wait to get back to writing - I miss it. However, I am pleased that, come December, I'll be able to tell you truthfully that my newsletter was published every week this year. 

Have a super week,

Julia

Founder, Hothouse

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