Business in a Box - Live Cohort 2026

21 September - 11 December · Live online · Tuesdays, 10-11.30am UK · Cohort capped at twelve

Early bird: £890 until 31 July. Full price: £985. Three of twelve places taken.

Design school taught you the design process. Nobody taught you the business.

Briefing, concept, spatial planning, materials, presentation - you have the craft. But the design process is one half of this profession. The other half is the business wrapped around it: pricing and fees, proposals, clients, systems, marketing, and the founder’s nerve to hold it all steadily. There is no diploma for that half - and it is precisely where talented designers stall.

If you are contemplating a launch, or newly serious about a practice that has so far run on instinct and goodwill, you will recognise the symptoms: overwhelm; paralysing perfectionism; saying yes to almost everything; pricing low "for the experience"; confidence with a client until the conversation turns to fees.

You don’t lack talent. There is simply a whole other course you haven’t taken. This is it.

Twelve weeks, two tracks, taught live by me

I ran a design business for twenty-five years and taught the business of design at a leading design school. Business in a Box is both halves of that experience, compressed into one structured season, in a cohort small enough (maximum twelve) that your specific business gets attention.

• Track One - build the business. Your structure, brand proposition and client journey; your pricing and fees model; proposals and onboarding; your marketing plan and email list; your confidence, authority and founder presence. Workshopped live, with peer feedback, in sequence - so by Christmas it is not just written down, but running.
• Track Two - run it properly. A complete walk-through of the systems and processes an established practice needs to thrive, with the exact method and every resource to put them in place.

Included at no extra cost: White Label Studio (£500 sold separately)

Instead of building your operational infrastructure from nothing, you are handed a working version - and shown how to make it yours. White Label Studio is my complete, rebrandable operational system: nine professionally designed client-facing document packs (How We Work, Fee Proposal, Onboarding, Concept Presentation, Indicative Budget, Developed Design, Materials & Finishes, Full Project Investment, Handover), plus the back-office instruments behind them - fee calculators, Gantt charts, procurement systems for agent and principal models, estimates, invoices, purchase orders. In InDesign, Canva and PowerPoint (client-facing), and Word and Excel (behind the scenes). It sells separately at £500; members of this cohort receive it as part of course materials.

The weekly rhythm

We meet live every Tuesday, 10-11.30am UK time. Every session is recorded for replay. Every week includes an action plan - practical tasks, implementation and support, so your business is built step by step rather than theorised. Between sessions: Q&A, troubleshooting, and a small peer group that keeps you buoyed - because design practice can be isolating, and building one alone is harder still.

By the end, if you do the work, you will have

• A functioning business - live, and visible
• A confident pricing and fees model
• A clear offer, client journey and onboarding process
• A plan for your website, brand message and professional presence
• A made-for-you marketing plan you can sustain
• A complete, working studio foundation - and the sense of direction and authority that comes with it

"Over the course of 12 intense weeks, Julia walked us through each and every step of building an interior design business from scratch in a uniquely supportive, collaborative and empowering atmosphere. With Julia, no question is too small, the most complex themes are tackled in a way that any new entrepreneur can easily integrate them in their business, and the equally important soft side of business building such as governing values, mindsets around money and founder presence are addressed in concrete ways.

Thanks to Business in a Box, I have been able to found a business that is aligned with my values and personal aspirations, that is unique in its positioning and that is supported by the systems critical to the kind of management that is designed for growth and not just growing pains."

STEPHANIE

"I knew I loved interior design and wanted to do it professionally - but I didn’t know what to do first, how to structure the business, or what a plan even looked like. I was genuinely starting from zero.

Business in a Box felt supportive and steady. I never felt judged for what I didn’t know - I felt guided. Each session gave me more clarity and momentum, and I left feeling calmer and more capable.

After working together, I had a framework and real structure: clearer priorities, clearer messaging, and a sense of how to build the business properly. I felt more confident in myself as a designer and as a business owner - and I started taking action instead of spinning.

If you’re at the beginning (or stuck in overwhelm), Julia is the person who gives you the map. She’ll help you find the next right steps, build solid foundations, and feel confident moving forward - without turning your business into something that doesn’t feel like you."

SUZI

The offer

£890 until Friday 31 July. £985 from 1 August. One price, everything included - the twelve weeks, the live, online sessions, the recordings, the templates and documentation, and White Label Studio.

The cohort is capped at twelve; 3 places are taken. 

Payment in three instalments of £299 can be arranged - contact me for more information. 

Questions, answered

What if I can’t make a Tuesday? Every session is recorded for replay. The live room is where the momentum is, but one missed Tuesday will not derail you.

I’m not sure I’m ready. Readiness is the outcome, not the entry requirement. If you were ready, you would not need the course.

I qualified a while ago and have been muddling through - is it still for me? Yes. The programme suits designers launching now and those whose first year or two has run on instinct and needs foundations put beneath it.

When do I receive White Label Studio? At its launch in September, as part of your course materials - timed to the weeks where you will put it to work.

Is this an interior design course? No. It assumes you can do the design work. This is the other half: the business.

What is the time commitment? Ninety minutes live on Tuesdays, plus focused weekly actions. It is designed for people building around jobs, families and first clients.

 And if you are weighing it up, drop me a line - I would welcome the conversation.