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“Outside the box…?” There IS no box!
Submitted by Guest on Thu, 10/09/2008 - 10:14am.
Guest Blogger Stephen James Smith ASID, FRSA
Co-owner and Managing Director of Deborah James Coastal Kitchens, LLC
I’m almost afraid to start with, “in the current economic climate…”
However, in the current economic climate all businesses are faced with an enormous challenge: “How to remain profitable so that we can make it through. Unless we retain our profitability, we ain’t gonna be able to pay the bills; we ain’t gonna be in business!”
Therefore we increase our marketing efforts (don’t we?), we try to cut costs, and we try to increase profitability on every job and assignment we are involved with.
“But the business just isn’t there!” I hear you cry. Yes it is. We just have to find it. Yes, it is like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack, but it is there, especially at the higher end of the market. And if you don’t go for it, someone else surely will.
Of course, the business is not there in the volume you may be used to. So how do you make less business more profitable?
Some may say: “Think outside the box”. Let me tell you something: there IS no box! Who says you are forced to do business the way it has always been done? Who says it has to be conducted in the ‘old’ way? Come on… we are almost into the second decade of the 21st century. Do we still have to do things the same way we did in the 80s? (Not that there was anything wrong with the 80s, except for some pretty dodgy hairstyles).
A reminder folks – this IS the 21st Century. Recession aside for a moment – this is that bright high-tech future they told us about way back when we had more hair and less bulk. This IS “tomorrow’s world”.
We have computer systems that fit into our pocket; we have email on-the-go; we have internet and website promotion. We are able to conduct worldwide business while still in our PJs for goodness sake!
So let’s not even THINK about “thinking outside the box”: let’s throw away the box.
What has this got to do with interior design? What has this got to do with the way you provide new cabinetry for that client’s kitchen project, or master bathroom, or library? Answer: EVERYTHING. There IS a way for you to provide your clients with all the service they need, all the quality they demand; while at the same time enabling you, as an interior designer, to be more profitable than you may ever have been. Simply by discarding the “old way” and looking at new perspective - a 21st Century perspective.
When it came to providing cabinetry for a client, the traditional way has been for the interior design professional to go through a cabinetry dealer, probably charge only a fee, maybe a small markup if you are feeling really brave.
Why would it not be possible for YOU to make the margin rather than the dealer? Wouldn’t it be nice if you were able to do what you do best – that is, working for and with your client and making their dreams come true while your supplier does all the grunt, but gives you a more-than-reasonable margin?
Well, now it IS possible. “Thank goodness,” you say when you realize that no longer do you have to spend hours on detailed specifications and order processing.
“Thank goodness”, you say, when you realize you can spend time with your client instead of with the manufacturer.
And “Wow!” you exclaim when you realize that you can not only charge somewhere closer to your hourly rate but you can also make a margin three or four times what you have been used to!
That is exactly the business model which Debi Oertle and I devised a few years back, and have since been refining, when we ourselves realized that there must be a better way. That surely the interior design professional should be earning more for what they do. That surely the control should be in the hands of the interior designer – and so should the profit!
So, we threw away the box! We threw away the showroom (incidentally, Debi’s showroom which she owned and operated in the Chicago Merchandise Mart swallowed up ENORMOUS overheads). We utilized the internet to its fullest advantage, and we developed a model which gives control and the profitability BACK TO YOU, the interior designer.
Stephen James Smith and Deborah Oertle are co-owners of Deborah James Coastal Kitchens, an ASID Industry Partner and a nationwide design, order processing and manufacturing services company specifically for Interior Design Professionals.
