It’s a common dilemma encountered by many interior design firms—feast or famine. When business is good, they are so busy with the projects they have, they are not thinking about where the next projects are going to come from later. Consequently, their revenues fluctuate wildly, up and down, creating cash flow headaches. With proper business planning, though, you can get off the rollercoaster and keep projects flowing through the pipeline all year round.

In this podcast, Gail and Erin talk with JoeMcGuire, founder and principal interior designer, and Matthew Tenzin, principal interior designer, of JoeMcGuire Design, with offices in Boulder and Aspen and showrooms in Denver, Colorado. In addition to being featured in some of Colorado’s top publications, the firm received the Best Residential Design Award from the International Interior Design Association, Rocky Mountain Chapter.

Several years after starting their firm, Joe and Matthew found themselves struggling with managing projects and cash flow. They realized they really had very little knowledge of how to run a business. They signed up for one of Gail’s VIP sessions, which proved to be an eye-opener. Since then, they have turned things around, added staff, and have increased both their revenues and their profit.

Gail asked them what challenges they were facing that led them to her. Joe said it was what he calls the rollercoaster syndrome. They either had too much business or no business at all. It created all sorts of problems, and they didn’t know how to get control of it.

During their session with Gail, she impressed upon them the importance of having a marketing plan and of marketing consistently in order to create a steady flow of projects in the pipeline. She also showed them what they needed to know about the financial side of their business, such as profit and loss statements and the importance of regularly reviewing their cash flow situation.

Joe said one of the most important things they learned was how to get their financial processes, procedures and accounts organized so they could see how their business was doing. Tracking their progress gave them the confidence that they were moving in the right direction.

In the course of their conversation, Joe and Matthew talked about how they started their firm, where they hope to be in 10 years, and their most important project, True Home Design. True Home Design is centered on a holistic approach to design services to help people be more in harmony with nature and to use their homes as a means of evolving into their true, best selves. For more on these topics and their three pieces of advice for designers, listen to the entire podcast.

If you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full shownotes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s6e9-shownotes

Mentioned in This Podcast

To learn more about Joe and Matthew, their firm, and to view their blog and portfolio, go to their website at JoeMcGuire Design.

For more information about their holistic approach to design, visit the True Home website at truehomedesign.com.