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A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast

In today's world being a talented interior designer isn't enough to ensure that you have a profitable and successful interior design business. Design school doesn't always teach you the critical business skills to be sure your interior design business be everything you imagined it would be! A Well Designed Business is here to fill in the gaps and give you real live business skills from some of the top interior designers. Your host, LuAnn Nigara shares her 35 years of success in the interior design industry, and she finds the most successful guests to share their interior design business best practices.
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A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
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Now displaying: September, 2016
Sep 30, 2016

Thanks for coming back to power talk Friday! We love our talks with Krista Coupar. She has our heads spinning a little bit with all of the information she has given us so far. Today is she is going to share with us her story and her brand.

Show Notes:

  • What is brand building supposed to be about?
  • Remember the inspirations!
  • What should the essence of your brand be?
  • What is the reason figuring out what your brand is?

Resources:

www.couparconsultations.com

 

Please visit our resource center: Window Works

 

 

Sep 28, 2016

Window Works features Asler Valero, a  Venezuelan-American interior designer with projects in the Caribbean, South America, and Europe. Asler's work has been greatly influenced by Stephen Sills Associates and Uniford Design Studios with whom he had collaborated on residential and commercial projects around the world. Asler is also recognized as a color expert by paint companies around the country, several of which he serves as consultant to.

Show Notes

  • What are the design lessons Asler learned at Sills-Hunniford Dwellings
  • The most important design element for Asler 
  • The purposes behind his choice of design elements
  • The reasons behind his choice of color schemes
  • The reason why he is very organized and precise
  • His tips on learning
  • His tips on the value of styling a room for photography

The rest of the show notes are in our resource center: Window Works 

Sep 26, 2016

Have you heard of Chairish yet? If you haven’t yet I am so happy to introduce you to this brand and Anna Brockway: one of the founders of this brand! Listen in to Anna’s story of how she started her company only three and a half years ago and it already has 150000 items available on the site

Show Notes:

  • What is Chairish?
  • Why did she start the business?
  • What is the Chairish pink book?
  • Is it a business or a feature?
  • Research the market!
  • What kind of special features does the Chairish site have?

For the rest of the show notes, please visit our Resource Center-- Window Works

 

Sep 23, 2016

If you’re planning to set up a family business, this podcast will give you valuable insights to help make your business a phenomenal success.  LuAnn presents the one big factor that has contributed to the success of the family business, Window Works. It’s the vital role played by her husband Vince.  He’s the so-called “Systems Nazi” in the company and his role-- accounting, finance, and systems administration—keeps the business organized, efficient, and effective. The role of the family members is to provide a strong, effective teamwork.  Everyone’s commitment (including their extended family of employees) is strong.  The plans and goals keep the family together in pursuing their common goals.

 Vince is fully committed to the quality of customer service that Window Works delivers. He sets up the rules, everyone else’s role, as well as the interconnected systems for 1) monitoring the processes and results, and 2) motivating the team to aim for a higher level of progress and success.

Window Works, as a family business, is less bureaucratic, has a built-in trust factor with established relationships (customers, partners, dealers, suppliers, employees) and provides for the hands-on training and early exposure to the next generation. That, by itself, is part of the business plan.

Show notes

  • Business planning often guides the entire planning process and sets the agenda for the future operations of the business. Vince and Luann develop both the big mission and small mission plans.
  • They aim for an exceptional level of customer service - the most critical factor that differentiates their  business from the rest of the  heavy competition
  • Price point is not the only factor - identify the product and service you want to offer, its value
  • Determine your “awesomeness” that makes you stand out in the marketplace
  • Find out what the customer needs, wants, and is capable of paying for
  • Aspire to bring the very best among the many products and services you offer

Get the rest of the tips from our resource center: Window Works 

Sep 21, 2016

Today we have Katie Deedy with us! Katie is a textile designer which includes: wallpaper, tile, fabric and accessories. Her business, Grow House Grow,  specializes in narrative-inspired pattern work. We are going to talk about how her business got started, what sort of things she learned along the way and how she got her name out there.

Show Notes:

  • How did her business start?
  • What is her business?
  • How does history impact her work?
  • What advice would she give to someone starting out?
  • Don’t be ashamed of the side job!
  • How did she make herself known?
  • How can you access her product?
  • What other products has her work crossed over into?
  • How did her work end up in a museum?

For the rest of the show notes, please 

visit our resource center:  http://windowworks-nj.com

Sep 19, 2016

Welcome back to another episode of  A Well Designed Business! Today we have Shauna Lynn Simon who is a fantastic home stager! Shauna is going to share with us how she  steered her talents to home staging and why she decided on the  home staging niche rather than interior design.

Show Notes:

  • How did she get into home staging?
  • How did she reanalyze her situation when things did not take off the way she wanted?
  • How did she figure out who her target client should be?
  • Selling yourself vs selling a product
  • What is the “wow” factor?
  • What is in her client care packet?
  • What are the differences between interior design and home staging?
  • How do you tell someone their house is filthy?

You can get the rest of the show notes from our resource center: Window Works

 

Sep 16, 2016

Welcome back to another power talk Friday! Today we have with us, Marianne Cherico! Marianne spent 27 years as a top producing realtor. She was a part of a two-person team that sold 100 houses per year! On top of her already impressive work in real estate, she started home staging in 2005. But then on top of home staging her most recent thing she has started and achieved is coaching. Coaching by Marianne helps us get unstuck, understand our limiting beliefs, and how to grow our business.

Show Notes:

  • Should you be all strategies?
  • Who are you “being”?
  • Why is mindset so important?
  • It’s not woo woo!
  • You have to be intentional!
  • What would the CEO do?

Get the rest of Marianne's valuable info from our resource center: Window Works

Sep 14, 2016

You may have heard of a show called “Devine Design”, right? Well, today we have the star of Devine Design on the show! Candice Olson started out in commercial design and then worked her way into residential design and then into her tv shows. She is going to share her work experiences with us and her collaboration with Kravet Inc.!

Show Notes:

  • How did Candice become “Candice Olson”?
  • When did she decide the show had to come to an end?
  • Who is Chico?
  • How did you get on the show?
  • How does she decide to do another collection?
  • What is the labor of work when doing a collection?
  • Let’s talk window design collections!

Get the rest of the show notes from our resource center.  

Sep 12, 2016

Kim Kuhteubl graces our show today.  She is an   award-winning film producer, author, actor, and member of the Producer's Guild of America. Since 1999, she has been producing stories and shows   about interior design and real estate development in various media format  such as print, television, and on digital platforms. She is the founder of Me by Design, a firm that specializes in branding and visibility for interior designers and the design trade.  Me By Design is an idea  boutique for the home goods /homeware industry.  The business objectives include how to boost the brand value, visibility and audience engagement of boutique interior design firms and legacy design brands with a range of cross-platform, data-driven tools. Methods and techniques include digital storytelling, influencer, and social media marketing as well as bespoke video.

Kim also serves on the Board of Advisors for Thrive GPO, a group purchasing organization and procurement service providing nonprofit organizations with access to better pricing for common goods and services.

She has just recently published her book Branding + Interior Design.   Listen to the podcast to get the details of the following:

Show Notes

  • All the various related industries that Kim has participated in
  • Her grandfather was a major influence in her life and business
  • Find out the secret to her overwhelming success. It’s something intrinsic
  • At the start of her career, she was earning awards  but she had very little income
  • Her work values and attitude
  • How creativity can serve people. The work of creative professionals has value which needs to be purchased and paid for.

You can get the rest of the show notes and resources from our resource center:  http://windowworks-nj.com

Sep 9, 2016

We have a special treat today! We have Jim Palmer, “the dream business coach”! Jim is an author, marketing and business building expert and in-demand coach. He is going to be talking with us in particular about something that we all struggle with as business owners: How do we get more business?


Show Notes:


• How do you attract more clients?
• What sort of things can entrepreneurs do to attract business?
• What was his turning point?
• What can you do get over your fears?
• Don’t become an also!
• Newsletter versus an email
• What is the most important number to know?

 

See the rest of the show notes at our resource center: http://windowworks-nj.com

Sep 7, 2016

Just in time for school,  we have Ellen Fisher, the dean of New York School of Interior Design! We are going to talk about the creating of designers and piggy-back off of the discussions from the past couple of weeks on how to make the experience for either an in college intern or a new graduate.

Ellen Fisher has been with New York School of Interior Design since 1999, beginning her career at the College as a member of the faculty, and later becoming lower division area coordinator, associate vice president for academic affairs, and ultimately, vice president of academic affairs and dean in 2012. Fisher is a New York State certified interior designer, with graduate degrees in teaching with technology, and architectural studies.

 

Read the full show notes at our resource center: Website  http://windowworks-nj.com

 

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Sep 5, 2016

Nick May is with us today from The Chaise Lounge Podcast! Nick is the very first podcaster to devote the entire platform to the business of interior design. He is truly the trailblazer of our industry. He has been helping you with your business since 2014! Today we are going to learn more about the voice behind The Chaise Lounge.

Show Notes:

  • What is his business model?
  • When did he start painting?
  • When should you move more people in?
  • Where is the marketing magic done?
  • How did he get into podcasting?
  • What two ways does his business work with designers?
  • What kind of opportunities does his business offer?
  • What is IDI?
  • Go do Facebook live!

Get the rest from our resource center:  

http://windowworks-nj.com

Sep 2, 2016

It’s another power talk Friday! Today we have Stacey Brown Randall. She is a business growth acceleration specialist! Stacey’s mission is to help small businesses and solopreneours make more money and find more time. She is a certified productivity coach, an adjunct professor and she has her masters in organization communication. Today we are going to talk about the topic of taking control of your business.

Show Notes:

  • What three segments does Stacey’s business focus on?
  • How does this power talk piggyback last power talk Friday?
  • What is the four quad system?
  • How do you get true freedom from your business?
  • What is “identifying the bullseye”?
  • Write your processes down!!!
  • Find someone that can hold you accountable!

You can read the rest of the show notes at our resource center:  http://windowworks-nj.com

 

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