a note from my desk....
Over the past few weeks, we've been working our way through The Thoughtfully Designed Business Method™.
We started with the Foundation: the business you're actually trying to build.
Then we looked at the Experience: what it feels like for a client to work with you.
This week, we're going behind the scenes.
Design the Operations.
But first, I want to tell you a story.
The Business Was Organized...Because I Was
For a long time, I considered myself a pretty organized person.
I knew what needed to happen on my projects.
I knew which client I needed to follow up with.
I knew what had been ordered, what still needed approval, and what I needed to tackle next.
I had my lists. My emails. My folders.
And most of the time, I could keep everything moving.
But here's what I've come to realize:
The business wasn't necessarily organized. I was.
And there's a difference.
The business worked because I remembered.
Because I followed up.
Because I knew where to look.
Because I knew what came next.
And that works...until it doesn't.
As your business grows, there are more clients, more orders, more emails, more decisions and hundreds of tiny details competing for your attention.
Eventually, being the person who holds everything together becomes exhausting.
I've seen the same thing happen with so many designers I've worked with.
They're incredibly capable women.
And because they're capable, they've become very good at carrying a tremendous amount.
But being capable of carrying it doesn't mean you should have to.
That's really what this third pillar of The Thoughtfully Designed Business Method™ is about.
It's taking what you already know instinctively and building it into the business.
The processes. The workflows. The templates. The SOPs.
The technology. The automation.
Not because we're trying to turn our creative businesses into machines.
Quite the opposite.
This week, I shared a question that I've been thinking about a lot lately:
As our businesses become more efficient, are we accidentally optimizing the creativity out of our creative work?
I don't think the answer is to stop looking for efficiency.
I think it's to be much more intentional about where we create it.
Make the invoicing easier.
Make the project setup easier.
Make the repetitive emails easier.
Make the procurement tracking easier.
Let technology handle the things that don't require your unique creative eye.
So you have more time and mental space for the things that do.
Maybe the goal isn't to make everything faster.
Maybe it's to make the right things easier so we can slow down where it matters.
Let's dive in! 🌊
This Week Inside the Method
|
|
This Week's Blueprint
📐Standardize What Doesn’t Need to Be Custom
Your designs should be custom.
Your proposal process doesn't need to be.
Neither does your project setup, weekly client update, purchase order process or installation checklist.
Look at the work you repeat from project to project and ask:
Does this really need to be recreated every time?
Templates, checklists and repeatable workflows don't make your service less personal.
They create consistency behind the scenes so you have more capacity to personalize the things your clients actually experience.
📐Get What You Know Out of Your Head
You probably know exactly how to start a new project.
But does your business know?
If someone joined your team tomorrow, could they figure out what happens after a client approves a proposal?
Could they understand how you place an order?
Could they find the information they need without asking you?
You don't need a 40-page operations manual.
Start documenting the things you repeat.
A simple checklist can become an SOP.
An SOP can become a workflow.
And eventually, what used to depend entirely on you becomes part of how the business operates.
📐Automate After You Understand the Workflow
I love technology.
I use it every day.
But technology should support a thoughtfully designed process; not compensate for one that doesn't exist.
Before investing in technology understand:
What needs to happen?
In what order?
Who needs to be involved?
Where does the information need to go?
Then decide what technology can handle.
Automation should remove repetitive work.
It shouldn't remove the human moments that make working with you special.
|
|
|
This Week's Workshop
🛠️ The Reinvention Audit
Think about your last three projects.
Where did you find yourself recreating something you'd already done before?
Maybe you:
- Wrote essentially the same email again.
- Created another proposal from scratch.
- Rebuilt a project checklist.
- Searched through old projects looking for a document.
- Tried to remember how you handled something last time.
- Recreated a specification or custom product.
- Repeated the same instructions to a vendor or team member.
Write those things down.
Now choose one and ask:
What could I create once and use again?
Maybe it's a template.
A checklist.
An SOP.
An email.
A form.
A saved project structure.
You don't build an organized business in one weekend.
You build it one repeatable piece at a time.
🛠️ Map One Messy Workflow
Choose the part of your business that consistently feels harder than it should.
Procurement is a great example.
Start with:
Client approves product.
Then write down every single thing that needs to happen before you reach:
Product is installed in client's home.
Don't open your software yet.
Use paper.
What happens next?
Who does it?
What information is needed?
Where is that information stored?
What triggers the next step?
Where do things tend to stall?
Where are you relying on yourself to remember to follow up?
Once you can see the workflow, you'll have a much clearer idea of what actually needs to be improved.
Process first. Technology second.
|
|
|
CEO Reflection
☕There comes a point in almost every growing business when being capable of carrying everything becomes the very thing holding the business back.
So this week, I want you to sit with one question:
Where is my business still depending on me to hold everything together?
Is it remembering what happens next?
Following up with every vendor?
Knowing where every project stands?
Creating every document?
Answering every question?
Keeping all the information in your head?
And then ask yourself:
What could I design so I no longer have to carry that?
Stepping into the CEO role doesn't mean removing yourself from your business.
It means building a business that can support you, too.
|
A Little Something I've Been Working On...
As we've been working our way through The Thoughtfully Designed Business Method™, you may be starting to recognize where your own business needs some attention.
Maybe your systems are still living in your head.
Maybe you're working harder than you want to be.
Or maybe you're ready to grow, but you know the business behind the scenes isn't quite ready to support that growth.
That's exactly why I created:
The Thoughtfully Designed™ Business Workshop
The 5 Blueprints to Build an Organized, Profitable Business That Supports the Life You Actually Want
On Tuesday, September 8 at 11 AM ET, I'm bringing women interior designers together for a free live online workshop.
And because you're part of this community, I wanted you to be among the first to know that registration is now open.
This isn't another evening webinar after a long day.
Think of it as dedicated CEO time; a chance to step away from client work and intentionally design your business.
📐 Keep Building
Something I've been thinking about this week is how easy it is to confuse a full calendar with a successful business.
I've had seasons where I could carry a tremendous amount.
And I did.
But just because we're capable of doing something doesn't mean that's how we should design our businesses.
There are things I don't want my time or my brain responsible for anymore.
I'd much rather use that energy thinking creatively, spending time with the people I love, working with clients, or simply having some breathing room in my day.
And I think that's one of the privileges of being the CEO of your own business.
You get to decide what your business asks of you.
It won't change overnight.
But every process you document, every boundary you establish, every workflow you improve and every unnecessary task you remove is another small step toward a business that doesn't just work;
it works for you.
That's what we're building together.
I'm grateful you're here.
Until next Friday, 💛
Marsha
Helping interior designers build businesses as thoughtfully designed as the homes they create.
