Ask Yourself: Are You ONLY Offering What You Love To Do?

About once a year, I like to do a little reflecting on how things are going at Mix & Match Design Company - what’s working, what’s not, what I’m enjoying, and what I dread doing. It’s a great practice and I’ve found over the years that the answer to one particular question is a great indicator of what I should focus on moving forward. That question is…

...am I ONLY doing what I love to do?

Are there things I need to take away, refine, or revamp in my business?

I was talking about this very thing recently with one of my course students who was finding herself frustrated with the services she was currently offering. She realized she really didn't enjoy certain aspects of them and was ready to make some changes in order to make her business into something that fit her goals and lifestyle, and served her clients well.

It's SO important to think through this topic when you're running your own design company (or if you're thinking about getting started!) - after all, since it belongs to you, you can shape it however you want! That's that the beauty of it.

Let me tell you a little story to give you an example of what I mean. When I first got started, I had two e-design packages: Full Room E-Design and something I called "Finishing Touches" where I worked primarily with my client's existing pieces and found a few, well, finishing touches, to complete the room and pull everything together. It was a less expensive package and was intended for folks who truly only needed a few things. Sounds pretty good, right?

The problem with it was that inevitably, scope creep happened. The client would decide that they needed more than just a side table, rug, and art; they also needed a new ottoman, and oh! maybe a different chair too. So often, by the end of the project, I had basically re-designed their whole room for half the price of my full room package. I didn't have the guts to tell them midway through they'd have to upgrade to the Full Room E-Design package if they wanted to increase the scope because I was afraid they'd be upset and not want to work with me anymore. It got to the point that whenever someone would purchase that package, I found myself cringing, which is exactly the opposite of what I should be feeling when someone hires me!

Once I realized this was going on, I recognized that something needed to change. If I was going to enjoy my e-design business and the clients I worked with, I had to restructure my packages to fit what I loved doing and avoid those awkward moments of having to tell clients they needed to upgrade.

For me, that meant offering three distinct packages instead: the original Full Room E-Design, Space Planning, and Virtual Consultations. Each addresses a different need and I really enjoy offering each of those services. Once I defined those packages, I felt so much freedom and started enjoying all of my design clients again!

So my encouragement for you today is to do a little audit of what you currently offer and decide if it's working. Does it fit your business goals? Are you having fun with it? If not, change it up!