185 | Are You Making These Interior Design Business Mistakes?

When most people start an interior design business, they assume the hardest part will be creating beautiful spaces. But in reality, the design isn’t the biggest challenge — the business side of interior design is where many new designers struggle.

I've seen talented designers make the same mistakes repeatedly when they first start their businesses. These mistakes don’t happen because they lack creativity or skill. They happen because no one teaches designers the sales guidance, client boundaries, and business structure required to run a profitable design business.

In this episode, I’m sharing three common mistakes new interior designers make when starting their design business — mistakes I made in my early days as well. If you understand these pitfalls early, you can avoid wasting time, losing confidence, or creating unnecessary chaos in your projects. My goal is to help you build stronger client relationships, create a clear design process, and run a professional design business from the start.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

✔️ Why designers must lead the client, not follow

✔️ How boundaries build trust and prevent project chaos

✔️ Why interior designers must embrace the salesperson role

✔️ How to reduce client decision fatigue during presentations

✔️ Essential steps to make your design business official

Read the Blog >>> Interior Design Business Mistakes New Designers Must Avoid

NEXT STEPS:

📺 Watch this free webinar, "From Passion to Profit," and learn the 5 Money Moves to start your interior design business right 👉https://rwarddesign.myflodesk.com/5moneymoves

🎯 Join My Design Mentor and start building a design career with clarity, confidence, and support, 👉https://rwarddesign.com/my-design-mentor⁠

📖 Check out the best books every interior designer should have here.

Check out our Designer's Playlist!

*️ Start Your Interior Design Journey

*️ From Newbie to Confident Designer

*️ Switching Gears to Interior Design

Grab your freebies:

📌 Your Roadmap to a Career in Interior Design

🎨 3 Things I Wish I had known when I Started my Career

Connect With Me:

📧 Email: podcast@rwarddesign.com

🔆 Instagram: @rwarddesign

🌎 Website at rwarddesign.com

Thanks for listening! I hope this helps you discover if interior design is the career for you. See you next week...

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction

2:28 Mistake 1: Letting Clients Drive the Project

4:20 Examples of Client-Driven Projects

7:44 Setting Boundaries and Scheduling

10:54 Mistake 2: Forgetting You Are a Salesperson

14:17 The One Strong Design Solution to Clients

17:53 Mistake 3: Not Making the Business Official

20:00 Essential Business Setup