The business Realities of Commercial Design

Starting and running any business is HARD and unfortunately, being a talented designer isn’t enough. I consistently say that being your own boss isn’t for everyone. You need the right mindset, personality type, ambition, ability to be uncomfortable and take risk, and have a desire to learn all the not-so-fun stuff about design business (like taxes and P&L statements).

However, if entrepreneurship is something you strive for or a dream you have, my number one piece of advice is to SAVE SAVE SAVE as much as you can. Running out of money will kill you faster than any other variable, so giving yourself a proper safety net will allow you to make mistakes and build your client base.

Second, you need to be comfortable with putting yourself out there. Talk about your business, ask for clients, and post on social media. No one else will be your biggest advocate than you.

And lastly, know that the high highs and the low lows are part of the journey. Don’t give up the second things get hard. If you have those three things, everything else is easy.

Although some people may see commercial, especially corporate office, design as more “boring” and “limited” than residential, I find that because the emotional investment in the project isn’t as high my clients actually allow me so much more freedom to design the way I envision.

Of course, they want their space to look beautiful, but I find that clients in commercial sectors care mainly about three things: the budget, the timeline, and the return on investment. Commercial spaces are businesses, after all, whether it be an office, a restaurant, or a retail store. So it’s important to approach these clients as a professional partner with a particular expertise.

I’ve found clients through my existing network of real estate brokers, through colleagues who needed an extra hand on a project, contractors, and even through simply giving my card to strangers in bars. Regardless of where you currently are in your career, chances are your first client will come from your existing network. Post about how you’re expanding into commercial sectors on LinkedIn, give your business card to everyone you meet, and say YES to every opportunity, even the small 500 sf test fit. Because those small jobs may, over time, eventually turn into big ones.

I’ll be honest, procurement is one of the messiest and most chaotic parts of the project process for me. This is especially true when working with smaller budgets, which I’ve had my fair share of over the years.

The most common mistake I see is a designer simply not being organized. As a proud Type-A person, I’m a sucker for a good excel spreadsheet, though I won’t pretend like I have it all figured out perfectly just yet. I’ve learned a lot from my mistakes, sometimes expensive ones, but my goal has always been to get just a little bit better each time.

That could be being more communicative with the client, organizing my specifications better, keeping a better eye on shipment tracking, and refining my markup percentages. All of these tasks take real time, so I’ve recently hired a part-time junior designer to help out. I’ve learned that at the end of the day, a successful procurement process comes down to proactive communication and organization.

If you’ve seen any of my content on project pricing, then you know I LOVE flat fees. I find it best for both myself and my client for a few reasons: 1) they know exactly what they are going to spend, 2) I know exactly how much I’m going to earn, and 3) the deliverables are clear between both parties.

The biggest mistake I see, and one that almost left me bankrupt in my first year and a half of business, is undercharging for the work I was providing. Period. The second mistake I was making was providing extra services outside of the pre-determined scope of work without charging additional fee, whether that be additional revisions, renderings, or hours spent.

I know the feeling of wanting to please your clients, and the fear of “losing them” by charging too much. But the truth is, undercharging won’t just keep you broke, it perpetuates your anxiety, it shrinks your confidence, and it shows clients that you’re operating at a lower level and quality than you actually are.

At the end of the day, protecting your fees and margins comes down to your confidence and boundaries with your clients. Most of it is mental.

Most clients are hiring you because they don’t know the first thing about the requirements surrounding commercial design and construction. Which makes it even more crucial for you to act as their guide through it all.

I pride myself on being an expert on ADA compliance for interior renovations, which is something not only required by code but also a standard I encourage all of my clients to uphold regardless of who the users may be.

You will have some clients, like landlords, who may be very knowledgeable about code compliance due to their experience. And you may also have clients who know nothing and will expect you to have the answers. Ensuring that you’re knowledgeable with ADA and the basic codes of your local jurisdiction are of the utmost importance. And if you don’t know something, a simple “Let me verify that in the code” will go a long way.

Since I have my own online library of NCIDQ study resources, this is a question I get VERY often and my answer may actually surprise you. In my opinion, the average designer probably doesn’t need to be NCIDQ-certified (I know, crazy).

Because the format and content of the exam is testing you in a very textbook, straight-forward, “how would the NCIDQ answer this question” manner, I don’t actually feel like it’s meant to prepare you for the real world of professional interior design.

However, with running my own commercial practice, this certification does give me a vanity metric to say “hey, I’m a highly qualified professional with technical and code expertise beyond design” which is exactly the type of clients I’m looking to attract (although most, if not all, of my clients don’t know what this even means).

Being NCIDQ-certified can also allow you to earn more at work, climb the corporate ladder, and give your resume a boost if you’re looking for a new job. Other than that, I don’t find it to be necessary for every designer out there.

This is such a good question and one that I grapple with often. I used to say that I don’t have a particular design style or specialized sector beyond corporate offices, due to my previous experience. But that has changed a lot even in just the last few years.

At first, regardless of what you’re best at and what projects you’re looking to design for, the simple fact is that you will probably need to say yes to everything. I’m not super passionate about landlord pre-builts, but you bet your ass I said yes to every single one that came my way. These projects allowed me to have stable, consistent income in the early days and introduced me to so many potential clients, both other landlords and the tenants looking for space.

Over time and as your network and portfolio grows, you will slowly be able to say no to projects that don’t align with your vision and have access to more opportunities that excite you. Now in my third year of business, I can confidently say I’m working on some projects I only dreamed about before. It just takes time.

I wish designers talked more about money in general! When I worked in corporate design, it was rare for me to see a project budget, a fee proposal, or even know what a chair cost. I hear designers talking about these large projects they’re working on for just pennies… it really baffles me. But it’s not their fault. No one ever taught them how much their hourly rate should be. No one told them that you need to mark up products 25-35%.

Heck, no one taught me any of this either! Which is why as I’ve slowly figured all of this out, I started taking what I learn to social media. I want to facilitate the conversation about money in this industry and hopefully raise the value of this profession as a whole.

If you are not on social media, you are leaving the largest, most accessible, and most important marketing tool on the table. Yes, learning to create content is hard. Yes, editing videos for Instagram and TikTok after you’ve had a long day of client work is exhausting and time consuming. But social media is free, it consumes our attention, and it is not going away.

If someone said to you “if you post on social media 2-3 times per week, in 6 months you could be getting new clients in your inbox” would you do it? Of course you would. The problem is, it does take time and most people quit before they see any results. You don’t need to make social media your full time job, but you do need to start treating it as an important tool to market yourself and your business.

I would strongly encourage that person to work for a designer, architect, or firm that specializes in a wide range of commercial design. Early in my career, I worked in a large corporate firm in NYC where the interiors studio fed into each architectural studio. Meaning, I was able to work on a range of different projects from offices, to hotels, facilities, and even education. Each project had different goals, budgets, and client types, which gave me a different viewpoint on each of these sectors.

Since there’s more involved with commercial projects, like building and ADA codes, I wouldn’t typically recommend a residential designer dive head-first into a complex commercial project without already feeling confident in these areas and seeing how commercial projects are run.