Dear Sean,

I have heard you say many times to always be ahead of the cash and that every designer who has reached a certain level in their careers should be charging an engagement fee. My understanding is that you suggest charging $50,000 to $75,000 just to be engaged in a project—not a refundable deposit or retainer. As much as I want to understand both maxims, I just cannot get there. I feel that I should be paid when I do the work, and if clients like my design, they will pay my commissions. What am I missing?

Value Engineer

Dear Value Engineer,

The placebo effect is real. More than a few consumer research surveys have asked buyers of expensive skin care products if they would be willing to spend more money on additional products 90 days after their purchase—gauging, in essence, their satisfaction with the high-dollar expenditure—and the answer is almost always a resounding yes. What does it mean?

It means that those who have invested in the more expensive skin care item receive more than the value they paid, despite the fact that the ingredients are likely very similar to those in less-expensive items. It’s also quite likely that the purchasers of those expensive items have done everything to give the product the best chance of success, with better diets, exercise routines and skin care regimens than the average consumer. Don’t get me wrong, I am never talking about selling snake oil—but it is important to acknowledge that the power of personal investment in the placebo effect is significant and valuable.

Make no mistake: Your interior design business has no essential reason to exist. Not a single person on the planet fundamentally needs what you do, especially today. Many retailers would be more than happy to supply all necessary elements to furnish a house. Your business exists because you live in the idea that how you and your firm see the world matters to your clients because you alone have the capacity to make their lives better through your vision. My broken-record mantra can never be repeated often enough: You and your firm exist to provide transformative joy through your work.

If all that you do is based on your effort or your ability to sell, then your value is limited, as you will likely only be able to sell what is palatable and digestible, even if it is dressed up and expensive. If you want to go further, you have to require an investment in all that you and your firm are. The value of design is talent, wisdom, experience and commitment to the process. The investment for you to consider embarking on a project is intrinsically valuable. It means you will show up with all of the resolution necessary for the path to joy to happen in the first place. It goes both ways—your clients will invest in you with the engagement fee, and likewise you will invest in them. Yes, they will never get the money back, but, like when paying for expensive face cream, they will go above and beyond to do what you need them to do to give you the best chance of success. The idea is that they will invest in you one time to give you the chance to earn the rest.

As for being ahead of the cash, operating this way means that you will be recognized for your ability to actually do the work—and preemptively compensated to secure your time, effort and vision—rather than retroactively judged for the effort (or lack thereof) that it takes to do so. It means you will not be beholden to compromised choices or impossible decisions; for instance, having to continue on a project despite the fact that the client reduced your budget by a third and is demanding you reconsider design decisions previously made—without compensation. Any designer waiting to be paid for any approved production item bears this risk. This system is absurd and unnecessary.

In the end, it is about self-respect and appreciation for the voice you have toiled so hard to have heard. Yours is to be the guide in whatever way you and only you choose. If there is no upfront investment and/or you are behind the cash, you will never be seen as you need to be. Walking the talk matters more than ever today. Nothing less than your joy and your clients’ joy depend on it.

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Sean Low is the go-to business coach for interior designers. His clients have included Nate Berkus, Sawyer Berson, Vicente Wolf, Barry Dixon, Kevin Isbell and McGrath II. Low earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and as founder-president of The Business of Being Creative, he has long consulted for design businesses. In his Business Advice column for BOH, he answers designers’ most pressing questions. Have a dilemma? Send us an email—and don’t worry, we can keep your details anonymous.