Business of Home

Winter 2021 | Issue 18

The home economy is booming, but that doesn’t mean all growth is good for your firm. Welcome to the first installment of BOH’s Business Accelerator series, our yearlong guide to building a better design business and the pursuit of meaningful, manageable growth. In this issue, we start with getting the job—the right job—by unpacking everything from digital tools that attract the best clients to that all-important first consultation (and whether or not to charge for it).

Subscribe »

More issues Order Past Issues Manage Subscription

Features

Why great clients are drawn to great businesses

In the first installment of our four-part guide to building a better design business, we’re going deep on what it takes to attract a new client and seal the deal. The secret? Before you start looking around, look within.

BY Kaitlin Petersen

What’s the best place to look for new clients?

Where should you focus your time and money in the pursuit of new clients? We asked six designers for their top tips.

BY Haley Chouinard

Can you get more out of your website?

What does your website say about your firm? A lot more than you might think. For advice on captivating the client from the first click, we asked pros who specialize in perfecting the digital footprints of interior designers.

BY Kaitlin Petersen

This designer was over Pinterest. Then it got her a job

After she netted a client who had repinned several photos of her work, designer Liz Caan decided to give Pinterest a second look.

BY Kaitlin Petersen

Who is the Instagram client?

Do social media followers actually lead to new work? These designers say yes.

BY Haley Chouinard

Social and strategic: How to make the most of your posts

PR pro Laura Bindloss advises clients to think about more than just posting pretty pictures. Here are her secrets to success.

BY Kaitlin Petersen

Do you charge for initial consultations?

How do you shepherd a client from initial contact to signed contract? We asked seven designers about the journey to the dotted line—including the age-old debate of whether to charge for the first consultation.

BY Kaitlin Petersen

What these 4 designers learned from their very first client

Once you have a roster of happy clients singing your praises, it’s relatively easy to get more. But how do you get from zero to one? We asked four designers to share their stories.

BY Fred Nicolaus

Are hidden prices protecting the industry or stunting its growth?

Designer Noz Nozawa makes a convincing case for dispensing with the mystery surrounding industry pricing—and with the notion that design is a zero-sum game.

BY Marina Felix

Design Dispatch

magazine

How one textile designer is turning trash into treasure

A “waste not, want not” philosophy has given Dutch textile designer Simone Post an innovative approach to design—and led to a collaboration with Adidas that explores reuse in surprising ways.

magazine

What’s your guilty pleasure product?

While there’s an undeniable thrill in finding something new, there is much to be said for having a few versatile resources in your arsenal that do the trick in almost any situation. Corey Damen Jenkins, Beth Dotolo and Stewart Manger pay tribute to their perennial favorites.

magazine

What’s the biggest way your business has pivoted?

In 2020, BOH interviewed designers across America for our inaugural 50 States Project series. Now, we’re checking in to find out how they’ve adjusted in times of social distance.

magazine

How do you organize a growing design firm? This author has some ideas

After founding her firm, designer Rasheeda Gray tapped into the growth strategies for entrepreneurs outlined by small business consultant and author Michael E. Gerber in his book, The E-Myth Revisited. Now, she’s got three questions for Gerber.

magazine

The Zoom season: What happens when product design goes virtual?

The season’s standout textiles, ceramics and soft goods have a creative secret in common: They were all designed screen-to-screen rather than side-by-side.

magazine

Accent walls: Pinterest trend or here to stay?

When designer Kevin Isbell posted an Instagram Reel to announce that accent walls “need to go” earlier this year, not everyone agreed—designer Jessica McCarthy among them. In the latest Designers Debate column, the two California designers face off on whose vision makes for a more stylish statement.

The Handbook

Money for nothing: A passive income primer

Interested in building passive income into your business? Here’s a guide to earning this way—and a reality check to help you decide which, if any, of these paths is right for you. (Hint: It’s not as passive as it sounds.)