Why Pay For - And Wait For - Custom?

My wife and I do not have a headboard, a foot board, or even a bed frame, for that matter. Our mattress sits on the floor (I'm sure she'll appreciate me telling the world this).  Most of the furniture in our home is antique, but we can't seem to find a dresser that really fits our needs, the Mrs. likes to collect clothes it seems.

Much like the shoemaker's children not having any shoes, I can't seem to get to building the headboard I promised 12 years ago, nor the dresser to match and fit all of my wife's clothes.  Frustrated, she has decided that we should finally just do what everybody else does and visit furniture stores, but she truly hates shopping for furniture with me. I pick away at the quality of most furniture, and she doesn't understand why we can't just buy something like every one else.

My blog post on my company's blog explains the advantages to well-crafted custom furniture, and C.H.I.P.s friend John Strauss's explains the sustainability of well-crafted custom furniture.

Now hopefully, this explanation buys me a few more years to build her furniture.

This post by Israel Retana. Israel is the founder of C.H.I.P.s and 2nd generation craftsman at Retana Cabinet Works , where they've been specializing in custom cabinetry and antique furniture restoration for nearly 30 years. He can be followed on twitter (iretana), friended on FaceBook , connected with on Linkedin, or contacted at israel@retanacabinetworks.com 

C.H.I.P.s Member Makes Furniture Delivery Distinctive

C.H.I.P.s is a community for Chicago Home Interior Pros to come together and share business ideas and strategies.  We are not just another online-networking-social-media-group, we get together a few times a month to discuss our businesses, trends, marketing strategies. We'll occasionally have guest speakers on current topics, such as using social media to market our businesses.  We invite all types of Chicago home interior professionals to join us, such as architects, designers, realtors, skilled-trades, etc. 

This Week's Featured Member : Dean Bressner of Distinctive Deliveries

This week's featured C.H.I.P.s member is Dean Bressner of Distinctive Deliveries.  After Delivering fine furnishings for numerous years for an Evanston IL based company, Dean decided to open up his own business delivering fine furnishings in Chicago. Dean's Top Priority is taking great care in making sure the client's furnishings are delivered with out incident. When you need a delivery service to keep your clients satisfied, remember "You have distinctive designs, you have distinctive clients, why not have Distinctive Deliveries?"

Visit the Distinctive Deliveries  at their web site : http://www.distinctivedeliveriesllc.com . You can also contact Dean through his Facebook account or through his email address dbessner@distinctivedeliveriesllc.com .  If you are a home interior professional in Chicago and want to join C.H.I.P.s visit our Group Site. You can also join our Facebook group. 

Attention Marketers - You Can’t Afford Not to Blog

A guest post by Mark Bradford

Small business owners and marketers who claim they don’t have time to write a short blog post once a week are wrong!  Yes, you do have time and you must make time for interactive marketing.  Blogging is easy once you get in the habit.  Is 30 minutes too long? I guarantee you spend hours doing far less productive tasks.  If you don’t have time to be heard, maybe you should examine priorities?

Do you have time to send a prospect an email message conveying your value?  Writing a short post is no harder.  Do you have time to dial for dollars?  Blogging is far more effective.  Maybe you’re not sure what to say?  Just think about what’s going on in your business and share it on a modern blog-based website.

You can’t afford not to create buzz.  You can’t afford not to use proven media techniques (reach, frequency, impressions) to connect with prospects, drive traffic and develop leads.

There is no better time to make time.  If you don’t, a younger hotter version of yourself is going to start chipping away at your business.  And then you will have plenty of time.

Submitted by Mark Bradford. Mark is a friend of C.H.I.P.s and co-founder of ChirpUp.com, a Chicago-based company helping business owners navigate their way through social media.  Mark can be followed on twitter here.  Mark will be speaking at a C.H.I.P.s meeting in May 2009 about using Linkedin to promote your business, more information is posted on our calendar or on Facebook.

Chicago Home Interior Pros : Using Linkedin To Market

I had heard of social media before, but never joined in.  Last year, after much prodding from some of my friends, I decided I would try some social media marketing myself. At first, I thought Twitter and Facebook were too social to start out with, so I joined Linkedin. The rest, as they say is history.  Today, I am active on these three sites and am often surprised when I speak to a business owner who is not using social media to their advantage.

One of the reasons I started C.H.I.P.s was to help others in the home interior business learn how to use social media to promote their businesses. Not professing to be a social media expert, I enlist the help of others:

C.H.I.P.s Presents Mark & Rob of ChirpUp.com

Event: Using Linkedin To Market Your Business

Think of LinkedIn as a nuclear Rolodex with over 35 million users. It's easy to use and has a ton word-of-mouth marketing power. LinkedIn is useful for brand building, collaboration, group organization and business development. As with any new medium, the best way to learn and get comfortable is to just get in there and start using the network. Mark Bradford and Rob Lambert of ChirpUp, a Chicago interactive marketing firm will provide an overview of how to use LinkedIn to market your business. Mark and Rob will discuss, demonstrate and answer questions about:

New media marketing opportunities
The power of LinkedIn as a business tool
How to start using LinkedIn
LinkedIn Etiquette
Cultivating and expanding a network of connections
Managing a LinkedIn profile
Importance of branding, style and presentation
Using the 'Recommendations' feature 
Using 'Status Updates', 'Blog Feeds', and 'Questions'
Participating in 'Groups'

 

Visit Chirpup at www.ChirpUp.com

In the interest of time, doors open at 5:45 and we will start promptly at 6:00PM.

Wednesday, May 21st

6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Studio 2941

2941 W Belmont

Chicago IL 

Cost: $6 (Cash Please) will pay for the room, snacks, and refreshments.

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions via israel@retanacabinetworks.com

RSVP is necessary so I can let Studio 2941 how many people to expect. If you are a C.H.I.P.s member, you can RSVP here. If you're not a C.H.I.P.s member, join us today or RSVP via Facebook.

This post by Israel Retana. Israel is the founder of C.H.I.P.s and 2nd generation craftsman at Retana Cabinet Works , where they've been specializing in custom cabinetry and antique furniture restoration for nearly 30 years. He can be followed on twitter (iretana), friended on FaceBook , connected with on Linkedin, or contacted at israel@retanacabinetworks.com 

Social Networking Success: Asking For Referrals

A Guest Post by Melissa Galt.

Since I am big on being a connector I am always delighted to refer businesses resources to clients and colleagues, but I’ve found that there are successful ways to request a referral and invite business and unsuccessful ways. I often receive unsolicited emails from artists, gallery, furniture retailers and more requesting me to visit their website, make time to see them, or even pass them on to others I know. I ignore all such requests unless they have taken the time to make this appeal personal and relevant.

• Have they been to my website?

• Do they understand my focus and niche?

• How does their product specifically fit my market? Does it fit my market?

• Why do I want to do business with them?

• What is their unique selling proposition? What separates them from all the rest?

This applies if you are asking a colleague to connect you on Linked In, Plaxo, Facebook or any other network. Just because you are a vendor or resource to an industry at large doesn’t make you automatically a relevant fit to that specific target. Stop scattering your efforts and make it personal and appropriate. This applies to small business owners (and yes, you designers) when seeking client referrals. Why are you a fit for a particular prospect? Is it your style, your portfolio, your specialty? The clearer you get, the greater the connection you will make and that means more success in your market!

Are you ready to take your design business to the next level?  Go to www.yourdesignsuccess.com and sign up for your F.R.E.E. strategy sessions with The Six Figure Designer and Interior Design Business Systems Specialist, Melissa Galt.  For more great business building content and an interactive forum to connect with colleagues and grow your practice, check out www.sixfiguredesigners.com on Facebook and Melissa’s blog at www.todaybydesign.com

©Melissa Galt 2008/2009

Sustainability And Survivability

A guest post by John Strauss.

We are members of the Sustainable Furniture Council. We believe in using resources wisely. We recycle our wood waste and our water bottles. We are always looking for materials that are less harmful for the environment (and for us).We are beginning to test out water borne finishes. We haven't converted to them yet, because in the past the industry has not been able to produce a finish with the same aesthetic, durability and working qualities as pre-catalysed lacquer. Water borne finishes are not devoid of solvents in their formula.We are going to test several new products including an European one that have advanced in all of the features we are looking for. We will not compromise our quality however.The lacquer that we currently use meets the rigorous European environmental standards and is considered a low VOC product. Acetone is not considered a VOC, by the way, which doesn't mean you can freely breath it. 

I have contended for the longest time that the most environmentally friendly thing you can do in purchasing furniture is to find a local maker  and buy a product that is built to last generations, and is responsibly made. In the same logic that recycling is good, while re-using is better, buying furniture built locally to last generations is much better than buying "Green" furniture shipped across the ocean and built to last ten years. The latter will then have to take up landfill space or be burned. The former has a small carbon footprint.

We try to build things that last. That means basically doing two things: Firstly, choosing materials of a high quality, such as solid wood, kiln dried to the proper level of moisture. Secondly, it means paying close attention to joinery. A good joint should not need a great deal of glue to successfully bond. Staples and screws will always fail before a good glue joint will. I have looked at a great deal of antique furniture that needs to be repaired. You learn a lot by examining these joints. Chairs built from turned parts with dowel joints almost always fail because the maker didn't understand wood shrinkage and the joint had to rely on the glue. Nakashima (http://www.nakashimawoodworker.com/) was one woodworker who knew how to fit the joint and then shrink the wood before joinery so that the wood would expand to lock the joint together. A good dovetail joint almost needs no glue to be solid. Same with a mortise and tenon. But I have seen countless joints come to me after desperate repairs with screws, dowels, etc. in a last ditch attempt to save a chair or some such thing. 

We just had a potential customer switch to a product made in Asia, rather than buy custom made from us. The reason given was the cost of the product. The imported product is of vague provenance and of non described materials. In a photograph, the import looks great. In reality, when it arrives, how will it look? When will the day come that quality and the environment are also factored into the cost equation? When does the consumer cross over and weigh the Earth' future (not to mention our economy) in making these decisions? I hope that environmental concerns are not the exclusive province of the ultra-rich.

Submitted by John Strauss. John is a friend of C.H.I.P.s and owner of John Strauss Furniture Design. John has been creating furniture for twenty years for designers and architects. Make sure to visit his blog, and follow him on Twitter.

Networking With Your Competition

Most business owners I know have learned the value of networking, especially if they've been in business for a while.  Some have a "power team" of referral sources; Realtors and mortgage lenders are great referral sources for each other, as are chiropractors and massage therapists and so on.

I take my networking a step on the crazy side: I love to meet and network with other woodworkers.  I've been asked a few times if I would mind meeting others who wold technically be considered competition.  The answer is always an enthusiastic "yes".  See, some woodworkers may have an area they specialize in where I could use some help. For example :  my shop doesn't do any wood turning, but I'm not about to let that cause us to lose the opportunity to quote on a job. I'm also not going to say yes to a job we can't do. I'd rather get another woodworker involved so we can both benefit.  We've also been called upon several times by other woodworkers we've built relationships with over the years to build a piece that they don't feel comfortable doing.

Another benefit to networking with your competition is the ability to learn new and more efficient ways of doing things, like dovetail joints for example. On the restoration side, I've helped others with cane seat-weaving and matching stains. You can also learn effective ways of marketing for your specific audience, or about vendors you haven't heard of that may offer better products or materials. 

Your competition can not hurt you, they can only help you. Realize that when you have competition, it only brings the awareness of your product or services to a higher level and  you just need to make sure you are always putting out a positive message about yourself and your company.  If you build a relationship with your competition, they may even recommend you sometimes to clients they can not accommodate, and you should do the same. And it always fun to have a friend to share your successes and disappointments with that can relate to what you are talking about. So bring on the competition!

This post by Israel Retana. Israel is the founder of C.H.I.P.s and 2nd generation craftsman at Retana Cabinet Works , where they've been specializing in custom cabinetry and antique furniture restoration for nearly 30 years. He can be followed on twitter (iretana), friended on FaceBook or contacted at israel@retanacabinetworks.com 

Quit Your Whining : Get More Referrals By Changing Your Attitude

I can't even begin to tell you how tired I am of talking about this recession. It always seems to come up in conversations, especially with other business owners.  When I meet you at a networking event, I really don't want to hear how bad it has gotten for your business. Way too much negativity. It's actually a turn-off for me now. I don't know if I should refer my clients to you - are you really just reacting to the recession, or are you always this depressing?  

I'd rather hear about what you're doing to position your company to survive this recession. What new marketing techniques are you implementing? What are you doing to control your company's expenses? What changes have you made? Sharing your ideas and strategies will not only make me a fan of you and your company, it will excite me and inspire me to find you a referral. 

There's this silly song by Burt Bacharach where he sings " I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'..." So folks, the "No Whining" rule is in effect. Our energy is better spent in talking about how we can help each other.

This post by Israel Retana. Israel is the founder of C.H.I.P.s and 2nd generation craftsman at Retana Cabinet Works , where they've been specializing in custom cabinetry and antique furniture restoration for nearly 30 years. He can be followed on twitter (iretana), friended on FaceBook or contacted at israel@retanacabinetworks.com 

Interior Design Business Builders: 5 No Fail Marketing Methods for Everyday

Marketing is the life blood of every small business, particularly those that are creative and service based!  It is vital to make marketing a real part of everyday business activities.  Here are five cost effective, time efficient, and proven successful ways to market your business daily. 

The Power of Thank You

When I began my business, I wrote thank you notes to every client for every call. These were short, handwritten on note cards and clients regularly commented on them. It built my business. Don’t email it, handwrite it.  Keep it short and use it as a reminder of what you discussed or reviewed. Keep a copy in your client file.  Do this at the close of each day for every client or prospect you met with. Nothing is more powerful than a hand written note in this age of high tech and low tech. This will help you make your business high touch!

Forward with Feeling

I’m not generally a big fan of forwarding in email as too often I get so much JUNK!  However, there are resources online that have great content, relevant content, content your clients would appreciate.  Be selective in what you send; this can be as effective as sending an old fashioned newspaper clipping. You can make it easy by using Google Reader or even Google Alerts for keywords or topics that will appeal the most.  I also like doing this with magazine articles from publications I read regularly.  Does your client collect porcelain? Stamps? A particular artist?  Are they a dog lover or a cat fanatic?  Maybe they are a gourmet cook and love unique recipes?  Touch them with something personal that you saw that you thought they’d enjoy!

Greetings from Afar

Whenever I travel, I take a couple of pages of mailing labels with my client list and upon arrival, pick up postcards for easy mailing. I get these out in the first two days of any trip, domestic or foreign.  I’ve often returned to comments from clients, and my cards posted conspicuously. Mailing labels isn’t impersonal, it is practical!  Do write a short personal note on each card before mailing. This lets them know that they are always top of mind, and that you are getting new ideas, inspiration, and will be out of touch due to travel. This keeps clients connected even when you have disconnected!

Connect Your Clients

I have found that one of the most effective ways to stay top of mind with my clients is to be their one-stop lifestyle resource. This means that I am the source of referrals for their needs including financial advisors, pharmacists, doctors, caterers, florists, trainers, maids and more. I am very free with my referrals and often provide more than one so they can make their own decision as to who is their best fit. Being such a go-to resource means that they always think of me when they need a new service or product. Yes, you can create referral revenue from this, but more importantly is the residual value you are creating by encouraging your clients to use as their one-stop lifestyle guru. 

Little Extras Matter Most

Often design professionals get caught up in charging for every last touch; instead build your business in a ways that enables you to provide some finishing touches as perks of working with you. For example, when you complete a kitchen include a goodie basket with wine, cheese, munchies and more.  When you complete a bath, include a spa basket with scented soaps, a candle, and a loofah.  When you embark on a remodel, be sure to give your client a couple of gift cards to local restaurants to that they can escape the chaos. Teach your clients that they are truly special and you feel truly privileged working with them. Extras go a long way in building a relationship. Leaving the occasional mini-box of Godiva chocolates doesn’t hurt either!

The marketing methods detailed here are easy to implement and proven to build relationships and grow business.  You can add just one or all five, doing some form of marketing every day, creating a marketing habit, will truly drive you to the top!

Copyright Melissa Galt 2008/2009

Submitted by Melissa Galt. Are you ready to take your design business to the next level?  Go to www.yourdesignsuccess.com and sign up for your F.R.E.E. strategy sessions with The Six Figure Designer and Interior Design Business Systems Specialist, Melissa Galt.  For more great business building content and an interactive forum to connect with colleagues and grow your practice, check out www.sixfiguredesigners.com on Facebook and Melissa’s blog at www.todaybydesign.com

How to Shop Etsy like a Pro -- even if you've never heard of it before

Most people, when they think Etsy -- if they think Etsy at all -- think "handmade."  And most people, when they think handmade, probably think about jewelry, soaps, and all the crafty Foxfire-inspired hippie home accessories our parents might've decorated with in the '60s.  A woven basket for dried flowers, anyone?

That's not what Etsy's all about.  While in the beginning the online marketplace wasn't much more than a showcase for the new generation of Stitch-n-Bitchers (bowls made of vinyl records, iPod cozies), recent improvements to its seller interface and the addition of a vintage category has made the site a popular destination for disgruntled eBay sellers, shop owners and interior designers who were looking for an easy place to set up virtual shop.  Founded just four years ago, Etsy currently has over 350,000 sellers, with about 2.5 million items currently for sale.

Etsy also has a strong social networking aspect that eBay could never quite cultivate.  Users can "favorite" sellers' items, create treasuries of their own finds, and "convo" other sellers to ask questions -- even compliment sellers on their craftsmanship or fantastic vintage finds.  Where eBay's m.o. was stiff, formal -- sometimes crazy-sounding language ("THIS IS A LOVELY HAVILAND -FRANCE 1972 DATED NOEL PORCELAIN  ORNAMENT"), Etsy is full of people-to-people down-to-earthness, so casual as to sometimes appear lazy.  Take, for example, this seller's comments about the dimensions of a vintage spice rack: "If you need specific measurements, just convo."

Rather than a marketplace of warnings ("DO NOT BID UNLESS YOU PLAN TO PAY") that make eBay seem more like a breeding ground for scammers, Etsy is like an upscale street populated by boutiques with friendly shop owners.  And you can tell the rent in this district is low; almost everything is priced reasonably.

So Etsy, like many other social networks or online meeting places, has become an indispensable resource, the kind of website that warrants the warning, "If you're not using it, you should be."

But how to get started?  Think of Etsy like a foreign city you're visiting.  You want to hit up the design district or a boutique neighborhood -- you don't go asking people where to find specific things.  "Where can I get a slat bench?"  You ask for a destination -- a shop.  And because Etsy is so seller-friendly (listings are cheap at 20 cents and last 4 months at a time), sellers have the ability to create their own virtual boutiques and cultivate an aesthetic.  And just as you would ask a shop owner for their recommendations on where else to shop, check out any Etsy seller's "favorites" for their suggestions on more places to find fantastic things for your home.

Here are some of my favorites to help you get started:

River Bazaar [http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5960905]

A friendly and eclectic mix of mid-century housewares, clothing, artwork and found objects, like these stainless steel rings [http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17983827].

Found San Francisco [http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6765520]

Interior decorators Caitlin and Tyler own a shop of "rediscovered objects" in San Francisco.  Their Etsy shop is a treasury of upscale home furnishings and accessories, including lamps, pillows, artwork and this lavish pair of peacocks [http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20042503].

Haus Proud [http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6482778]

Another student of interior decorating, Haus Proud's proprietor blends everything from vintage spice boxes [http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23090855] to wool lap blankets [http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22719660] to vintage suitcases [http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20680127] together perfectly.

Fabulousmess [http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5919334]

A bright and cheery shop specializing in Hollywood regency and mid-century home decor.  Check out this pair of red vinyl button tufted chairs [http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22385550].

Sweetshorn Vintage

A modern accessories shop with all the current trends -- from vintage bowling pins [http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23020471] to globes [http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20797234] and numbered glass canisters [http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21654671].

Submitted by Katherine Raz.  Katherine is a friend of C.H.I.P.s and runs her great blog BackGarage. Katherine can be followed on Twitter here.

Interior Design Business Builders : 3 Critical Mistakes Every Right Brained Professional Makes!

First if you aren’t sure which side is dominant, read about it and take the test at  http://www.angelfire.com/wi/2brains/  Right brained professionals are those most often in creative fields and the lifestyle industry.  We excel at creative pursuits and often fall short on business acumen. I got lucky because I trained my left brain in college and got the best of both attributes!  The key is to develop whole brained thinking for a more comprehensive approach to life and business. On that note, there are 3 critical mistakes we right brained types make that are costing us success and prosperity.  Once you know what they are, you can apply the solutions.

Mistake #1: Forgetting what it is you really do!

The Solution: Before you are a designer, before you are a realtor, before you are a contractor, before you are an organizer, before you are a stager, you are a MARKETER!  Without being a MARKETER first and foremost you are nothing.  No one knows about you until you market.  We are each MARKETERS first and our specialty second. This goes for everyone (yes, doctors and lawyers too!)  It doesn’t matter if you are saying to yourself “well my marketing is all word-of-mouth” that is still marketing and must be built, nurtured, encouraged, and measured.  You must become a MAVERICK MARKETER for your business at all times or risk those high and dry times (maybe you are experiencing that now?)

Mistake #2: Neglecting essential training in business expertise!

The Solution: Too often right brained professionals want to devote all of their time to their creative training and education and none to the business and marketing side of their enterprise.  This will create a talented individual who is unknown in the marketplace, disconnected from clients, and struggling to make ends meet.  You must invest in your ongoing business education to stay up-to-date and leading edge. You must also know what you don’t know, and what you can’t do and find those that you can delegate it to effectively. Learn at every opportunity. SIGN UP TODAY FOR THE UPCOMING IDS SUMMIT! 

Mistake #3: Hiding your talent from the world and clients! 

The Solution: This goes hand in hand with a failure to market consistently and persistently. It also dovetails with a lack of basic business education. You must present your work, your talent, your genius to the world in an easily accessibly format, available at your prospects convenience not simply yours. You know what’s coming! Please, I’m begging you now, get a website.  It is simple to do, check out my shortcuts. It can be up in less than thirty days and be cost effective at the same time. For a great resource, be sure to check out Best Biz Websites. 

ALSO, the terrifically talented webmaster I work with is available to work with you as well. I am pleased to share that he has been working with my mentees on their sites as well as their ezines (enewsletter) and even their blogs. Let me know if you’d like his contact. I’m here to support you in your success always. 

The mistakes shared here are incredibly common.  They are also incredibly easy to correct.  You are the only one that makes the decisions to put your business on the fast track to success. Stop waiting, start succeeding. Prosper by Design, YOURS!

Want more great tips on building your design business?  Check out www.todaybydesign.com  and to really give your business the boost you deserve download the f.r.e.e ebook at www.changeyourrewards, you’ll also get a subscription to Melissa’s award winning newsletter just for the design trade, Interior Destinations.  Build your business so you can design your life! 

Submitted by Melissa Galt. Are you ready to take your design business to the next level?  Go to www.yourdesignsuccess.com and sign up for your F.R.E.E. strategy sessions with The Six Figure Designer and Interior Design Business Systems Specialist, Melissa Galt.  For more great business building content and an interactive forum to connect with colleagues and grow your practice, check outwww.sixfiguredesigners.com on Facebook and Melissa’s blog atwww.todaybydesign.com

Protect Your Firm in the Current Climate

With the fall of Lehman, the Merrill Lynch acquisition, and the AIG fiasco, many of us could be left scratching our heads and wondering, “What could possibly protect my business if these giants can’t even hold it together?”

I watch CNBC every morning. In the last few months, there has been a recurring theme that these giants toppled because of their lack of risk management strategies. Maybe it was greed, maybe it was lack of foresight, but these companies did not manage their risks and now their employees and their shareholders are feeling the brunt. Mr. Lehman, who built the company 158 years ago, is also rolling over in his grave. The question is, “How can we, as interior design firms, manage our risks in a time when the state of the economy is a day to day prognosis?”

Client deposits. I have spoken with far too many designers that only request a 50% deposit to place an order for goods. Let’s take the following example:

ABC Design Firm orders $100,000 worth of goods for Mr. and Mrs. Smith

ABC Design Firm marks up goods 30%

Total sales = $130,000

However, ABC Design also only requests a 50% deposit to place the order, even though many of ABC’s vendors require 100% up front.

Deposit that ABC receives = $65,000

That means that ABC is $35,000 in the hole on these orders. $35,000!?!? Not only is this bad for cash flow, it could potentially ruin ABC’s business in one fell swoop.

What if something happened to Mr. or Mrs. Smith? What if one of them lost his or her job and there was no longer money to pay for these orders? Mr. and Mrs. Smith may be very nice and honest people, but if the money is not there, the interior designer is going to be one of the last in line.  If Mr. and Mrs. Smith fail to pay ABC the other 50%, ABC will be forced to cover $35,000 of the manufacturers’ bills, not to mention freight charges, and will have lost $30,000 in gross profit.

COVER YOUR COSTS IN YOUR DEPOSIT. Better yet, request 100% deposit to order. At least if ABC Design Firm charged a 75% deposit ($101,250) on this order, their $100,000 cost of goods sold would be completely covered. If something happens, they will only be out their profit and some freight. (I say “only” but I know that hurts too).

Risk management is not just an important business practice for the giants. It is crucial to small businesses and especially to interior design firms.

This post submitted by Alexandra C. Gibson. Alexandra is a friend of C.H.I.P.s and President and CEO of Gibson Design Management, the business resource for interior designers. She can be followed on Twitter, and you can find the Gibson Design Management blog here.

Two Sacrifices Not Worth Making In a Recession

Although there is much talk about this recession ending by year's end, we have to realize that year's end is about nine months from now. Could your business survive another nine months?  Too often in times like these businesses make what they think are sacrifices that will help them, but could eventually hurt them.  The following are two sacrifices not worth making:

1. Advertising and Marketing.

Now is not the time to cut back on advertising and marketing. As a matter of fact, you may want to ramp it up.  Too many companies are cutting back or even doing away with all types of marketing and advertising.  What does this mean for you? It means that your competitors who don't market as aggressively as you do will be forgotten when this recession is over.  When the recession is over and the public is ready to do some improvements to their homes, they will remember or find you. Take a good look at the type of marketing you are doing and determine what kind of results it is bringing in. Perhaps we shouldn't be doing away with our marketing, but revising our marketing plan.  Maybe we need to be more precise and specific about who we target as our audience.  Network aggressively, continue to pass out your business cards and promotional items, etc.  

2. Reducing Your Pricing Structure.

A lot of us are affected by competitors in our industry who greatly undercut our job proposals.  While I've heard this from interior designers as well as other craftspeople, I hear it a lot from my contractor and builder friends.  So how could you greatly reduce the price of your services? In most cases, in order to remain in business, it means reducing the quality of materials used or the time used to complete the job (which generally means sacrificing the quality of the work done).  It also sets precedent.  When things finally do get better, do you want to be known as the company that provides lesser - quality work and materials at a cheap price or a high-quality company with high-quality services provided? 

Believe it or not, there are some companies who have remained in business and successful by actually raising their prices. That's not exactly a route I want to take, but it shows that some people are still buying and willing to pay the price for the right product -you just have to find them (through the right marketing).

This post by Israel Retana. Israel is the founder of C.H.I.P.s and 2nd generation craftsman at Retana Cabinet Works , where they've been specializing in custom cabinetry and antique furniture restoration for nearly 30 years. He can be followed on twitter (iretana) or contacted at israel@retanacabinetworks.com 

Social Media Week for C.H.I.P.s - A list of Tweets To Follow

It was "Social Media Week" at C.H.I.P.s this week.  Susan Pyle Dickenson of Home Accents Today submitted a blog post on retailers using Twitter , Facebook, Linkedin, and blogs to grow their SEO optimization and their business - she called it "Creative Opportunites".  Mark Bradford of Chirpup.com submitted a post on Linkedin Ettiquette, and yes, there is an ettiquette to marketing on Linkedin (and yes, you should be following it).  Mellisa Galt of www.yourdesignsuccess.com wrote about making connections that stick via social networking.  We topped it off at our C.H.I.P.s lunch event with Gabe Strom, social media guru, who spoke to us about using Twitter and Facebook to grow a following of people to our businesses.

I wanted to take this opportunity to take this opportunity to list a few Twitter people Home Interior Pros should be following.  

Guest Bloggers on our blog have been:

Susan Rapp of Urban Lifestyle Decor (also a CHIPs member)

Alexandra Gibson of Gibson Design Management (look for her post next week)

Mark Bradford of Chirpup

Deborah Flate of Dialogue Consulting (also a CHIPs member)

Melissa Galt of www.yourdesignsuccess.com

Susan Pyle Dickenson of Home Accents Today

Some C.H.I.P.s members (are you a member and not listed, let me know):

Me (of course) of Retana Cabinet Works

Andrea DiCianni, Interior Designer

Simone Targo, Home Stager

Amy Karatz of Natural Order Staging

Others in the industry I enjoy following:

@jscabinetmaker

@SusanCerraCKD

@TKpleslie

@JohnStrauss

@visiondecor_evl

@adamkingstudio

@furnituregal

@karihultman

@splinteredboard

@milsdowns

@furnitude

@modbird

And of course, you can follow C.H.I.P.s at @Chips4Chicago

There are tons more, I'm sure, that I follow that you should be following as well. Also plenty of Chicago - related twitter-ers to follow. Maybe better left for another time. I invite you to post your twitter profile to follow (as well as any other recommendations) on the comments!

This post by Israel Retana. Israel is the founder of C.H.I.P.s and 2nd generation craftsman at Retana Cabinet Works , where they've been specializing in custom cabinetry and antique furniture restoration for nearly 30 years. He can be followed on twitter (iretana) or contacted at israel@retanacabinetworks.com 

Social Network Success: How to Make Connections That Stick

One of the keys to social media success is not just making connections, but making connections that stick.  It is fine if you just want idle chit chat, but you’ll go much farther if you actually get to know the connections you are making. That means taking the time to explore their websites, ask relevant questions, and find out what a good lead is for them. Touch base regularly with a warm greeting and genuine care about their progress. You’ll find that when you make connections that stick they’ll be there for you when you need them most. 

This is all about frequent contact with the groups you belong to, getting active in discussion groups, and posting both personal and relevant information.  I say personal because these networks came up as a way to be friends first business second. So exercise that ever popular 80/20 rule and be social 80 percent of the time and business 20 percent of the time.  Social doesn’t mean you divulge intimate details. This is the web so be sure that what you do share you would be comfortable with your grandmother or your boss (if you have one) reading! 

Have fun with the networks and make connections that stick! 

Are you ready to take your design business to the next level?  Go to www.yourdesignsuccess.com and sign up for your F.R.E.E. strategy sessions with The Six Figure Designer and Interior Design Business Systems Specialist, Melissa Galt.  For more great business building content and an interactive forum to connect with colleagues and grow your practice, check outwww.sixfiguredesigners.com on Facebook and Melissa’s blog atwww.todaybydesign.com