We're barely four months into 2011 and here we are, staring at yet another bottleneck situation. Projects are pouring in, but we are faced with the challenge of too much work, too few designers, and too little time. Lest you think we are tooting our own horn here, we're not. I'm just trying to raise a point which many boutique-sized businesses like ours face day in day out. And when you're talking about the interior design line where a designer is expected to engage each and every customer with an unique experience under dreadful deadlines every time, this happy problem suddenly gets blown out of proportion into a nightmare. Albeit still a happy one.
The entire interior design process is a time-consuming (oh did I mention creative-juices-sapping?) one. Our design team is a small one - there are a whopping three of us right now - but what we might lack in manpower, we make up for in ideas (or at least that's what we like our clients to think). We seriously don't care about building a factory churning out one design after another in record time. No, that's not what we set out to do in the first place.
It looks like the day of turning away business might actually come for us but we're not thinking too negatively about it. No doubt the instinct is to say yes to everybody who knock on our door to keep those checks coming in. But we think we know what type of projects motivate and inspire us every step of the way. That might actually be a good thing for our clients too. When we're feeling good and having fun doing our job, they might respond more positively and our projects might just be much more successful!
Are you a small business owner yourself? What are your challenges in the daily running of your business? Share with us. We need a pointer or two.
P.S: Before you think we are sending our business on a backward track by turning away more business because we can’t take on so much work, we are already on the search for (designer) Number 4...
It's interesting to see the abstract manner in which Barrett incorporated elements of nature into her design. "I wanted to see something new in outdoor fabrics, designs inspired by nature, but not so literal, using colors that excite me.", so says the designer, who is also known for designing residences for Hollywood luminaries such as John Stamos, Charlize Theron and Candice Bergen.
The complete line consists of seven patterns inspired by iconic cities on the California coastline: Big Sur, Cambria, Carmel, Mendocino, Montecito, Monterey and Ojai. Each city, and respective design, has its own personality and vibrancy, and is infused with Barrett's innate sense of California living.
