Before You Start: Getting in the Right Mindset

Brandy Lawson here back with another episode of Elevated, the snackable, weekly podcast helping Kitchen & Bath Designers build a better business. In this episode we're talking about something that might surprise you – it's not about software features, pricing, or even that framework I shared last week. 

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Transcript

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Brandi Lawson here, back with another episode of Elevated, the snackable weekly podcast, helping kitchen and bath designers build a better business. In this episode, we're talking about something that might surprise you. It's not about software features, pricing, or even that framework I shared last week. In the next five minutes, it's all about what's happening between your ears. When you think about choosing software. Here's something I heard again recently, but I've heard just about every variation of it. Brandy, I know our project management system is a mess, but I'm waiting until things slow down to deal with it. At this point, I just laugh, because let's be real. When do things ever really slow down in business? That's like saying you'll organize your sample library when you stop getting new samples. So today, I'm going to share the exact mindset shifts that have helped my most successful clients stop procrastinating and start making confident software decisions. And with AI throwing new tools at us every week, these skills are about to become the most crucial that you can have. First up, let's kill the myth of the perfect solution. I was working with a firm last month and they'd spent Eight months. Yeah, eight months trying to find the perfect project management software. Meanwhile, his team was juggling three different apps and losing client information left and right. Here's the truth. There's no perfect solution. There's no perfect time either. The best time to fix a broken system? Right now. Think about it like designing a kitchen. Sure, you could wait for the next year's appliance models or the next big trend in countertop materials. But meanwhile, your client is stuck with a dysfunctional space. The same goes for your business. While you're waiting for your perfect solution, you're living with problems that are costing you money and sanity every single day. Here's mindset shift number two. You don't need all the information to get started. One client was paralyzed because she couldn't predict exactly how many users she'd need in six months. But here's what I told her. You don't need to know everything. You just need to know enough to take the next step. Start with what you know right now. Let's talk about what you actually need to focus on. Forget features. For a minute, or ever. Instead, let's talk about frustrations. What's making you want to throw your computer out the window? Is it losing track of client approvals in your project management system? Um, CRM that feels like a black hole where leads go to die? Proposal software that takes longer to use than just typing everything from scratch? Or, drafting software that can't keep up with your vision? These are the real issues we need to solve, and, heads up, in the next 6 to 18 months, we're going to see entirely new categories of software emerge. Thanks to AI, the ability to evaluate what you actually need versus what looks shiny is going to keep being critical for your business to be competitive. Here's what I want you to remember. Every successful kitchen design starts with understanding how the client actually lives, not picking out fancy appliances. Same goes for software. Start with how your business actually runs, not with feature lists. Let me share a quick story about perspective shifts. A design business owner was convinced she needed new drafting software because renderings were taking too long. But when we dug into her actual frustrations, it turns out the real problem wasn't the software. It was that she was recreating the same basic layouts over and over. She didn't need new software. She needed a better system for managing her design library. Saved her 15, 000 and months of unnecessary training. So Here's your homework. Before we get into the actual evaluation process next week, grab a piece of paper, or head to FieryEffects. com slash choose for that worksheet, and write down your top three business frustrations. Not software wishes, actual business problems. What's keeping you up at night? What makes you dread Monday mornings? What tasks take way longer than they should? Remember, there will never be a perfect solution or a perfect time. You don't need all the information to get started. Focus on solving real problems, not collecting features, and what works for someone else might not work for you. And that's okay. Next week, we'll take these frustrations and start turning them into software requirements. But for now, just focus on getting clear about what's actually broken in your business. Ready to get real about your software needs? Head to fieryfx. com slash choose and download that worksheet. And remember, the perfect time to start fixing these problems was yesterday. But the next best time, right now.