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Transcript

Speaker 7: 0:12

Welcome to Designing Success from Study to Studio. I'm your host, Rhiannon Lee, founder of the Oleandra Finch Design Studio. I've lived the transformation from study to studio and then stripped it bare and wrote down the framework so you don't have to overthink it. In this podcast, you can expect real talk with industry friends, community, connection, and actionable tips to help you conquer whatever's holding you back. Now let's get designing your own success.

Speaker 8: 0:37

Today I have an excellent treat for you all. I have been doing a lot of work in the background and I will continue to do a lot of work over the next couple of weeks to plan my 2025 and what that looks like for Oleandra and Finch. And I'm definitely not dropping any spoilers or hints or even committing to anything to be fair. I'm in the planning mode and I'm really excited, but I haven't really decided on very many things. One thing I have decided on is it. Three launches next year of my small group framework collective. I'm not sure if it's a well known thing, but along with my emerging designer course, the framework, I have a small group of just six girls I work with to scale their interior design business. So they are experienced designers. We are a tiny little group. It's a really lovely cohort. I absolutely have adored this quarter with them so far looking at scaling. If you've listened to the podcast for a while, there was a while there where I split out my course. With what content needed to be for emerging designers and what content needed to be for established designers. But I've also leveled up from there as well, because I do a lot of private coaching. And so I've found it really great to be able to create resources that I can share with my private coaching clients, as well as my framework collective with these additional resources and things that are needed at that higher level of business and to take the business into a more serious zone. I know the girls in there have really already in 12 weeks, I have just seen them go from these are my sort of plans. These are my sort of thoughts. This is what I'd like to see with my business. And I've got them to a baseline. We are at a point now that when we hit Q1 of 2025, we are absolutely ready to go and ready to grow. And so today, as something a little bit different, I thought yesterday we had a really great call. And I know there were a couple of questions in there that I was like, if I could share these with the broader audience and just interior designers at all levels that I know listen to my podcast, I would love that. So I'm only going to share little snippets. I'm going to share a couple of different topics and you're not going to get the full coaching or the full experience. That is definitely for the hour and a half session that we did as the collective, but you will get a little look because I think, especially if you have done the framework, you can hear the difference and you can Feel the difference and the serious nature of these girls. They're ready to move. And I can't wait to do that with them next year. As I mentioned, I am going to take three cohorts for 2025. There will be between five and eight people only in each of those. So if you are interested and you might not listen to this podcast before Christmas, you might be listening to it in the middle of 2025 and think, Oh my gosh, Did I miss out? Expressions of interests and applications are really important. I turned down 13 girls for this small group of six. I am quite particular because I like to combat the idea that you can just buy this and not do it, or you can buy it and half ass it. I'm not like that. These girls are doing big things and I'm all for it, but I needed to know they were the, they had the right commitment. They were at the right level and that I wasn't having to build their foundations. They have them under control. So if that sounds like you, please do reach out to me over at oleander underscore and underscore Finch. And just let me know that you want to go on the email. I'm not going to send a whole bunch of emails to this group. It's just, let me know you want to be included because When the time comes in 2025 if the first round is anything to go by, there's going to be a fair bit of competition. Now let's open the curtains and have a little listen to what it's like inside the framework collective.

Speaker 4: 4:22

going back to the other job that I declined, that was the first time I've actually ever declined one because it just wasn't what they were wanting with their style of furniture, exactly what Rhiannon was saying. It just wasn't aligning with where I was wanting to take my business now. And it was in the staging industry, which I'd had done a lot of work in that before as well. But I was trying to go more into the full service design as well and just focus on that. So it was empowering a little bit to say no to that job as well, because it's okay, now I know that I can say no. And I can focus more on just this other area of the business, which was really good. So it lets you actually laser focus on something different as well, which is good.

rhiannon: 5:07

Got multiple layered benefits from integrity and say, breaking up with these people. You're so close. Some designers would've just seen it through if you stand up and do that, you hold more integrity for yourself and respect for yourself. Yeah. Go forward and be like, look, I just don't tolerate that. Like I've already gone above and beyond it really helps give you permission to understand that you filter the business that comes in and out. You don't actually meet the clock, the discovery call. I don't want to say it's not like it's a mutual conversation and it's not you turning into a pretzel to try to match their brief. It's actually their brief and going, is this. I think that's something that I want to participate in because some of these like full service especially can go on for like years you've got a really strong relationship with people and I think, yes, we can be people pleases yes we can do that but I would challenge if you haven't yet and actually I think you had something about getting clancy to Was it you that said to create a bit of a template for saying no to clients?

Speaker 3: 6:08

That is 100 percent what I need to do because even today I've got a call booked in with someone and I think that's my weakest point is on the phone. I almost have no idea. I have no idea even now thinking about it. If I'm feeling like I don't really want to do the job, or the location's not great, or whatever, I just almost find it impossible to know what, how I would even say

Speaker 6: 6:32

I struggled with this, I literally had to print it out and put it behind my computer.

Speaker 3: 6:36

Okay.

Speaker 6: 6:36

I have it stuck up there still, I don't read it much anymore, it's literally behind now.

Speaker 3: 6:40

Yeah.

Speaker 6: 6:40

But to read it as I go, I find it so hard with interior projects to say no. Staging I'm like absolutely not. Bye. But with interiors, I don't know, I get weird about it, but all the people's

Speaker 3: 6:51

homes and they're there telling you about all that. And I just really need help. And oh, I just get too easily led, I think just on a, like an emotional level with someone I haven't even met.

rhiannon: 7:02

But your no is not there forever. No, they'll get someone to do it. Your no is I'm not the person for you to do. And you can lean on a fake. Availability issue, like they won't wait forever. So saying, I had in my e design business, a 12 week lead time anyway. So that would get rid of like a whole bunch of people, even people I wanted to work with. Cause I was like I can't actually take you on for that time. So if you want to build a pretend delay, like I don't have availability until April of next year. Are you willing to wait till then? If they do. Then you've got another problem. But also I don't want to

Speaker 3: 7:42

my problem is that I will make them even when I know I don't have time and can't fit them in. I still find myself going, Oh yeah, I'll come and do a console. And the problem is me. It's not the, it's not the clients, obviously

rhiannon: 7:53

Because it's the language that they use about how much they need someone and you are the matching solution. You feel obligated. Yeah. And you end up immediately being like, let me get my cape. Like I'm coming over. Like you don't need to save them. You don't. No. Oh, them, anything they're not, it's literally just if it doesn't work out through an inner discovery call, you can also just reference back. I'm so glad that you reached out. Cause it's really important that we have these conversations early on in a project so that I can decide how I want to move forward and you can get the best out of me if I'm the right fit and really it's go back to the explanation of why they're on the phone with you. I get that you've just told me that your son's getting divorced and you need to make his room beautiful because he's moving back home and like all the emotional shit. Yeah. And just think about trying to get a script together where you wrap it all and the wrap up is I'm so grateful for you to have found the business and reached out to me and for me to hear more about your project. Here's how I want to move forward.

Speaker 5: 8:53

And

rhiannon: 8:54

so that moving forward is either let's get you in my diary, I'm super excited to come over and see the house and to hear more, or I'm really glad that you reached out. I'm really grateful. I wish I had a more flexible calendar. But at this point, it looks like I wouldn't even be able to help you if I wanted to just because, As you've explained earlier, you need the job done pretty quickly. And I'm quite heavily booked. So I haven't set any dates. I'm not actually even giving you because you might say yes. And then I have to come and do your divorce, lose a son's bedroom. Maybe practice that, go back with the replay and get that script out and just have a sentence or so where. You get really good at your spill. You've done lots of discovery calls. You get a lot of calls and I do this, then I do that. Then I explain the process and the pricing, then the availability. Now, I just want you to add a stepping stone at the end where I review what the purpose of the call was and how do I want to proceed. Yeah, just adding a new little part to the spill. And once you do that, that becomes part of your process. It's not going to fix all your people pleasing. I wish I could, but no, I'm not that good of a therapist. But just a reminder that now I wrap up the call and I've got even if you have to draw a picture, I've got three options, book them in, turn them down, delay them till later actually think about Ange said with the post it or printouts put something up there so that when you're on the call, You're remembering like there's a three pronged kind of attack to the finish up of this call and you've made your decision and then follow the line, follow that decision with whatever little writing is at the top of it. It sounds basic, but printouts, paper, scripts, they work. That's how we got good at the discovery calls in the first place is the very first ones you had printed out their inquiry and you decided on not different options in case they ask for a discount and like you'd over prepared so much stuff. And now you're like, absolutely not. Do not discount. Absolutely not. We'll not do that. That just comes through practice. So I think if you can as an action for you, if you can think of your three. Like ways to end a call and then try it on.

Speaker 3: 10:57

Thank you, ladies. I've had a little therapy session. Yeah. Because when I think back over the year, all of the clients that have been bigger jobs this year have all just started off with that. Can you come over and help me with this? And they've all come from the premise of just a one and done 90 minute consult

rhiannon: 11:17

or there could be something in there where your conversion tells a really big story. If your conversion rate is over 80%, you've got a pricing problem. If you're not pricing correctly, you're too cheap. Everybody's saying yes to you. Don't want you to be at 80%. Ideally, I'd like you to be at like 65 percent and be comfortable with no, but have the 65 percent who say yes pay more for your time. So we want to work with less people for more income and not overwork yourself. And that's that's the conversion story that, Is being told if you're over 80 percent but then also just like that if you're looking at all these and none of them are converting into full service jobs you might be giving away too much for an hour. That could be a story, but you have to do a bit of work to say what's wrong. Am I not holding anything back? Am I, am I giving them everything they could possibly need in the hours that they don't need me for the scope of work? Or, am I am I not setting or am I not confident to ever ask for the sale? Am I not following up? Am I not? This is not you, no, that actually is me. Maybe there's a process, just the smallest. Tweaks in your business can have the greatest impact. Just identifying what it is that might need a slight tighten or a shift and you could all of a sudden have all these projects that you were losing come through, or yeah, like you can make the shift that you wanna see if there's, if you're feeling burned out or you're doing too many in-home, then there's heaps of ways that we can, like I said, like the Tuesday and the Thursday thing. That's helpful. Or like lifting the prices or. Qualifying people better. Tell me more about your project and I'll let you know if I have availability. I spoke to someone yesterday and she corrected me like three or four times around, I won't be paying more than this because I've already checked how much bedside tables cost and I was just thinking, I don't even want to do that much design work like, and I definitely don't want to do this one when you've said Globe West is not appropriate. What were the socials like? What worked well? What didn't work well this month? And let's have a quick look at the last quarter and what happened this time last year. What was it June like in the P& L last year versus, so what would I be expecting? And then What will my target be to grow on top of that? I think you start to really stay on top of those numbers and expectations because many, not all of you, but many of you will be like, I get what I get and I don't get upset. I find out at the end of the month, what did I get? And that's not how we run the business. It's not a case of did I make 10 K this month or did I not? Did I hit this target? Did I not actually, you should be looking, what did I get last year? What is the percentage of growth that I want to do and what should I be expecting month ahead, not month behind. You're going to need to make like goal setting stuff. That means you're in the focus of okay, I want to make. 13k because last year I made 8k or whatever. What can I do in the difference? Where are the revenue opportunities? What are my services that pay out more? What do I need to find? Do I need to find, plug in an extra couple of consults? Or are they a waste of my productivity right now? If I'm going for this stretch goal, can I like, I don't know, really making decisions about the services. Like for me, if I saw something and I don't have a framework launch happening in that month, and I look at what happened, maybe I had a launch last year and I had this big influx of goal and I'm going to need some private coaching clients. Stop. Like, how can I market that? How can I talk to that person and get them in and out this month to get that money through my business? That's a really important shift when you know how to run your reports. That's something I think you'll feel more, like you'll feel an actual difference between For example, the framework for emerging designers versus the collective, you're starting to get in there and look at every single month and never hiding away from it. More than probably 60 percent of business owners in the interiors industry, because they're just a bit funny about it. And like my accountant will tell me later, and I'm just not really as proactive as I am reactive. And I think if you can go no, I want to be the person that knows what I'm going for every month, because you're responsible to deliver that figure to your business. Really protective of the time, like the bookings and stuff. I've always thought about that since if I have even an inkling of whether or not I'm sure I want to take the job, it's got to be a no. Because if it doesn't lay all the way up, it's just got to be a no. Because the next person that called, and I have turned away projects that I've Being so upset to miss out on and not all like opportunities and not be able to do that because I walked in this like hair salon with Chandeliers and mirrored furniture, like just cause they called me and they needed my help. And I'm like, I'm not a commercial designer. I hate your style. And I don't want to do it. And I said, yes. And then someone's contacted me and said, I've got this like minimalist modern organic Japan y kind of thing. And I want to do this, that and the other. And I've got no budget and I've seen your work. I love your work. And you're like, I've got no availability, sorry. I can't meet your timeline. And it's The suckiest conversations. And so it's that's not a nice thing. You guys know that, but I think it's good to sometimes remind yourself every yes in your calendar. Is locked in, like there's no,

Speaker 5: 16:29

I'm sorry.

rhiannon: 16:30

Thanks for your deposit. But upon reflection, I've had a better offer. That's not how you run a business. You can't do anything. So you have to make sure that you are like happy with every yes, that goes in your calendar. It's really important that there's never a, maybe in there. And if someone's mentioning, it's okay to say, I'm probably not the designer for you. Cause I get to do one project and it's going to be a globalist level project. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 16:55

How do you find, with, do you do many in home consults or how do you find that balance between bigger projects and smaller projects? There

Speaker 4: 17:04

generally are more along this full service side. Having said that, I did actually say no to a project a couple of months ago, I just went, oh, what they wanted just wasn't there. What I wanted to do. I just thought this isn't going to work. No matter how many conversations we had, we just couldn't get on the same page with things. And I just went in the end. I just had to send a really nice, polite email, just say, sorry, but I just don't think this is the right bit. But Yeah, it's it's a tricky one and I did find it very uncomfortable because I don't like saying no to people, but it was one of those things. I just knew it wasn't by the end of it. It was going to be a disaster

Speaker: 17:47

Alright, that's all I'm willing to share for now because as I mentioned it was an hour and a half call. We have them twice a month on the first Tuesday and the third Thursday. Look, girls at this level are busy. You don't need weekly calls. You don't need me to hold your hand. I built out Trello maps and blueprints and every resource to get them where they're going. There are video lessons. It's quite self paced, but you also absolutely have all of me as you will hear inside of today's episode. So again, let me remind you, if you are interested in the Framework Collective, there will be three intakes for 2025. And there won't be big launches. You won't see lots of advertising. It will simply be a message out to the people who are on that waitlist or who have Expressed interest in the cause to say, Hey, it's open. It's closed. We're done. I cannot wait to see who I get to work with in this small group next year. All right. That's it for me. I will see you next week for the last week of Designing Success Season 2024. Bye for now.

Speaker 2: 18:48

That wraps up another episode of Designing Success from Study to Studio. Thanks for lending me your ears. Remember, progress over perfection is the key. If you found value in today's episode, go ahead and hit subscribe or share it with a friend. Your feedback means so much to me and it helps me improve, but it also helps this podcast reach more emerging and evolving designers. For your daily dose of design business tips and to get a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes, follow at oleander underscore and underscore finch on Instagram. You'll find tons of resources available at www. oleanderandfinch. com to support you on your journey. Remember, this is your path, your vision, your future, and your business. Now let's get out there and start designing your success.