Today Lori May, an Atlanta based interior designer, and me discuss all sorts of juicy topics like: Whats the transition like from the corporate world into the design world? What does it mean to be a real business owner and stay accountable? Do you know how to run a real design business? What are the benefits of being your own boss? Have you ever thought about the cons of being a business owner?
Many women (and men) get into this business for one reason, they love it! It’s a burning passion deep in their soul. Maria Killam says it best, “I turned 30 and it was like, be creative or die!” Unfortunately, a design business cannot run on passion alone. It’s like asking a car to run solely on gasoline. Sure it makes the car turn on, but it also requires oil, energy and a lot of moving parts to make it have legs, and move forward.
Why won’t this damn thing go?
As I have expanded on this podcast and spoken to hundreds of designers over the years, I’ve started to see a quiet plague running ramped in our industry, it’s a disease called hobby. We graduate from design school hang our shingle on the door and get down to “doing.” One single client at a time. It all seems fine and dandy until year five or maybe it’s year ten hits and you are worn out, jaded and ready to throw in the towel. Does this sound like you?
If you have not already read Michael Gilberts The E myth Masterey, The 7 Essential Disciplines for Building A World Class Company, I suggest you run out today and buy it. And I mean today people. Michael talks about the disillusionment that many entrepreneurs have about being self employed. He calls it the E-Myth.
There are three levels to being self employed. The technician, the manager and the entrepreneur. Most of us never take the leap out of technician. As Michael puts it, you go to work and your just doing, doing, doing. Working in the business rather than working ON the business. A true entrepreneur has a system that runs itself whether you are there or not and builds a lasting legacy. For example, Peggy from Peggys Pies vs Sam Walton of Wal-mart. Which one do you remember?
Today Lori and I discuss this very thing. How can you run a better business? What can you do right now to start thinking like Entrepreneurs rather than technicians? How can we make our client interactions better? How can you increase service so your clients get incredible value? And how to grow a business that has legs and expands your offerings to create multiple streams of income so you aren’t doing, doing, doing but rather growing, growing, growing!
Click below to listen:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/lori-may-atlanta-based-interior/id505550006?i=184131713&mt=2
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