A Business Refresh in a Coronavirus-Driven World is Still Possible

It’s been months since the world went into a crazy, unexpected spiral with COVID-19. Fast-forward to today, we look around and it’s still easy to feel helpless and powerless. Whether you’re employed or engaged in your own business, the economic downturn is felt in every corner of the world, and there is no end in sight for it just yet.

One of the industries that had to suffer dramatically is interior design. Everyone from interior designers, decorators, contractors – even those that are connected with the trade like engineering, architecture and construction – had to go through a long period of business drought. In the past couple of months, we have seen businesses open, and some people have gone back to work. Despite that, the economic recession is still among us. Without any form of vaccine, it looks like the downturn is here to stay for a while.

As an interior designer, setbacks are normal in business just as they are in life. But something as unexpected and insurmountable as COVID-19 is one we could never have imagined. Businesses are dissolving right before our eyes, and those that are still keeping afloat are no longer as blessed with the same big projects. The new normal is tight in all aspects, more so, economically.

We are faced with one question: Will you slow down and stop – or will you take this as an opportunity to do a business refresh and continue to fight?

One thing we’ve learned in life is that if you love something, you’ll fight for it. It’s time you do an interior design business refresh, because after all, with the pandemic and all, life continues. Here’s what you do:

Think Outside the Box

We are all used to the regular projects from before—a home makeover, a new build, a preservation project – anything. But with the economic slowdown, those kinds of projects no longer come aplenty. One thing that’s sure about the pandemic is that people are now encouraged to stay at home, and to work from home. For interior designers, the work-from-home set-up is an opportunity in itself. There are tons and tons of potential clients needing help in carving out a space in their home where they can be productive and professional. Make that your first pitch.

Update Your Website

With so many businesses dissolving these days, it’s easy to assume a lot of the usual places we go to are now closed. Unfortunately, the same thing can be thought about your business, so the first thing you should do is make your website alive. Whip up something catchy and relevant so people will know you’re back on track, and you are available to take on any projects ASAP. Make sure your contacts are updated.

Get a Press Placement

With more and more people encouraged to stay home and work from home, content is the season’s most significant necessity. People are more tuned in to the media for information and entertainment now more than ever. The great thing about press placements is the return of investment. As a Public Relations agency, our clients reported having doubled or tripled their business after getting published. Those figures may still be a little bleak while we’re on knee-level in this pandemic, but press placements mean GROWTH, and that’s everything we need to stay afloat these days.

At A Design Partnership, we’ve helped so many interior designers and businesses land press placements in the pages of Elle Décor, Robb Report, My Domaine, and Domino to name a few, and the business results it brought our clients had been phenomenal.

Send Them an Email

One thing we’ve noticed during the pandemic is that we’ve also received less and less business emails by the day. It could be some businesses’ lack of desire to continue reaching out to potential or current customers for the moment, the lack of workforce to do it, or any one of many different reasons. One thing is for sure though – email is cheap, and it’s still a great way to sell your services, keep your customers posted – and in this time of great disconnect – it’s a way to show you care enough. For example, I just received an email from my cable provider today about some ways we can do to deal with pandemic anxiety. I’m aware that this email is sent to thousands of subscribers, and they surely can’t expect an upgrade from me for the moment. But as a customer, I appreciate the extra effort to reach out. Did it cost them thousands of dollars to send that message? I doubt they spent a lot of that at all, email is free anyway. But as a customer, they certainly earned some cookie points from me.

Go Virtual with Your Services

Zoom, Skype, Messenger – name it, and anyone who lives in this world knows it. To top that, anyone who gets to live in a post-COVID world will probably be governed by it in ways we never thought of 5 or 10 years ago. Go “virtual” as a design consultant. In a post-COVID world and in the onset of more sophisticated video conferencing / collaboration technologies, design services no longer have to be 100% face-to-face. You go through any business website these day and you see segments that refer to “the future of work” and you’ll find so many ideas for growth in light of the new changes in the world and the future of work. If you still have the same traditional portfolio of services and you need to wade through business survival, we suggest you get on with what’s current. Keep learning, keep transforming.

There are only two sides of the coin with this pandemic: We either treat this period as a chance to give up or to treat this as a chance to transform. In business, every moment is a moment of choice, and the future of your business depends on what you choose today. There is no precedence to this pandemic – that means no one has a book out there that knows the right or wrong ways to move forward. But since it’s here to stay for a while and we have to wade through it, then move forward with enthusiasm we shall.

There are many ways to go through a transformation in business. Click here to request a free consultation.