I feel like I just wrote about this but it begs repeating, everybody has a number. Everybody has a number.

That potential interior design client who doesn’t know what their budget is? They have a number.

Why do I know this?

Because the minute you exceed it, they will tell you you’re too expensive.

This same client BTW is probably one who will ask you if you can go lower on the reduced fee you already gave them to help them out. They will haggle and negotiate. Or, my personal favorite, they will tell you the story about how they got into trouble with that last designer they worked with which is why they so desperately need your help. Not desperately enough to pay you appropriately for your services, I might add.

Now you feel conflicted. This negotiation process is exhausting you because you realize they’re going to be a problem but you also feel bad because you can’t help them out. If you go through this kind of situation enough, you may start telling yourself the story about how their aren’t any good clients; that nobody wants to pay interior designers services anymore; that you never get to finish before they run out of money; and all of the other kind of soul depleting stories you hear about online.

But if that were entirely the case, there were would be no interior designers who are thriving but the thing is there are. The business has changed but many designers and their firms are doing exceptionally well. So what are they doing that you’re not? They’re getting help.