3 Key Steps to Create Control in your Kitchen and Bath Design Business

At Designer Sanity, our mission is to empower Kitchen and Bath Designers to Create calm, confidence and control in their businesses.  

Over the past 18 years in my design business, I’ve been on a mission to let go of the crazy that seems inevitable in the design industry, and figure out how to stay sane in my business on an ongoing basis.  I love figuring out better ways to do things, and over time, as I found things that worked, I incorporated them into my business and life.  

Now I’m so excited to share this body of knowledge with you at Designer Sanity.  

When I reflect upon everything that I want to share with you that I’ve learned over the course of my career, I realized that every tip, trick and tool falls into three main categories:  

Calm.  Confidence.  Control.  

In this 3 part series, I’m going to dig into each of Designer Sanity's 3 C’s and tell you how they are the secret to creating lasting and permanent sanity in your design business.  

Last week, I wrote about the secrets to creating Confidence in your design business.  You can check out that blog here.  And you can find the earlier blog post about Calm here.  

Today, let’s dig into Control.  

Control is all about Systems.  

Holy cow, systems - how I love and hate that word!  

As a creative, I used to rankle at the idea of systems because I wanted to be free to be spontaneous.  I didn’t want my creativity to be obliterated by a boring checklist, or for my intuitive process to be automated like I’m some sort of robot.  Little did I know that systems were the KEY to having MORE creativity in my design business, not less!  

As a kitchen and bath designer, I searched for years and years to find effective systems to help me organize the chaos in my business.  I spent hours onboarding project management apps that did not work with my brain and I had to discard.  I paid for expensive coaches and spent all my time educating them about all the intricacies of the complicated design business instead of having my big systems problem solved.  

It was immensely frustrating, but I just couldn’t let it go.  I knew that not having control of my systems was a major source of crazy in my business and I was determined to figure it out.  Over the years, I did begin to create systems for myself that worked, and I discovered that they fell into three key steps:

The first step to creating Control in your business is to plan your process. 

For years I tried to go with the flow and design my projects as they went.  This led to crazy on countless levels, and I finally hit a breaking point when I got an important project and I knew I had to figure out a better system to manage it or I was going to fail miserably to get it done on time and on budget.  

That’s when I planned out my process for the design project from beginning to end.  I planned out what I was going to do, when, and how long it was going to take.  I created a document I called the Design Roadmap, and used it for internal planning.  I also shared it with the clients, architects and contractors so everyone was on the same page.  

The Design Roadmap was a game changer because I went from being crazy in my business to having a project run smoothly and in control for the first time ever. 

Far from inhibiting my creativity, the control I felt unleashed my creativity and I was able to uplevel my design in every way. 

It even helped me hire my first assistant.  It was so effective I used it on every project after that and it has led to greater success in my business.  This is the immense power of planning your process.    

The second step to creating Control in your business is to take back your time. 

This may be the single biggest challenge in being a kitchen and bath designer and I haven’t found anyone else who has a system to solve it. 

We are all working too much, and it feels impossible to balance all of our complicated projects (each in a different phase of design/construction) with our calendars and overwhelming commitments.  I think many of us have just given up on ever having control over our time or finding work/life balance.  This is so sad and unnecessary.    

This was something that made me crazy for years in my design business until I created a system to solve it.  Yes, you read that right - SOLVE IT.  You see, when you have a system for planning your process that is complete, it's possible to take back your time as well.  

That’s the second half of the Design Roadmap System that I created - a Master Calendar where you can plan all of your projects in one place, and create a weekly action plan that works with your available time, not against it.  

It truly allows you to take back your time and find work-life balance on an ongoing basis.  I couldn't find anything out there for kitchen and bath designers that actually worked, so I created my own system.  

I promise you, taking back your time is not a pipe dream for designers.  I am the absolute worst at time management, so I had to create a robust system to keep me and my team on track. 

Doing so allowed me to cut my hours down to 15 a week and make more money than ever. 

With the Design Roadmap Master Calendar, it’s possible for you as well.  Taking back your time is the second step to finding control.  

The third step to creating Control in your business is to find your focus.

When your process is planned and you’ve taken back your time , you’re going to be able to find your focus like never before.  

This is where you get to up your control even more by looking at your time and your projects and finding opportunities to maximize your productivity.  You’ll be able to discover your ideal amount of projects so you can focus on fewer projects at a time and complete them faster if you wish.  

You’ll be able to plan your work and your week to maximize focus by batching your time and your projects.  This is where your business really begins to soar, and you’ll find yourself working less, feeling happier, and making more money. 

Finding your focus is the third step to gaining control in your design business.  

So there you have the three keys to finding Control in your business that I have discovered over the course of my career:

 Plan your Process

 Take Back your Time

 Find your Focus

How about you?  How has doing these things helped you find more control in your design business and create systems in your business?  What areas could you work on more?

So there you have it, the secret to creating lasting sanity in your design business.  

 Just remember the 3 C’s: Calm, Confidence, and Control.  

I promise you that when I started my business 18 years ago, calm, confidence and control were all in VERY short supply in my business.  But over time, with patience and a whole lot of persistence, I learned how to practice the steps until they become habits for me.  

That’s when sanity in my business truly became not just a pipe dream or a fleeting moment, but an ongoing reality for me.  I know that no matter where you are now, you can get there.  I’m here to help you and know we can do it together! 

If you're ready to take the reigns and get more control and sanity in your business, you're definitely going to want to check out my Design Roadmap Course.  You can find out more here. 

Cheers to finding more Designer Sanity!