Discover your Strengths and Hire for Success in your Design Business

Any self-employed designer knows that starting your own business means wearing ALL the hats. 

All the time. 

It’s fun and exciting, and not a little bit exhausting as well!  You may have started your own interior design business because you’re super creative and love design so much, but you quickly learn that owning your own business also means doing lots of paperwork, marketing, sales, drafting, you name it.  So many tasks that have to get done but might not necessarily light you up.  This is all well and good for a little while but if you keep this up for very long, you’ll soon find yourself feeling pretty burned out and crazy trying to do all the things.  

Here’s where hiring help comes in.  But what to hire for, and who to hire?  We tend to focus on the job description and the tasks that need to be performed, but today I’d like to offer some additional criteria for hiring that is absolutely crucial if you’re going to find long term sanity in your business - which is our mission here at Designer Sanity!  

The key is to learn your strengths and hire for your weaknesses by taking a personality test.  One that I would highly recommend is Myers-Briggs.  

Myers-Briggs is a great test because it is free and easy to take ( take it for free on the 16 personalities website).  

In a nutshell, There are 4 pairs of “types” that you are testing for in Myers-Briggs, leading to 16 personality types in total.  That means, when you find your type, it’s super easy to hire for your weakness because they’re basically going to be the opposite letter on the test.  

Here’s what it looks like to use the Myers-Briggs to find your strengths and hire for your weaknesses in your design business:

Introvert vs. Extrovert.  This describes how you get energy - alone (introvert) or from people (extrovert).  

If you’re introverted like me, you might have trouble reaching out to potential clients and networking probably feels like a chore.  But for an Extrovert, these tasks are in their strengths and probably light them up.  That would be a good strength to hire for if you’re an Introvert. 

Likewise, if you’re an Extrovert you may  be so busy having “business lunches” that you have trouble working alone to do the quiet tasks that are needed in the business.  Hiring an introvert could be a great benefit to you to have someone who loves working quietly alone so you can go be social as much as you like.  

Sensing vs. Intuition -describes how you take in information - through your five senses (sensor) or from your intuition.  

If you’re a Sensor, you’re a practical thinker who takes in information through your five senses.  You might get so focused on following a checklist that you miss out on out-of-the box ideas, so hiring an Intuitive can add a much-needed spark of creativity to your business.

If you’re primarily intuitive, you might get so lost in your own internal world that you miss out on practical information happening outside of you.  Hiring a Sensor can help ground the business and keep things going in a steady direction.

Thinking vs. Feeling describes how you make decisions - either through thinking or feeling.

If you’re a Thinker, you might lose some of the nuances in relating to your clients because you are focused on the practical aspects of their job.  Hiring a Feeler can help you tap into the emotional needs of your clients and make sure they’re getting their needs met on all levels.  

If you’re a Feeler like me, you might go overboard in making decisions based on emotions alone and miss out important strategic decisions.  For instance, taking a job that’s really not right for your business because you like the client.  Hiring a Thinker can help you ground your decisions not just on how you feel in the moment, but in your larger goals for your business as well.  

Judging vs. Perceiving describes how a person organizes their world.  Judgers like order, and perceivers are more go-with-the flow. 

As a very strong Perceiver, I love spontaneity and big ideas.  Following a checklist and keeping track of little details is not my strength, but it’s so important to have someone in your design business who can check all the documents for mistakes and make sure every detail has been accounted for, so hiring a Judger can fill in those strengths.

Likewise, if you’re a Judger, you’ll appreciate the creativity and out-of-the box thinking that a Perceiver can bring to your business.  

When I took the Myers-Briggs I learned that I am an INFP.   The 16 Personalities website says, 

A Mediator (INFP) is someone who possesses the Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Prospecting [perceiving] personality traits. These rare personality types tend to be quiet, open-minded, and imaginative, and they apply a caring and creative approach to everything they do.

So here’s what’s funny.  When I hired my first assistant, my goal was to basically replicate myself.  I wanted to find someone who could do what I do.  I didn’t use the Myers-Briggs in that process, but later I learned that I inadvertently hired another INFP (it’s a rare type, what are the chances?).  It was wonderful to have someone on my team who thought like me and it was very easy for us, as the same types, to be on the same page and understand each other.  The only problem was that we also both had the same weaknesses, so there was no one on the team who could fill in what we lacked and be more detail oriented, for instance.  

So when it was time to hire my next assistant, I made it a goal to hire for my weaknesses and fill in some of the gaps in my business.  I had my interviewees take the Myers-Briggs, and ultimately hired a candidate who was a Judger, as this was the biggest gap I was experiencing.  It was wonderful to have someone on my team who could fill in the important strengths we were missing.  Long term, it was a great benefit to my business to have two team members who had different strengths and beautifully balanced each other out.   

One word of caution about hiring your opposite type.  While it is important to hire for your weaknesses to have a balanced and successful business, hiring for your weaknesses will also mean you're going to have an employee who probably thinks very differently than you.  It's very important to be transparent and communicative about your type and theirs, and to learn and understand as much as you can about what makes you both tick so you can get your needs met and avoid butting heads.  All the types see and approach the world differently, and this makes for a balanced and exciting workplace when we recognize and amplify each other's individuality and strengths.   

Understanding your strengths and weaknesses is so crucial to running a successful design business.  I would encourage you to take the Myers-Briggs to find out your type, and spend some time reflecting on how your strengths show up for you in your design business. 

Then, lean into your strengths by hiring for your weaknesses.  That means you’ll get to spend more time doing what you are naturally good at, and less time doing what you suck at.  You’ll be more successful taking this approach, and more importantly, feel much happier and more sane in the process!