How to Work ON Your Business When You Are Buried in Client Work

SYSTEMS & OPS

Feb 16

All designers can relate to the struggle of getting client work done while also doing work that grows the company. When your focus is on delivering an elevated client experience, it can be difficult to find time to put on your Business Development

I think every service provider and business owner can relate to the struggle of getting client work done while also doing work that grows the company. When your focus is on delivering an elevated client experience and a flawless design to your clients, it can be extremely difficult to find time to put on your Marketing, Accounting, Leadership, or Business Development hat. And often, the client deadlines are imminent, while the business growth deadlines are self imposed. It’s easy to say, “Oh, I’ll focus on those big picture things later; I’m too busy right now getting everything done for the Smith project”.

But if you fail to work on business development and growth tasks, you’ll likely find yourself in one of two situations (or both…eek!).

Situation 01: Working constantly, recreating the wheel often, but moving in circles - not forward. Same type of projects. Same revenue and profits year after year. Same time investment. Same exhaustion level. No time to reflect or assess what’s working or not working. No time to bring on help. No money to invest back into the business.

Situation 02: Major swings in your pipeline. Some months you are slammed - so busy you can’t even respond to leads. While other months, you are panicked. You have nothing in the pipeline and no leads coming in. You’re terrified so you say yes to the first thing that comes your way - even if it’s not an ideal fit. OR, you simply have no new revenue for a period of time. Not ideal.

I know there are only so many hours in the day. Additional time to do all the things needed to cultivate your business can’t just be created out of thin air. But there are some parameters to set in place that will free up a bit of time from your work day so that you can focus on business growth.

Here are my three tips for finding time to work ON your interior design business, even when you’re buried in client work:

01 | Develop a weekly cadence for your work week.

First, start by dedicating certain days of the week to specific client milestone tasks. Discovery calls two afternoons a week. Consults and kickoffs one day a week. Presentations one day a week. This will typically leave you with a full day for creative, deep focus, no call/no meeting days. And, by developing a weekly cadence, you are essentially blocking together like tasks that require similar energy levels. For example, you likely wouldn’t be very efficient if you took a discovery call, then drove over to a potential client consult, then went to a new client’s house to kickoff the project. That would be insanely stressful and you’d be all over the place with information and details and things you need to do next.

But if you have certain days you do certain things, you’ll be more efficient and productive which means you’ll have more time to focus on your business.

Then, within each workday, identify when your brain is ON for deep focus and creative work, and when it is too tired and can only manage admin tasks.

For example, most of my writing and marketing happens in the early morning hours and in a small window of time in the afternoon when I feel very clear headed and energized. So I prioritize important tasks to take place during those times. Tasks like planning marketing initiatives, creating marketing materials, developing products, refining services, reviewing and streamlining systems and processes, etc.

So, once you’ve identified the best days and times for doing business growth activities, put those on your calendar or add them to your task list and set a reminder so they come up as due and so you don’t miss them. This may be an hour or two twice a week, or Friday afternoons, or Monday mornings — whatever works for you. Consider it a non negotiable commitment — just as a doctor's appointment would be. Block out your calendar. Set your phone alarm so the start of this time block will not be missed. Decline to take on any other activity or commitment during this time. Whatever you need to do!

As the CEO, it is up to you to grow your company. Growth activities should be non-negotiables.

02 | Identify what YOUR revenue generating, business development, or growth tasks actually are.

We all have different things that move the needle in our businesses. It all depends on the services and products you offer and the clients you work best with.

Before you can set aside time to growing your business, you have to know what things WILL grow your business.

Maybe it’s creating lead magnets to grow your email list.

Maybe it’s writing blog posts to attract new website traffic to your online shop.

Maybe it’s running Google Ads to get more local traffic for your 1:1 services.

Maybe it’s setting aside time to train your team so you can get out of some of the busy work.

Maybe it’s pitching editors or local publications to feature your work and your company.

Maybe it’s hiring a brand designer to update your branding so it better reflects the clients and projects you want.

Maybe it’s running numbers and reflecting on what’s actually profitable vs. what isn’t, then implementing changes to increase profitability and efficiency.

Maybe it’s setting up systems and creating templates so your team can do things just how you like them, without you having to review and have your hands in every thing every time it happens.

Again - these activities will look different based on the services and products you offer.

But once you identify what those key things are that will help grow your business, then it’s a matter of scheduling them and making time for them.

03 | Stop multi-tasking and responding to every single thing within one second.

I’m guilty of this one even though I SEE how much slower I work when I am trying to do multiple things at once, or when I’m task switching. It is SO inefficient and my brain cannot handle the short little stints and all the various inputs.

So, refrain from reacting to every.little.thing.that.comes.your.way throughout your work days. By postponing specific activities, you’ll work more efficiently in the time that you do have, hopefully saving bits of time throughout your week. That time savings can translate into time for business development activities.

And be sure to turn off ALL notifications and put your phone far away from you (if that is your distraction).

While you're working on design projects throughout your work days, don’t stop to check and respond to every email that comes in, don’t track task completion, don’t follow up on uncompleted tasks, don’t check text messages, don’t follow impulses that would have you pause your main activity. You get the idea.

Instead, remain focused on the design-related activity, and give yourself permission to ignore other distractions. This takes focus!!

Then, at a specifically designated time (I find that the end of the week is optimal for this), do all the email responding, all the task tracking, all the follow-up, all the extraneous stuff. Overall, you’ll save time by not having to refocus your attention countless times throughout the day. And your follow-up time will be efficient, because it too will be relatively distraction free.

I practice what I preach in this regard, so I know it can be done, and I know it saves me time overall — time I can then devote to business development.

I call it “Follow-Up Friday.” I work in the morning (to get The Weekly Install® out each week!), then I spend the rest of the day responding to emails, reflecting on the past week, setting up tasks for the upcoming week, checking in on projects…ALL that stuff. Knowing I have Friday as a catchall to handle all the random tasks that come in throughout the week means I have more time and spaciousness in my brain during the week to focus on business development and growth tasks.

→ If you’re like, “Katie, if I waited until Friday to respond to emails, my people would just text me and then I'd have texts AND emails to respond to.”

Responding to emails on Fridays works for me and I’m not saying to only answer emails on Fridays. In my specific situation, I have a team who is available throughout the week to offer support and answer questions. People are directed to email them. PLUS, my email auto responder provides their email addresses. It also lets people know I respond to emails on Fridays so they know they won’t hear from me immediately. Because I have set that expectation, I don’t feel “bad” or “guilty” for not responding to their messages immediately. They know I’ll respond on Friday, and if they need answers sooner, they can email my team.

But for interior designers, I know you have tons of emails coming in from clients, vendors, trades, contractors, architects, the works.

So simply determine what your typical response time will be and then communicate that to your people. Put it in your email signature. Put it in your contract. Put it on your website. Then each day, during a time when your brain is too drained for deep focus work but is primed for admin work, respond to those messages. But don’t keep your inbox open. Close it during the day and only check it during designated times.

04 | Eliminate busy work or unnecessary tasks.

Are you busier than you need to be? Do you ever wrap your day only to ask yourself, “What did I do all day?”

Find the time-wasters. The things you may be doing that aren’t important or integral to your clients or your business growth. Are you organizing your samples in alphabetical order? Are you adding fun new pieces to your product library? Are you changing fonts on your website? Are you color coding your calendar and reorganizing your Asana to do lists?

We all have time wasters - the things we do when we’re avoiding the things we’re supposed to do.

Then, find the things you ‘re doing that don’t have a positive impact or a high return on anything. Like making minor adjustments to your design presentations that are barely noticeable. Or continuing to source options for an item you already found and love and know will work perfectly. Or going above and beyond and throwing MORE things into the scope because you’re a people pleaser.

Ask yourself honestly whether you are overly responsive to emails. Are you long-winded where a few short words would do? Do you go back and look (and re-look) at work you have already completed? Do you loop back in your processes? Do you volunteer and participate in every opportunity that comes your way? Do you relish in over performing? Do you fail to delegate simple tasks?

Once you identify your time wasters and your unnecessary tasks, eliminate them. Or, delegate them (if they are important). Or, automate them (if they are necessary).

Then use the reclaimed time for business development.

If any of these resonate with you, put your energy expenditures on a diet. Work lean and mean. Shave minutes, and then hours off your allocations of time. You’ll then be able to devote concentrated and efficient effort to revenue generating activities — things that will result in business growth. Avoid marketing tactics that don’t work and instead devote effort to implementing strategies that will substantially elevate your business.