How Interior Designers Can Plan for Maternity Leave or Extended Time Off
Taking extended time off from your interior design business when you’re the CEO and principal designer can feel daunting. You've put your heart and soul into building your reputation, taking care of clients, solving issues, and marketing your services. You've likely been involved in every.single.thing that happens in your business daily, weekly, and monthly.
Most interior designers start their own business for more freedom, flexibility, and control over their schedules. Yet, as businesses grow, it can feel impossible to take time off because so much of what you do isn't documented. The feeling that, “If I take time off, everything will come to a screeching halt” is often true—if you don’t plan properly.
Whether you’re planning for maternity leave, a fully unplugged vacation, or a once-in-a-lifetime trip, with the right preparation, your business can run smoothly while you’re away. It may even thrive with the tips in this article, benefiting your company, your team, and your bottom line for years to come.
So, whether it's you, the CEO, preparing for time off, or one of your team members, follow these steps to ensure a smooth transition and that your business and clients are well cared for while you enjoy your time away.
Tip 01 | Take Inventory Of Everything You Do In Your Interior Design Business
Take inventory of everything you’re currently working on. This might mean tracking activities daily and assessing all the tasks and projects on your plate. We recommend doing this inventory for a month so you have enough data to see what daily, weekly, and monthly recurring activities you typically handle.
Note how long each of these tasks and projects generally take you on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. This will help you understand the bandwidth required for tasks that will be delegated.
Once you have the list of activities documented, think through how they will be handled while you are out:
What can be delegated to existing team members?
Can certain activities be paused or eliminated?
Can certain activities be automated with software?
Do you need to hire someone to help?
Tip 02 | Formally Document Everything
Create a document for each open client project that includes the following details (or better yet, ensure your project management software already has all of this info and is easily accessible to the team):
Client name
Client main point of contact and preferred contact method with all contact info
Client project info, including contract and scope information, any unique situations, client questionnaire, project images, etc.
Status, timeline, where they are in the process, next milestone, etc.
Create or update standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all tasks and projects you will be delegating to team members in your absence. These are the most common ones interior designers typically delegate.
Define what “done looks like” or “what success looks like” for each SOP or task. Yes, the SOP will tell them what to do/how to do it, BUT, the success standard tells them what done looks like. Example: no spelling errors, files renamed as [insert your naming structure], all images have background color removed, business logo on every page, etc.
Create customer service policies and standardized responses to typical requests. This will allow your team to handle claims issues, delays, and client management issues without involving you.
Tip 03 | Automate, Delegate, and Train Your Interior Design Team
Utilize your software to automate any processes or tasks that can be automated.
We love using Honeybook for streamlining client facing communications like onboarding new clients, sending regular project updates, asking for testimonials, and more.
We love using Zapier for triggering behind the scenes workflows like creating folders and files in your Google Drive when certain events take place, setting up Zoom links, adding events to your calendars, setting up projects and assigning tasks in Asana, adding customers and clients to email segments, etc.
Make sure financial processes such as invoicing, paying bills, and filing payroll are streamlined and automated where possible.
Use a project management tool to assign tasks, share SOPs, and set due dates so everyone is on the same page. We use and LOVE Asana.
Use ManyChat to automatically respond to social media comments or to share links to articles and sign up forms.
Create a delegation plan and hand over tasks as quickly as possible.
Encourage your team to come up with a solution and present it to you before they present it to clients. They shouldn’t bring you the problem; they should bring you the solution.
The goal is to do this WHILE you are still in office so you can provide input and guidance as they take on the tasks as their own.
This will also allow you to fully refine your SOPs so your team has absolute clarity and can take full ownership.
Hire any short term help, if needed. Designate an existing team member to be their point of contact while you are out.
Confirm that each team member knows exactly what they are responsible for during your absence and has all the information they need. This might mean adjusting current roles or assigning new ones temporarily.
Make sure your team has access to any software tools they’ll use in your absence.
Include the back-up person in all project meetings and client communications before you start your leave.
Designate a “quality control” lead. This person will be responsible for ensuring all work meets company standards and for coordinating quality checks. They will reference the SOPs and “success standards” you created in step two.
Tip 04 | Plan and Schedule Ahead
Take time to fully understand your capacity for taking on new interior design projects.
Stagger project start dates and put clients onto a paid waitlist so your team isn’t overloaded while you are away.
BONUS: knowing you have interior design projects in the pipeline upon your return may ease your financial worries.
Create an editorial calendar that outlines your marketing promotions and upcoming launches so you can understand the type of content that needs to be created and determine whether YOU will need to create that material or if someone on your team will handle that.
If you’re the one who will be creating marketing content, create it in advance and then schedule future blog posts, email newsletters, social media posts, and Pinterest pins so your marketing is active while you are away.
We use Tailwind for scheduling all our social media and Pinterest posts.
We use Flodesk for sending out The Weekly Install® and highly recommend it for interior designers.
Anticipate and plan for scenarios that may take place outside of the regular day to day tasks, like receiving a press opportunity, being asked to share your work online with a big name vendor, receiving an invitation to co host a local event or meet for coffee with a local builder or architect, etc.
Ideally, all these tips will be implemented at least two weeks before your maternity leave or extended leave so you can feel completely in control by the time you officially turn on that out of office and shut your computer down.
Tip 05 | Empower Your Interior Design Team To Make Decisions WITHOUT You
Review your company vision and mission and make updates as necessary. Share it with the team to use as their guiding light in making decisions that align with your company vision and mission while you are out.
Create a decision-making matrix listing common scenarios and the criteria to be considered for each type of decision.
Some common scenarios are client out-of-scope requests, client price negotiation, budget adjustments, change of scope requests, contractor/vendor issues.
Some common criteria include urgency/time impact, client impact, financial impact, business goals, and reputation.
Create guidelines for when your team can make decisions independently and when they need to consult with you or someone else.
Identify who is responsible for making decisions, small and large. This may be two different team members depending on the impact.
Tip 06 | Establish Clear Communication Protocols for Your Interior Design Business
Define emergencies and how to handle them. Create guidelines on what constitutes an emergency along with the appropriate response.
Establish a check-in protocol, IF you will be available for check-ins. Create a contact schedule and process. Do you prefer emails, texts, calls, Voxer or slack messages? Will you be checking messages in the morning or evenings, only on certain days of the week, etc?
NOTE: if an employee is taking leave, check with your attorney or an HR consultant to confirm the rights employees have while on leave. For subcontractors, define their communications preferences in advance.
Enable an autoresponder for email and voicemail that includes who to contact in your absence and their contact info. You may also consider forwarding emails to the interim person or having someone else on your team regularly check that inbox.
Tip 07 | Prepare Interior Design Clients for your Extended Leave
Inform clients in advance about the leave.
Send clients an introduction email connecting them to the interim project manager or point of contact.
Outline the project status, milestones, and who is responsible for the next steps.
Manage client expectations about response times and how any ongoing or new scope or project requests will be handled.
Be sure to instill trust in your clients in their new point of contact. Start involving the new point of contact early in this process so the client feels completely confident while you are away.
Tip 08 | Manage Your Transition Back to Work After Maternity Leave
Schedule a team meeting upon your return back.
Discuss status of all open and upcoming projects.
Discuss what went well while you were away.
Discuss if any inefficiencies were identified and what needs to be improved.
Review any internal process or policy updates or changes made during your absence.
Determine what role changes are permanent and make necessary adjustments to job descriptions, roles, pay rates, etc.
Create an action plan to incorporate improvements and updates into your regular process.
Share your gratitude. Let your team know you appreciate them and recognize their talents.
Continue to identify ways you can delegate work and give your team more autonomy.
Planning for an extended leave where your interior design business doesn’t come to a screeching halt takes a lot of upfront action and planning. Not only is it possible, but it could also be an opportunity to get your operations in BETTER shape than ever before, moving you out of the day to day and further into your role as CEO.
By following these tips, not only will your interior design business continue running smoothly while you take time off, but it will likely thrive. You'll see firsthand how effectively leveraging your team, using the right software, and formalizing your policies and processes can lead to more success and freedom. Look at “preparing for maternity leave or extended leave” as time well spent for taking your business to the next level, giving you the peace of mind to enjoy time away to the fullest.
Additional Resources:
How To Know If You’re Ready to Hire—complimentary resource
Business Blueprint—Standard operating procedures for interior designers
The Designed to Scale® Method—our ten week group program to help you design a menu of profitable services you love and a streamlined way for delivering them to clients
How Interior Designers Can Use Asana to Manage their Entire Business—complimentary resource
Full Service Client Experience Templates—elevate your client process from initial inquiry to final installation
