Working All the Time but Not Making Money? Here’s Why.
Updated June 2024
Nothing will contribute to burnout, reduced satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion quicker than working very hard, all the time, but not making any money. If you are spinning your wheels to keep your head above water, it’s time to reassess some critical aspects of your business operations.
In my experiences with interior design business owners, this issue is often a symptom of specific malfunctions or breakdowns in their business operations.
So, if you are working all the time but not making any money, it might be because:
You aren’t working efficiently.
You’re spending too much time on non-revenue generating tasks.
You have too much overhead.
You’re not pricing your services properly.
You are working with the wrong clients.
Let’s dive into each one and troubleshoot!
01 | You Aren’t Working Efficiently.
You have no formalized processes, standard timelines, or policies in place. You aren’t leveraging software. You aren’t delegating (and you wouldn’t be able to even if you had the right support).
It can be as simple as that. You may be on a metaphorical treadmill, and you are getting nowhere fast.
You have inefficiencies in your business if:
Every time you sit down to send an email off to a client, you are composing it from scratch
You are manually or verbally scheduling your appointments with clients and vendors
Your days are unscheduled and unstructured
Each client onboarding call has a different flavor or focus
You spend time outlining project next steps in phone calls with clients
You are touching every part of your business operations, even though you have employees or contractors
Everything is in your brain, and no one else has access to it (obviously!)
Your clients are dictating the scope and timeline and are driving the momentum of the project
Read: How You Can Work Less and Charge More by Incorporating Software into Your Client Experience
02 | You’re Spending Too Much Time on Non-Revenue Generating Tasks
If it feels like you’re working all the time but not making any money, it could be because you’re doing things that aren’t moving the needle for your business, like fidgeting with your website, consuming information that doesn’t fill a gap you even have (this is why I practice in time learning), going back and forth, round and round on the same decision for hours/days/weeks; running manual reports; double entering finances; searching your desktop for the products you screenshotted for your client’s design plan.
You should get into the habit of tracking your time so you can analyze what you are spending your time on. It can also be as simple as putting a dollar sign next to the item on your to-do list to indicate if it’s a revenue-generating task or not. If you find that very few things on your to-do list have a $ next to them, it’s time to delegate those tasks.
03 | You Have Too Much Overhead.
If it feels like you’re working all the time but not making any money, it could be because you’re spending too much on overhead expenses: office expenses, team expenses, professional development, software you aren’t using, memberships or subscriptions that aren’t of value to you, coaching that doesn’t meet you where you are, you get the idea.
Do you really need [a bigger office | to buy that course you won’t implement | to hire another designer when you don’t have a support staff | a pricey subscription to software you aren’t even using]?
Regularly reviewing your business expenses is a crucial practice that can help you identify and eliminate any unnecessary costs, thereby improving your profitability.
Watch: The 7 Things You Should Review at Month-End
In my business, I have a task in Asana where I list all my subscriptions. Every month, as part of my month-end process, I review the list of subscriptions to make sure I’m still using everything. When I add a new subscription, I add it to the list so I don’t forget about it and can cancel it before it bills again.
**It also came in handy to have all my subscriptions in one task when I had fraud on my business card and knew exactly what subscriptions I needed to update with new card information.
04 | You’re Not Pricing Your Services Properly.
Why is this one number four (and not number one)? Because you can’t price properly if you don’t have #1, #2, and #3 in order.
Once you have those figured out, it's crucial to recognize the immense value of the transformation you bring to your clients. This is not just about the physical changes you make, but the emotional and psychological impact you create in their spaces.
Maybe you haven’t raised your rates in forever. Or your rates are simply too low. Or maybe you aren’t scoping out the project and identifying what the customer needs. Or maybe you’re not taking into consideration the ROI your expertise brings to the project. Or maybe you’re stuck on hourly billing, and you’ve reached the max you can bill for your area
(Newsflash: this is false).
The fact is, 99% of the designers we talk to are undercharging. Or they feel bad for charging what it will actually cost them to do the service. Or they worry their clients won’t want to pay for them to do the thing.
Do not forget that your skills and expertise are unique and highly valued in today’s marketplace.
Check out The Pricing & Proposals Workshop for Interior Designers
This brings me to the next point:
05 | You’re Working with the Wrong Clients.
Maybe you feel the need to do everything for everyone, and you can’t say no. So you’re being pulled in a hundred directions with no ability to structure your days/weeks/workload, let alone set up software to help you manage the phases and automate some of that busy work or delegate tasks to a team member.
Or, maybe you’re working with clients who were attracted to your “we split our discount” marketing message, and now they have a discount mindset and are expecting a discount at every turn. Eww. The second a cheaper option comes along, they’re out.
“Splitting your discount” (what does this even mean….) or “sharing the discount” with clients is a race to the bottom!
Or, the clients you are working with are not willing or able to invest what it truly takes to achieve a high-quality interior design project.
Your marketing may simply be reaching and attracting the wrong audience. When you have non-ideal clients in your pipeline, everything will feel painful and slow and often times no amount of money is even worth the pain.
Ready to Stop Spinning Your Wheels? Start Here.
Map out your process. Set a timeline for each phase. What happens? Who does each step?
Load your process into a software program. Automate and delegate the parts you can. Create templates for each step where needed. (We love Asana + Honeybook).
Set minimums for project scope, fees, and budgets.
Show only the types of projects you want in your marketing. You do not want to attract clients wanting projects that you do not care to deliver. (Tip: don’t spend time or money photographing projects you don’t want more of).
Review expenses/subscriptions monthly and cut any unnecessary expenses. This goes back to point #3 above.
Review project financials. Was the project profitable? Can you cut things out or make changes to increase profitability? Do you need to adjust pricing or markup going forward?
This isn’t rocket science, but it does require diligence, consistency, and a commitment to having a business, not a flashy (and stressful) pillow-chopping hobby. (PS: I know the pillow-chopping is only 1% of what you do…but do your clients???).
Read: The Complete Guide to Time Management for Interior Design Businesses
What do you struggle with? Join my Friday morning email list, The Weekly Install®, to learn all about designing a profitable and sustainable business from the ground up!
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