As an interior designer, you have a lot to keep track of. You need to meet with clients, plan their spaces, purchase furnishings, and furnish spaces. If that wasn’t enough work, you also have to manage the back end of your business. You need to stay on top of your business’s finances, manage purchase orders, and receive payments.
With so many tasks on your plate, it’s easy to let things fall through the cracks. Interior design tools can make your life easier and help you grow your interior design business. Here are some of the interior design tools you need for your business.
Accounting Tools
For creative people like interior designers, the idea of accounting can be intimidating. When math isn’t your strong point, it’s easy to get behind on your finances. For any business, keeping accurate financial records is important. You need to know how much you’ve billed your clients and how much you’ve been paid. You need to have good records of your expenses.
Accounting tools can make keeping track of your business’s finances easy. General accounting software isn’t always user-friendly, as you may have learned first-hand in the past. Look for an accounting tool that’s designed for interior designers, like DesignDocs. DesignDocs includes lots of support and training, so it’s easy for creative people to learn to use it.
Design Tools
As an interior designer, you need a way to show clients what you’re planning to do with their spaces. Some designers will sketch floorplans and drawings on paper. If you really love to draw and aren’t too busy, hand drawing will work. But if you don’t like drawing, or if your business is starting to get busier, you need a better solution. Design tools are the solution you’re looking for.
For example, you could use a tool like SketchUp. This tool lets you quickly visualize your design projects. You can show your clients your floor plans and room scenes. If they aren’t satisfied, it’s easy to make adjustments to your design.
Note-Taking Tools
Have you ever forgotten what clients wanted, and designed spaces they weren’t perfectly happy with? It’s easy to forget small details when you’re not keeping organized notes. If you’re trying to remember everything in your head, it’s easy to forget that clients said they hate the colour red or don’t like wallpaper. If you’re writing things down on sticky notes, it’s easy to lose the notes.
Digital note-taking tools can help you remember everything you need to track. There are a lot of note-taking apps you can use. It’s best to choose an app that supports both web and smartphone use. When you’re meeting with clients, you can take notes with your smartphone. When you get back to the office, you can pull up your notes on your computer. For example, you could use Evernote or Microsoft OneNote.
GPS Tools
If you’re not great with directions, you may have gotten lost on the way to clients’ homes a few times. This is an embarrassing situation, and it can annoy your clients. Your clients are waiting for you to come evaluate their space. They’re busy, just like you, so they need you to arrive on time. If you think your navigational skills are holding your business back, one of the most useful interior design tools for you could be a GPS tool.
You can use Google Maps on your smartphone to find your way around unfamiliar areas. Other GPS tools include Apple Maps or Waze. When you use GPS tools, you’ll be able to easily find your way to clients’ homes. If you need to visit unfamiliar stores or warehouses to buy furniture, your GPS tool can help you get there, too.
