Your firm is running well: You’ve built a successful business—maybe even approaching or breaking $1M in revenue—but what you thought was a well-oiled machine may actually be invisibly and quietly breaking. Most designers believe they have a process problem, and many do, but you may instead have a culture problem or a people problem. True success as an interior design business owner requires moving from seeing yourself as a “freelancer with helpers” to a CEO who shapes the culture around them. These are the five signs to look for in your business to see if you have a problem with culture—and how you can start addressing these issues.
Sign 1: You Are the Primary Bottleneck
One of the most common issues that we see with our clients at Pearl Collective is that, despite having a talented team and a business that runs reasonably well, it has to run through you. Owners have a hard time not being the bottleneck. You likely started solo and in full control. It can be difficult to relinquish that control and truly trust your team. So everything from a simple fabric choice to a client email has to go through you. Unfortunately, this means you have a cultural breakdown, in which you are managing rather than leading. Rather than employees taking ownership over their projects, you create a culture of permission-seeking.
How do you fix it? Try to apply the 10-80-10 rule. Put simply, this rule means that the first 10% of a project is defined by the leader to set the direction and establish goals, and the final 10% is checked over and refined by the leader. However, the middle 80% is fully handled by the team, not the leader. See if you can let go of 80% of control and just handle of the start and end of any given project.
Sign 2: The Problem Loop
Does every project feel a little like Groundhog Day? As in, do you find you and your team fixing the same mistakes on every project? If so, there is a cultural break in your business caused by a lack of accountability and repeatable systems. Now you might say: “But, we have processes and procedures, and they’re all documented!” But processes and procedures are only helpful as long as they’re followed. If hustle wins out over structure when timelines get crunched, then your documentation isn’t doing anything.
How do you fix it? You need to practice what you preach, even if it feels like it’s not convenient. Otherwise, your culture is disjointed, and employees get a warped view of what the values are in the company. Follow your processes, and you’ll avoid hitting the same walls every time. No excuses, no exceptions.
Sign 3: You Hire out of Desperation
You need to hire people. You’re too busy, and you need the help. But because you needed help yesterday, you ended up hiring the wrong people. They’re high-drama, non-committal, or don’t do the work as well as you hoped. And these poor hiring decisions are more disruptive than they might seem. Not only does the job posting and interviewing process take away from you or your employees’ working time, but the onboarding process does too. How wasteful is it for an employee to spend time learning the ropes and not actively contributing, only for them to quit or for you to fire them a few weeks later? This training is a worthwhile investment for a good hire, but if you find yourself going through the process on a regular basis, you’re wasting precious time.
How do you fix it? You need to have a culture that attracts true talent and passion—those who are low-maintenance, decisive, and work well with you and your team. This starts with you. Don’t hire the first person that seems good. Take the time to find the right fit for the job, who seems like they’re in it for the long haul. Don’t settle for less, at any point! This may require additional changes, such as expanding the pay for this role or increasing the flexibility of working hours. Don’t drive away an expert because your pay range is targeting an amateur.
Sign 4: You Prioritize External Validation, While Facing Internal Disorder
From your Instagram posts, one might think that you’re a powerhouse of the industry and everything is running smoothly. But behind the scenes, you’re constantly putting out fires. If this is happening in your business, you might be prioritizing the external validation of social media comments and media appearances over internal validation—that being a profitable business, a functional team, and revenue growth. If you’re happy to let the fires burn while showing something different to the public, you’re doing yourself a disservice. And you might be driving a wedge between you and your team as well.
How do you fix it? This is a mindset shift, plain and simple. Look inward, and think about how much stress is caused by avoiding the problems in your business—or, how much of that stress you’re putting on your team. You can keep posting on social media, just try to make the internal situation match the one that you’re projecting online.
Sign 5: You’re Still People Pleasing
Whether it’s with your team or your clients, being a people pleaser is a sign of a crumbling culture. Your intentions are probably noble: You avoid direct and potentially hurtful feedback because you want to be nice with your team. You might see them as friends more than employees, and don’t want to ruin a relationship. But feedback doesn’t have to be painful for either party! If your culture is healthy, everyone, including leadership, should be open to constructive feedback so that they can perform better. If you avoid it, you end up with a staff that fails to recognize mistakes, doesn’t respect your rules, and becomes stuck in their ways. In regard to clients, people pleasing may manifest as accepting a project below your stated minimum, offering discounts, or capitulating to demands that you know are the wrong call.
How do you fix it? Avoiding being a people pleaser is, again, a mindset shift. It requires recognizing that your business is better served by honesty, delivered kindly, clearly, and directly. It’s not nitpicking or complaining to give feedback. Instead, view it as coaching and active leadership. Chances are, your employees will appreciate you being to the point and growth-oriented. When it comes to holding your ground against clients, this comes down to remembering that you are the expert—you were hired for a reason! Don’t let your clients forget why they chose you to make their space beautiful.
You can’t reach true business mastery with a broken culture. Culture is the backbone of your business, and if it’s not working, then the entire operation is one step away from falling apart. So stop chasing down fires and build an excellent team that follows repeatable processes. If you’re almost there, have an annual revenue of $500K or more, but you’ve seen yourself in some of these problems, take the next step and book a discovery call with Pearl Collective.