You’ve upgraded your team, your branding, your portfolio, and even your mindset. You’re ready to run a million-dollar firm. But there is just one problem looming in the corner. It’s the elephant in the room. The problem whose solution would solve so many problems, but whose time and effort to solve sounds like a nightmare. And that’s your technology stack: the interior design business software you’ve chosen to use. Many designers rub up against digital friction, in which the tools meant to streamline your backend create as many issues as they solve. This article will guide you on how to perform a tech audit. This audit isn’t about spending a ton of money on the latest one-stop-shop app; it’s about refining your tools so they work for you, rather than the other way around.
Step 1: Know the Signs
Double entry: If any information has to be manually entered in more than one location, your interior design business software is not working to its greatest potential. Track a piece of data (like a client deposit or a product dimension) over the course of a project. If it had to be manually copied and pasted more than once, there might be a problem. You’re paying designers, not data entry associates.
Unclear locations: If you have to ask three different people where a certain file is stored before you can find it, something isn’t functioning right. Doubly so if those three people each give you a different answer that leads to a different version of the document. And triply so if the document only exists on someone’s computer desktop or email inbox!
A stack that isn’t a stack: Applications in a stack of technology should be able to communicate with each other. If they’re all siloed and unable to exchange information, they’re not serving you.
Step 2: Identify the Problem Areas
When you’re auditing your technology, start with the areas of highest impact. Try to determine what is taking the most time away from your staff, or what problems keep cropping up consistently.
For example, if you can never find the files you need, you might need a project management tool that lets you see every project, and a file storage solution that can easily connect to it. Instead of digging through your file system (or worse, your computer’s Downloads folder!), you can simply navigate to the project and find what you’re looking for.
The founder is often the bottleneck because they are the gatekeepers of knowledge, access to the interior design business software itself, and the vision of the firm. If you find yourself slowing down your staff, consider if there is a software solution. Instead of asking you for account access, your team can use a password manager. Instead of asking someone on the team the status of a project, look for a project management tool that allows for status updates.
It’s also very important to note that sometimes, the problem is not with the interior design business software itself, but with the people using it. You can have the best software in the industry, but if it’s not being used, it’s worthless. You will need to train your staff (and yourself) to adhere to a file-naming and storage standard, update the project status in the tool, and create and reference well-documented procedures for common tasks. If someone asks you for a password because they’re in a hurry, it’s important to tell them to check their password manager, and not break the process just to save a few seconds. Instill positive patterns!
Step 3: Identify What You Need
Not every tool or feature is useful. Sure, it’s useful to somebody, but it might not be useful to you. Be honest about what features you do and don’t need, with an emphasis on making the process as easy and painless as possible. The more friction in the process, the less likely you are to use it.
You may want to focus first on client-facing tools. Whether it’s a communications tool, a billing tool, or a client portal, making the look and ease-of-use of this software match client expectations is critical. A high-end client doesn’t want to receive their project plan on an Excel sheet.
There also needs to be a balance of what the principal or CEO needs, and what the rest of the team needs. The principal needs to be able to see the status of projects at a glance, while the team needs to be able to do the more detailed work and the granular elements of the execution.
Step 4: Judging a Software Tool
There are a few qualifications that make an interior design business software tool more ideal for a scaling interior design firm. You may want to appoint a savvy “tech lead” to head this project if you don’t have someone explicitly in charge of IT.
You’ll need multiple pieces of software. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll find one silver bullet that solves all of your problems. But a good software should have the ability to communicate and create automations with other software, or at least be compatible with a centralized software such as Zapier that can create automated tasks.
You can make a few easy, conscious choices to help with this part of the process. For example, choosing an email and cloud storage system that work together (Gmail and Google Drive, or Microsoft Outlook and OneDrive, for example). If these platforms have other tools, make use of them if they serve your needs. No need to use Microsoft Office tools if you have Docs and Sheets in the Google Suite.
Common Problem Areas
Some tech issues are common among all types of growing businesses, not just interior design firms. Here are a few that might crop up in your business as you scale.
Communication Platforms
Between texting, calling, emailing, instant messaging, and talking in person, information is transmitted in a dizzying number of places. To a certain extent, this is impossible to avoid. It’s not like you’re going to stop talking in person just to consolidate your communications! But efforts can be taken to streamline your communications. Firstly, use a tool such as Slack for your team communications. These tools let you create topic-specific channels, which both keep information organized and ensure those who don’t need to be in that conversation can opt out of it to keep their notifications clean. Internal texting and emailing should therefore be kept to a minimum, to avoid important information getting lost in private chats.
Client Documents
If a client has to print, sign, scan, and email back a PDF to approve a purchase or sign a contract, they will start feeling the friction. These minor but impactful issues add up and are easy to solve with a tool such as DocuSign, which allows for the sharing and signing of items like contracts.
Version Control
We’ve all been there. Without a good file naming and storage structure, team members will download and save new versions of documents, some of which may live in the team’s shared storage or be scattered in personal folders. Keeping basic documents in collaborative tools such as Google Drive can help with this. However, using a basic tool like Google Drive for large project files like 3D modeling and floor plans can sometimes cause version control issues itself. Between the time it takes to sync a large file to the cloud and the possibility for two designers to open the same file simultaneously, you can end up losing hours of work. If this is a possible issue, consider a storage solution that locks files when they’re in use, or that tracks changes in real time.
A true sign of success is being able to trade money for time. If the interior design business software that you’re paying for doesn’t save you time, then it’s time to reevaluate. Perform an audit of your current tech stack, see what other options are out there, and identify what your team’s biggest pain points are. Find tech that helps you scale without chaos and feel like a CEO, rather than a firefighter. If you’re ready to stop reinventing the wheel with every new process, but aren’t sure how to execute, see if Pearl Collective is a good fit for you today.