3 Sure-fire Ways to Accidentally Sabotage Your Plan

When you chose to start an interior design business, you embarked on a unique journey.  As an entrepreneur, a well-run business will impact every facet of your life. Your interior design business plan is a key document to managing your business—and therefore, your life. So, you must ensure the plan works.

There are some mistakes that enter during the drafting stage that could hold you back. If you diagnose your issues early, you can skip the struggle and jump to the next level, a strong plan that will succeed and guide your business.

Watch out for these three mistakes that are sure to cause your plan to backfire before you even get started:

You Don’t Speak Plainly

If you’ve ever been a student or read an academic piece of writing, a distinguishing factor of this style of writing is the vocabulary, the word choices. Writing within an academic discipline presumes the audience shares a common vocabulary and expects to read terms related to their subject. There is also a formality to it. 

In the case of your business plan, you are the audience, and perhaps your employee to some degree. Keep the language simple!  Instead of “henceforth,” you can write, “moving forward.” You shouldn’t inflate your writing with big words that require time to think and decipher because this will hold you back from using the document.

Remember, you will review this document and adjust frequently. It should be user-friendly! You’re telling yourself the direction your business will go. Imagine giving someone directions and saying, “Turn left at the tall post with a square metal topper that holds symbols on it” instead of saying, “Turn left at the sign”! Make it simple.

You’re Not Being Realistic

A year is a looooong time! That’s why you stay on top of your interior design financial statements and review them consistently—much happens in a year. So, keep your timeline manageable—look ahead at a minimum of three years but not more than five for this version of the plan. Life and your business are constantly changing, and it might waste your time to plan too far out.

While there is a place for a long-range, 10-year plan, your goal for a business plan is to be specific and measurable within a time frame that shows progress. Your short-term plan is important; identify and define the next few years so that you build and grow your business.

You’re Taking Too Long

Your business is not on hold while you create this document; time marches on. The longer it takes to create, the less you’re implementing true progress and continuing to stumble along. Get the plan done. Make it short-and-sweet and keep it actionable. Focus on steps that will take place and when in the next few years. 

Don’t Be Your Own Worst Enemy

As the author of your business plan, you have the power to help make this an instrument for the betterment of your business. Avoid sabotaging yourself.

To get direction on creating your interior design business plan or to learn about other’s experiences creating a business plan, join The Designers’ Inner Circle. If something is not right, you need to fix it before it grows into a larger problem.