When you are just starting out, our clients may be friends, or friends of friends, the waters can get a little murky. When should you start charging? Should you ever do a home consult or walk through for free?
Amy answers your question this week!
The Question
Having done interior redesign & holiday decorating for friends & family for many years, I have begun charging for my services. Usually a woman has been in my home & then asks if I would come and rework her things for a fee. I suggest I come have a look at what she wants and talk about what her desires for her home are before signing on to work for her. That initial visit is usually 2-3 hours as we walk through the spaces and she tells me her plans & I make suggestions & throw around ideas.
I am unsure if I should be charging for that consult time or only the hours I am there after we agree to work together. For holiday decorating I do not do a preview visit as it is unnecessary. What do you think?
~Anonymous
The Answer
Good question. I too asked myself that when I began decorating. After my first few initial consultations, I quickly learned that they really were "working" visits. Yes, you should definitely charge for your initial consultation. Your time is valuable and you are giving design ideas, tips, and feedback during that visit. What to charge is a personal choice. A good gauge would be to look into what the average rate is for your area and take it from there. Good luck and continued success!
Best,
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Go Ahead, Ask Us Anything!
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| {photo credit: Katherine Cobb} |
Amy, our lead designer at the Design House will also be open to readers sending in Design questions you may have regarding your home. We will ask for you to send in photos of the trouble areas and specific questions for Amy, and she’ll do her best to help you out.
If you have any questions and would like our humble advice, send your questions (and pictures) to luckettstore@gmail.com (please reference “letters to Lucketts” in the subject line & in your note, so we know its intended for the blog column.)
I am a retired professional organizer. I usually did a one hour initial consultation for free to see what the client has in mind. I ask all the questions without giving anything away as to my ideas on how to approach the situation. That way, they couldn't just say, "okay, thanks" and then use all of my ideas for free. That worked very well for me. I offered them a written plan for a flat fee or a plan that included me doing all the work at an hourly rate. It was then their choice as to which way they wanted to go. Unlike you decorators that get to do really fun stuff, I was basically a cleaning lady a lot of the time!! LOL!
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