5 Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before Starting my E-Design Business

I had many trials along the way to building my E-Design business into a successful, smoothly running operation. I would like to share 5 things that I learned along the way that will hopefully help you in your journey!

1. I couldn't price my services like Havenly. 

I made the mistake when I first started my edesign business thinking I had to charge $100 for a virtual design, because that's what Havenly was doing 😆. This was right when virtual design was just starting out, and I truly didn't think anyone was going to pay more than that for my services. I was very wrong. In fact, I quickly learned that charging this little meant I was getting paid less than minimum wage for my work, which led me to become resentful of my work and my clients. And I have to say, my clients didn't respect me either. It wasn't until I started pricing my services for what they were really worth that I was able to truly see the value that I was giving others, and I have to say, my clients saw me as more valuable as well, and treated me as much.

2. People don't actually know what "E-Design" is, and that's not a bad thing.

E-Design is still a fairly new concept, and much of the world doesn't even know what the term means. Truthfully, I am not a fan of the title (I have no idea who actually came up with it). "E-Design" is a very undescriptive term, and if you tell someone you are an E-Designer, they truthfully think you are creating Canva templates or something similar. For this reason, I never call myself an "E-Designer" to the outside world or put "E-design" as a service on my website. I either call myself a "Virtual Interior Designer" or "Online Interior Designer", which is much more obvious to someone not in the industry :). It makes it much easier for potential clients to find you and understand what you do.

3. I needed to know how to run a business, not just play around with my design hobby.

Being a talented designer will actually only get you so far in this industry. Plenty of designers have a true talent and very good taste when it comes to design, but the truth is, if you don't know how to run an actual business (and an online one to be specific), you aren't going to make it very far. Knowing how to make business plans, what type of client you want to work for, how to set goals for your business and actually get hired by clients are just a few things that go into running a real business. Learning more about these things will help you to be much more successful.

4. People want to see my face.

Are you hiding behind pictures of your work? My instagram account and website used to just be pictures of pretty rooms that I designed and maybe how to contact me. If you don't show your face and who you are, though, people won't feel like they know you, which makes it hard for them to develop a trust in you, which they need in order to hire you.

5. Everything didn't have to be perfect before I started.

Just START, and you can revise and improve along the way. I am constantly improving and updating different aspects of my business. If you are waiting for your website to be perfect, for your templates to be JUST RIGHT, or for when you have a larger following on Instagram, what you're doing is really just a hobby. In order to run a business, you need to make money for what you are doing, and I can bet there is a perfect client out there who is ready for you just as you are. Start taking real clients and revise your processes as you go - you'll learn a lot more about what you really need that way, and will be able to focus on the most important updates first. This is my permission slip to you to just go ahead and start today!

I hope knowing these things now can be helpful to you to not make some of the same mistakes I did while starting my E-Design business.

For even more help building your E-Design business or structuring your E-Design services, be sure to check out my online courses for E-Designers!

OR my free resources here:

https://theedesigndesk.com/resources

Have a great day!

Tierney