It’s easy to make mistakes when starting out on your own in the renovation business. Taking on every project, pandering to a client’s every whim, working day and night, charging for half your hours – there are plenty of potential pitfalls for young companies in the sector. So we asked some experienced pros to share their advice on how to avoid making errors like these at the start of your career.
Mistake 1: Saying yes to every project that comes along
One of the most common initial mistakes cited by experienced professionals is to accept every project that comes along, even if it means making concessions on your brand identity and values, or overestimating your capabilities.
“At first, you want to take on every project that comes along to build up a portfolio, but some may be too big for a young company that still lacks expertise,”interior designer Christelle Nlele of L’Home Agencée says. “Clients see this kind of thing in the end, and it’s better to recognise your limitations and say ‘no’ from the outset, rather than leave them with a bad impression.”
For Coralie Bizot, founder of MAYA, it’s more a question of building your image from the very first projects you work on without trying to please everyone.
“At the beginning, you don’t necessarily dare declare your style, because you want to have as many clients and projects as possible, but that’s a mistake,” she says. “Asserting your style and your way of working from the outset helps you to stand out from other professionals.”
Julie Leblanc and Cécile de Goutte, interior architects at C&J Créateurs d’Intérieurs, stress the importance of customer satisfaction, which comes in part from selecting the right projects. “You can’t be stubborn, but you have to know how to let go, because the aim is to satisfy everyone, especially at the start, when the future of the business is at stake,” Julie says.
“It’s easier to get bad customer reviews than good ones,” she adds. “We’ve never had a bad one, because we chose not to accept everything from the outset.”
Mistake 2: Accepting all client requests, even the most extreme ones
In the same way, it’s tempting when you first set up your business to accept everything your clients ask of you in the hope of satisfying them. After all, it’s often said the customer is king.
While our professionals don’t question this fact, they do stress the educational role they have to play if their business and the sector are to flourish. “You have to be firm with clients and have a guideline for how you want to work. It’s important to be able to say, ‘No, I can’t do that,’ so you stay true to your convictions,” says landscape architect Suzanne Meijer of Jardins Intemporels, who’s committed to being environmentally friendly in the gardens she designs.
Mistake 3: Responding to client requests at any time
Similarly, Suzanne points out the importance of setting clear limits in the way you communicate with clients, so as not to be overwhelmed.
“I try not to reply at weekends or even check my messages,” she says. “Customers [can sometimes] be intrusive and want the professional to be available all the time. I help them to see I have a timetable, and if it’s really important, I send a text message saying I’ll call back the next day.”
To facilitate communication with her clients, Suzanne plans to centralise all her company’s exchanges on Houzz Pro. Accessible from a mobile phone, the personalised client portal lets you share photos, files, quotes, invoices and stages of the project directly with your customers, without having to send multiple emails or text messages, or make phone calls.
Mistake 4: Falling into invoicing traps
- Misjudging the value of your work. When you start a business, driven by the desire to do well, you can quickly become overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do without thinking about how profitable it is. This is even truer for the tasks that are difficult to time and to explain to clients.
“It’s important to estimate the value and time spent on intellectual work,” Coralie says. “It’s trickier than for a [contractor], because it’s not [tangible] and you can’t see it. At the end of the day, we’re selling a bit of our brainpower, and that’s not necessarily easy to explain.”
To protect herself, Coralie invoices for all her customer appointments and refuses to pass on her plans or ideas until the estimates have been signed by the client. - Charging without taking your level of experience into account. While you shouldn’t underestimate the value of your work, it’s also important to take into account your level of expertise and experience when setting your rates. Suzanne advises you remain realistic.
“You shouldn’t set your sights too high from the outset when you set your hourly rate, but aim to evolve with your projects and clients over time,” she says. “Above all, be transparent and don’t [exaggerate] your experience.”
Mistake 5: Not taking the time to select the right tools
Choosing the right tools requires research, information, training and keeping abreast of new developments. It’s a time-consuming process, and it’s tempting to overlook this crucial stage when it comes to implementing all your operating methods.
It’s a mistake that can waste a lot of time, as interior architect Florence Neron explains. “It’s more cost-effective in the long term to take the time to select and train in the right tools from the outset, rather than starting out with bad habits,” she says.
“Product Clipper, for example, is great for shopping lists,” she continues. “It eliminates the need to juggle internet pages to source products, and allows the list to be sent directly to clients with a 2D or 3D plan.”
