There comes a point in an interior designer’s career where you simply just need to add additional streams of income. Maybe it’s that time of year where you become less busy, or perhaps you just realized that you could be monetizing on the furniture you have been sourcing. Either way, here are 25 ways interior designers can add more streams of revenue to their business model! Keep in mind, that sometimes adding another stream would best fit another business as it could interfere with your current brand. Keep this in mind, and if you need assistance with your brand, definitely check out Kati Studios – A brand expert for interior designers.
1. Offer E-Design Services.
E-Design is becoming more and more popular amongst interior designers because it allows them to work from anywhere in the world, and also allows them to reach a broader audience. Some designers charge as little as $50/room to as high as $1200 per room to E-design space. They create packages for their clients to choose from, and also allow an a-la-carte in some cases! Companies like StudioVB offers E-design packages that truly will help any kind of situation! The best part is, you get a professional designer from anywhere you want!
You can even use a 3D rendering platform like FOYR or Coohom to render your client spaces! Check below for these options as well.
Image courtesy of StudioVB
2. Offer Courses For Your Clients.
We hear time and time again that clients don’t truly understand the process of designing a space, but also there are some clients who can’t afford a designer or decorator. Create a paid monthly course where you can teach the general public various factors of your design firm business! From how to choose the right countertops, to even how to hang drapery properly! You can charge as high as $250 a course for your clients. Be sure to only provide information that you can sell later on into your services! Don’t give “too” much information out to your clients as you’d want them to hire you for some of the design work!
3. Offer Courses For Other Designers.
Be careful with this one! Be sure you know exactly what you are doing! When selling courses to other designers, you want to make sure you provide value and allow the designer to understand what you mean. Your courses could be geared towards how you successfully gain X clients in a month! or, showing new designers perhaps how your design process is or helping them form their business as successful as yours! We caution that this option should only be taken if you are a professional designer with more than 5 years of experience.
4. Re-purpose lightly used or vintage products.
As a designer, I am sure you come across your client’s old furniture that you might be tossing away! You can easily take these pieces of furniture and re-purpose them for another project, or sell them for a profit! Even work with your client to be able to offer them a cut of the profits when you sell it! You could even sell these in a thrift shop or antique store to gain the attention of the market you want to jump into. Either way – Recycling furniture can easily land you an extra thousand dollars a month if done right. You can even create an online store to sell these pieces as well!
5. Run an online storefront using affiliate links.
Now, there are platforms all over the place like StyleRow and OnSideDoor which allow designers to sell products to their clients without having to worry about the procurement of those products. You can easily create an online store with both of these platforms, and be able to sell furniture without worrying about procurement. Definitely check out both of these platforms as they offer heavy commission percentages!
6. Custom Art Sales.
Are you even more creative and make your own art? You can easily sell these on platforms like OfferUp or even Facebook Marketplace. You can also sell these online on your website using Squarespace or even a website builder like Wix (Even though we don’t recommend Wix…but leave that up to you to decide!)
7. Open A Storefront.
Ok, ok. Easier said than done. But, if you have the means to do it and if rent is cheap enough, as a designer you already have the connections on the furniture manufacturer side to make this work! All it takes is a bit of hard work just as you do with your design firm! Rent for a 1000 square foot warehouse here in Los Angeles can be as low as $1000/mo. If you are in a lower-cost area, this would be way less, allowing you to have the benefits of a low-overhead furniture showroom!
8. Become an Expert.
It’s no new news that designers outsource a lot of their work in order to keep the overhead lower and not have to hire actual employees. If you are super knowledgeable in one area (3D rendering for an example) you can easily use this skillset to help other designers whilst making extra money on the side!
9. Build A Podcast!
The founder of indema started out with a podcast and this is exactly how he grew the platform to the user base it has now. Though he did not make any extra income on the podcast itself, this is a really easy thing to do once you get the audience. You can then run ads for products and become a podcast influencer! Brands will naturally come to you to promote their services or products.
10. Use an App Like Giden – Get Manufacturers to Pay You!
It’s known that designers shop from various manufacturers and purchase from them a LOT. Why not get THEM to pay YOU! The new Giden app allows designers to use their social media to post videos and promotional content for furniture manufacturers. In turn, the designer gets paid for the post. Easy… Easy money. Check out Giden here.
11. Make Money From indema!
We have a killer affiliate program.. Don’t get us wrong! Make 25% per designer, per month, for the life of the designer’s account by referring indema! Check out the affiliate program here and sign up today! Tasteful product placement. 🙂
Whatever you choose, there are many many ways to make extra money as an interior designer. From helping others, to creating a new business that compliments your existing business!