If you’re an amateur designer looking to launch a career in the industry, it can be awkward to initially develop a system through which you charge clients for your services. Although many stylists feel obligated to offer lower prices to their first series of customers, this is not the best pattern to develop.
It’s important to value your time and effort, and diminishing your preliminary worth sends the wrong message to subsequent word-of-mouth clients who will then assume you to be less valuable and may feel indignant at being charged more.
If you plan to work consistently and dedicate something along the lines of a typical 9-5 time commitment to your business, you should start out by earning at least $50,000 per year if you work with a practical number of people and charge a reasonable fee. Many designers earn much more, closer to $100,000 annually depending on locality and customer demographic.
Getting started, keep in mind that one of the financial benefits of pursuing this specific career is that the cost-of-entry is extremely low. In many cases, you need to make virtually no investment getting started and, like most beginning decorators; you can start by working from home. By establishing a system through which you can calculate the number of clients you plan to work with throughout the calendar year, you can then more effectively determine what you’ll need to charge each buyer individually in order to earn a reasonable profit.
Want to learn more? The New York Institute of Art and Design’s interior design course can help you reach your goals. Request your free course catalog today!
