Valentine's Day is only a few days away - so are you still in love ❤️? No, not with a person, but with your business! Ha! After a pandemic, shutdowns, issues with furniture deliveries, crabby clients, and an economic rollercoaster, it would be surprising if you weren't ready to throw in the towel. But there are ways to bring back the love you once felt for interior design! Here are 5 things to try before you end things for good:

1. Review Your Successes

We can get so bogged down in immediate issues and problems that we forget that we are actually GOOD at what we do! Every day can bring a challenge, so it's a good exercise to look back at your successes. Sit down and make a list of every success and benchmark that you hit in 2020 - and don't say there weren't any! New clients, new ideas, a feature in press can ALL be counted as successes. Keep a list of your top 10 in your desk drawer and pull it out when you need a reminder of how great you are at this business. And add to it when you have good news to share with yourself!

2. Remember Why You Started

Why did you start your business in the first place?? There had to be a spark or a reason that you decided to strike out on your own. Was it a love of design? A need to be your own boss? Or maybe you were inspired by gorgeous rooms in shelter magazines. Whatever it was, think back to how you felt when you first started out. Remember that excitement and that feeling of hope and determination you had! Those feelings are probably still inside you, so try to tap into them again as an inspiration.

3. Consider What Is Frustrating You

Is there something specific that is driving you crazy about your business right now? Maybe you feel out of control because you let your processes and systems slip. Or it could be that you ignored those red flags and you're working with the wrong clients. You could even have moved away from the type of projects that you really love because you were guided by a fear of not making enough money. Write down where you think things got off track. Once you can recognize that, you can start to correct where things went wrong!

4. Look for What You Love

Now that you know what you DON'T like about your business, look for those things that you DO love! You may surprise yourself - sometimes we discover that we actually do like to do paperwork, or that we have a hidden passion for fabrics that revealed itself over the years. Whatever it is, and it could be SEVERAL things, start finding ways to do more with what you LOVE. If all you see in your business is drudgery and frustration, of course you're going to start resenting the work. And let's be honest, we don't DO our best work when we're irritated or bored. So put yourself back into a loving mood! 

5. Make a Change

Now that you've done all of that introspective work, it's time to make some decisions. Are you STILL ready to quit the design business? Maybe it's for the best if you can't find any reason to stay in your business. BUT, I'll bet you've reminded yourself of why you fell in love in the first place! Making changes to pivot your business to a place that makes you happy - AND makes you money - is the key. Maybe you want to stop selling product and move more toward a design consulting model. Or you could decide that you will no longer do single rooms and will only work on whole homes. Whatever it is, start thinking about how you can redefine your business to work FOR you rather than against you.

To help you with this love connection, download my FREE Guide to Overcoming Design Fatigue. Hopefully, it will inspire you to find that spark again!

xoxo,

Kathleen