There are pivotal points in any business, times when you need to review and reconsider how you're doing things. It can be scary, but honestly I think it can also be FUN! Changing things up is a great way to shake you and your business out of any ruts. And it can also bring in more cash and better clients. Restaurants reinvent their menus, retailers bring in new products, and even doctors can stretch within their specialties to add things their patients need or want! So when should YOU rethink your services?? Here are 4 points that are good times to take a look!

1. You Have a New Idea

Every single service that we offer now as designers was just someone's great idea at one point. And as everything is changing and morphing (see below!), you may have a new though for a service you can offer! Don't ever discount a great idea because you don't see anyone else doing it!! You may be the genius that discovers something NEW and FAB before others catch on. Explore those ideas and make a move. Life is WAY too short to keep doing things the same way just because everyone else is doing that, too.

2. Clients Are Changing

We're often asked to expand our scope or services by our clients. It could be something as minor as decorating for Christmas or even something more major like heading up a huge multi-building project. Keep an open mind and think about what is in your wheelhouse AND what you love to do! If you love to decorate for Christmas, that can be a super-lucrative thing to add to your services! And if you want to challenge yourself in a bigger way, that's a path you can take, too! One really good rule of thumb for this is that if more than one of your clients is asking you for a different service, then you should REALLY consider offering that service! Remember, this is YOUR business and you can run it however you want! Just pay attention to any signals you're receiving.

3. You’re Changing

This business is a HARD one!! So many of us are feeling the burnout, or realizing that we don't like an aspect or two of how we work. And that is not only OK, it is perfectly NORMAL! You should have at least TWO set review times every single year, a time for you to sit down and think about what is working and what is not. As our lives change, our perspectives and our priorities change! So what do YOU want for your life and for your business? If you could start over from scratch, what would you do differently?? Maybe you took on too many clients and now you want to narrow things down to ONLY new build projects. Or maybe you're sick of the stress of whole-home design and you'd rather prioritize kitchen and bath projects. Once you've determined how you want to work, then rewrite your website's services page so it is VERY clear on what you want to take on!

4. The Industry Is Changing

Hoo boy, have things ever changed in this industry over the last 2 years, right?!?! It has been a complete tsunami of adjustments and shifts. Supply chains, vendors selling direct to consumers (hello, Visual Comfort!), short-tempered clients, economic ups and downs - it's been a LOT. And we have had to rethink how we do things based on those BIG changes! Rather than seeing them as something to fight against, think about HOW you can switch things up to benefit you AND your clients. Maybe you don't want to sell products anymore and instead will just focus on design! Maybe you want to look at e-design more and move away from huge projects with big stressors! See those big industry disruptions as a way to rethink things to YOUR advantage!!

I know that reworking how you do business can be stressful, but as things change, we also need to change and adjust! So if you find yourself stuck and unsure of how to move ahead, download my Guide for Avoiding Analysis Paralysis! It will help you decide exactly how you want to define YOUR future!