Regular jobs such as creating invoices, sending quotes and calculating estimates are a necessary part of running a renovation business, but how do you ensure you have enough time to work on planning, designing and building beautiful projects for your clients?
We asked three design pros for their tips on how they stay on top of admin while making sure they have the time to do what they do best.
Prioritise tasks
When there are many different tasks to complete, it can be tricky to decide what to do first. A good tip is to organise how you allocate your time.
“We prioritise certain tasks to certain days,” says Jake Hinchliffe of Orange Design Studio. “In my case, I’m responsible for client inception meetings and networking, so I strictly keep these on Mondays and Tuesdays, which means for the remainder of the week I can work on my projects. The rest of the team are the same, in that they work on their projects from Monday to Friday lunchtime, with Friday afternoon allocated for weekly client calls and updates.”
“I find it easier to allocate a specific time each week to prepare quotes and invoices, as it can very easily eat up most of the day,” says Chantel Elshout of Chantel Elshout Design Consultancy . “I also prefer blocking out a few hours each week for design work and try to switch off my phone or email in order to focus on the project in hand.”
“My smartphone calendar and notes are my virtual assistant,” says Omar Bhatti of Space Shack . “I continuously update lists for each project I’m working on and for general admin. I can then easily schedule these and make sure they get done.”
Get automated
An efficient way to prevent regular tasks from eating into your time is to automate them. “For us, as a growing business, these daily tasks were very difficult to stay on top of,” Jake says. “When things finally got too much, we took a step back and looked at introducing automated systems into the core of our business.
“We now have a practice manager who helps make sure we all follow the correct processes in our daily tasks, which means everyone knows what they should be doing,” he continues. “It also means that these tasks, such as writing proposals and quotes, and sending invoices and client letters, can be done using our practice management software overseen by our practice manager.
“The biggest piece of advice for any growing design practice,” he adds, “is get your people and business systems right and the rest becomes so much easier.”
Omar Bhatti also recommends using management software. “I use Houzz Pro features a lot, so I can ensure the project runs smoothly and all in one place,” he says. “The advancement in technology has definitely improved our efficiency as designers. We are able to manage our time and free up time to focus on the design and management of the projects.”
Organise your team
As the manager of a small firm, it can be tempting to think you need to do everything yourself, but delegation is key to success when it comes to time management.
“I try to divide the tasks between the team to avoid getting snowed under,” Chantel says. “Some tasks are easy to hand over, while others still have to be checked, as the smooth running of a project relies on detail and checking everything two or three times.”
Jake uses his firm’s management tool to divide work schedules between the team. “This tells every team member what they’re doing that day, right through to eight weeks in front. It also allows us to look at our work pipeline, revenue forecasts and resource availability, so we can plan around busy times,” he explains.
“As a team, we also have a monthly WIP (work in progress) meeting to discuss every project’s progress, to see if there any delays or elements that need discussing,” he continues. “I’ve found this really helps to keep things moving forwards and so nothing gets missed.”
Make templates
There’s a high possibility that all the documents and invoices you send look quite similar, so instead of drawing up new ones each time, it makes sense to set up a series of templates to work from.
“We use interactive templates for everything from developer or homeowner proposal documents through to different stage invoices,” Jake says. “This has turned a two-hour proposal task into a five-minute one.
“I would say spend a lot of time on developing your templates,” he says. “When you’re sending maybe 50 proposal documents a month, making sure these look the part is key for first impressions with a new client.”
Find out how you can set up templates on Houzz Pro.
Access from all areas
It helps to be able to communicate with clients in real time to prevent information delays. For the pros we spoke to, that means using cloud-based systems, where all documents and communications can be accessed from anywhere, avoiding the time it takes to send things separately.
Jake, for example, uses a project portal. “These are a little like a WhatsApp group chat where all the key project stakeholders are linked in, such as the client, building inspector and contractors,” he says. “It means nothing gets missed, and you have one point of contact for finding information.”
Double down on design
It pays to spend time on getting the initial brief and design right, in order to reduce unplanned admin jobs down the line. “The most challenging thing about admin jobs has to be the change in clients’ requirements and choices,” Omar says.
He explains, for instance, that changes could require a recalculation and reissue of invoices. “This can delay the project and also take away from the flow of the design process,” he says.So a good communication process is key to ensuring you can work effectively with your client right from the start.
“Since March 2020, we’ve adapted how we present to our clients and would have a few video meetings initially to start work on the design and tweak to the point just before sign-off,” Chantel says. “We then meet on site with finishes, samples and plans for a walk-through.
“Throughout the project, our installers would send photo updates and we would have video calls, too, for any details that need checking,” she adds.
By opening up easy communication channels like this, you’ll prevent later surprises and the knock-on effect of extra admin.
