It’s no surprise that Jennifer Davis is the founder of a wildly successful interior design firm. She is the daughter of an interior designer, and design was a way of life in her childhood home. “I've been around it my whole life,” she says. “For as long as I can remember, it's all I ever wanted to do.”

And for Davis, her interior design career has taken many forms through the years since she attended design school. “I've done many different things within the industry from furniture sales to rep work to working in corporate for a furniture company, and marketing,” she says. Then, as the years passed, her freelance interior design services took off as word-of-mouth led to more and more referrals. 

About five years ago she decided to go all in. Now she is living her dream. Davis Interiors is a full-service interior design firm specializing in large-scale renovations, furnishing projects, and fully custom home builds. Based in Minnesota, the multi-million dollar firm has ongoing projects in several states and is expanding nationwide. 

“There's been a lot of growth over a short period of time,” Davis says. “It's everything that I've always wanted to do.” 

Here, Davis offers tips for running a profitable firm, explains how most challenges can be conquered with good communication, and shares what she wished her younger self had known. 

Put Process First

Wanting to know her secrets of success, aspiring interior designers often seek out Davis for advice.The first thing she tells them might surprise them. She underlines the importance of getting their processes in place from the very start. And, she emphasizes: Do not do it with spreadsheets like she did.

“Having a really solid process in place will instantly elevate your client experience,” she says. “What I didn't realize at that early part of my business is that client experience is all the processes that you have in place behind the scenes,” Davis says. That means having clear communication every step along the way, paying attention to the most intricate of details, and adding some memorable extras: “We had special benchmark gifts along the way.” 

Besides offering an unforgettable experience for clients, Davis advises new designers to also focus on the financials.“You really should understand your numbers. If you don't know how to read a P&L (profit & loss statement), you should learn before you run your own business,” she says. 

Use Technology to Help You

It wasn’t long into her experience running her own interior designer business that Davis realized she needed professional help - in the form of a business software, that is.

The ah-ha moment came when she was about three quarters of the way through designing the first first full home new build of her career. “I had gone through this full home all through spreadsheets,” she says. Then, she realized “that this was just too much to manage through spreadsheets.”

Simultaneously, Davis was bringing a new team member on board, and realized that she had no easy, adequate way to share with her new colleague her knowledge and the details of her business. “All the information that was locked up here in my head - she could not access that information,” Davis recalls. She knew then that the risk of misinterpretation and miscommunication were high. “There was room for error as far as profitability….receiving, scheduling delivery, all of these things,” she says. 

“That's when I turned to Houzz,” she says. Houzz Pro was recommended by other interior designers and she was drawn in by the aesthetics of the business software, and its ease of use. 

Gain Profitability Through Efficiency

Increasing the efficiency of the many tasks that make up a business operation very quickly enhanced the bottom line. As Houzz Pro increased her ability to streamline processes and communication, Davis saw her business grow too. “From a business standpoint, we were able to take on twice as many clients as we would without Houzz Pro,” she says. “It allowed us to grow our business very quickly because of the efficiencies,” she says. Documentation and tracking became easier too. “We were able to track profitability and we were able to make sure we maintained profitability.”

Her team also reduced other time-consuming tasks such as the number of repetitive in-person meetings. After the initial, in-person design meeting, her team uses Houzz Pro to communicate. “We'll just use the Selections boards, and there clients can review product selections such as furnishings and make notes or hit ‘approve’. It's quick. Maybe they didn't like that sofa, we can add 10 more sofas,” she says. 

“We've increased profitability based on time. We have so much more time to do more just by using the Selections, the documentation, the notes. We use Houzz Pro Tasks features at every single meeting we're at.”

Meet Today’s Pace 

The constantly evolving sophistication of technology means communication and purchases happen quickly. Davis Interiors sets itself apart from competitors by turning around their design proposals at lightning speed: two weeks. 

“We work really, really hard in that two-week period, and we get everything we need there. By the end of the two-week period, we will present it,” she says. Davis says this hyper speed approach captures homeowners during a time period when they are  excited and enthusiastic about moving forward. “I think people stay engaged within that two-week time frame. If it goes longer, they start to shop on their own,” she says. “They're not as engaged anymore,” she says.  

“We want to keep people excited, and because of Houzz Pro, we're able to do this. I truly believe it's because of the platform.”

She typically does the design presentation in person, but communicates subsequent revisions to the plan virtually. “We do revisions digitally through Houzz, not in-person,” she says. The revision process goes quickly because through the Houzz Pro, they can review the plans and provide feedback any time of the day or night. There is no need to sync everyone's schedule to hold a meeting. “We'll have a meeting if it requires one, but most people are okay with the other options.” Clients lead busy lives and prefer the convenient alternatives that this technology offers them.  

“Then we get to the next phase where we have to do all the ordering, tracking, all of that stuff that normally a lot of firms have a full-time person for,” she says. “It's just a click of the button for us so that we can move on to the next project in its two-week phase,” she says.

Educate, Educate, Educate 

A big part of her job involves explaining the whole design process to clients to help them understand that interior design services involve more than choosing paint colors and furnishings. “A lot of people don't really fully understand what a designer does,” she says. “Much of what we do is done behind the scenes. Picking out the pretty things is just such a very small portion of what we do. There's so much documentation and technical drawings,” she says. “I don't think people sometimes see the value in all the things that happen behind the scenes,” she says.

Some clients even assume they can go without hiring an interior designer for their project, she says. “When you do a new build, if you don't have a designer involved, you're going to have a contractor probably calling you every day with one- or two-hours worth of questions,” she says. She lays out for clients how the services her team provides frees up their time. “You're paying for our knowledge to problem-solve when these things come up,” she says.

Her team tries to relay specific details of what is involved to help clients understand the value they are receiving for their particular project. “The whole experience is just about communication.”

Handling Difficult Conversations  

Uncomfortable conversations are bound to happen at some point during a home project, especially around pricing and costs. Davis tries to be a teacher in this realm too.

She is also self-reflective, quickly acknowledging if there is a communication glitch on their end that led to a misunderstanding. “It's probably on us because we didn't explain fully what is involved in that price,” she says. “Sometimes we'll meet with a client, we'll send off the letter of agreement and we'll get really excited, and then we'll realize we failed to explain all the steps that we're going to do,” she says. That is why they make communication a priority. “We just take the time to walk through those things with them.” she says. 

She might sit down with clients and discuss how best to allocate their furnishings budget. To soften the sticker shock of a sofa purchase, for example, she will point out  that it will be the centerpiece of their living room and will receive plenty of use. At the same time, they can balance off that purchase by paying less for end tables which will not be a focal point in the room. In many cases, clients have not purchased furniture for a few years and therefore today’s prices come as a surprise.  

While billing clients, Davis has set up a system that connects the dots for them between costs and services. She divides the billing into three overall categories. “Here you're paying for our designs, and here you're paying for the project management and here we're installing it for you,” she says. “We have it very clearly broken out.”

Find Balance

Running a business can be overwhelming, but Davis has found a sense of relief with her team and Houzz Pro software. The platform enables flexible, asynchronous work, allowing her to trust her team to handle tasks even when she's not present. 'I feel more organized and at ease, knowing that someone can access the information they need, regardless of my availability,' she explains. Davis credits Houzz Pro with bringing a sense of calm and confidence to her work life. 'It's been a game-changer for me,' she says, highlighting the software's impact on her productivity and overall well-being.

Learn how Houzz Pro can help your business streamline every step of the interior design process.