BEING A SUCCESSFUL YOUNG INTERIOR DESIGNER IN UGANDA
Building towards being a successful young Interior Designer in Uganda As a young designer living in a third world country, where the interior Design industry is on such small scale and still growing, where clients argue on how you are ripping them off by charging a design fee, where interior design services are limited to mostly high end clients because they actually understand the concept of employing an interior designer, where there is no difference between an interior decorator and interior Designer. Where clients want champagne on a beer budget, and will haggle till you are working for peanuts. NETWORKING Don’t be looking for jobs in this Economy, especially when most companies are downsizing, if you have the right mind set and skills at hand, it’s always productive to network, go on social business events, like design fairs, business conferences, architectural conferences, meet people who have been in the game for quite some time,introduce yourself, hand them you business card, if you have done some work around town talk about that. PROFESSIONALISM Handle yourself in a professional manner, always make sure you are dressed well for the client meetings, show up on time, if you are running late, call client at least 30 minutes in advance and let them know. first impressions are everything, they tell alot about you, listen carefully to clients design briefs, jot down notes in meetings. Try to be as friendly as possible, once you get that relationship with the client, the rest is easy peasy, TIME MANAGEMENT Very important factor not just to this profession but to life as well, learn to schedule your meetings, schedule your day, know what you will be doing at 7am, 8,9 throught the day, Meet deadlines and time lines, if you promised the client 2 days for work to be ready, make sure it’s ready within the stipulated time. Do not waste time, as the saying goes time is Money, or time wasted is never regained, use your time productively READING Interior design in away is like fashion design, you know how a particular dress code goes out of style, same applies to interior design, materials are always changing, color themes, furniture, and now with technology we have smart homes, new design concepts every day, Make use of your time, Read design magazines, interior design books, read from the best renown interior design blogs, keep up with the daily trend of interior design ORIGINALITY Be Original in your design work, do not copy and paste other people’s work, or if client wants something similar to what they saw at a friends house try to convince them otherwise by designing better. You can take inspirations from already existing design works but add a touch of your own, Originality is what is going to seperate you from the many interior designers out there, If you lucky enough to get high end clients who Have travelled and exposed, these are the clients who will notice your originality, and such clients always have a circle of fellow high end clients, when they appreciate your original work they will advertise your work by word of mouth, refer you to friends in the inner circles which is the best way to get your work appreciated in this industry HAGGLING This is a skill that you must have in this business, most clients especially in Uganda are on a tight budget, they will demand so much for so little, you have to make sure you know your prices, know the least you can go and still make a profit, do not allowclients to squeeze you into giving in because you are desperate for a few bucks Happened to me once, I under quoted for a job once, I had used the old price list and material prices had
gone up since the government had just increased taxes on goods, I lost money, but still had to finish the job. Always know your Prices SITE TO SITE VISITS If you are out of work, get time, have your business cards, brochures ready, go on a hunt, visit ongoing building sites request to speak to the engineers or site managers, tell them about your services, hand them your business card and brochures, head on to the next site. I believe if you implement the above, it will only make you a better designer
