# 78 | How to Handle Financial Ebbs and Flows in your Interior Design Business with Jenny Karlsson

Interior design BusinessMoney MattersMindsetMoney & Finances2-Establishing3-Scaling

Apr 18

Image shows Jenny Karlsson, guest of the Designer's Oasis Podcast. Title reads "Episode #78: How to Handle Financial Ebbs and Flows in your Interior Designer Business"

"If you're not learning how to hold on to money, then there will never be a surplus."

In today's episode, we have a returning guest, and my friend Jenny Karlsson - a certified money coach helping creative entrepreneurs develop practical financial resilience and stability strategies. She's also the creator of the Money Compass Deck, a tangible tool to help you cultivate your connection with money. Jenny offers a safe, shame-free environment to help creatives develop a healthy relationship with money so they can experience greater ease and freedom.

Today, we are exploring the idea of financial resilience - what it is and how we can employ certain strategies daily to help us strengthen our relationship with money while handling the ebbs and flows of being an entrepreneur.

Financial Resilience and Financial Stability

Financial resilience and stability are crucial components for navigating the unpredictable landscape of business and life. Financial resilience is the ability to adapt to changes in economic climates or unexpected challenges and financial stability involves having enough income to cover expenses, manage debt, and save for the future.

When both of these are in place, businesses (and individuals) can weather unforeseen events without significant financial strain. This is why it's so important to learn how to build a cushion in your business with an emergency fund, prepare yourself for unexpected expenses and think through how you will handle disruptions in your business like concerns with ordering, delays in building, or project changes and cancellations.

Building Capacity for Financial Resilience

The importance of financial resilience for interior designers is so important when managing projects and not being able to fully control things like construction schedules or delivery dates. In my personal experience, I have had a project that unexpectedly fell through due to structural issues but luckily was able to mitigate my losses due to the time I spent prior to that really building up financial resilience and security.

A few ways to help build capacity for is to build up your resources and support system (which can be an expense, but usually one that is necessary for your business to grow!). Whether your resources include finding childcare arrangements or delegating tasks within the business they can all contribute to your bottom line. It is also important to set realistic expectations, practice self-care, and continuously learn and adapt to maintain financial stability and resilience.

Recognizing the interconnectedness of financial resilience and stability while also navigating the complexities of balancing work, family, and unforeseen challenges is important. Preparing and cultivating a growth mindset instead of a scarcity mindset will enhance your ability to overcome obstacles you come across in your interior design business.

There are a few things that I put into practice to help maintain the balance and resilience to approach and handle challenges, including prioritizing quality sleep and building a network of friends and coaches to learn from. A few other items that go beyond self-car in the traditional way (spa treatments, etc.) are learning to ask and receive help. Being able to acknowledge the strength and magic in being vulnerable and garnering community support can help build your resilience when you are navigating the ebbs and flows of business (or life!)

Feast and Famine Mindset

Your interior design business will likely go through natural cycles, just like any business where you will find yourself wishing for more business and then find yourself overwhelmed and potentially on the edge of burnout. The challenge when building your interior design business is being able to embrace periods of abundance without succumbing to the urge to overextend oneself. When you begin to focus on financial stability and purposeful allocation of resources in your business, you may find that you can cultivate a sense of security and ease, allowing you to navigate the uncertainties of entrepreneurship with confidence and grace.

Financial Health and Hiring

When assessing your businesses financial health in terms of adding additional team members, it is important to understand profit and loss statements, ensure you have a healthy bottom line, and have clarity on cash flow.

Being able to start with small experiments, such as outsourcing tasks to contractors or virtual assistants, often allows for gradual growth without overextending. It is also important to build business development and sales skills to ensure a steady pipeline of work so that you are able to continue to grow and outsource.

Fear can also hold you back when it comes to growth and hiring. Keep in mind that support systems can come from both internal and external sources such as providing an exceptional client experience facilitated by internal support systems. Setting your business up in this way can lead to repeat clients and word-of-mouth referrals, ultimately contributing to business growth.

Resources mentioned in this episode: