Start an Interior Design Business

E-design lets you sell room designs online without a license or showroom, so the old gatekeeping no longer applies in most states.

1. 1

   Pick your service model

   Online e-design packages or local full-service design. E-design skips the showroom and, in most states, the licensing question, since title laws usually restrict the term 'interior designer', not the work. Check yours.

2. 2

   Design two rooms for friends

   Run the full process, from brief to shoppable list, and photograph the results well. Two finished rooms is a portfolio; zero is a hobby.

3. 3

   Build a fixed-price room package

   For example $500 to $1,200 per room covering a concept board, a clickable shopping list, and a layout plan. Fixed prices sell far better than 'it depends'.

4. 4

   Set up tools and trade accounts

   Canva or SketchUp for boards, and trade programs like Wayfair Professional for discounts of 10 to 30 percent that become margin or client goodwill.

5. 5

   Publish where clients scroll

   A simple portfolio site plus consistent Instagram and Pinterest posts of your rooms. Pinterest in particular sends design buyers for years per pin.

6. 6

   Get referred by realtors and stagers

   Agents constantly meet new homeowners staring at empty rooms. Two or three referral relationships can fill an e-design calendar.

7. 7

   Add procurement markup

   Once trusted, offer to order everything for the client and take a 20 to 35 percent markup on furnishings. This is where design incomes quietly double.