Where Is Your Design Firm Losing

$30K–$100K a Year?

The Design Firm Revenue Audit reveals the hidden profit leaks in your pricing, furniture margins, scope creep, and procurement so you can recover tens of thousands in revenue without taking on more projects.

  • Identify where your design firm is quietly losing revenue

  • Fix pricing, furniture margins, and scope creep issues

  • Recover tens of thousands in profit without adding more projects

Are You Leaking Revenue Inside Your Design Firm?

Many designers assume they need more clients to increase their income.

But the real issue is often hidden inside the process.

Take a quick look at the questions below.

If you answer yes to even a few of these, your firm may be losing significant revenue.

Quick Self-Check

  • Do you spend time reviewing layouts, inspiration boards, or floor plans before a contract is signed?

  • Do clients sometimes request additional revisions that weren’t originally included in your design fee?

  • Do you handle procurement tasks like tracking orders, resolving damages, and coordinating deliveries without a separate fee?

  • Are you selling furniture at cost plus 20–30% markup instead of maintaining a healthy 42%+ margin?

  • Do you review contractor drawings or answer design questions outside scheduled meetings?

  • Does project management work often get absorbed into your design fee?

  • Do you feel busy and fully booked, but your income doesn’t reflect the amount of work you're doing?

If several of these sound familiar, there’s a strong chance your design process is quietly absorbing work that should be generating revenue.

Real Examples of Revenue Leaks We Find in Design Firms

These are real patterns that show up again and again when reviewing design businesses.

Furniture margins set too low
Designers selling furnishings at cost plus 20–30% mark-up instead of maintaining a minimum 42% margin, leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table each year.

Unlimited revisions built into the process
What begins as “great service” quietly becomes hours of unpaid redesign work.

Procurement treated as a courtesy instead of a service
Ordering, tracking, freight coordination, and damage resolution happening without a structured fee.

Project management absorbed by the designer
Site visits, contractor coordination, and installation planning included informally rather than as a defined phase.

Discovery work happening before contracts
Designers reviewing floor plans, offering layout advice, or sourcing ideas before a project officially begins.

None of these problems are unusual.

In fact, most successful designers have experienced several of them at some point.

The difference between firms that struggle and firms that scale profitably usually comes down to how the process is structured.

That’s exactly what this audit helps uncover.

What the Revenue Audit Will Reveal

The Design Firm Revenue Audit is a focused review of how your design firm actually operates.

Together, we examine the structure of your pricing, process, and procurement to identify where revenue may be quietly leaking out of your projects.

This is not a generic business conversation.

It’s a strategic diagnostic of the financial mechanics inside your design firm.

Here are the key areas we review.

Pricing Structure

Many designers unintentionally underprice the phases of their work.

We examine how your design fees are structured and whether the phases of your process properly reflect the time, expertise, and labor involved.

This includes reviewing how you price:

• discovery or consultation time
• concept development and design phases
• revision cycles
• project management and coordination

The goal is to ensure your pricing structure reflects the true scope of your work.

Furniture Margins

Furniture sales can be one of the most profitable parts of a design firm when priced correctly.

We review how you currently price furnishings and whether your margins support the time, risk, and operational work involved in procurement.

This includes evaluating:

• your markup and margin structure
• how procurement labor is compensated
• whether your pricing aligns with healthy industry standards

Many designers discover that incorrect furniture pricing is one of the largest hidden revenue leaks in their firm.

Scope & Revision Boundaries

Scope creep is one of the most common ways design firms lose money.

During the audit we examine where additional work may be happening outside your defined scope.

This includes things like:

• additional revisions
• reviewing contractor drawings
• evaluating alternate products
• design work happening outside scheduled meetings

The goal is to structure clear boundaries so the client experience remains seamless while your time is properly protected.

Procurement & Project Management

Procurement is often treated as a simple administrative task, but in reality it involves significant operational work.

We review how your firm manages:

• order placement and tracking
• freight coordination
• vendor communication
• damage claims and backorders
• receiver coordination and installations

This allows us to determine whether procurement and project management work are properly structured and compensated.

What You Walk Away With

The goal of the Design Firm Revenue Audit is simple:

to identify exactly where your design firm is losing money and how to recover it.

Many designers discover that correcting just two or three structural issues can dramatically improve profitability.

In some firms, these adjustments recover $30,000–$100,000 per year in lost revenue.

A Clear View of Your Revenue Leaks

You’ll understand exactly where your firm may be losing money through:

• underpriced design phases
• scope creep disguised as client service
• incorrect furniture margins
• unstructured discovery or consultation time
• procurement and project management labor that isn’t properly compensated

Many designers discover they’ve been absorbing far more work than they realized.

Strategic Adjustments That Improve Interior Design Business Profitability

You’ll walk away with specific recommendations to strengthen your process and pricing structure, including adjustments to:

• design phases and scope boundaries
• furniture pricing and margins
• procurement and project management fees
• revision policies
• client communication and expectations

Often, just two or three structural changes can significantly improve profitability.

A Stronger Business Structure

Instead of constantly working harder or chasing more projects, your process becomes structured to ensure the work you’re already doing is properly valued and compensated.

Because the goal isn’t just to stay busy.

The goal is to build a design firm that is profitable, sustainable, and structured for growth.

THE INVESTMENT

Design Firm Revenue Audit

Here's what you get:

  • Pre-session business review

  • 90-minute strategic audit session

  • Post-session summary with recommendations

Investment: $1500

Why Listen to Me?

I’ve spent years inside the operational side of interior design businesses.

As the founder of ML Interiors Group, I run an active design firm specializing in full-service residential projects, renovations, and furniture installations.

At the same time, through The Design Bakehouse, I’ve worked with interior designers across the U.S., Canada, the UK, Hong Kong, South Africa, Australia, and beyond to refine the business side of their firms.

Between my own firm and the designers I advise, I’ve seen firsthand where design businesses quietly lose money.

Not because the designer isn’t talented.

But because the process, pricing structure, and procurement model were never built to protect profitability.

My work and insights on the business of interior design have been featured in:

Forbes
Martha Stewart
Southern Living
Apartment Therapy
The Spruce
Modern Luxury
Luxe Interiors + Design
Dallas Morning News
This Old House

This audit draws on the same operational framework I use inside my own firm and with designers around the world.

Want Help Implementing the Changes?

The Revenue Audit identifies where your design firm is leaking money and what structural adjustments could improve profitability.

For some designers, that clarity, paired with the post-session summary is enough.

But if you would like support implementing the changes, additional advisory support is available.

Because understanding what needs to change and actually restructuring a business are two very different things.

Implementation Support (Optional)

After the audit, you may choose to continue working together to implement the recommended changes.

This can include help with:

  • restructuring your design phases

  • revising scope and contract language

  • setting proper furniture margins

  • adjusting procurement and project management fees

  • creating structured revision policies

  • refining your pricing model

  • tightening your design process so it protects your time and income

Implementation support is offered through private advisory sessions.

Strategic Advisory for Interior Designers

Choose the level of support that fits your business right now.

VIP Intensive

For designers who want a deep strategic reset in a single day.

  • One full -VIP Day dedicated entirely to your business

  • Deep dive into all facets of your revenue audit

  • Clear decisions and next steps you can implement immediately

  • Follow-up summary to support execution

90-Day Private

For designers who want ongoing guidance and implementation support.

  • Bi-monthly private strategy sessions focused on your priorities and next steps

  • Voxer access during business hours for real-time support between calls

  • Access to my proven resources, templates, and intellectual property

  • Invitations to group office hours for additional insight and perspective