Build Program · Module 1
Business Model, Niche & Positioning
Build a design business that is clear, profitable and easy for the right clients to understand.
Many designers try to offer everything to everyone. This often leads to inconsistent projects, confusing pricing and marketing that fails to connect.
In this module, you will define what your business does, who it serves and why the right clients should choose you.
Module Overview
What You’ll Learn
- How to choose a business model that supports your income and lifestyle goals
- How to identify a profitable niche without limiting future growth
- How to define your ideal client and the problems they need solved
- How to position your business differently from other designers
- How to clearly explain what you offer
- How to evaluate whether your current services support your goals
Inside This Module
Lessons
Choose Your Business Model
Explore the different ways you can structure and generate revenue through your interior design business.
- Consultations
- Designer-by-your-side services
- Virtual or e-design
- Furnishing and decorating projects
- Kitchen and bathroom design
- Remodel and new-construction design
- Full-service interior design
- Product sourcing and procurement
- Contractor partnerships
- Digital products, templates and education
You do not need to offer every service. Select a model that works with your experience, availability, desired income and preferred projects.
Define Your Niche
Your niche is the specific group of people, project type or problem your business is best equipped to serve.
- Busy families remodeling their homes
- Vacation-rental owners who need durable, guest-ready spaces
- Builders who need design and selection support
- First-time homeowners who need an affordable design plan
- Luxury clients seeking full-service design
- Homeowners updating kitchens and bathrooms
- Remote clients who want virtual design services
A strong niche gives your marketing direction. It does not prevent you from accepting other profitable opportunities.
Understand Your Ideal Client
Define the person most likely to value, purchase and benefit from your services.
- What project are they trying to complete?
- What is currently frustrating or overwhelming them?
- What have they already tried?
- What do they value most?
- What budget and timeline are realistic?
- What would make them feel confident hiring a designer?
- Where do they look for advice and service providers?
Position Your Business
Positioning explains why your business is the right choice for a particular client. It should communicate:
- Who you serve
- What you help them accomplish
- How your process is different
- What experience or perspective you bring
- What clients can expect from working with you
I help busy families create beautiful, functional homes through a guided remodeling process—without leaving them to manage hundreds of design decisions alone.
Create Your Core Business Statement
Write a short description that you can use on your website, social media, proposals and introductions.
- Who do you help?
- What do you help them do?
- Why is your approach valuable?
Keep it specific, natural and easy to repeat. If it needs a decoder ring, it is still too complicated.
Put It Into Practice
Module Assignment
Create your Business Foundation Statement. Your completed assignment should include:
- Your primary business model
- Your preferred project types
- Your niche
- Your ideal client
- The primary problem you solve
- Your positioning statement
- Your one-sentence business description
- Three services that support your business model
- Three services you will not actively market right now
Track Your Progress
Completion Checklist
Your checklist progress is saved automatically on this device.
Your Outcome
By the End of This Module
You will have a clear foundation for your services, pricing, marketing, sales process and client experience. Future business decisions become easier when you know exactly what you are building—and who you are building it for.
Lake Hazel Design Collective · Module 2
Brand Foundation & Messaging
Build a clear, recognizable brand that communicates who you are, who you serve, and why your business is different.
What You Will Build
This module moves your brand beyond a logo and gives you a practical foundation for making consistent decisions. You will define how your business looks, sounds, and connects with the clients you most want to serve.
Purpose, mission, values, personality, and visual direction
Voice, core messages, client promise, and brand story
Language you can use across every client touchpoint
Module Lessons
Complete the lessons in order. Each one builds a piece of the Brand Foundation and Messaging Guide you will submit at the end of the module.
Define Your Brand Purpose
Clarify why your business exists beyond generating revenue.
- Why you started your business
- The people you want to help
- The impact you want to make
- The change clients should experience
Create Your Mission Statement
Write a clear statement describing what your business does, who it serves, and how it delivers value.
- Who do you serve?
- What do you help them accomplish?
- How do you help them achieve it?
- Why does this work matter?
Identify Your Core Brand Values
Choose three to five principles that guide how you operate, communicate, and make decisions.
- Consider quality, communication, integrity, creativity, collaboration, and reliability
- Describe what each chosen value looks like in practice
Define Your Brand Personality
Determine how your brand should feel whenever someone interacts with it.
- Choose three to five defining personality traits
- Explain what each trait means for your business
- Connect the traits to your marketing and client experience
Establish Your Visual Direction
Create a consistent visual style that supports your positioning and appeals to your ideal client.
- Color and typography direction
- Photography, materials, and textures
- Graphic elements and overall mood
- Visual styles to avoid
Develop Your Brand Voice
Define how your business sounds across every platform and client communication.
- Your communication tone
- Language that reflects your personality
- Words and phrases you regularly use
- Words, phrases, and tones to avoid
Create Your Core Messages
Identify the ideas your audience must understand before they feel ready to hire you.
- Who you help and what you offer
- The problems you solve
- The results clients can expect
- How your process is different
- Why clients can trust you
Define Your Client Promise
Write a realistic, specific promise describing what clients can consistently expect when they work with you.
- How clients will be treated
- How you will communicate and guide them
- The quality and experience you aim to provide
- What you will never compromise
Write Your Brand Story
Create a concise, client-focused story that builds connection and credibility.
- What led you to this work
- The problem or opportunity you recognized
- The perspective you bring
- Why you care about helping your clients
Build Your Messaging Guide
Bring every piece together into one practical reference for your business.
- Organize your complete brand foundation
- Document approved and avoided language
- Create examples for website, social media, proposals, and client communication
Your brand should feel intentional—not like three fonts wearing a trench coat.
Module Assignment
Create Your Brand Foundation & Messaging Guide
Bring your work from all ten lessons together into one clear reference you can use throughout your business.
- Brand purpose
- Mission statement
- Three to five core values
- Three to five brand personality traits
- Visual direction
- Brand voice
- Three to five core messages
- Client promise
- Short brand story
- Approved and avoided words and phrases
- Messaging examples for your website, social media, and client communication
Lake Hazel Design Collective
Module 3: Offers, Services & Scope
Build clear, profitable services that clients can understand, confidently purchase, and successfully complete.
Inside This Module
Lessons
Work through each lesson in order to turn your expertise into clearly defined offers with realistic expectations and boundaries.
Audit Your Current Services
Review everything you currently offer and determine what should be kept, improved, combined, paused, or removed.
Create Your Core Service Menu
Select three to five primary services that support your business model, niche, experience, and revenue goals.
Define the Client Outcome
Clarify the result, transformation, or solution each service is designed to provide.
Establish Your Scope of Work
Document exactly what is included, what is excluded, and where your responsibilities begin and end.
Create Service Tiers or Packages
Organize your services into clear options that accommodate different project needs, budgets, and levels of support.
Define Deliverables
List the specific plans, selections, meetings, documents, presentations, or other materials the client will receive.
Set Project Boundaries
Establish policies for communication, meetings, revisions, purchasing, site visits, response times, and additional requests.
Price Your Services
Choose an appropriate pricing structure and ensure each service accounts for your time, expertise, expenses, and desired profit.
Create Add-On Services
Develop optional services clients can purchase when they need support beyond the original scope.
Build Your Service and Scope Guide
Combine your offers, pricing structure, deliverables, exclusions, boundaries, add-ons, and scope-change process into one practical reference.
Put It Into Practice
Module Assignment
Create a complete Service and Scope Guide for your business. Your completed assignment should include:
- Your three to five core services
- The ideal client for each service
- The outcome of each service
- What is included
- What is excluded
- Client deliverables
- Project boundaries
- Pricing structure
- Available add-ons
- Your process for handling work outside the original scope
Before You Continue
Completion Checklist
Lake Hazel Design Collective · Business Foundations
Module 4: Pricing, Profitability & Payment Structure
Build a pricing system that supports your business, protects your profit, and makes it easy for clients to understand how and when they will pay.
Inside This Module
Move from simply charging for your work to pricing every service with intention, consistency, and a clear path to profit.
Understand the True Cost of Your Services
Calculate the time, labor, expenses, overhead, and resources required to deliver each service.
Set Your Target Profit Margin
Determine how much profit each project must generate beyond simply covering costs.
Choose the Right Pricing Model
Compare hourly, flat-fee, percentage-based, cost-plus, retainer, and hybrid pricing structures.
Calculate Your Minimum Project Fee
Establish the smallest financially worthwhile project or service engagement your business will accept.
Price Your Core Services
Create consistent pricing for consultations, design packages, full-service projects, and other primary offers.
Create Your Payment Schedule
Decide when deposits, progress payments, retainers, procurement payments, and final balances are due.
Price Procurement and Purchasing Services
Establish your markup, purchasing fee, freight policies, receiving costs, and product payment requirements.
Plan for Revisions and Additional Work
Set rates and approval procedures for extra meetings, revisions, site visits, delays, and scope changes.
Build Profitability Into Every Project
Track estimated versus actual hours, expenses, revenue, and profit throughout the project.
Create Your Pricing and Payment Guide
Combine your rates, fees, payment schedule, purchasing policies, and additional-service pricing into one practical reference.
Put It Into Practice
Module Assignment
Create a complete Pricing, Profitability, and Payment Guide for your business. Your guide should include:
- Pricing model for each core service
- Estimated delivery costs
- Target profit margin
- Minimum project fee
- Consultation and hourly rates
- Deposit requirements
- Project payment schedules
- Procurement fees or product markups
- Additional-service rates
- Revision and scope-change fees
- Late-payment and cancellation policies
- A system for reviewing project profitability
By the End of This Module
You will have a pricing structure that is clear to clients, practical to manage, and designed to produce real profit—not merely keep you very busy.
Build
Write an introduction that summarizes the expected outcomes of this course. This course is about unlocking flexibility, not following formulas.
What You'll Learn
Build ConfidenceWe break things down into simple, manageable parts so you never feel overwhelmed. As you progress, you’ll develop both skill and self-assurance, one step at a time.
Learn New ApproachesThrough thoughtful examples and guided exploration, you'll learn to approach obstacles with fresh eyes. This course is about unlocking flexibility, not following formulas.
Gain Practical ToolsEach lesson is designed to equip you with useful strategies you can immediately put into action. It’s about learning with purpose and seeing real results.