Be it on Instagram, via YouTube comments, or straight to my email, I frequently get questions related to e-design — getting started, software to use, how to charge…you name it. Hell, it was probably a question from you. I do my best to answer every email, comment, or direct message, taking special notice to any similarities and commonly asked questions.

Spoiler: my most frequently asked question is always software related, LOL.

But one question I would’ve expected to get more of that was actually my least asked question was whether or not e-design was a good fit. 

I’ve had designer friends remove e-design from their service offerings, realizing that it wasn’t a good fit for them and so happy to be freed up to focus on the services that did fit their business model.

The conversations I’ve had with them were always of exploration — understanding the root of their e-design frustrations and ultimately realizing that, no matter how many times they tweaked their packages or pricing, it would never make them happy. I began to wonder, aside from my close designer circle, why weren’t more people asking themselves this — is e-design a good fit for me and my business?

Since most (if not all) of you following me, did so from our humble beginnings as The E-Design Experience, I knew that at some point I should address this very question.

So if you’re a designer that has considered e-design for your business, you might wanna pull out some pen & paper or your favorite note-taking app, because today we’re talking all about why e-design just might not be for you. 

If you listened to episode 10 of season 1, then you got a quick and dirty rundown of the business of e-design. If you haven’t listened to that episode yet, I would suggest you go there  first, then listen to this one. 

But in short, e-design is online interior design or remote design services.

E-design, for better or for worse, has forever changed the landscape of the design industry and has become a very enticing income stream for many designers, seasoned and new alike.

So in theory, it could or should be for everyone right? Wrong.

You’re Not Tech Savvy 

While being a full-blown tech nerd (like myself) isn’t a prerequisite for doing e-design, some level of comfort and familiarity with technology definitely is.

The biggest point of differentiation between traditional design is the fact the e-design is digital. No matter what systems you use to actually execute your e-design services, it’ll be heavily reliant on technology — acquiring the client, onboarding the client, creating the design, communicating, and ultimately delivering the final product. If technology frustrates you and/or you simply prefer putting pen to paper and meeting in person, e-design just won’t be your jam.

You Haven’t Streamlined Your Design Process

One of the things that makes e-design so attractive and unique is the process — depending on the project, is it a quicker, more efficient way for the client to get a design of their dreams and for you to make that dream a reality.

That said, if you’re still figuring out or tinkering with your process, e-design may not be for you…yet. I say yet because it may be through creating an e-design process that you find yourself completely streamlining all your processes.

E-design should be a very intuitive, almost self-serving, process for the client.

You have the responsibility of being very clear with every single step, anticipating hiccups, and having contingencies in place for every scenario. Without this level of precision and efficiency, you may find that you’re way more hands-on than you anticipated. 

You Struggle With Pricing Your Services

Most designers who have provided full-service design will tell you, that with lots of practice and hands-on experience, they have been able to pinpoint the pricing structure that best suits them. Their experience has afforded em the ability to estimate what their hours will look like and predict certain project costs. Equipped with that information, they’ve developed their pricing, be in by the hour or a flat fee rate.

E-design doens’t have this same advantage, with most e-designers charging a flat fee. But based on what?

I can’t answer that for you, but if you struggle with quantifying your time and talent, you will likely always feel that you aren’t charging enough for your service and resentful of the entire process. 

You Don’t Have Go To Shopping Resources

Ask any designer that offers e-design — and thriving — and they’ll tell you they have their go-to retailers that they use when creating their client shopping list. This is largely in part to the need to be quick and efficient when it comes to the overall project turnaround.

In episode 4 of season 1, we talked all about sourcing retail versus trade resources.

No matter the avenue you choose — definitely pros and cons to both — if you find that with every project you’re starting the search from scratch, you’re hustling backward. Time is money, and the time you spend starting from zero with every project resource is time (aka money) lost. 

Your Contract Isn’t Air Tight

Your contract is essentially a culmination of all the things you know you need to protect yourself and your clients, but also of all the lessons learned when something went array.

Once you’ve buttoned up everything else I mentioned — your tech knowledge, your design process, your pricing, and your shopping resources — this needs to be explicitly reflected in your contract.

If you don’t know your process, how can you define the turnaround time in your contract? If you haven’t nailed down your pricing structure, how can account for additional  billing procedures in your contract? If your shopping resources aren’t clear, what do you bring to the table as a designer when the client is making their purchases? All of this and more has to be detailed to the finest point in your contract. As I said, it protects you and it protects the client.

No matter the type of designer you are, you should most definitely be versed in the unspoken nuances of human psychology — you’re creating spaces for people to live, work, and play, so by definition, you need to understand how they live, work, and play. However, as an e-designer, you do not have the luxury of walking the space or sitting across from the client.

You have to find creative ways to get in tune with their needs and the space. Ultimately, if you aren’t able to do this, at a very basic level, e-design will never be for you.

You have to be able to recognize that while it is an attractive part of the design industry, it may not be part of the industry that’s for you. In the same way that not every designer does hospitality, commercial, or renovation design, I want you to know that it’s okay if e-design isn’t part of your repertoire. 

If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to the show so that you don’t miss any of the new upcoming episodes. I definitely want to hear from you when it comes to creating this kind of e-design specific content — want more, want less, have questions? To catch up with me off the show, and to share your thoughts, be sure to follow along with @thedesigninfluence on Instagram. Till next time friends…