Reading all of this is all well and good, but it won’t help you unless you actually take action. So it’s your turn. Don’t over think these, just give them your first shot and move forward knowing that it’s ok for now.

I will guide you with what to write, with the aim of getting you to having some basic text written that you can post on the front page of your website. You can write more, but no less!

Choose one process of creating a mood board. Please choose one that you have not used before and try something new. Push yourself to step outside of your comfort zone. If you don’t usually like crafty things, then try creating a physical mood board. If you’re not techy, then try and create a digital mood board. I dare you to try something new.

Now that you have a basic understanding of how to draw in 2D and 3D in SketchUp, I wanted to show you how to edit your models and plans so that you can start to style your drawings in a way that are on brand but also in a way that helps clarify certain things in your drawings to your clients.

Please remember that this is just an introduction and you are not expected to do more than just have a play and experiment with this at this stage! This is going to be something that you will keep learning and growing your knowledge and experience for the rest of your career, so please don’t get hung up on presenting high-quality, realistic and lifelike renders to your clients at this point in time.

If you want to learn more there are millions (and I mean millions) of free online SketchUp tutorials. You don’t have to pay to grow your knowledge in this area. My personal investment would be to invest in the pro version of the program rather than for further lessons.

What you’ll probably find is that you’ll just keep learning and growing and always want to be better and do better. That is a very natural thing to want. So don’t put pressure on yourself, enjoy playing and experimenting with your models and be open to learning.

In this program, I didn’t want to insult your intelligence and show you how to put a mood board together! But what I wanted to do was show you modern day tools that will grow your knowledge and allow your young interior design business to thrive. For that reason, I want to show you how to firstly, present plans in an informative and beautiful way that is simple, fast and helps your clients to understand what they are seeing.

The main goal with any drawing (digital or printed) is to communicate your ideas and thoughts and get your client’s approval. For your client to approve your drawing and the designs of a space however, they need to understand what they are seeing! That is often harder than you think. For that reason, I have found that deciphering the difference between an object or piece of furniture in a floor plan and a wall or floor is often the bare minimum required for a client to quickly understand a plan.

As you have started to learn SketchUp, I wanted to show you a few things you can do to style your drawings so that you can personalise them and also make communication of drawings fun, beautiful and enjoyable for both you and your clients. I love drawing plans! For that reason, I draw a lot of them! I also have to draw a lot of plans fast, so for that reason, I try not to overcomplicate the design of my layouts so that they don’t take hours to complete or take a lot of processes and different programs.

Please remember when going through this module that you are not going to be assessed on the beauty of your drawings (although if you find joy in creating them, it will show). The main goal is to equip you with the basic tools to be able to present information to a client and give your business a strong chance of success because the biggest failures I have seen with interior start-ups is miscommunication between clients and designers!

Also, in most cases, even if a client is saying yes they understand a drawing, they might just be embarrassed that they can’t read the plan, so do everything you can to make sure that your plans are clear and communicate what you have set out to communicate.

I will show you two different ways that I present plans to clients using two different tools. One is styling my SketchUp model and the other is bringing my plans into Photoshop and colouring them in there. You don’t have to use Photoshop if you don’t want to. You can just stylise the SketchUp model. I just wanted to show you how easy it is to do in both applications. You’re the business owner, watch the videos and make a decision about what is right for you at this point in time in your business.

If you naturally set out to do the most difficult thing (such as learn three new programs all at the same time and expect to create sensational, high-quality results after 30 minutes), you’re going to set yourself up for disappointment. Please just go into this module with the mindset of being open, interested and willing to try new things. Don’t put pressure on yourself to be the best right now. Just be you and have fun.

At the beginning of your career, you’ll need a guide to make sure you don’t forget to do something when creating a design proposal for a project. I have set out some easy to follow design steps for you here so that you can use these for your first few projects.

The following thought processes and steps would be expected of you as a high quality, professional interior designer in the industry.

This week’s goal is to learn to be decisive and make decisions effectively. Keeping your overall business goal at the forefront of your mind and using your intuition is key.

This week we will be working on your ability to make business decisions in a manner that is efficient and profitable but also builds your confidence as a business person.

As an interior designer, you’ll be making lots of decisions. The best gift I can give you as your mentor is to teach you to make essential decisions relatively quickly. This is a skill that you’ll need as an interior designer, an entrepreneur and a successful business person.

Enjoy the process of setting up your business, explore the joy and creativity that comes with this process, but don’t let yourself stall and fall into the perfectionist trap.

Over the next few weeks, you’re going to have lots of ideas. Note them down but remember it’s not wise to explore every idea under the sun – you’ll need a lifetime for that! Keep your business goal at the forefront of your mind (use your vision board as a guide) and try to use your heart to guide you to make the decisions that are right for your business at this point in time.

Know that your business will be evolving – get used to understanding the difference between needing to keep going to get it perfect and needing to complete something and accepting it’s right for “now”. One of these is fear guiding you and holding you back and the other requires strength and confidence in yourself to decide – to make a decision and be ok with it.

We will be keeping pace, and you’ll be moving forward quickly. Don’t forget; this isn’t forever, your business will evolve, so the goal is to learn to make a decision that you are confident with for now, and move on.

Each week we are going to be taking the action steps towards starting your interior design business as well as ensuring your knowledge is at a level that would be expected of you by a client and to help you feel confident in your skills.

Your homework is split into two sections. The first is homework that builds your business step by step and teaches you the essentials of becoming an interior designer and business owner. We add to this throughout the whole program and build towards your final submission which is your business-success plan. The other homework helps grow your skills in key areas and does not require submission – but is equally important. Please try every exercise. If you would like feedback on these, then please use the forum and ask your questions in the homework section or save your questions to ask live on the call.

During the next few months, you will have access to our guidance via the forum and weekly calls. No question is too silly, although we do ask that you search the forum first to see if a similar question has already been answered before you start a new thread. Please also take the time to write useful headings and titles for your forum posts as the other mentees have done before you.

Please note that if you send us a private message or question we will (in most cases) ask you to post your question in the forum as the group aspect of this program builds your support network.

Each week we will set a goal for you to achieve and remind you to check in with your goals and vision. This is a useful tool to get used to using as a business owner, as having a clear direction helps you to take the fastest route to complete it. We don’t want you to waste your time.

There are some parts of this program that you will want to come back to later. You will have access to the content for as long as it exists so please don’t worry about that. At the end of the program, your support from us will cease after your graduation call (that means you won’t be able to ask questions on the forum anymore but you will be able to see all old and new posts). You will continue to have access to the social stream and we encourage you to interact with old and new groups too. This is a safe place for you and for us.

Just one more thing, please respect the rules of the forum and social stream and treat everyone with kindness respect. Each one of you has come to this program with a unique history and background. Please share your expertise and experience where possible. If you can help someone with your feedback – please do! As soon as you start to share your knowledge and help your colleagues freely, you’ll realise how much you already know.

Our main goal is to teach you the skills and give you the knowledge required to become a successful interior designer as quickly and safely as possible in a way that is relevant and current to today’s world.

Alongside this, we will be providing you with a step by step process to build your interior design business and set it up in a way that is professional, profitable and enjoyable.

In order to achieve this goal, we will need to ensure the following:

Are you ready to get started? Next week we will be releasing your first homework module, so enjoy this slow lead-in and get excited about what is to come!

I had been trying to set up my own businesses for as long as I can remember. My brother once reminded me that both he and my Dad used to come to me for money when I was younger.

Looking back, I guess at this earlier stage in my life, I had actually been pretty good at making and keeping it! It’s quite funny as I totally forgot that during my twenties, which were the 10 year period where I was a broke architecture student, working jobs just to get myself through university.

It wasn’t until I started working with a life coach and a business mentor that I realized that running your own business requires more than just being great at something. I had topped my graduating architecture class at university, won competitions, and never struggled to get jobs in architecture (even during the recession).

I had been involved in hundreds of projects throughout my career, from small to large, commercial and domestic, as well as worked long hours to gain experience while taking extra courses to gain further knowledge.

I had no doubt that I had what it took to be good in my field. I just didn’t realize that the majority of the reason my initial interior design business failed was because of the lovely insecurities I had accumulated through living a possibly not so normal life.

Just for a laugh, here is a timeline of my entrepreneurial journey starting from the age of 7 (this doesn’t include my whole career and degrees in architecture by the way!):