EP #6 Your Design Contract: The 5 Must Have's

Let me ask you a question? Are you confident and comfortable with your current contract? Perhaps you call it a letter of agreement that’s all good. In today’s episode I want to discuss with you the 5 parts to your contract that you cannot leave out of your agreement. Let’s talk about it.

Hey it’s, Adam Scougall of the So You Want To Be An Interior Designer podcast, and welcome to EPISODE 6. This show really is for mid-career aspiring interior design or decorating solopreneurs that need support in building their own interior design business whilst working 9 to 5. 

My aim is to help you balance your time and make more money whilst being able to choose the projects you want to work on rather than ones you have to take to pay your bills

But first, whether you are just checking if you are the right fit for a new career in design, or wondering how you can improve what's going on in your current design career

*Take the quiz over at soyouwanttobeaninteriordesigner.tv/quiz

Ok, now back to the 5 must have’s

1- You design process outline

·      A roadmap to realizing the full vision of your project

·      Must include how the design phase works and what they will expect. When you will engage other trades, when. Any construction will start etc and what the finish line looks like.

2- Your scope of work

·       Your scope of works is where the designer details a comprehensive list of items that the design will cover

·       This helps you stick to what you agreed to do within your design fee and avoid ‘scope creep’

·       Scope Creep has happened in almost all projects, so you must document this and explain that there must be a new agreement or hourly that kicks in if requests for extensions are requested.

3- Your deliverables!

·       Understanding what your client will be getting from you regarding floor plans, elevations, sketches, 3D Renders, physical models, and samples is integral for many reasons.

·       Not that long ago, I charged a good friend a nominal fee and didn’t take them through my normal contract process, which means they did not understand the limit to the deliverables. I could have kicked myself! Because I left myself open to not specifying how many revisions were allowed in the design concept, she kept requesting changes because there was no impact to her cost wise! You can bet that I have not repeated this again and stay strictly to my terms of one revision only to the original design concept.

4-Your fee structure

·       Be transparent about how you and

Before we jump into today’s episode, I want to share something that I think is going to be really eye-opening for you.

It’s called the Turnkey Truth Test.

It’s a short self-assessment — just 15 quick questions — designed to show you where your design business might look fine on the outside… but is actually leaking time, confidence, or profit behind the scenes.

If you love decorating — furnishings, fabrics, pulling beautiful rooms together — but you

So as you’re listening to this — you might already be recognising parts of your own business in what we’ve talked about today.

Where things feel harder than they should…
 Where projects drag…
 Or where you’re putting in a lot, but not seeing the return.

That’s exactly why I created the Turnkey Truth Test.

It’s just 15 quick questions, and it will show you where your business might look fine on the surface… but is actually leaking time, mone

If this episode raised questions for you, or you’re feeling stuck in your solo design business, you don’t have to figure it out on your own.
I offer a 30-minute clarity session where we can talk through where you’re at, what’s getting in the way, and whether I can help.
Email me at askadam@turnkeydesignsuccess.com