June 2009
New business model counters recession, brings success to design firms
When Colorado-based interior designer Gail Doby encountered a new business model which turned sourcing high-end kitchen cabinetry on its head, she immediately thought, “At last, this is how it should be done!”
Gail believes that businesses need to find ways of becoming profitable and more competitive, in a market which has seen the biggest decline for decades. “This new business model means interior design professionals are able get the product factory-direct, which means we can give their end-user clients exactly what they need: the best we can get for them, and at a more competitive price, ” explained Gail, who is the founder of Design Success University, an online education resource to teach interior designers practical business and marketing strategies. Gail previously operated her interior design firm out of Denver, Colorado for over 17 years.
“Despite the constraints of the economy, it means that design firms can remain competitive, while also maintaining the highest quality of design and manufacture,” added Gail.
The business model was launched by life- and business partners Deborah Oertle and Stephen James, who have over three decades of experience in high-end cabinetry and in marketing communications respectively. Combining their names and supported entirely by their own capital, they formed Deborah James Coastal Kitchens, LLC two years ago with a business model which is totally new to the industry. In a nutshell, Deborah James Coastal Kitchens is “the face of the factory”, providing design support services, such as manufacturing and order-processing as well as manufacturing the high-end product, to interior designers, architects, and developers.
“The advantage to interior designers is that they now have an option where they longer need to go through a factory showroom or dealership in order to source high-end cabinetry,” explained Deborah Oertle. “Of course, they may still choose to do so, but especially in the current economic climate, will clients really want to spend 25% to 50% more just so that they can see a showroom?”
Deborah, who owned the flagship showroom of Rutt of Chicago in the Chicago Merchandise Mart for almost a decade, explained that it is the end-user who ultimately has to bear the cost of the high overheads: “Those overheads do not get any less during harsh economic times: they still have to be paid. So the ‘old’ way of doing things is declining, while businesses who are in touch with 21st-century business methods are the ones which will be better able to survive,” she explained.
For Gail Doby, the new business model can certainly make a difference to the way interior design professionals operate their business: “This is fresh thinking for the industry allowing designers to be more competitive and/or more profitable and stay in control of their projects,” said Gail. “For businesses to survive and prosper, they have to take on new methods of working. This new business model deserves every success.”
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For further information, please contact:
Deborah James Coastal Kitchens, LLC – Stephen James
stephen@deborahjameskitchens.com
www.deborahjameskitchens.com
www.deborahjamescontractfurniture.com
Design Success University – Gail Doby
gail@designsuccessu.com
www.designsuccesu.com
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