When it comes to starting a business, it’s important to have the right tools and resources to help make it a success. For your interior design business, design tools and other software is going to come in handy for brainstorming ideas, creating concepts and drafting up designs for your clients.
There are some great software companies out there that can help ensure you have everything you need to secure clients and have success with everything you do. In this current climate, it’s critical for designers to have minimal contact with clients and luckily this software provides a remote opportunity to showcase your work and to move forward without any delays.
With that being said, it’s good to know what’s out there and what the best software is for kick-starting your interior design business in 2021.
Foyr
When it comes to design software, there’s a lot out there. It’s worth finding something that’s going to be easy enough to use, whether you’re a beginner or you’ve been using design software for a while. When you start an interior design business, it’s worth using a software like Foyr. You’ve got a range of features to choose from and it’s popular for both beginner and experts.
It’s easy to use and gives you the realistic viewpoint that you need when it comes to designing.
For design software, you want to have something that’s close to the real thing and with Foyr, you can shift from 2D to 3D. It allows you to easily import home photos or floor plans so that you’re able to customize the space to exactly how it is in reality.
You’ve also got the opportunity to use one of their own customizable floor plan templates. This can be great for creating a walk-through option for your clients as it helps create 3D renderings of kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and more. It’s detailed in its quality and there is a huge selection of furniture and appliances to pick from their library.
With Foyr there’s a lot of scope for customization and that’s what makes this piece of software so impressive. You’ve got the ability to use any color or texture that you can imagine and that can be really important when it comes to impressing your clients. You want a design platform that’s going to give you the ultimate freedom, rather than limiting you in any way.
And if that wasn’t enough, you also have other useful tools for home design and these include a cost estimator, which can come in handy when working with limited budgets. If you’re looking for something that’s got it all, then this software has it. The Foyr software has a range of different plans in order to suit all budget sizes.
There is the basic plan, which comes in at $49 and their premium is $179 per month. It’s worth sizing up what you need for your business before proceeding with the best option.
Adobe Photoshop
As an interior designer, you might be snapping photos on the daily in order to collect inspiration or to photograph whatever canvas is provided by your client for the next project. It’s important that whilst you have a design software under your belt, you also think about editing your photos.
This can be handy when you’ve completed a project and need to have some flashy and professional images to pop into your portfolio. The more evidence you have of the work you’ve done, the better and it’s only going to help you if those photos are the best-looking images your clients ever did see!
Adobe Photoshop is one that’s a dinosaur in comparison to other software but it still remains one of the goldies of the oldies. Most interior firms or designers are going to benefit greatly from using Photoshop. It’s a great photo software that has the ability to manipulate effects and adjust the quality of every photo you take.
If you’ve managed to get some high-quality photos of your work, then Adobe Photoshop can be great when it comes to enhancing them and elevating it to the next level. It’s something that you’ll definitely need when it comes to impressing your clients.
When it comes to Adobe, there’s a variety of subscription price points available but if you’re looking for a trusted photography editing software, then Photoshop is a must-have. With this software being around for so long, there’s also an incredible amount of resources available online to take a look at.
Even if you’re stepping into this software as a beginner, you’re going to find a lot of help and advice online when needed.
If it’s just Photoshop you want, then you can get the basic plan for just $9.99 a month and for all of the apps it’s $52.99 a month. The entire collection might be helpful to some who perhaps do illustrations and more in-depth design, but Adobe Photoshop is pretty much the standard amongst most interior designs nowadays.
Quickbooks
The secret of running a successful business is to be smart with your money. There are going to be times where you need to take risks and times where you need to hold back. You’re going to have moments where you’ll want to reinvest your profits and times where you’ll want to collect as much of the profit as possible.
Whatever the situation may be, having the right software to manage your money is important. You may be given a budget that’s paid in advance by the client or you may have to spend the money first in order to get the money back. You want to have a good system in place to manage your money effectively and Quickbooks can certainly help with that.
It’s a piece of software that’s been around for a while now and comes in an app form too for easy access whilst being on the go. As an interior designer, that might be something you’ll need to do and having your bookkeeping on your person is much better than it being only available in the office.
Quickbooks is definitely a platform that works for most industries and it’s why it’s rated so highly when it comes to accounting software. It’s a good way to have everything coming and going in one place when it comes to your finances.
The standard pricing for this software is $25 per month but then it can go up to various price points depending on the amount of features you’re after. The standard pricing is fairly useful for most things, whilst the more premium tiers tend to be more suited for bigger companies and those that need to do more than monitoring their income and outgoings.
Asana
Staying organized is part of your business and if you’re not necessarily that good at structuring your day or staying motivated, then it’s worth getting a task management software in place. This can be good whether you’re operating solo or you’ve got other employees.
It’s worth taking advantage of a task management platform like Asana because it allows you to work alone or add team members to the dashboard. With Asana, you can do pretty much anything and everything from managing your calendar to assigning tasks. Having the one communication platform where everyone can come together is helpful for interior design businesses.
If it’s just yourself, then Asana can be good for getting your organized. At times, work can get pretty hectic and if you’re juggling multiple clients, it can be good to separate them into different sections. Staying organized is important in order for you not to fall behind on deadlines and to ensure everything gets done. It can be easy to forget things when you’ve not laid out your day.
If you’re someone that finds organizing difficult, then this platform can make it a lot easier. It’ll hopefully build on these skills so that you can handle more of a workload in order for your business to grow and succeed.
Asana, like many other platforms, has varying price points which make it suitable for those who are solo business owners or have multiple employees. They offer a basic plan which is free and offers a sizable amount of features. For Premium it’s $9.49 per month and for Business it’s $20.99. These are fairly low and affordable prices when it comes to project management software.
Software is definitely important if you decide to create an interior design business in 2021 and it’s also necessary for working remotely. That’s why it’s good to have these tools available as and when you need them to continue your work with efficiency.
There are tons of software options out there to choose from so it’s always important to do your research in finding the most suitable ones for you. From project management platforms to accounting software, it can all come in handy when running a full-time business.
