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A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design  Business Podcast

625: Coco & Jack: Flexibility and Balance Between Interior Design and Family

A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast

LuAnn Nigara

Business, Design, Arts

4.8786 Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2020

⏱️ 65 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today with Steve and Alyssa Terpstra of Coco & Jack:  Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Today on the show, Luann is joined by Steve and Alyssa Terpstra of Coco & Jack. Steve and Alyssa run their firm together without any other employees, with Steve running the business and sales side, and Alyssa creating the designs. They also have a large family with four young children. Today, they’re sharing their strategies for running a growing business together while staying flexible and balanced with their family.    Pick it apart: [14:48] Steve dives into Coco & Jack’s pricing process [19:08] LuAnn and Steve dissect how to determine the budget, even if the client is unsure or less-than-forthcoming [28:07] Luann and Alyssa discuss how referring out projects is sometimes vital for growing to the next stage of business [29:23] Alyssa shares how the flow of the workweek and balancing parenthood looks for them [38:36] Luann and Alyssa discuss the double-edged sword of Pinterest-based design and how to maintain creativity when design examples are just a few clicks away LuAnn, Steve and Alyssa’s Ah-Ha moments: “It’s not just having a person who’s capable and qualified to come in and do the project management, but the trust and confidence that it’s your husband, that he’s as invested and has your back and the best interest of the company, you, and the clients in mind.” -LuAnn   “That process of trying to figure out where our budget numbers are going to be, comes from talking with the potential client about their lifestyle, the way they’re living now, what area they’re living in...it chances on every project we quote.” -Steve   “It’s a tough time. I talk to designers about making that transition from all of the projects, when we’re in that phase of ‘We have to take all the business we can because we have to get this company up and rolling,’ and then making that transition to weeding those out.” -LuAnn   “It’s interesting because we’re together all the time, but we still don’t know where we are until we get to that Monday morning meeting. Then we’re back on track again.” -Steve   “When I think back to when I first started my business, Pinterest was a lot smaller. Instagram was a lot smaller. There wasn’t as much out there. You were forced to look in more creative ways for inspiration. Now, it’s just so easy to find all these beautiful ideas, with endless amounts of it. It enables copying a lot more than going you and being authentic with design.” -Alyssa   More About Coco & Jack: Coco & Jack is a full-service interior design studio run by husband and wife team Steve and Alyssa Terpstra. After years of talking about working together, they were finally able to take the leap and make the dream a possibility. Steve has a passion for business and manages everything behind the scenes, while Alyssa is all about the design, and can’t get enough of space planning and fabric samples. Whether you are building your dream home, or just need help decorating a room, we love making houses feel more like home!   Connect with Coco & Jack: Website  Instagram   Facebook  Pinterest YouTube     What's new with LuAnn Nigara Luannlive.com luannnigara.com/launch www.luannnigara.com/cob   Get The Goodies! For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free here.  To Get on LuAnn’s Email List, text the word designbiz to 444999!   Purchase LuAnn’s Books Here: Book 1: The Making of A Well - Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action Book 2: A Well-Designed Business - The Power Talk Friday Experts Pre-Order Book 3: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2 Connect with LuAnn Nigara LuAnn’s Website LuAnn’s Blog Power Talk Friday Like Us: Facebook | Tweet Us: Twitter | Follow Us: Instagram | Listen Here: Podcast A Big THANK YOU to Today’s Podcast Sponsor: Monogram: At Monogram, no detail gets overlooked. In fact, it’s the details that create luxury appliances that look, feel, and perform as if they were designed perfectly for your client. That’s why Monogram works to make sure that you have the right, detailed information to share with your clients. They even offer easy-to-use 3D design tools to make your job easier. Get started with their trade program at www.monogram.com/luann.   Kravet: You can easily shop Kravet, Lee Jofa, and Brunschwig & Fils all in one place. Introducing new and easy to use search features so you can find the latest products and collections right at your fingertips. Want more of the story behind the collection? Explore the new editorial blog, Inspired, for a behind the scenes look at everything Kravet has to offer. Use promo code AWDB10 for a 10% discount on Kravet fabric, trim, and wallcovering.  Other Shows Mentioned:  #587 Darrell Long: The Best Design Comes From Within, Not Pinterest #270 Shea & Syd McGee: Building a Design Empire Involves a Lot of Hustle #480 Chris Loves Julia: Quality Content Creation is Key to Their Success #474 Bria Hammel: Keys to Scaling Your Interior Design Firm

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, are you getting ready for Thanksgiving? Maybe you're hosting and you're busy getting all of your dishware organized and your menu organized. Or maybe you're like me. You're at the season where you just get to ring the doorbell with a pie in your hand, right? Either way, I hope you are planning to spend some quality time with friends and family, whether that means it's a big,

0:21.1

raucous crowd and lots of carrying on or downtime. Either way, I'm wishing you a happy

0:26.5

holiday season. And, you know, what happens after Thanksgiving, we have Black Friday.

0:31.6

And on Black Friday, Luann University is officially opening registration. And here's the thing. Because it's Black Friday,

0:39.2

we got some Black Friday deals for you. All right, first of all, let me explain this. Early Bird for

0:44.0

Luann University is open from November 29th through December 31st, 2024. So that is the entire early bird

0:52.4

period. And during the early bird period, you get two bonuses.

0:57.2

Number one, you get the early bird pricing.

0:58.8

But you also get, if you buy, whether you buy a five-week course or a three-hour intensive,

1:05.2

if you purchase and register during the early bird period, you are going to be enrolled in the workshop that

1:13.4

Amber DeLegarza and I are hosting together live. It's called Success by Design. Strategic

1:20.6

Goal Setting meets Time Mastery. Okay. So this is going to be a live workshop. It is going to happen in real time on january second

1:30.4

twenty twenty five and we're going to spend part of the time mapping out how do you set your goals

1:37.1

what do you do how do you decide if it's a legitimate goal if it's a reach goal if it's a too easy

1:43.2

of a goal what should your goals be?

1:45.5

And then Amber will take over and she will help us figure out how to carve that time in our

1:52.9

work life to work on our business. Okay. So it's managing the expectations of the hours

1:59.6

you have available so that you can get it all done.

2:02.3

So this is going to be a fantastic class that you are going to take real time and ask us real questions.

2:08.5

Okay, so those are two bonuses that you get if you sign up any time during the early bird period,

2:14.3

November 29th to December 31st.

2:16.4

But there is an extra bonus if you sign up during

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