On Structure, Processes, Hiring and Cash Flow With Laura Umansky

I was so happy to have Aspen based interior designer, Laura Nesbit Umansky, as my most recent guest on Meet The Members discussing how she has gone from zero to 24 employees in the last 15 years and the lessons she’s learned along the way.

Laura U Design Collective, Laura’s interior design firm, is HQ’d in Houston. With the exception of Laura and one other full time employee who live in Aspen, her entire team works out of her offices in Houston.

I find this fact fascinating as it attests to her ability as the CEO of a business to put in place the structure, processes and people that allowed her to move to Aspen and lead an extremely successful firm of 24 people, remotely.

Laura has also recently started a 2nd business, Design Dash, which helps her fellow designers/creative entrepreneurs learn how to scale UP their businesses, too, for eventual sale.

[ Full disclosure: I am professionally working with Laura by helping her to admin a private online community FB Group she’s created for this 2nd business [see the live link to it at the end of this post ] and I’m also giving her some strategic advice re: this 2nd business. ]

For those of you not familiar with Meet The Members, it is an exclusive opportunity for members of my own Facebook Group community for interior designers, #DesignWealth, to meet my guests live on Zoom, every Saturday morning at 9:30 am CT, and ask my guests their questions.

Afterwards, I write these blog posts with my top takeaways from our conversations. This is my 8th in this series, and lately, people have been asking me if I’m recording the sessions, too. The answer is no.

Why not?

Because I want people in my Community to join us live…as I enjoy seeing everyone’s faces and hearing their voices. That’s what community means to me: seeing people & hearing them as we join together for an hour or so of learning and getting to know one another better.

Top Takeaway #1: To Scale Up, Start With An Organizational Chart.

Laura recommended the book, TRACTION, as one that was very helpful to her as she was first defining her organizational chart. Laura runs her business as an EOS - entrepreneurial operating system, a concept first coined by Dino Wickman, the founder of eosworldwide.com, and the author of the book.

Laura shared with everyone with us on the Zoom an image of her own company’s organizational chart and she shared more about how she has structured her business.

She has an executive leadership team, she has senior designers who each have an assistant, and then she has junior designers and other employees in roles necessary to the efficient and profitable running of her firm.

Laura herself only has 2 direct reports.

Top Takeaway #2: Hiring Is Easier When You Have An Organizational Chart, And Then Define The Role, Clearly.

Laura shared that she became overwhelmed with the lack of organized communication and processes when she reached 12 employees. At that point, she knew she needed to change, and she has.

With the implementation of her organizational chart and the EOS system, it is now much easier for Laura to see where the holes are within her firm and to hire the right person for the right role, assuming they are available.

She has an extremely organized and step by step employee onboarding process [an image of which she shared with us] and an employee handbook, as well, with all processes and expectations defined.

She shared that, often, people are hired because they seem to be a good fit, but when you want to scale up, the person hired may not actually be a good fit anymore for the way the firm is evolving. It’s critical to define the initial role, clearly, so the person hired knows where they are on the organizational chart, who they will report to, and who will report to them, and where the growth potential is for them within the firm.

[ My Note: In my own years of working professionally with interior designers, I think Laura’s way of approaching her business as a scalable enterprise, built on profitability, will be a mindset shift for many. Do you agree? ]

Top Takeaway #3: Clear, Consistent and Organized Internal Communication Processes Are Essential

Laura shared that she and her firm use the software, Basecamp, to communicate. She shared her Basecamp screen with all of us, so people could see how she has organized topics, teams and jobs. It was very impressive.

No matter what software you use for this, having a consistent and organized internal communication process for all team members is essential if you want to scale up.

Laura has also created a Basecamp page for our work together on Design Dash, where Laura’s full time team members I’m interacting with can communicate with each other easily. This allows Laura to dive into these threaded conversations at any time, and all interactions to be in one place, so she can oversee what’s going on without having to be a part of the conversation all of the time.

Top Takeaway #4: Having A Bank Line Of Credit And Payment Terms With Your Vendors Is Essential

During the cash flow portion of our discussion, Laura shared that she got started in her business through a loan from her father which helped her open a retail store, which she closed 6 years later, after her design business took off. However, for bigger needs like the build out of her office spaces, she has a revolving bank line of credit.

She switched banks from a large conglomerate bank, to a small, privately owned bank that was focused on building long term relationships with their customers and has been very happy with that decision.

In addition, she shared how important it has been for her to have payment terms with her vendors, which allows her to better manage her company’s cash flow. She stressed the importance of doing what you can to open your own accounts, IF you desire the level of sustained profitability it takes to scale up your interior design business.

[ My Note: Laura’s focus on profitability is what allows her to offer such generous benefits to her employees. In her Facebook Group community for interior designers who want to scale up their businesses, #DesignDasher, you will find an EXCELLENT chart discussing margins and Laura’s advice on what you should be targeting if you’re a business owner who wants to scale up.

TOP TAKEAWAY #5: Be Intentional In The Way You Foster and Communicate Your Company’s Culture

Given that Laura lives in Aspen and most of her team works out of her Houston office, being intentional about fostering Laura U Design Collective’s company culture has been essential.

For instance, every Monday at the same time, Laura’s team is on a Zoom call together to set the goals for the week. In addition, on Fridays, everyone is once again together, celebrating the week’s wins in Basecamp. Laura stressed how attending these two meetings was a requirement of every employee.

Laura also travels to Houston frequently to meet with her team. While there, they often engage in fun activities, offsite, that allow the team members to connect and get to know one another better.

A recent event was at Ratchet Hatchet, where they took turns throwing hatchets at a big dart like board to see who could get closest to the bullseye. It was a wonderful way for her team to blow off the steam that builds due to all of the stressed inherent in the interior design business at this moment in time.

There you have it, my 5 top takeaways from our conversation with Laura on #MeetTheMembers. Which one resonated most with you if you’re trying to scale up your business?

[ My Note: If you’re going to the Design Influencers Conference next week, Laura will be there with two of her team members so if you have more questions for her, I’m sure she’d love to meet you and answer them.]

Now, as I always do, I invite you to read the other posts in this series, where each of the design leaders shown below has shared about a different facet of the interior design business, but this time I’ve collected them all into one post for you here, which also shares the backstory on how #MeetTheMembers came to be.

https://www.savourpartnership.com/blog/the-story-behind-meet-the-members-in-the-design-wealth-community

Connect With Laura

https://laurau.com
https://designdash.com

https://instagram.com/lauraudesigncollective
https://instagram.com/designdasher

And as I mentioned above, if you’re an interior designer who is also a creative entrepreneur looking to scale your business UP for eventual sale, and network with other business owners seeking to do the same, please send Laura a Request To Join her private Facebook Group community here:

https://facebook.com/groups/designdasher

More Inspiration From Laura’s Team

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Named One Of HFN Magazine’s Top 40 Most inspiring Women In Home