Interior designers show how to increase profitability by 537%
Dover Design is an interior design practice based in London. Jon Dover founded the business in 2007 following 30 years in the industry. They specialise in restaurant, bar and retail design. As well as creating high-spec industrial workshops for artisanal manufacturers. As a leader in their field, they have designed for many major casual dining brands. These include Nando’s, Zizzi and Chiquito. After initial success they began to see their revenue plummet between 2008 and 2010. They knew they had to look at how to increase profitability to keep the business afloat.
The phone stopped ringing. Turnover dropped 34%.”
It caused us sleepless nights and we began to question whether the business had a future.
Coaching to grow profit
Knowing the key challenge was to increase profitability, Jon took some positive action. He met up with Gil Devlin in and immediately saw the benefit of having her support. He wanted turn the tide and rebuild the business. And needed guidance on how to increase profitability.
The directors began meeting Gil every week. Early on in the coaching process, Gil helped them clarify what he wanted to achieve. They then went through a detailed process to understand what they needed to change. And areas they could build upon. Such as their excellent base of high-value clients and contacts. As well as their extensive industry experience.
Gil aligned their strengths with their goal to grow profit. And identified that they needed to channel their experience in a more structured way.
Gil took us through a rigorous process of evaluating our business and identifying its strengths and weaknesses.”
We got drawn into day-to-day operations, which often meant a lack of strategic oversight and leadership from us.
Creating a sales system for leads and conversions
Before working with Gil, the directors were doing too much themselves. They were extremely busy yet barely breaking even. One of the initial areas of focus for their coaching was to map their experience into systems. Together they mapped out and documented processes for delivering great work to clients. They increased the company’s design capacity by training their team in the processes. Ensuring that even new and less experienced staff could produce high quality work. These systems allowed the directors to take a small step back from working in the operations. Giving them more time to focus on generating leads and conversions. And crucially, their primary goal: to increase profitability.
To make the team was stronger, Gil introduced Dover Design to DISC profiling. This helped them get the best out of each team member through better communication. As Jon enthusiastically stated “We have learnt to delegate!
With internal operations stabilised, coaching focused next on outward growth. Gil worked with the directors to develop a robust sales system. Harnessing their extensive experience into a repeatable framework for new business. This involved refining their sales skills and techniques. They improved their negotiating skills with a philosophy of always knowing your worth.
With this positive mindset they increased their marketing investment with external telemarketing.
KPI Meaning in Business
Marketing can be one of the most expensive activities for a business. That’s because much marketing fails to generate more money than it costs. Gil encouraged Dover Design to measure of the results from all marketing activities.
They started measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). By understanding the meaning of KPI in business they refined their marketing spend. This enabled them to ey could seedetermine which marketing gave them a return on investment. And which didn’t. Focussing them more on marketing that worked. And stopping marketing that didn’t work. This resulted in a rapid increase in new business opportunities.
Showing that knowing your numbers is key to understanding how to increase profitability.
Always Know Your Worth
Understanding their KPIs increased the quality and quantity of leads into the business. Gil also helped the directors maximise their conversion of these leads into sales.
In the past we’ve never been good at standing firm over pricing.”
Now we take a firmer stance on fees, building in room for negotiation to accommodate those customers who like to bargain.
Their positive mindset around fees demonstrated its important to always know your worth. This approach meant that the work they won was more profitable. Plus being less open to discounting fees did not result in less work. Instead, they saw 150% increase in conversion of new business opportunities. Showing how to increase profitability by building a comprehensive sales system.
Positive Thinking in Business
Dover Design developed a very positive mindset about the future of their business. A growing business with a strong and efficient team meant the directors no longer needed to work 7 days a week.
Coaching with Gil gave them both the confidence and time to raise their business profile. Their positive mindset enabled them to define their long-term vision for the business. They moved away from constantly worrying about the business’s survival. As a result, they began to enjoy the creative direction again. Positive thinking in business is crucial when strengthening margins to grow profit.
Over time this facilitated the directors’ shift away from being busy but just over break even. Resulting in quadrupled turnover with net profit running at a very healthy 22% in a four year period.
We have belief. And we’re confident about moving forward with optimism and pride in what we do.
Ready to increase profitability in your business?
You’ve read how bottom-line growth requires clear aspirations. As an experienced business coach, Gil helps you clarify these. Then supports you in developing the knowledge and skills you need to grow.
Together, you’ll identify exactly how to boost your revenue and profit. Gil will support you in implementing a structured selling approach and operational excellence. Building your repeatable growth blueprint for achieving your goals. By converting goals into forward-facing plans, you create the capacity for maximising profits. Moving you towards a more rewarding professional and personal life.
Your first step in becoming a more profitable business is for us to have a conversation. We’ll talk about your personal aims and your vision for your business. Together we’ll look at my structured methodologies. And discuss transforming your big ideas into the actionable steps for profitable growth.