When Instant Gratification Isn’t Possible - Who Pays for Design Project Delays?

Instant gratification can be a good thing – as long as you're the one being satisfied. For an interior designer though, trying to ensure your client’s remodeling project is completed quickly and smoothly has likely become far more challenging recently. With upholstery foam shortages and shipping problems worldwide, design project deadlines that seemed reasonable in the past may no longer be possible.

But who bears the brunt of these design project delays, you or your clients? Beyond simple scheduling problems to iron out, who absorbs increases in costs that extended lead times can cause? Finally, how do you even explain these problems to your clients in ways they can accept?

First, you can take some comfort in the fact that you are not alone – absolutely not alone. And, as explained in an article at BusinessOfHome.com that answers some of these questions, there are more than enough reasons that were out of your control to allow you to remain guilt-free.

“You [never] could have predicted that a cargo ship would get stuck in the Suez Canal for more than a week and hugely interrupt international shipping, nor could you have known that a deep freeze in Texas would virtually destroy foam production for months. And the once-in-a-hundred-year pandemic? Guessing you could not have foreseen that one either.”

Always, Always Be Professional

Next, it’s your responsibility to be the adult in the room. As Sean Low writes, “While these are extraordinary times, they are not without precedent. Price shocks and delays happen all the time, just not as suddenly and pervasively as now … do the hard work of having frank conversations. The fair solution is the right solution, even if some feathers are ruffled along the way.”

Neither you nor your client will benefit from temper tantrums and name-calling. A professional consultation that follows an open and honest initial interview and project contract will go a very long way toward smoothing the waters – for both of you.

Further, you have no ethical or professional justification for taking advantage of the situation. That is, when the costs of materials and labor increase, your client should bear the brunt. However, you are not entitled to make more money because of it. You and your work have value, of course, but that value does not change simply because the cost of kitchen cabinets has risen.

“If you have synced the cost of production with your percentage on purchases, you will now have to do the work to explain that the percentage was always a shorthand to get to what it takes to have the design come to life in their house once it is out of your head. If that work has not changed, then neither should your price, even if the cost of materials and labor have risen considerably.”

In other words, you have no right to charge your client more for the same amount and type of work. (Beyond being unprofessional, doing that would be unethical in the extreme!)

Don’t Eat Project Cost Increases

Time delays cost everyone and the cost must be borne equally. If your cash flow is tied to the timing of certain project goals, or “you earn a percentage on items purchased or charge a flat fee, there is very little you can do to increase revenue in the event of a delay. And do not kid yourself if you charge hourly, the delays will likely not result in enough work to compensate you for the loss of other work. (While you might get more money relative to those charging flat fees or percentages, you will definitely not get enough money.)”

All of this is to say that, while price increases for furnishings can be explained and justified (if not necessarily accepted painlessly), you cannot afford to bear the increased costs from time delays on your own. Fair is fair, after all. And, when the fault lies elsewhere, say with Mother Nature, they do not become your responsibility by default.

As Mr. Low explains, “My position is that time delays ought to be borne by both you and your client almost equally, perhaps through an additional monthly fee to recognize that the project is extending and you need to have the resources necessary to finish the job to the level you both agreed upon when you first started.”

While there is no way for us, or him, to suggest solutions that fit every situation, he does offer some nice insight and advice in the article. Again, you can read it at the BofH Business Advice column.

If you're looking for a more hands-on approach to coping with design project delays and keeping your clients satisfied (if not exactly instantly gratified), Ted is available for business consulting to the industry. Get in touch with TD Fall today.