6 Interior Designers Will See Their Businesses
Transformed Starting July 22, 2026

Dear Designer,

I’m David Shepherd, university business professor and interior design consultant, and I want to start with the two most important questions any interior designer who wants lasting financial success has to answer: 

Think about that. If you truly knew the answer to just those two questions, you'd know everything you need to know about the future of your practice, and your own odds of achieving financial security. 

Here's the problem. Most designers can't answer these questions—not clearly. Ask what makes them different and they'll float the same, tired, generalities that every other designer offers. Eye for color, proven track record, we put the customer first, blah, blah, blah. 

I'll prove it to you with a story.

Uniquely Identical

Years ago, at one my largest business conferences for designers, I asked about 400 attendees to think about what made them truly unique. Several raised their hand and I called on one. She described how her ability to use Revit to create 3D renderings set her apart.

I then asked the room how many others used the same or similar software to achieve the same effect.

About 75 hands went up. 

I repeated the experiment six more times with the same result. These designers hadn't created uniqueness at all. In fact, they're what author and Harvard strategic planning professor Youngme Moon would call, "Uniquely identical." 

Do I even need to ask how in the world a client is supposed to
be able to pick you out of a crowd...if you can't? 

You must not just have a capability or two; you must have a unified set of skills that make you stand out from the pack. You must make it not just a happy coincidence that the client choose you, but an inevitability! 

What Makes You Different?

Don't expect a client to discern what makes you different—if you can't!

And there's only one thing that can make you different—a great strategy. Yes, strategy that overused, high-sounding MBAish word is the key to your future. With a great one, you simply cannot fail. Without one, there is no way to succeed.  

Think about that. And let me be precise, because the word "strategy" is terribly abused. It is not a mission statement, not a plan, not a goal, not a tag line. I'll get to the definition in a moment, but let's deal first with the benefits. A clear and compelling strategy defines who you are, what makes you genuinely different, exactly who you're for, and even specifies exactly what you must offer such that your ideal clients simply have no choice. They have to choose you! 

A great strategy doesn't describe your reality; it creates it.  

And here's the part most people rarely think about: the strategy you develop and commit to will determine whether or not you are someday able to retire on your own terms. Whether you'll create true financial independence, or be chasing that next project in your 70's. Keep in mind that despite all the apparent changes such as social media, online design, AI, etc., the laws of business success are like the laws of physics—they NEVER CHANGE! Apples still fall from the tree, and profits still result from one thing and one thing only, BEING DIFFERENT!

How Did The Breakthrough Happen? 

From the university classroom,
to the interior designer's desk!

"I've taught strategic planning at the university level for over 25 years. Strategy can be a fairly complex subject and most Fortune 500 companies use teams of consultants to help them. But at the same time I was teaching, I had also begun consulting with interior design firms which, as you know, are almost always small businesses. Seeing the incredible value of a great strategic plan for big businesses, I started to develop a process that would take the best of those Fortune 500 tools, and make them accessible to you. The result was my ActionMap process and the impact on interior design firms, large and small, has been nothing less than profound."

—David Shepherd

How Do I Know this Process Works?

So, What is the 6-Week Process?

What You’ll Build in Six Weeks

Over six weeks, in a small group of fellow designers, I’ll walk you through building your own ActionMap — the same framework I use in my private engagements. You’ll work through six connected stages:

There’s one more piece I won’t let you skip: Tradeoffs. What you decide not to pursue matters as much as what you commit to. One client desperately wanted a Manhattan office and an 8,000-square-foot retail showroom. With me playing devil’s advocate, neither survived. They got traded off — and her firm grew from 7 employees to 22 over the next two years.

You build the map from the top down, starting with your Dream. You implement it from the bottom up, through daily action. Articulated from the top down; implemented from the bottom up. That’s how real strategy works.

And when you’re done, you’ll tell the story of it in a single breath:

That’s not a tagline. That’s a strategy. Your strategy — one nobody else can copy, because nobody else is you. 

How My ActionMap Clients are Dominating

Here are four major strategic classifications in which ActionMap clients have increased their focus, enthusiasm, and profits, as well as greatly simplifying their lives.