Ignorance Isn’t Bliss, it’s Dangerous

I recently introduced my nephew to one of my more off-the-beaten track hobbies, gifting him with flying trapeze lessons from a local circus school that caters to daredevil kids and their insane aunts.

Although the staff is extremely safety conscious, hanging from a bar 30 feet in the air with only a net between you and the ground is riskier than your average Saturday afternoon pursuit. For that reason, my sister was required to sign a release form for him to participate – something she did with great trepidation and dire threats to my life should anything happen to him.
My nephew, on the other hand, didn’t even bother to read it. “I like the idea of flying blind,” he laughed. “Besides, sometimes, it’s better not to know.”

This is a fine philosophy to live by when you’re 15, and your life is filled with parents, teachers and other adults whose sole purpose is to watch out for your well being.

As a kitchen and bath professional, however, it’s a dangerous way to live. In an industry where the details can make or break you, ignorance isn’t bliss, it’s an expensive habit that can cost you jobs, profits or even your good reputation.

Yet amazingly, many dealers and designers have huge blind spots when it comes to their business dealings. In fact, when kitchen and bath professionals were recently surveyed about how much of their marketing budget was spent on different media, the percentage who answered “I don’t know” ranged from 43% to a whopping 92% (see Markey Savvy). Additionally, a huge number of respondents expressed ignorance as to where their leads and jobs were coming from.
Obviously, this makes it difficult to maximize the sources of key leads and successful jobs. It also makes it all but impossible to minimize wasted spending on marketing venues that do not provide a strong return on investment.

And it’s not just marketing that befuddles kitchen and bath dealers – it’s a number of business-related areas. For instance, a surprising number of dealers are less than knowledgeable about the importance of – and rationale behind – standardizing payment schedules. As a result, far too many end up letting clients dictate these, despite the fact that this can lead to cash flow problems, scheduling snafus and uncollected final payments (see Business Strategies).

Likewise, when it comes to negotiating with clients, too many design professionals assume that it’s the client’s job to learn enough to understand the complexities of the project.

But uneducated clients don’t just hurt themselves, they harm the kitchen and bath designer and complicate the project, leading to miscommunication, unrealistic expectations and protracted arguments that can delay payments and drain profits – not to mention killing any chance of referral business (see Art of the Deal).

I spoke about this recently with a friend who is a talented kitchen designer, yet who frequently struggles with cash flow problems. Her response was one that’s far too common in this industry: “I know I should pay more attention to the business aspects of my firm, but I tend to focus on design, because that’s the part I truly love.”

It’s understandable – after all, most kitchen and bath professionals choose to work in this industry because they enjoy the creativity of designing beautiful spaces. So perhaps it’s only natural that this is what they tend to invest the bulk of their time and energies in.

But it’s also a bit like being the 15-year-old who doesn’t read the release form, enjoying the ride, but turning a blind eye to the risk.

Unfortunately, lack of knowledge doesn’t protect you from the consequences of your actions (or lack thereof); ignorance is only bliss when you have someone else to take care of all the pesky little details for you.

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, your continued success may well be determined not just by your talent, but by your knowledge. For that reason, it’s critical that you take a good, hard look at your business, addressing any “blind spots” that could hamper your future success. Otherwise, you might just be “flying blind” – and without knowledge to act as a safety net, that’s a dangerous pastime indeed.