How does cash flow in a design business?
This is a mystery we’ve been trying to solve since 2021. Lately, we’ve been thinking it’s a special mix of magic spells and marathon meetings with our CFO.
Too often we are surprised by something new (to us) in the business of design. It’s not all dishing fresh looks and picking hot colors. These days, cash flow projections, insurance premiums, and contract negotiations fill just as much of our time.
It feels too late for an MBA, so we are doing the next best thing: asking our friends.
This month, we sat down with David Ashen and Boris Gentine of Saguez & Dash and asked them the hard questions about running a business. Ashen says there are two times of the year that keep him up at night—August and December, when the work slows down. “It’s like, how do I make that call to collect money? How do I pay the bills tomorrow?”
David Ashen and Boris Gentine of Saguez & Dash; photo courtesy of Saguez & Dash
Saguez & Dash is one of the industry’s most established firms. Its work has won countless awards, and its projects are beautiful to experience. But, as it turns out, the stars are just like us—they’re also worried about that internet bill.
So, why do we have such similar challenges? We opened our doors just about five years ago, while Ashen founded Dash Design in 2002 and Gentine has been a partner and creative director of Saguez & Partners since 2011. The two joined forces to form Saguez & Dash in 2021. Doesn’t that much collective experience mean they’ve got it all figured out?
“If I had a magic wand, getting rid of the money worry would be awesome. I wish the industry had set fees. No one argues about their lawyer bill or their doctor bill, but they argue with what they pay us,” Ashen tells us.
Gentile says this is further complicated because designers “are their own worst enemies because all creative people love their work,” he says. “The most difficult thing for a designer is to not give everything—to remember that you don’t need to overperform.”
Plus, it’s a business. “We struggle with that,” Ashen says. “I’m a calculator in my head.”
Lately, Saguez & Dash has been churning out the hits, from the rich and layered renovation of Kimpton Miralina Resort & Villas in Scottsdale to the forthcoming reimagination of the Waldorf Astoria in New Orleans and a cool rethink of the glamorous 1960s Hilton Paris La Défense.
Kimpton Miralina Resort & Villas in Scottsdale; photo courtesy of Kimpton Miralina Resort & Villas
Perhaps the real magic is the partnership itself, which seems like it may have been fated. When Ashen visited Saguez & Partners in 2003, he thought to himself: “If I could work anywhere, I would want to work here,” he says. And now, in a way, that wish has come true. “I love having the collaboration and someone to share ideas,” Ashen adds.
With offices across the globe, the firm has turned their geography into their edge. “The Paris team working with the New York team who is working with the Santiago, Chile team—the ideas that come from those three cultures are amazing,” Gentine says. “The time difference can be an advantage as well, because when one team is working, the other is sleeping and [vice versa]. It’s a great adventure.”
For all the spreadsheets, cash flow projections, and sleepless nights, the thing that keeps them going is remarkably simple.
“When people want to hire you, that’s the high,” Ashen says. “You talk about an idea and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, we like it.’ Because we’re designers and that’s what we do, and someone likes our idea.”
That’s the secret sauce: The cash flows when we share our ideas with the people who like them.
Hot Stuff is a column written by Watts & Dray founders Vanessa Watts and Erika Dray, where they get candid with fellow firm owners about the highs, lows, and realities of running a design studio. Read their first column with Paolo Ferrari and Courtney Lauderdale.