When it comes to good ideas for bad times, Crans Baldwin is a go-to guy.

Baldwin, the president of Donghia, Inc. and Bergamo Fabrics, has compiled a list of ideas on how small design firms can cope with a challenging economy.

I heard him share  his “ideas to navigate through change and challenge” at his recent presentation at the Denver Design District.

Visit his blog at http://rosecrans.wordpress.com/, and you’ll find a number of useful tips. Here are some of them:

The Tea Party
At the end of a project offer to host a tea party at the client’s house, and then join the client in showing the new interiors to all of his/her friends (the tea-party guests!). At that party, be sure to hand out business cards and/or your literature while showing off the wonderful job you no doubt did for the client!

The Silent Auction
Contact the private schools, church schools, charities and other private enterprises in your area that use silent auctions to raise money. Offer your services as a biddable commodity. You do not need to attend that church or school, what matters is that they can raise money using your offer of service. You, in turn, can arrange your cards/brochures, etc around the sign-up sheet, and the night of the auction dozens if not hundreds of well-heeled (hopefully) clients will see your name and design capability over and over again. Someone may actually win you to end up hiring you, but many will become aware of your firm.

Dream Consulting
For those who really really like people, consider this idea. Set up your design library as a place where prospective clients, for an hourly fee of $xx per hour, can browse, plan, dream, and create their new interiors (with a little help from you). Have coffee, carbohydrates, and a computer available, and give them their own special file to fill with the things they want/love/must have. Then, make the hourly fee refundable if they hire you/your firm to do the entire project!

Time, the ultimate non-renewable resource
Consider this down time an asset and do what you never had time for, whether that be enrolling in a class, visiting a museum or taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Use this as an opportunity to also spend some quality time with your business and learn a new technology, get to know your staff’s hidden strengths or reach out to former clients. Remember that time takes time.

Business Critical
Manage your business expenses and justify them based on whether they bring in or save you dollars. Is a new espresso maker critical to your business right now or is replacing a broken photocopier with a machine that faxes, scans and copies business critical?

Look Around the Corner
Take a moment to reflect on your business plan – what will recovery look like for your firm and for the industry? If need be, now is the chance to plan for a different future. Involve your best people in your development and plant seeds for tomorrow both within and with clients or partners for the future.

Staying Connected (from Boston)
A designer has developed a very successful networking monthly lunch program that includes: a leading contractor, architect, commercial designer, developer, and real estate attorney. They meet monthly to exchange leads and discuss business over lunch, with the lunch rotating from firm to firm each month. This has worked well for all of them to both develop business and stay sane in the during this difficult period of time.

Keeping in Touch (from Boston)
A designer told me that she pays attention to the small things that are important to her clients and follows up after projects are completed with small gifts and/or newspaper articles, and such. Some like cats, or collecting things, or a place/favorite vacation spot so as she comes across related things in her life she sends them. This has resulted in several repeat clients.

Ralphie May: Austin-Tatious divx Getting a Project Started
Often, end user clients want to start their project but hesitate because of fear and/or concern for the future, and because of spending in general. One idea I heard is to offer to phase the project- by room, by floor, or by trade. This gets the project started but allows the client’s cash flow to become manageable.

Style and Stage
For a flat fee, go in and re-shuffle a house’s interior that is about to be put up for sale. Have a sliding scale: complete re-do, just the downstairs, etc. Then, use inventory you might have (accessories, lighting, etc) and offer to rent it to the client (homeowner or realtor or bank) during the sale period to add luster to the interior look and finish.

Fred Berns in a business coach and trainer for interior design professionals worldwide.