July 14, 2025 • 34 mins
What does it really take to run a successful lighting design business? Beyond the creative brilliance and technical expertise lies a complex web of business skills that many designers never anticipate when launching their own practice.
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Re-release of a presentation from our 'Business of Lighting Design' series from the first season on the VLD Community platform. To watch this presentation visit members.vld.community and head to the 'Season One - The Business of Lighting Design' section.
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In this presentation, award-winning lighting designer Paul Nulty (founder of Nulty Lighting) pulls back the curtain on the business fundamentals that separate thriving lighting design practices from struggling ones. Drawing from his own entrepreneurial journey spanning over two decades, Paul introduces a straightforward yet powerful four-pillar business model that forms the backbone of any successful design practice.
The revelation that actual lighting design work constitutes merely 25% of running a business serves as both a reality check and roadmap for aspiring practice owners. Through candid insights and practical wisdom, Paul details how Operations, Human Resources, Business Development, and Finance must work in harmony—with each demanding equal time and attention from practice leaders.
For many creative professionals, topics like sales strategies, financial management, and team building feel foreign or uncomfortable. Yet Paul makes a compelling case for embracing these skills not only for personal success but for elevating the entire lighting design profession. His refreshing honesty about his own limitations ("I want to be the worst person at everything in my practice") offers a powerful lesson in leveraging team strengths.
Beyond tactical advice, this presentation delves into the deeper questions of purpose and passion that should drive any business endeavor. Paul guides listeners through crafting meaningful vision and mission statements that serve as both compass and fuel for the entrepreneurial journey.
Whether you're contemplating starting your own lighting design practice or seeking to strengthen an existing one, this presentation delivers the framework and inspiration to transform creative talent into business success. The path may be challenging, but with passion, purpose, and professional acumen, the business of lighting design offers rewards well worth the journey.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Coming up on the podcast.
The business of lighting designis the business of requiring a
whole new skill set from that ofbeing just the lighting
designer.
And I'm not going to lie when Istarted my practice, I
certainly didn't have many ofthe skills that were required,
and if you thought that therewas a very diverse set of skills
required to be a lightingdesigner, I can tell you that
(00:21):
diverse set of skills is evenlarger when it comes to running
your own practice.
Now, I can't profess to be thebest at everything in my
business.
I am far from the bestaccountancy person, far from the
most creative of people, but Iam pretty good at all of the
skills that are required.
My philosophy has always beento be perfectly confident at
(00:42):
surrounding myself with peoplethat are better than me.
In fact, my first ever businessplan finished with a very
simple closing line I want to bethe worst person at everything
in my practice.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Welcome to the Virtual Lighting Design
Community Podcast.
This is the space for lightingdesigners, by lighting designers
a global platform to shareknowledge, dive into hot topics
shaking up the industry andconnect with fellow creatives
and experts.
Here you'll get a mix of longform and short form content
straight from the heart of VLDC.
Don't forget, you can also jumponline and explore more
(01:21):
exclusive content atmembersvldcommunity or catch us
on our YouTube channel.
Now let's dive into today'sepisode.
In today's episode, we arefeaturing Paul Nolte speaking on
the business of lighting designsetting the stage.
It was the first presentationin our business of lighting
(01:42):
design series back in Season 1.
Inspiring and very wellreceived, paul Nolte set up
Nolte Lighting in 2011 and isfounder of the practice.
He is an award-winningarchitectural lighting designer
and has been involved with awide variety of prestigious
projects in a career spanning 21years.
Combining creativity with aneye for detail, his theatrical
(02:04):
lighting background provides aunique understanding of the
relationship between space andlight.
Paul leads the practice in acollaborative way to ensure it
continually evolves and refinesits service, knowledge and
innovation.
Paul is a professional memberof the International Association
of Lighting Designers, aprofessional member of the
Society of Light and Lightingand a professional member of the
Institute of Lighting Designers, a professional member of the
(02:24):
Society of Light and Lightingand a professional member of the
Institute of LightingProfessionals.
Let's have a quick pause toacknowledge some of our sponsors
.
Thank you to one of ouradvanced supporters, aerolight,
who have been with VLDC sincethe very beginning, with a
vision to become the preferredbrand for hotel lighting.
Aerolight's mission is tocreate value with light.
(02:46):
Since 2006, they havemasterfully illuminated over 300
luxury hotel projects acrossthe globe, specialising in
innovative and high-quality LEDlighting solutions exclusively
for the hospitality sector.
They work hand-in-hand withworld-renowned lighting
designers and hotel groups,ensuring every detail is perfect
(03:06):
.
It's this commitment toexcellence and collaboration
that makes them a true leader inthe field.
Learn more at aerolightcn.
We also want to acknowledgeanother one of our pioneering
supporters the Signify LightingAcademy.
The Signify Lighting Academy isdedicated to sharing knowledge
and empowering professionalsjust like you.
(03:26):
Their mission is to help youdeepen your understanding of
light and stay at the forefrontof the industry.
Through their comprehensiverange of free webinars, online
courses and in-depth articles,they bridge the gap between
cutting-edge innovation andpractical application.
To explore their offerings,visit signifycom slash lighting
(03:48):
academy.
Now back to the show.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Hello, my name is Paul Nolte and I am founder of
Nolte Lighting.
We are an independent lightingdesign studio based in London,
dubai, bangkok and Miami, andthis is season one, episode one
the business of lighting designfor the VLD community, and this
presentation is entitled Settingthe Stage.
(04:13):
So I would first like to startwith a very simple question, or
what appears to be a very simplequestion what are you?
And really, really, perhaps thequestion should really be why
are you?
I don't mean that as muchexistentially, I really mean,
you know, kind of why are you alighting designer?
(04:34):
Because if you're anything likeme, then at some point in your
life you found this sort ofcalling and a passion for the
wonderfully intangible subjectand substance that is light.
If nothing else, it's probablywhy you're here listening to
this presentation today.
You've probably spent manyyears at school, college or
university, or maybe even inprofessional practice, training
(04:56):
and honing your skills as alighting designer.
It's obviously a role thataffects the lives of many, many
people, who often have no cluethat we exist as lighting
designers or the impact that weare having on their lives.
So well done.
You know you are a lightingdesigner.
You've perhaps achieved all ofthe ambitions that you wanted in
(05:19):
life.
And I find, as a lightingdesigner, it to be a wonderful
role because we work at thissort of crossroads or this
intersection of creativity andtechnology.
And I would probably venturefurther that these days it's
less of a crossroads becausewe're working with engineering,
(05:39):
with science, with psychology,with sociology and even
environmental awarenessknowledge, science with
psychology, with sociology andeven environmental awareness
knowledge.
So it's less of a crossroadsand more of a major intersection
of highways of knowledge.
But each of these factors is askill and it's knowledge that
we've had to learn and hone overmany, many years as we've risen
through the ranks of lightingdesigners, from junior designer
(06:02):
perhaps to intermediate, tosenior, to associates, to
director and so on.
And during that journey I hopeyou may have had your interest
sort of peaked when it comes tothe mechanics of the business of
lighting and lighting practice.
I mean, after all, how does thepractice that you work for win
(06:25):
projects?
How does it retain clients?
How does it even go aboutmaking a profit?
How do the fairies turn upevery month with a magic bag of
money and manage to payeverybody?
All kind of important questions.
But the reality of it is.
It's not magic, and I hopetoday I can at least set the
stage for the kind of skills andknowledge that are required
(06:48):
when it comes to the practiceand the business of lighting
design in the past.
Maybe in the future that you mayfind that you've sort of hit
your head on the great glassceiling of the career ladder and
decide that you want to go outon your own and start your own
(07:09):
practice.
Maybe that's something you'vealways wanted to do.
So the idea of starting out ofyour own well, firstly, it's
potentially quite scary.
It's definitely an unknownquantity for many people and you
know, most people when theystart out think you know what.
I'm going to go be a lightingdesigner for myself.
(07:31):
I've got all these skills thatI've honed over many years.
I am a well-oiled, well-primedlighting design machine and I'm
capable of amazing creativethinking and outputting the most
beautiful of documentation anddesigns and so forth.
So you know I can speak forfirsthand here.
Perhaps when we start our ownpractices we rather naively
(07:54):
think this lighting designmalarkey is going to be
incredibly easy.
But I can tell you that one ofthe things that I have certainly
learned over the years is thatit isn't easy at all, largely
because you are no longer just alighting designer.
There are so many other elementsto the role of professional
(08:16):
practice and the business oflighting design that are
required beyond just being alighting designer and, as I
mentioned earlier on, there areso many strands now to being a
lighting designer.
It really is difficult to sayyou're just a lighting designer
and, as I mentioned earlier on,there were so many strands now
to being a lighting designer.
It really is difficult to sayyou're just a lighting designer.
So no, now you are in business,and I would imagine, if you're
in business and the wholedefinition of business is that
(08:38):
you're in it to make money,hopefully pay the bills, maybe
even grow and develop, and ifyou're strategic enough, it's
quite possible you may have abusiness plan in place.
So what is the business oflighting design?
Well, as I've already said,you're no longer just a lighting
designer, and really that'swhere the crux of this
(08:59):
presentation lies, because thisis a business after all, and
this is probably, I hope, to anextent where you start to feel a
bit like a rabbit in theheadlights and a bit kind of oh
my God, what else do I need toknow?
Well, I'm hoping, as I workthrough this presentation today,
that I will at least be able toimpart upon you a very simple
(09:19):
business model and some verysimple strategic thinking about
the way that you might implementyour business.
And if you thought that therewas a very diverse set of skills
required to be a lightingdesigner, I can tell you that a
diverse set of skills is evenlarger when it comes to running
your own practice.
So let's just have a thinkabout that, because once you set
(09:44):
out on your own, you're nolonger just a lighting designer.
You are deep breath here asalesperson.
You're a bookkeeper, a manager,a business strategist.
You're possibly a boss.
If you employ people, you'llneed to have a really good
understanding of accountancy, oflegalities, of contract law.
You may need to understandemployment law and HR law.
(10:06):
You're definitely going to needto understand conflict
resolution, because you can nolonger pass those difficult
contractors and clients off toyour boss.
You've got to deal with themyourself.
You might even find yourselfemploying people, and it's going
to be your role to inspire themevery day, even when you're
having a tough time.
You're going to need to be aquick thinker.
(10:27):
You're going to be constantlytroubleshooting, you're
responsible for dealing withthose difficult contractors on
site, and it is your reputation,your insurance and your hard
work that you put on the lineevery single day.
And once you've done all ofthat, you've then got to chase
the money in and hopefully makesure you get paid.
So there is one sure thingabout the business of lighting
(10:50):
design it's that there is nohiding, but I can honestly
assure you it is incrediblyrewarding when you get it right.
So the business of lightingdesign is the business of
requiring a whole new skill setfrom that of being just the
(11:10):
lighting designer.
And I'm not going to lie.
When I started my practice, Icertainly didn't have many of
the skills that were required.
For me, it was a case of makeit up as you go along and figure
it out.
So I'm hoping at least I cangive some of you a head start
today.
Now I can't profess to be thebest at everything in my
(11:32):
business.
I am far from the bestaccountancy person, far from the
most creative of people, but Iam pretty good at all of the
skills that are required.
My philosophy has always beento be perfectly confident at
surrounding myself with peoplethat are better than me.
In fact, my first ever businessplan finished with a very
(11:52):
simple closing line.
I want to be the worst personat everything in my practice and
I can tell you that, even if Ididn't know it, though, I
certainly understood what Ididn't know.
I certainly understood that Ineeded to know certain things to
be able to manage a businessand in many respects that meant
(12:12):
that I needed to become a bit ofa Swiss army knife of skills, a
multitude of skills, amultitude of skills that are
required to run a practice.
So there is a relatively uhsimple business model.
As I mentioned, you know, youare accountant, you are uh
(12:33):
marketeer, you are creative,you're operations person, but
all of these elements, all ofthese skills that are required,
fit largely into four uh camps,or we refer to them as four
pillars of the business.
So if you are feeling a bitlike, oh my gosh, my mind is
blown at the prospect of havingto know all of these things,
(12:54):
well, rest assured, they can besort of distilled down into
these four very simple silos orpillars or camps when it comes
to the business of lightingdesign.
So these four pillars, they areoperations, which is the
in-business operations as wellas the on-business operations.
This is the financialperformance of the business.
(13:16):
There is the human resources,the HR side of the business, and
there is business development,which has three strings to it
Marketing, communications, salesand public relations.
And I will go through each ofthese in a little bit more
detail, if that's OK.
But what's really important torealize here is that the job of
(13:39):
lighting design the stuff thatyou've always done in your role
as junior, intermediate andsenior that falls basically into
25% of this business model, andI can almost hear the gasps and
the inhalation of breath.
You know 25%.
But I'm a creative, you know Iwant to be a lighting designer,
I want to take charge of my life, I want work life balance.
(14:01):
Well, I'm, you know'm sorry to,I guess, tell you, but part of
the role of running your ownbusiness is to relinquish some
of that fun to other people andto look at some of the other
pillars as well.
So, ultimately, 25% of whatyou're doing is probably
lighting design, and I shall goon and explain that a little bit
(14:25):
more.
But unfortunately, you know,you're not just a lighting
designer anymore.
So one of the questions I firstwant to ask is well, why?
Why do I need to think aboutthese other sort of pillars and
not just looking at being alighting designer on my own
(14:45):
terms?
Well, firstly and this goes toanyone in the business of
lighting design, even those thatare freelancers for other
practices you're still a smallbusiness, which ultimately means
you need to make money, and inorder to make money, you need
clients and projects.
And if you don't conductyourself and deliver your
(15:06):
projects in a successful way,then you're soon going to find
that you lose clients and arenot making any money and you
will very quickly find that yougo out of business.
And you will very quickly findthat you go out of business and
certainly your reputation willstart diminishing.
So it is really important to beas professional as possible and
getting your house in order,getting your business in order,
(15:28):
getting the strategy in place,is really key to allowing you to
operate in the mostprofessional way possible.
It also has an added bonus.
Getting your professional housein order works for you, allows
you to operate more successfullyand more efficiently, but it
also has a major impact on thewider lighting design industry
(15:51):
and community.
And the reason I say that isbecause we as a, as an industry,
you know, for many years we'venot been taken as seriously as
we should have been.
In my opinion, I think it isimportant upon us all to
represent the industry.
You know, for too long we'vebeen a tertiary consultant at
the table, considered frivolous.
(16:12):
For too long.
We, you know, get valueengineered too quickly and I
think we're at a bit of aturning point now.
I think now we're finallymaturing as an industry and
we're finally being taken moreseriously at the consultant's
table and in many instances weare considered a key consultant
when it comes to developing thedesign for any project.
(16:34):
So it is important that werepresent the industry, because
the more professional ourindustry can be, the greater the
gravitas it is given.
So you know, I'm asking you topay attention to these business
models and strategies for yoursake as well as our wider sake.
So I want to touch now on thesesort of four pillars, uh, if
(16:58):
that's okay, um, and talk aboutwhat is important, uh, within
each of those pillars.
So the first, as I mentioned, isoperations.
Um, operations is, you know, onone hand, pretty obvious.
It is what you do, it is thebusiness of being a lighting
designer.
So it is.
You know writing thosespecifications.
It is right you do.
It is the business of being alighting designer.
So it is.
You know writing thosespecifications.
(17:19):
It is right you know producingthe drawings, coming up with the
most creative, um, uh, designs.
It is project managing, uh, theprojects.
It is the stuff we do onprojects to earn fees, um, which
is wonderful, um, it really is,uh.
But we mustn't forget that isultimately the in-business stuff
(17:40):
.
You, as a business owner now,well, you now have to do the
on-business stuff, and this issomething we mustn't forget,
because on-business is yourbusiness strategy, it's your
process, it's how your businessoperates.
It is not the producing oftemplates, it is the design of
the templates, it's thestylization, it is the
information that you feelimportant to get across to
(18:01):
clients.
The on-business stuff is theway that you operate, not what
you're doing, but the way thatyou're doing it, and that needs
time to genuinely think about.
So don't ever underestimate theimportance of thinking time
when it comes to the on-businessstrategic works.
The second pillar is HR.
(18:23):
Probably seems obvious whatthis is.
You know it's really goingabout recruiting the right team
to deliver your in-businessoperations, your lighting
projects.
It's also about finding theright people to assist you in
your on-business operations, thepeople like PAs and operations
directors and secretaries, thosepeople that really support your
(18:45):
designers and support yourwider team.
But it isn't just aboutrecruiting the right people.
It's about keeping them happy.
Do they like coming to work?
Do they enjoy being in theworkplace?
It's about ensuring that theyunderstand the values and the
culture of the business that youwant to build and how to go
(19:06):
about fulfilling your vision andmission statements, which I
will come on to later.
And it's also about ensuringthat the needs of the business
evolve and the team evolves withthe needs of the business as
well.
The better the team, the easierit is to deliver your
operations, it goes withoutsaying.
So HR is quite a key elementwithin running your own practice
(19:30):
.
The third pillar, businessdevelopment Yuck, I can hear
people say this is the bit thatmost designers hate because it's
such a dirty word.
It's sales.
But the reality of it is, ifyou can't win any work, you're
not going to have any projectsto actually be designing and
(19:51):
doing your operation stuff andyou're not going to have the
projects for your wonderful teamthat you've employed to do.
So business development is areally key part of of what
you're going to have to do everysingle day that you own and
operate your own design practice.
So, whether you like it or not,you have to generate business
(20:13):
and, in my opinion, for what'sworth, that sort of business
development gets split intothree streams.
The first is traditional salesreaching out to people.
It's having introductorymeetings, it's networking, it's
farming old clients, it's doingyour best to generate direct
leads and that hopefully turnsinto inquiries that then
hopefully turn into liveprojects, turns into inquiries
(20:34):
that then hopefully turn intolive projects.
The second stream is publicrelations.
This is telling the world thatyou've been doing great business
.
It is writing press releases,it is responding to journalists
and so forth.
I can tell you now, if youcan't shout about how good you
are, nobody else will.
(20:55):
You have to have theself-belief and confidence to
back yourself and tell peopleand this is what thought
leadership is about.
But it's also a little bit moresubtle and complex than simply
shouting about it.
It's also about understandingyour tone of voice.
How do you want to come across?
What kind of relationship doyou want with the readers?
How do you want your characterto be perceived?
(21:17):
What is your brand messagingand how does that differ from
your competitors?
The third stream it ties inquite nicely with that second PR
stream.
It is marketing or marcoms.
These days it is mostly led bywebsites, by blogs and so forth,
and or social media.
(21:38):
Instagram is obviously a verykey part in all of that and it's
very difficult to gauge thereturn on the effort and
investment that you put in whenit comes to marketing, because
it's a very rare occurrence andI've spoken to many people in
the industry about this.
Most people will say it's avery rare occurrence that you
can directly attribute a projectcoming in to marketing.
(22:01):
It is more about sort ofputting noise and positioning
yourself against other people inthe industry, but it still does
require a strategy.
It still requires anunderstanding of tone of voice,
of personality anddifferentiation from competitors
and successful businesses.
Whether you are in fast food,lighting, design, architecture
(22:25):
or manufacturing, successfulbusinesses the world over have
marketing and communications andPR and business development
strategies and, believe me, as Isay, if you can't win projects,
you're not going to have anywork to do, which means you
won't be doing your operationsand you won't have any staff to
do them because you won't haveany money to pay your staff.
(22:47):
So it is a very important partof what you do, and getting your
strategy right is importantbecause ultimately you've got to
make money, otherwise thebusiness of lighting design is
not going to be a business forvery long, which leads on to the
fourth pillar, finance.
(23:08):
And if you thought sales was adirty word, then ask most
lighting designers about moneyand let's say it's dirtier than
a used baby's used diaper.
None of us like talking aboutmoney, let alone asking for
money.
We're terrible at it and I mustconfess it's the part of the
business that I absolutely hate.
(23:29):
I hate spreadsheets, I hateasking clients for money.
I really hate chasing money andI have absolutely no patience
when it comes to budgets and,frankly, I'm yet to come up with
a fully scientific way ofactually pricing a project as
well.
It's often a case of pricing itand then sticking a finger in
the air and seeing which way thewind blows and then coming up
(23:51):
with a sort of semi-scientificfee.
And yet finance is absolutelykey to the success of any
business.
The money has to come inbecause the bills have to be
paid and staff have to be paid.
Otherwise it's just a hobby andwe should be able to charge a
(24:11):
proper price for the work thatwe give, we should place a value
on that work and we shouldunderstand better as an industry
how to go about pricing it andhow to go about getting paid as
well.
As I say, if you can't get themoney in, then you're not going
(24:32):
to be able to pay your staff.
Genuine truth here when I firststarted the practice and I was
working on my own, I set up afake email account for a lovely
girl called katherine, andkatherine used to send all of my
invoices, um, and it meantkatherine could be very stroppy,
uh, when she needed to, whenclients didn't pay, and then
paul could come along and tellthe you know on an email and
(24:53):
apologize to the client forkatherine being stro.
But actually, mr Client, isthere any way you could see
yourself to paying us, becausewe have now completed the works?
Obviously, catherine doesn'texist in our team anymore, but
being able to separate the goodguy from the bad person that
needs to chase money in whenclients don't pay is really
important.
So, as a tip, I would urge youto figure out how to carefully
(25:18):
balance the need sometimes toroll your sleeves up and be
tough with clients.
So what I hope you can see fromthis sort of presentation is
that these sort of four pillarsare deeply entwined, that these
sort of four pillars are deeplyentwined.
You know you can have the bestdesign skills, but if you don't
(25:40):
have projects and don't do thebusiness development, then
you're not going to be able touse those design skills.
And once you've done the work,if you don't chase the money in,
you're not going to have themoney to pay your staff.
And if you don't have goodstaff, then you're sure as hell
not going to be able to operatein an efficient way.
So operations, finance, hr andbusiness development are hugely
(26:03):
entwined.
So if you follow this, it'sjust a very simple business
model.
You should be spending 25 ofyour time, more or less, in each
of those quadrants, in each ofthose pillars, and if you not
doing it, then you should havesomebody in your practice or in
your life that is doing it foryou.
If you don't like doing it, atleast know and understand that
(26:25):
it needs to be done.
So it's all sorted then?
Right?
You've now got a model for asuccessful business.
You now know that you need tospend time in each of those
pillars.
Well, I would say no, I'mafraid not exactly.
I just want to take a moment torewind.
(26:45):
It's all well and good knowinghow a business operates.
It's all well and good knowingwhat the business of lighting
design is.
Ultimately, it's a business andwe're there to make money.
However, let's just have a realthink and a rewind about why we
started up in the first place.
(27:05):
What is it that drove you todecide that you wanted to start
up on your own?
Were you perhaps bored?
Were you uninspired?
Do you think you could dothings better or differently?
Was it a lifestyle reason?
Maybe you have a totally uh,you're interested.
You have an interest in atotally different type of
lighting.
Maybe where you were workingjust did artificial light and
(27:25):
you wanted to do daylighting.
Maybe you wanted to do moredisco lighting.
Whatever it was, uh, you maywell have seen a gap in the
market.
Maybe, just maybe, your beliefsno longer align with those of
your employer.
Whatever it is, there will havebeen many different reasons for
many different people to startout on their own.
But really drilling down andunderstanding why you want to go
(27:49):
out on your own because I doubtthat it's just for money Never
chase the money, always chasedoing the good job, doing the
right thing, because then thesuccess will come afterwards.
So drilling down as to why youwant to go out on your own is
key to understanding what youstand for and what I mean by.
What do you stand for?
Well, what is your purpose andwhat I mean by what do you stand
(28:13):
for?
Well, what is your purpose?
What is purpose?
Well, as the the lyric from themusical avenue q goes, purpose
is that little flame that lightsa fire under your ass, and
isn't that true?
Uh, you know, there's no, uh,there's no, uh, greater uh
reason for getting out of bed inthe morning than making sure
you need to pay your bills, yourmortgage to pay or your rent to
(28:37):
pay.
So there is definitelymotivation to be had there, but
it is that purpose.
Perhaps you want to save theworld, perhaps you want to be
more environmentally friendly.
Whatever your purpose is, Ithink it is really important to
understand it and define it,because it's going to help you
create your own USPs and it willseparate you from your
competition.
And if we start to understandour purpose, then we can start
(29:01):
to build a brand around it, andthat brand has to be passionate
and it has to have a uniqueselling point, a USP.
So, whether your purpose is tosave the planet, to help the
world, to bathe the world inmore blue light, whatever your
purpose is, it's going to definewho you are and what your brand
is, its ethics, its style, andit should be underpinned,
(29:23):
ultimately, by your passion,because passion is absolutely
everything.
You have to be passionate aboutwhat you're doing.
If you're not passionate aboutit, don't do it, and I can tell
you that passion will helpmotivate you in the early hours
of the morning, when you'restill working, because the hours
are going to be long, that'sfor sure.
(29:45):
But if you get it right, youwill develop your own unique
selling point, and that's thevery thing that will set you
apart from all of yourcompetitors.
Now, I'm not a big fan oflengthy business plans.
I don't really believe inbusiness plans per se.
The reason for that is becauseI think business plans, you
(30:05):
either fail at them or youcompletely blow them out of the
water.
So you're either using it as astick to beat yourself up with
because you didn't achieve it,or you're using it you know it's
useless because you'veoverachieved.
I think very few people hit thebusiness plan on point.
So for me, I wouldn't spend toolong on a business plan, but I
would spend a significant amountof time developing your vision
(30:29):
statements and missionstatements.
Now, what do I mean by visionstatements?
Well, as I said, you need to bepassionate.
You need to understand whatkind of brand you want.
You need to understand yourpurpose in life and, put simply,
your vision statement is all ofthat written down.
This is your goal in life.
Whatever your goal in life is,it could be to.
(30:49):
Goal in life is it could be tobe a millionaire.
It could be to build the bestand most successful team ever.
It could be to build the brand.
It could be to create the firstfully organic lighting design
office equipped with organiccoffee grinding facilities.
Whatever it is, it's what youwant it to be, um, and what it
you know.
Whatever it is, it's what youfind passionate about, what you
(31:11):
find you are passionate about.
So I would urge anybody writeit down.
Write down exactly what youwant it to be, and stick it on
the wall and remind yourself ofit regularly, because that is
the reason that you get out ofbed every single day.
And once you've understood yourvision, then it's time to really
think about your mission andwhere vision statements and
(31:33):
mission statements differ.
Your vision is about what youwant to achieve.
Your mission statement is, verysimply, how you're going to
achieve it.
And this is the difficult bitin some ways, because you've
really got to sit downstrategically and think about
how you might achieve it.
Sit down strategically andthink about how you might
(31:53):
achieve it.
You've got to think about howare you going to do your
lighting design operations.
How are you going to run yourfinance department?
How are you going to run yourHR teams?
How are you going to bringpeople into your company?
If that is what you want to do,and you know, if you do want to
be the first ever organicallypowered, if you do want to be
the first ever organicallypowered coffee grinding lighting
institution, then that's fineyou need to understand how
(32:17):
you're going to go aboutdeveloping that technology and
those processes.
So this is really where yourmission statement comes in.
It's about you understandingwhat needs to be done in order
to achieve your goals.
So, whatever your vision, yourmission will be the pathway to
achieving it.
So we have our vision, we haveour mission statement.
(32:39):
This, I hope means that we havean absolute passion for what we
are doing.
This is the business oflighting design.
It is business we need to beprofessional about it.
We have purpose because we knowwhy we're doing what we're
doing.
We understand who we are, weunderstand what is driving us
and we have an understanding ofthe mechanics of the business of
(33:00):
lighting design.
Passion, purpose andunderstanding for all that we do
will breed success, and that isultimately what I hope for
anybody setting out on their own.
It's something I've done myself.
It is the most amazing andscary roller coaster of a ride I
have ever been on.
I'm fortunate enough to standon the shoulders of many giants
(33:23):
in my team that I work with, andif you are interested in
finding out a little bit moreabout Nolte and the way that we
go about implementing these fourpillars, then you can find out
a little bit more about Nolteand the way that we go about
implementing these four pillars.
Then you can find out a littlebit more about us on all of the
usual social media channels andon our website at
nolteelightingcom.
If you have any questions, dofeel free to get in contact and
(33:46):
let me know.
Many thanks.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
And that's a wrap for today's episode of the Virtual
Lighting Design CommunityPodcast.
We hope you found someinspiration and connection in
today's topics.
For more, why not go back andlisten to some of our previous
conversations and presentations?
Don't stop here.
Keep the conversation going,dive into more exclusive content
at membersvldcommunity or checkout our videos on youtube.
(34:13):
If you've enjoyed this episode,please follow, subscribe and
share it with your friends andpeers in the lighting world.
Your support helps usilluminate even more minds.
Until next time, see you soon.
Coming up on the podcast.
The business of lighting designis the business of requiring a
whole new skill set from that ofbeing just the lighting
designer.
And I'm not going to lie when Istarted my practice, I
certainly didn't have many ofthe skills that were required,
and if you thought that therewas a very diverse set of skills
required to be a lightingdesigner, I can tell you that
(00:21):
diverse set of skills is evenlarger when it comes to running
your own practice.
Now, I can't profess to be thebest at everything in my
business.
I am far from the bestaccountancy person, far from the
most creative of people, but Iam pretty good at all of the
skills that are required.
My philosophy has always beento be perfectly confident at
(00:42):
surrounding myself with peoplethat are better than me.
In fact, my first ever businessplan finished with a very
simple closing line I want to bethe worst person at everything
in my practice.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Welcome to the Virtual Lighting Design
Community Podcast.
This is the space for lightingdesigners, by lighting designers
a global platform to shareknowledge, dive into hot topics
shaking up the industry andconnect with fellow creatives
and experts.
Here you'll get a mix of longform and short form content
straight from the heart of VLDC.
Don't forget, you can also jumponline and explore more
(01:21):
exclusive content atmembersvldcommunity or catch us
on our YouTube channel.
Now let's dive into today'sepisode.
In today's episode, we arefeaturing Paul Nolte speaking on
the business of lighting designsetting the stage.
It was the first presentationin our business of lighting
(01:42):
design series back in Season 1.
Inspiring and very wellreceived, paul Nolte set up
Nolte Lighting in 2011 and isfounder of the practice.
He is an award-winningarchitectural lighting designer
and has been involved with awide variety of prestigious
projects in a career spanning 21years.
Combining creativity with aneye for detail, his theatrical
(02:04):
lighting background provides aunique understanding of the
relationship between space andlight.
Paul leads the practice in acollaborative way to ensure it
continually evolves and refinesits service, knowledge and
innovation.
Paul is a professional memberof the International Association
of Lighting Designers, aprofessional member of the
Society of Light and Lightingand a professional member of the
Institute of Lighting Designers, a professional member of the
(02:24):
Society of Light and Lightingand a professional member of the
Institute of LightingProfessionals.
Let's have a quick pause toacknowledge some of our sponsors
.
Thank you to one of ouradvanced supporters, aerolight,
who have been with VLDC sincethe very beginning, with a
vision to become the preferredbrand for hotel lighting.
Aerolight's mission is tocreate value with light.
(02:46):
Since 2006, they havemasterfully illuminated over 300
luxury hotel projects acrossthe globe, specialising in
innovative and high-quality LEDlighting solutions exclusively
for the hospitality sector.
They work hand-in-hand withworld-renowned lighting
designers and hotel groups,ensuring every detail is perfect
(03:06):
.
It's this commitment toexcellence and collaboration
that makes them a true leader inthe field.
Learn more at aerolightcn.
We also want to acknowledgeanother one of our pioneering
supporters the Signify LightingAcademy.
The Signify Lighting Academy isdedicated to sharing knowledge
and empowering professionalsjust like you.
(03:26):
Their mission is to help youdeepen your understanding of
light and stay at the forefrontof the industry.
Through their comprehensiverange of free webinars, online
courses and in-depth articles,they bridge the gap between
cutting-edge innovation andpractical application.
To explore their offerings,visit signifycom slash lighting
(03:48):
academy.
Now back to the show.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Hello, my name is Paul Nolte and I am founder of
Nolte Lighting.
We are an independent lightingdesign studio based in London,
dubai, bangkok and Miami, andthis is season one, episode one
the business of lighting designfor the VLD community, and this
presentation is entitled Settingthe Stage.
(04:13):
So I would first like to startwith a very simple question, or
what appears to be a very simplequestion what are you?
And really, really, perhaps thequestion should really be why
are you?
I don't mean that as muchexistentially, I really mean,
you know, kind of why are you alighting designer?
(04:34):
Because if you're anything likeme, then at some point in your
life you found this sort ofcalling and a passion for the
wonderfully intangible subjectand substance that is light.
If nothing else, it's probablywhy you're here listening to
this presentation today.
You've probably spent manyyears at school, college or
university, or maybe even inprofessional practice, training
(04:56):
and honing your skills as alighting designer.
It's obviously a role thataffects the lives of many, many
people, who often have no cluethat we exist as lighting
designers or the impact that weare having on their lives.
So well done.
You know you are a lightingdesigner.
You've perhaps achieved all ofthe ambitions that you wanted in
(05:19):
life.
And I find, as a lightingdesigner, it to be a wonderful
role because we work at thissort of crossroads or this
intersection of creativity andtechnology.
And I would probably venturefurther that these days it's
less of a crossroads becausewe're working with engineering,
(05:39):
with science, with psychology,with sociology and even
environmental awarenessknowledge, science with
psychology, with sociology andeven environmental awareness
knowledge.
So it's less of a crossroadsand more of a major intersection
of highways of knowledge.
But each of these factors is askill and it's knowledge that
we've had to learn and hone overmany, many years as we've risen
through the ranks of lightingdesigners, from junior designer
(06:02):
perhaps to intermediate, tosenior, to associates, to
director and so on.
And during that journey I hopeyou may have had your interest
sort of peaked when it comes tothe mechanics of the business of
lighting and lighting practice.
I mean, after all, how does thepractice that you work for win
(06:25):
projects?
How does it retain clients?
How does it even go aboutmaking a profit?
How do the fairies turn upevery month with a magic bag of
money and manage to payeverybody?
All kind of important questions.
But the reality of it is.
It's not magic, and I hopetoday I can at least set the
stage for the kind of skills andknowledge that are required
(06:48):
when it comes to the practiceand the business of lighting
design in the past.
Maybe in the future that you mayfind that you've sort of hit
your head on the great glassceiling of the career ladder and
decide that you want to go outon your own and start your own
(07:09):
practice.
Maybe that's something you'vealways wanted to do.
So the idea of starting out ofyour own well, firstly, it's
potentially quite scary.
It's definitely an unknownquantity for many people and you
know, most people when theystart out think you know what.
I'm going to go be a lightingdesigner for myself.
(07:31):
I've got all these skills thatI've honed over many years.
I am a well-oiled, well-primedlighting design machine and I'm
capable of amazing creativethinking and outputting the most
beautiful of documentation anddesigns and so forth.
So you know I can speak forfirsthand here.
Perhaps when we start our ownpractices we rather naively
(07:54):
think this lighting designmalarkey is going to be
incredibly easy.
But I can tell you that one ofthe things that I have certainly
learned over the years is thatit isn't easy at all, largely
because you are no longer just alighting designer.
There are so many other elementsto the role of professional
(08:16):
practice and the business oflighting design that are
required beyond just being alighting designer and, as I
mentioned earlier on, there areso many strands now to being a
lighting designer.
It really is difficult to sayyou're just a lighting designer
and, as I mentioned earlier on,there were so many strands now
to being a lighting designer.
It really is difficult to sayyou're just a lighting designer.
So no, now you are in business,and I would imagine, if you're
in business and the wholedefinition of business is that
(08:38):
you're in it to make money,hopefully pay the bills, maybe
even grow and develop, and ifyou're strategic enough, it's
quite possible you may have abusiness plan in place.
So what is the business oflighting design?
Well, as I've already said,you're no longer just a lighting
designer, and really that'swhere the crux of this
(08:59):
presentation lies, because thisis a business after all, and
this is probably, I hope, to anextent where you start to feel a
bit like a rabbit in theheadlights and a bit kind of oh
my God, what else do I need toknow?
Well, I'm hoping, as I workthrough this presentation today,
that I will at least be able toimpart upon you a very simple
(09:19):
business model and some verysimple strategic thinking about
the way that you might implementyour business.
And if you thought that therewas a very diverse set of skills
required to be a lightingdesigner, I can tell you that a
diverse set of skills is evenlarger when it comes to running
your own practice.
So let's just have a thinkabout that, because once you set
(09:44):
out on your own, you're nolonger just a lighting designer.
You are deep breath here asalesperson.
You're a bookkeeper, a manager,a business strategist.
You're possibly a boss.
If you employ people, you'llneed to have a really good
understanding of accountancy, oflegalities, of contract law.
You may need to understandemployment law and HR law.
(10:06):
You're definitely going to needto understand conflict
resolution, because you can nolonger pass those difficult
contractors and clients off toyour boss.
You've got to deal with themyourself.
You might even find yourselfemploying people, and it's going
to be your role to inspire themevery day, even when you're
having a tough time.
You're going to need to be aquick thinker.
(10:27):
You're going to be constantlytroubleshooting, you're
responsible for dealing withthose difficult contractors on
site, and it is your reputation,your insurance and your hard
work that you put on the lineevery single day.
And once you've done all ofthat, you've then got to chase
the money in and hopefully makesure you get paid.
So there is one sure thingabout the business of lighting
(10:50):
design it's that there is nohiding, but I can honestly
assure you it is incrediblyrewarding when you get it right.
So the business of lightingdesign is the business of
requiring a whole new skill setfrom that of being just the
(11:10):
lighting designer.
And I'm not going to lie.
When I started my practice, Icertainly didn't have many of
the skills that were required.
For me, it was a case of makeit up as you go along and figure
it out.
So I'm hoping at least I cangive some of you a head start
today.
Now I can't profess to be thebest at everything in my
(11:32):
business.
I am far from the bestaccountancy person, far from the
most creative of people, but Iam pretty good at all of the
skills that are required.
My philosophy has always beento be perfectly confident at
surrounding myself with peoplethat are better than me.
In fact, my first ever businessplan finished with a very
(11:52):
simple closing line.
I want to be the worst personat everything in my practice and
I can tell you that, even if Ididn't know it, though, I
certainly understood what Ididn't know.
I certainly understood that Ineeded to know certain things to
be able to manage a businessand in many respects that meant
(12:12):
that I needed to become a bit ofa Swiss army knife of skills, a
multitude of skills, amultitude of skills that are
required to run a practice.
So there is a relatively uhsimple business model.
As I mentioned, you know, youare accountant, you are uh
(12:33):
marketeer, you are creative,you're operations person, but
all of these elements, all ofthese skills that are required,
fit largely into four uh camps,or we refer to them as four
pillars of the business.
So if you are feeling a bitlike, oh my gosh, my mind is
blown at the prospect of havingto know all of these things,
(12:54):
well, rest assured, they can besort of distilled down into
these four very simple silos orpillars or camps when it comes
to the business of lightingdesign.
So these four pillars, they areoperations, which is the
in-business operations as wellas the on-business operations.
This is the financialperformance of the business.
(13:16):
There is the human resources,the HR side of the business, and
there is business development,which has three strings to it
Marketing, communications, salesand public relations.
And I will go through each ofthese in a little bit more
detail, if that's OK.
But what's really important torealize here is that the job of
(13:39):
lighting design the stuff thatyou've always done in your role
as junior, intermediate andsenior that falls basically into
25% of this business model, andI can almost hear the gasps and
the inhalation of breath.
You know 25%.
But I'm a creative, you know Iwant to be a lighting designer,
I want to take charge of my life, I want work life balance.
(14:01):
Well, I'm, you know'm sorry to,I guess, tell you, but part of
the role of running your ownbusiness is to relinquish some
of that fun to other people andto look at some of the other
pillars as well.
So, ultimately, 25% of whatyou're doing is probably
lighting design, and I shall goon and explain that a little bit
(14:25):
more.
But unfortunately, you know,you're not just a lighting
designer anymore.
So one of the questions I firstwant to ask is well, why?
Why do I need to think aboutthese other sort of pillars and
not just looking at being alighting designer on my own
(14:45):
terms?
Well, firstly and this goes toanyone in the business of
lighting design, even those thatare freelancers for other
practices you're still a smallbusiness, which ultimately means
you need to make money, and inorder to make money, you need
clients and projects.
And if you don't conductyourself and deliver your
(15:06):
projects in a successful way,then you're soon going to find
that you lose clients and arenot making any money and you
will very quickly find that yougo out of business.
And you will very quickly findthat you go out of business and
certainly your reputation willstart diminishing.
So it is really important to beas professional as possible and
getting your house in order,getting your business in order,
(15:28):
getting the strategy in place,is really key to allowing you to
operate in the mostprofessional way possible.
It also has an added bonus.
Getting your professional housein order works for you, allows
you to operate more successfullyand more efficiently, but it
also has a major impact on thewider lighting design industry
(15:51):
and community.
And the reason I say that isbecause we as a, as an industry,
you know, for many years we'venot been taken as seriously as
we should have been.
In my opinion, I think it isimportant upon us all to
represent the industry.
You know, for too long we'vebeen a tertiary consultant at
the table, considered frivolous.
(16:12):
For too long.
We, you know, get valueengineered too quickly and I
think we're at a bit of aturning point now.
I think now we're finallymaturing as an industry and
we're finally being taken moreseriously at the consultant's
table and in many instances weare considered a key consultant
when it comes to developing thedesign for any project.
(16:34):
So it is important that werepresent the industry, because
the more professional ourindustry can be, the greater the
gravitas it is given.
So you know, I'm asking you topay attention to these business
models and strategies for yoursake as well as our wider sake.
So I want to touch now on thesesort of four pillars, uh, if
(16:58):
that's okay, um, and talk aboutwhat is important, uh, within
each of those pillars.
So the first, as I mentioned, isoperations.
Um, operations is, you know, onone hand, pretty obvious.
It is what you do, it is thebusiness of being a lighting
designer.
So it is.
You know writing thosespecifications.
It is right you do.
It is the business of being alighting designer.
So it is.
You know writing thosespecifications.
(17:19):
It is right you know producingthe drawings, coming up with the
most creative, um, uh, designs.
It is project managing, uh, theprojects.
It is the stuff we do onprojects to earn fees, um, which
is wonderful, um, it really is,uh.
But we mustn't forget that isultimately the in-business stuff
(17:40):
.
You, as a business owner now,well, you now have to do the
on-business stuff, and this issomething we mustn't forget,
because on-business is yourbusiness strategy, it's your
process, it's how your businessoperates.
It is not the producing oftemplates, it is the design of
the templates, it's thestylization, it is the
information that you feelimportant to get across to
(18:01):
clients.
The on-business stuff is theway that you operate, not what
you're doing, but the way thatyou're doing it, and that needs
time to genuinely think about.
So don't ever underestimate theimportance of thinking time
when it comes to the on-businessstrategic works.
The second pillar is HR.
(18:23):
Probably seems obvious whatthis is.
You know it's really goingabout recruiting the right team
to deliver your in-businessoperations, your lighting
projects.
It's also about finding theright people to assist you in
your on-business operations, thepeople like PAs and operations
directors and secretaries, thosepeople that really support your
(18:45):
designers and support yourwider team.
But it isn't just aboutrecruiting the right people.
It's about keeping them happy.
Do they like coming to work?
Do they enjoy being in theworkplace?
It's about ensuring that theyunderstand the values and the
culture of the business that youwant to build and how to go
(19:06):
about fulfilling your vision andmission statements, which I
will come on to later.
And it's also about ensuringthat the needs of the business
evolve and the team evolves withthe needs of the business as
well.
The better the team, the easierit is to deliver your
operations, it goes withoutsaying.
So HR is quite a key elementwithin running your own practice
(19:30):
.
The third pillar, businessdevelopment Yuck, I can hear
people say this is the bit thatmost designers hate because it's
such a dirty word.
It's sales.
But the reality of it is, ifyou can't win any work, you're
not going to have any projectsto actually be designing and
(19:51):
doing your operation stuff andyou're not going to have the
projects for your wonderful teamthat you've employed to do.
So business development is areally key part of of what
you're going to have to do everysingle day that you own and
operate your own design practice.
So, whether you like it or not,you have to generate business
(20:13):
and, in my opinion, for what'sworth, that sort of business
development gets split intothree streams.
The first is traditional salesreaching out to people.
It's having introductorymeetings, it's networking, it's
farming old clients, it's doingyour best to generate direct
leads and that hopefully turnsinto inquiries that then
hopefully turn into liveprojects, turns into inquiries
(20:34):
that then hopefully turn intolive projects.
The second stream is publicrelations.
This is telling the world thatyou've been doing great business
.
It is writing press releases,it is responding to journalists
and so forth.
I can tell you now, if youcan't shout about how good you
are, nobody else will.
(20:55):
You have to have theself-belief and confidence to
back yourself and tell peopleand this is what thought
leadership is about.
But it's also a little bit moresubtle and complex than simply
shouting about it.
It's also about understandingyour tone of voice.
How do you want to come across?
What kind of relationship doyou want with the readers?
How do you want your characterto be perceived?
(21:17):
What is your brand messagingand how does that differ from
your competitors?
The third stream it ties inquite nicely with that second PR
stream.
It is marketing or marcoms.
These days it is mostly led bywebsites, by blogs and so forth,
and or social media.
(21:38):
Instagram is obviously a verykey part in all of that and it's
very difficult to gauge thereturn on the effort and
investment that you put in whenit comes to marketing, because
it's a very rare occurrence andI've spoken to many people in
the industry about this.
Most people will say it's avery rare occurrence that you
can directly attribute a projectcoming in to marketing.
(22:01):
It is more about sort ofputting noise and positioning
yourself against other people inthe industry, but it still does
require a strategy.
It still requires anunderstanding of tone of voice,
of personality anddifferentiation from competitors
and successful businesses.
Whether you are in fast food,lighting, design, architecture
(22:25):
or manufacturing, successfulbusinesses the world over have
marketing and communications andPR and business development
strategies and, believe me, as Isay, if you can't win projects,
you're not going to have anywork to do, which means you
won't be doing your operationsand you won't have any staff to
do them because you won't haveany money to pay your staff.
(22:47):
So it is a very important partof what you do, and getting your
strategy right is importantbecause ultimately you've got to
make money, otherwise thebusiness of lighting design is
not going to be a business forvery long, which leads on to the
fourth pillar, finance.
(23:08):
And if you thought sales was adirty word, then ask most
lighting designers about moneyand let's say it's dirtier than
a used baby's used diaper.
None of us like talking aboutmoney, let alone asking for
money.
We're terrible at it and I mustconfess it's the part of the
business that I absolutely hate.
(23:29):
I hate spreadsheets, I hateasking clients for money.
I really hate chasing money andI have absolutely no patience
when it comes to budgets and,frankly, I'm yet to come up with
a fully scientific way ofactually pricing a project as
well.
It's often a case of pricing itand then sticking a finger in
the air and seeing which way thewind blows and then coming up
(23:51):
with a sort of semi-scientificfee.
And yet finance is absolutelykey to the success of any
business.
The money has to come inbecause the bills have to be
paid and staff have to be paid.
Otherwise it's just a hobby andwe should be able to charge a
(24:11):
proper price for the work thatwe give, we should place a value
on that work and we shouldunderstand better as an industry
how to go about pricing it andhow to go about getting paid as
well.
As I say, if you can't get themoney in, then you're not going
(24:32):
to be able to pay your staff.
Genuine truth here when I firststarted the practice and I was
working on my own, I set up afake email account for a lovely
girl called katherine, andkatherine used to send all of my
invoices, um, and it meantkatherine could be very stroppy,
uh, when she needed to, whenclients didn't pay, and then
paul could come along and tellthe you know on an email and
(24:53):
apologize to the client forkatherine being stro.
But actually, mr Client, isthere any way you could see
yourself to paying us, becausewe have now completed the works?
Obviously, catherine doesn'texist in our team anymore, but
being able to separate the goodguy from the bad person that
needs to chase money in whenclients don't pay is really
important.
So, as a tip, I would urge youto figure out how to carefully
(25:18):
balance the need sometimes toroll your sleeves up and be
tough with clients.
So what I hope you can see fromthis sort of presentation is
that these sort of four pillarsare deeply entwined, that these
sort of four pillars are deeplyentwined.
You know you can have the bestdesign skills, but if you don't
(25:40):
have projects and don't do thebusiness development, then
you're not going to be able touse those design skills.
And once you've done the work,if you don't chase the money in,
you're not going to have themoney to pay your staff.
And if you don't have goodstaff, then you're sure as hell
not going to be able to operatein an efficient way.
So operations, finance, hr andbusiness development are hugely
(26:03):
entwined.
So if you follow this, it'sjust a very simple business
model.
You should be spending 25 ofyour time, more or less, in each
of those quadrants, in each ofthose pillars, and if you not
doing it, then you should havesomebody in your practice or in
your life that is doing it foryou.
If you don't like doing it, atleast know and understand that
(26:25):
it needs to be done.
So it's all sorted then?
Right?
You've now got a model for asuccessful business.
You now know that you need tospend time in each of those
pillars.
Well, I would say no, I'mafraid not exactly.
I just want to take a moment torewind.
(26:45):
It's all well and good knowinghow a business operates.
It's all well and good knowingwhat the business of lighting
design is.
Ultimately, it's a business andwe're there to make money.
However, let's just have a realthink and a rewind about why we
started up in the first place.
(27:05):
What is it that drove you todecide that you wanted to start
up on your own?
Were you perhaps bored?
Were you uninspired?
Do you think you could dothings better or differently?
Was it a lifestyle reason?
Maybe you have a totally uh,you're interested.
You have an interest in atotally different type of
lighting.
Maybe where you were workingjust did artificial light and
(27:25):
you wanted to do daylighting.
Maybe you wanted to do moredisco lighting.
Whatever it was, uh, you maywell have seen a gap in the
market.
Maybe, just maybe, your beliefsno longer align with those of
your employer.
Whatever it is, there will havebeen many different reasons for
many different people to startout on their own.
But really drilling down andunderstanding why you want to go
(27:49):
out on your own because I doubtthat it's just for money Never
chase the money, always chasedoing the good job, doing the
right thing, because then thesuccess will come afterwards.
So drilling down as to why youwant to go out on your own is
key to understanding what youstand for and what I mean by.
What do you stand for?
Well, what is your purpose andwhat I mean by what do you stand
(28:13):
for?
Well, what is your purpose?
What is purpose?
Well, as the the lyric from themusical avenue q goes, purpose
is that little flame that lightsa fire under your ass, and
isn't that true?
Uh, you know, there's no, uh,there's no, uh, greater uh
reason for getting out of bed inthe morning than making sure
you need to pay your bills, yourmortgage to pay or your rent to
(28:37):
pay.
So there is definitelymotivation to be had there, but
it is that purpose.
Perhaps you want to save theworld, perhaps you want to be
more environmentally friendly.
Whatever your purpose is, Ithink it is really important to
understand it and define it,because it's going to help you
create your own USPs and it willseparate you from your
competition.
And if we start to understandour purpose, then we can start
(29:01):
to build a brand around it, andthat brand has to be passionate
and it has to have a uniqueselling point, a USP.
So, whether your purpose is tosave the planet, to help the
world, to bathe the world inmore blue light, whatever your
purpose is, it's going to definewho you are and what your brand
is, its ethics, its style, andit should be underpinned,
(29:23):
ultimately, by your passion,because passion is absolutely
everything.
You have to be passionate aboutwhat you're doing.
If you're not passionate aboutit, don't do it, and I can tell
you that passion will helpmotivate you in the early hours
of the morning, when you'restill working, because the hours
are going to be long, that'sfor sure.
(29:45):
But if you get it right, youwill develop your own unique
selling point, and that's thevery thing that will set you
apart from all of yourcompetitors.
Now, I'm not a big fan oflengthy business plans.
I don't really believe inbusiness plans per se.
The reason for that is becauseI think business plans, you
(30:05):
either fail at them or youcompletely blow them out of the
water.
So you're either using it as astick to beat yourself up with
because you didn't achieve it,or you're using it you know it's
useless because you'veoverachieved.
I think very few people hit thebusiness plan on point.
So for me, I wouldn't spend toolong on a business plan, but I
would spend a significant amountof time developing your vision
(30:29):
statements and missionstatements.
Now, what do I mean by visionstatements?
Well, as I said, you need to bepassionate.
You need to understand whatkind of brand you want.
You need to understand yourpurpose in life and, put simply,
your vision statement is all ofthat written down.
This is your goal in life.
Whatever your goal in life is,it could be to.
(30:49):
Goal in life is it could be tobe a millionaire.
It could be to build the bestand most successful team ever.
It could be to build the brand.
It could be to create the firstfully organic lighting design
office equipped with organiccoffee grinding facilities.
Whatever it is, it's what youwant it to be, um, and what it
you know.
Whatever it is, it's what youfind passionate about, what you
(31:11):
find you are passionate about.
So I would urge anybody writeit down.
Write down exactly what youwant it to be, and stick it on
the wall and remind yourself ofit regularly, because that is
the reason that you get out ofbed every single day.
And once you've understood yourvision, then it's time to really
think about your mission andwhere vision statements and
(31:33):
mission statements differ.
Your vision is about what youwant to achieve.
Your mission statement is, verysimply, how you're going to
achieve it.
And this is the difficult bitin some ways, because you've
really got to sit downstrategically and think about
how you might achieve it.
Sit down strategically andthink about how you might
(31:53):
achieve it.
You've got to think about howare you going to do your
lighting design operations.
How are you going to run yourfinance department?
How are you going to run yourHR teams?
How are you going to bringpeople into your company?
If that is what you want to do,and you know, if you do want to
be the first ever organicallypowered, if you do want to be
the first ever organicallypowered coffee grinding lighting
institution, then that's fineyou need to understand how
(32:17):
you're going to go aboutdeveloping that technology and
those processes.
So this is really where yourmission statement comes in.
It's about you understandingwhat needs to be done in order
to achieve your goals.
So, whatever your vision, yourmission will be the pathway to
achieving it.
So we have our vision, we haveour mission statement.
(32:39):
This, I hope means that we havean absolute passion for what we
are doing.
This is the business oflighting design.
It is business we need to beprofessional about it.
We have purpose because we knowwhy we're doing what we're
doing.
We understand who we are, weunderstand what is driving us
and we have an understanding ofthe mechanics of the business of
(33:00):
lighting design.
Passion, purpose andunderstanding for all that we do
will breed success, and that isultimately what I hope for
anybody setting out on their own.
It's something I've done myself.
It is the most amazing andscary roller coaster of a ride I
have ever been on.
I'm fortunate enough to standon the shoulders of many giants
(33:23):
in my team that I work with, andif you are interested in
finding out a little bit moreabout Nolte and the way that we
go about implementing these fourpillars, then you can find out
a little bit more about Nolteand the way that we go about
implementing these four pillars.
Then you can find out a littlebit more about us on all of the
usual social media channels andon our website at
nolteelightingcom.
If you have any questions, dofeel free to get in contact and
(33:46):
let me know.
Many thanks.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
And that's a wrap for today's episode of the Virtual
Lighting Design CommunityPodcast.
We hope you found someinspiration and connection in
today's topics.
For more, why not go back andlisten to some of our previous
conversations and presentations?
Don't stop here.
Keep the conversation going,dive into more exclusive content
at membersvldcommunity or checkout our videos on youtube.
(34:13):
If you've enjoyed this episode,please follow, subscribe and
share it with your friends andpeers in the lighting world.
Your support helps usilluminate even more minds.
Until next time, see you soon.
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