Introducing Alice Watt, Artist & Co-founder of Q London, interior design studio
Meet Alice, artist and co-founder of London based interior design studio ‘Q London’. Founded in 2019 Q London is a bespoke, high end residential Interiors and Super Yacht design agency. Known for her ethereal and distinct use of colour and brush strokes, Alice has been featured in The World of Interiors and exhibited at The Other Art Fair.
Here she shares her tips and insights on the importance of organising your finances when taking the jump from freelancer to business owner, what she does to unwind and where she takes her inspiration from.
Websites: Alice Watt Art | Q London
Follow @q_londonltd | @alice_watt_art
“I am 32, I was born in London and have been based in West London for the last 10 years. I have always been very into the arts. For me painting is a form of therapy. The start of 2019 was very exciting as two former colleagues and myself set up Q London Ltd, a studio specialising in high end residential Interior and Super-Yacht Design.”
What does a typical ‘day in the life’ look like for you?
Morning cuddles with the cat. A brisk walk along the river to my office. Coffee with my business partners, various errands, design progress meetings and supplier visits fill up my day in the office, and then either some form of exercise class in the evening, or drinks and dinner with friends.
Do you have a routine or rituals that help keep you grounded?
Hanging out in nature, a decent amount of sleep, exercising at least 3 times a week and enough time spent with the people I love.
How do you switch off?
Painting. Whether it’s a commissioned piece or just painting for myself.
What would you say is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt since setting up your business?
The importance of financial forecasting – cashflow is the biggest threat to the survival of small businesses starting out. Putting time into financial planning early on has meant we have been able to focus on the more creative aspects of our work.
As an employee you get used to the security of a guaranteed payslip at the end of the month, which disappears when you start off on your own. However, with good forecasting we have been able to know where we stand financially as a business, think more strategically and ensure we are as prepared as possible for whatever challenges come our way.
What do you wish you had known before you started?
The importance of having everything in writing. I significantly underestimated the time it takes to conclude contractual negotiations. However, getting this process right has meant we have been able to manage expectations and talk through a range of possible scenarios with our clients.
What’s your vision for the future of Q London and your art business?
For Q - To get the business to a point where we can pick and choose the projects that we feel most connected to. I would like us to increasingly do our bit to be more green – specify more antiques into projects, rather than making something new.
For the art side of things - I would like it to be in closer harmony with my Interior Design work.
What has been one of the most rewarding projects you’ve worked on to date?
Our interior design projects are for the most part confidential. However, I recently worked on an art piece which I put up for sale, with 100% of the proceeds going to a charity which rehabilitates the animals affected in the Australian bushfires.
Describe your relationship with money and personal finance?
When I was 12 my best friend and I set up a car washing 'service' along our road. We decided that our pocket money wasn’t enough and we thought we would try and make our own money.
Having made my own money (albeit not much) from a reasonably early age, I continued to juggle education and part time work throughout school and university.
It was, and is important for me to have my own financial resources so as not to feel too reliant, and therefore able to make my own decisions.
What’s your definition of wealth?
Financial freedom. The first thing that springs to mind is being able to travel to as many places as possible.
What's your guilty pleasure purchase?
Buying myself beautiful bunches of flowers every 10 or so days.
What do you feel are the differences between the way you run your personal and your business finances?
Having invested a lot of time into ensuring our business finances are under control, this has certainly helped with my management of my personal finances.
I used to think that since I was creative I wouldn’t be as good at the numbers side of things but it is vital for any creative business.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised at what a difference having a better understanding has made to my confidence in the future of the business.
Have you faced any challenges as a woman in business? If so, how have you dealt with this?
Fortunately not. I work in quite a female dominated industry where some of the top companies are led by women. We work with men varying from CEO’s down to junior designers.
I think that confidence is the most important factor for me and my female colleagues.
Since we have a lot of experience in the industry, we have the confidence to back ourselves when making important decisions and keep the respect of the men we work with.
What is the best financial decision you have made?
Putting money into savings when I was working alongside my degree, as it has opened up some additional opportunities at this point in my life where I am needing to make some bigger investments (ie buying a house).
What was your first investment?
I remember opening an ISA with the help of my Mum when I was probably around the age of 10. I would put away the money I received from birthday parties and most likely the car washing business!
What did you learn about finance and money when you were growing up?
I learnt pretty quickly that spending every penny of my pay check each month was not sustainable.
Learning to purchase quality over quantity.
Disciplining myself to research larger purchases rather than splashing out on too many things I didn’t really need.
What are your top financial business tips?
I would say setting out project budgets upfront at the start of the project process which ensures you manage expectations from every perspective right from the get go.
What inspires or motivates you?
From an interior inspiration point of view - A flick through the Architectural Digest magazine.
But really it is seeing others setting out their own business path and striving to achieve new and exciting goals, while successfully balancing all of their other life priorities. I always find it inspiring when individuals take slightly different approaches at running their businesses. It makes me look at what I could do differently.
If you could invite 3 artists to dinner, dead or alive, who would you choose and why?
Salvador Dalí. He always stands out as one of the very few twentieth century painters who combined a distinctive style with intriguing themes. I love surrealism and it would be fascinating to meet the man behind the madness. I’m sure he was quite the party animal.
J. M. W. Turner. I get lost in his works, and could stare at them all day. I would love to ask him about his technique and take away some tips.
Zaha Hadid - An artist of architecture. An insight into her uncommon way of thinking would be such a treat.
Can you recommend us a book and a podcast?
Book : All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Podcast: currently has to be The High Low.