Dennis Duffy, IIDA of Duffy Design Group, Boston was the guest speaker at ASID New England's 2010 Design Excellence Awards. The design awards event was the culmination of ASID's business conference: Eye on Business and Eye on Design. The conference addressed 'how to face the roadblocks between you and a growing design business' and Duffy shared his personal experience about how he has managed to remain successful and optimistic.
Duffy began his design career in Miami working in a furniture showroom. At the time, he was taking a break from studying science as a chemistry major with thoughts of pursuing a medical career.
Finding that the world of interior design interested him, he went to New York, worked in a furniture studio and attended Parsons School of Design. In 1989 he opened his own design firm in New York and worked on projects in New York and San Juan. In 1996 he moved to Boston and worked with the interior design studio Repertoire. In 1999, he founded Duffy Design Group, now an award-winning design firm known for its modern aesthetic and inspiring interiors.

As he looked back upon his journey, Duffy told the designer audience of his 'lessons learned' in setting up and running an interior design business. "I was naïve," noted Duffy, "and like many new business owners made mistakes and learned by them."

First, Duffy commented on the importance of setting up a liable legal and accounting structure to protect oneself and the business. He advocated for funneling client's money through efficient and reliable software programs designed for accounting and project tracking. Next, he addressed the issue of clients and that while no business can survive without clients, it is important that they are a good fit and that an interview should be a two-way street.