As you apply the rules of marketing and establish
an effective sales system, an interesting phenomenon will occur. You will start to sign more contracts and your boards will begin to stack up with exciting new projects. You’re going to get busy and you are not going to be able to do all the work yourself.
You are going to need to build a team.
The way you have always done things will need to change. The memorized undocumented process that you use every day to get your work done will need to be streamlined, clarified and written down. It will most likely need to change in order to better translate to others… and you need to be open to that idea. The way things have always been done is not necessarily the best way.
Whether or not your team does what you want them to do is your
Continue reading "17 Essential Elements of Successful Teams in Architecture"
How to Lead a Team as a Small Firm Architect
This month at EntreArchitect™ we are exploring the theme of
Leadership in architecture. Throughout the month of March, each post here on the blog, each episode at the
podcast, at the
newsletter and out on
social media, we will be sharing content about what it takes to be a great leader as a small firm architect.
As Entrepreneur Architects, we are all leaders. Whether we are running a firm of 1 or 100, it is leadership that will determine the success or failure of a firm. It does not matter how bad the economy gets or how your opportunities may have been reduced by circumstances outside your control. The fate of your firm sits squarely in your hands. It will be your vision, your decisions, your words and your actions that will lead your firm to the next
Continue reading "5 Rules for Successful Leadership in Architecture"
If you are a long time reader of EntreArchitect.com, then this post may sound familiar. Originally published in 2013 as Part 4 of the original EntreArchitect™ Academy Blog Series, this final article of our month dedicated to Business Development shares my firm’s simple sales system. You can read the entire original 2013 blog series here.
Making Money is Good
We need to talk.
This may be uncomfortable, but we need to talk about money.
Are you making enough to finish each month with a profit? Are you making enough to live comfortably? Are you making enough to simply pay the bills?
Too many architects I know are not making ends meet. We architects are notoriously horrible business people. My mission is to change that. (So share this blog with every architect you know!)
I believe, deep down, we all want to be successful. We all want to make more money, but we
Continue reading "A Simple Sales System for Small Firm Architects"
Coworking for Architects
“You know, I’m going to be downtown anyway for another meeting. How about we meet at this coffee shop I know, instead?”
This is my standard way of artfully dodging meetings in my office, since my office is currently my kitchen table. Does it add an hour and a half to my meeting for transit? Absolutely. But welcoming a contractor or engineer that I’m counting on for high-level referrals into my house does not portray the kind of professionalism I’m going for.
I used to have a nice office twice a week, which worked well for these types of meetings. Well, I sort of had an office. Really I was renting a small conference room from a larger engineering firm. They were magnanimous and never said anything when my three employees and I helped ourselves to their coffee and put our lunches in their fridge. It was
Continue reading "Could Coworking Be Your Business Development Secret Weapon?"
This is a guest post written by Rochelle Carrington, President/CEO at Sandler Training. Rochelle has been working in sales and sales management since 1991, and is the top female franchise owner within Sandler’s global network of 250 owners. As a seasoned sales professional and consultant, Rochelle guides companies in reaching their critical goals, achieving increased revenue and more effectively managing their teams. She has advised, trained and coached non-selling professionals including architects, attorneys and engineers on developing best-in-class sales and marketing practices for almost 10 years.
Rochelle was the guest speaker for our February EntreArchitect™ Academy Expert Training session. She presented on this month’s theme, Business Development. Click here to learn more about EntreArchitect™ Academy.
Are these 7 mistakes keeping you from signing the projects you need to reach your sales goals?
1. You don’t tightly target your prospects. When business is slow, the temptation to tell your story to whomever will listen is
Continue reading "7 Selling Mistakes That Cost Architects Critical Sales"
Welcome to February. All this month at EntreArchitect, we’ll be focusing on
Business Development.
Listen to the
podcast, subscribe to the
newsletter and return back here to the blog each week for more information on how to generate more sales for your small firm by creating long-term value from your clients, markets, and relationships.
This week we’re starting from scratch.
What does an architect do when there is not yet a portfolio to share and no clients to reference? Which business development strategies can we use when seeking that very first project?
Starting a firm from scratch is not easy and many architects take a different tact by first working for established firms. They use the knowledge and connections from those early positions to leverage the launch of a new firm.
Another path to owning your own firm is to work your way through the ranks in an established firm, becoming a
Continue reading "10 Business Development Steps for the Start Up Architect"
This is a guest post written by Todd L. Reding, the President and CEO at Charrette Venture Group. Todd can be reached at [email protected]. Charrette Venture Group (CVG) works with new and growing design firms to build stronger businesses by investing resources and applying proven concepts. Learn more about CVG at charrettevg.com.
If you were starting a company in the tech industry, modern manufacturing or even retail you would encounter a world of business plan competitions, mentor networks, accelerator programs and investor interests. However, the field of design seems to have lost its invitation to the party.
Investors come in all shapes and sizes. There are the “sharks” that so many recognize from the popular television show (although few ever see the real complexities of the relationship after the deal is made). There are the “angels” who appear to only want to give you money, and let you
Continue reading "6 Ways Your Architecture Firm May Benefit From Working With an Investor"
A Most Important Habit for Success
Without any education in business basics, architects rarely understand the fundamentals of business success. Some months we have money left over and other months we struggle to pay each bill.
For years, I ran my business with no real understanding of how to end each month with a profit.
Seven years into owning our own small firm, Annmarie and I decided to make some changes. It was during that year when I committed to a business program offered by Westchester Community College titled the Academy of Entrepreneurial Excellence. I wrote about my experience at the Academy in the introduction to my original
Entrepreneur Architect Academy blog series back in 2013.
One of the most important habits I developed during that year is the preparation of a financial schedule. During the first two business days every month I prepare my client invoices (receivables), pay my bills
Continue reading "Basic Financial Statements for Small Firm Architects"
With each new year, we start fresh with big dreams, renewed vision and updated plans. January is a month for us to reestablish our focus on the many goals (or ONE Goal) for our business and life. It’s a time for us to expel the unnecessary, organize and prepare our success for the next 11 months before us.
Here at EntreArchitect, all throughout the month of January we are focusing our content on the business category theme of
Finance. For the next few weeks, the articles here at the blog, the strategies shared in the newsletter and the interviews published on the podcast will all be about the money matters of our businesses. This past week, at
EntreArchitect Academy, we launched the new Academy format with a live expert training session presented by Rena Klein, FAIA of RM Klein Consulting titled
Financial Management: Key Concepts.
Our Expert Training sessions at the
Continue reading "New Year. New Budget."
Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed your holiday and have started your new year with enthusiasm, determination and focus. It’s going to be a great 2016.
I’m sure you are noticing a few changes around here. We’ve been very hard at work during the year-end break.
Welcome to the All-New EntreArchitect
The all-new EntreArchitect is built exclusively for you; the small firm entrepreneur architect.
We have a new logo, a new website and a new format designed and dedicated to help YOU build a better business. We’ve developed a comprehensive content calendar for the entire year, which will allow us to systematically improve our firms, step by step. Each month we will be dedicated to a specific category topic such as Business Development, Leadership, Culture, Client Fulfillment, Technology, Management, Marketing and more.
This month, we are diving deep into one of the most important, yet possibly one of the most
Continue reading "Welcome to the All-New EntreArchitect"
Last week I published a podcast episode titled, Success in 2016 with Just ONE Goal, where I shared my thoughts on goal setting. For years I have set numerous goals, in every part of my life, with all good intention and desire to achieve each goal by the deadline set. Does that sound familiar? I […]
It’s that time of year again. The bells are ringing for the holidays and we’re all busy wrapping up deadlines before the turn of a new year. It’s also time to look ahead to 2016. How are we going to make 2016 our best year ever? How are we going to find the work we want, […]
Anyone who has started their own architecture firm from scratch knows this dilemma well. We are full of enthusiasm, full of ideas, fully prepared. We quit our job (or working throughout the night on the side). We planned our launch and created a new website to share our ideas with the world… but we have […]
Architecture is a tough business. How do we find work? How do we find help? How do we grow, make more money and ensure that our small firms are profitable? This week I welcome back a friend of the show who, in the past 12 months has interviewed almost 200 small firm architects. He knows […]
Competitions are a integral part of the architecture experience. Since architecture school and throughout our careers, design competitions have provided a vehicle for architects to promote our talents and showcase our skills. Several architects have built their firms around the results of competitions, allowing them to leapfrog years of marketing strategies, accelerating their brands and […]
A dream for so many of us small firm architects; design, build and develop our own residential architecture. No rules. No limits. No clients. You make the decisions for what gets built and what does not. There is much risk in residential development, but there is also much reward. Creative rewards, professional rewards and financial […]
The holidays are a beautiful time of year. We are invited to slow down and spend time with family and friends. Stories of love and giving are everywhere we look. We are reminded at this time that every day throughout the year, we are blessed. But, as we enter the final month of the year […]
Starting your own design business while still in architecture school. Graduating, growing and building that simple idea into a thriving multi-disciplined design build company. That’s what this week’s guest did. On the show is a former guest from way back at Episode 8. He’s here to share an update after 2 years of business development. […]
This post is my contribution to an international blog series called #ArchiTalks. Each month, dozens of architect bloggers publish a post on a specific topic simultaneously on the same date. This is a bonus edition of #ArchiTalks, with a Thanksgiving theme, “From An Architect’s Table”, where each architect blogger will share a favorite holiday recipe. […]
So, this is it! Episode 100 of the EntreArchitect™ Podcast. This is certainly a milestone in the history of the EntreArchitect™ Platform and there is no way this could have happened without you, the EntreArchitect™ Community. Those of you who subscribe and download and listen to this show each and every week have been the […]
