EntreArchitect

MAY 30, 2021

I’ve sorted through a lot of messy books in the 17 years that I’ve been in the accounting industry. Most importantly, how would an architect understand the business impact that an amazingly organized set of books can have, compared to a set of books that work “just fine”? You wouldn’t. No system at all. Receipts in a shoebox?

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Small Firm Firms Architect Architecture Firm 52

EntreArchitect

APRIL 6, 2015

Most sole proprietors and small firms I know, struggle to meet the minimum requirements of operation. These are services available to your client, but are NOT included in your basic architectural services. Through the years we have learned that not every project and not every client is a good fit for these services though.

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Small Firm Firms Architect Client 52

EntreArchitect

SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

It is painful though to look at the books each year and see the cost of insurance at the top of the list. Relative to the other expenses of a small firm, professional liability insurance is down right expensive… until you need it. If your firm is practicing without insurance, you should reconsider your decision.

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Insurance Small Firm Firms Architect 52

EntreArchitect

AUGUST 9, 2016

Every architect has a dream of having their work published in books and magazines. Publication is a form of social proof indicating that our designs are worthy of our prospective clients’ attention. Assemble a collection of your best works and publish your own monograph to share with prospects and clients.

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Small Firm Firms Architect Client 52

Life of an Architect

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

I have almost always worked in small firms – except for that one time when I didn’t, which wasn’t a bad year but it cemented in my mind that my skill set is better suited for a small architectural firm. Here are my Top 5 Reasons to work in a Small Architectural Firm: 1.

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Small Firm Architect Firms Architecture 109

EntreArchitect

APRIL 6, 2014

From the point of view of our clients, great architecture is where we start. So, yes, great design is important, but it’s not what’s going to keep our clients happy? The first step, before you ever put your pen to sketch paper, is to know what your client is looking for. We’re in the Client Happiness Business.

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Client Clients Sketching Small Firm 52

EntreArchitect

JUNE 6, 2017

After responding to a hopeful architect on Dwell.com I decided to flesh out my answer and include more books. Naturally there is some overlap and some of these books could fit in multiple headings, this is architecture after all. Being a successful architect takes more than creating a wonderful idea and presenting it to your client.

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Architect Sketching Firms Client 52

EntreArchitect

MARCH 24, 2014

On April 8, 1999, I discovered a book that changed the way I view business; a book that helped me to realize that running a successful architecture firm required so much more than designing great architecture. It is the book that inspired me to begin to work “on my business, rather than in my business.”

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Architecture Firm Firms Architecture Small Firm 52

Landscape Architecture Magazine

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

If there were good, recent books on passing a design firm’s ownership from founders to successors (there aren’t), it sounds as if Cheryl Barton, FASLA, and Kate Orff, FASLA, would have had little use for them. Cheryl Barton winds down after decades as CEO, and her office becomes part of SCAPE. By Bradford McKee.

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Design Firms Small Firm Restoration 104

Architizer

MAY 7, 2024

Crafting a well-defined business strategy is crucial for the success of any business, architecture firms included, but according to the most recent AIA Business Survey Report in 2022, only 26% of small firms, 40% of medium-sized firms, and 71% of large firms have one written down. So, where do you start?

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Visualization Architect Firms Diagram 100

EntreArchitect

JUNE 22, 2022

Beth was driven and extremely competent and loved by clients. But her death grip on every detail of project management was not leaving room in her schedule for meeting with clients and prospects to develop future work. Daniel Pink, for his book Drive, studied what motivates people, particularly creative types.

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Management Civil Engineering Firms Engineering 84

EntreArchitect

SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

Finding clients you seek to serve, who have projects with appropriate budgets and realistic schedules is very important. Understanding business fundamentals and building systems that will lead to a healthy profitable firm is critical. As small firm architects, we have so many responsibilities. That didn’t work.

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Small Firm Architect Firms Client 52

EntreArchitect

MAY 3, 2016

As we move into a new month, we are shifting our focus to a new category of small firm success. All throughout the month of May, we will be diving deep into the subject of Client Fulfillment. How do we best serve our clients? How do we manage expectations and keep our clients happy?

Architecture Firm 52

Architecture Firm Firms Developer Development 52

EntreArchitect

NOVEMBER 1, 2016

It was a fantastic discussion about how SALA was founded and the journey to where Dale finds himself today as a principal at the firm, a teacher and an author of several books published by Taunton Press. He has written dozens of articles and 5 books with the publisher, including his best known publication, cabinology.

Architect 52

Architect Residential Firms Small Firm 52

EntreArchitect

OCTOBER 19, 2011

And with each month unused, the software weighed on us: waiting for the right time, the right project, the right client, the right phase, the right people to put on the project, the right people to train… Sound familiar? The book is loaded case studies and conversations with leaders in the profession. Doing no one any good.

Architecture 52

Architecture Small Firm Firms Design 52

EntreArchitect

JUNE 9, 2015

Finding clients you seek to serve, who have projects with appropriate budgets and realistic schedules is very important. Understanding business fundamentals and building systems that will lead to a healthy profitable firm is critical. As small firm architects, we have so many responsibilities. Get Things Done Faster.

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Small Firm Firms Architect Client 52

EntreArchitect

AUGUST 9, 2018

EntreArchitect: Behind the Design is a weekly blog series where we feature work designed, developed and/or built by small firm entrepreneur architect members of The EntreArchitect Community. With clients? How involved was your client throughout the design process? Die Neue Villa (German Book) Callwey September 2008 ?Caja

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Contractor Permits Small Firm Design 52

EntreArchitect

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

In a recent conversation with a professional colleague who is a small firm practitioner (3 people total), he expressed his frustration with not being able to get to the ‘business of his business’. The second printing of the expanded book will be self-published in 2017, as an e-book, or as a hard copy, on request.

Small Firm 52

Small Firm Management Firms Developer 52

EntreArchitect

MARCH 13, 2018

It was a fantastic discussion about how SALA was founded and the journey to where Dale finds himself today as a principal at the firm, a teacher and an author of several books published by Taunton Press. He has written dozens of articles and 5 books with the publisher, including his best known publication, cabinology.

Residential 52

Residential Architect Firms Small Firm 52

Archmark

MARCH 29, 2019

Recently, we asked Richard Marshall, Principal with Perkins+Will , about the importance of marketing for small firms, “The best organizations view marketing as just as important a skill set as design. Read on to learn about five effective marketing building blocks that contribute to architecture firm growth.

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Firms Building Architect Client 95

EntreArchitect

APRIL 1, 2010

When a potential client hears your firm’s name, what do they feel? In his book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking , Malcolm Gladwell describes in detail how decisions are made within the first few seconds of an impression. appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects.

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Small Firm Client Clients Firms 40

EntreArchitect

JANUARY 10, 2017

How to Achieve Your Goals as a Small Firm Architect. Inspired by one of my all-time favorite books, The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results , written by Jay Papasan and Gary Keller, my ONE Goal was to be the primary focus for the next twelve months of 2016. My ONE Goal. Stay tuned.

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Small Firm Firms Finances Architecture Firm 52

EntreArchitect

DECEMBER 19, 2017

One platform may be your personal favorite over the many others, but are your prospective clients enjoying their time on that same platform? Researcher and author Jonah Berger in his book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On , identified six principles at work in the most shared messages, products and ideas.

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Client Clients Small Firm Management 52

EntreArchitect

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

One platform may be your personal favorite over the many others, but are your prospective clients enjoying their time on that same platform? Researcher and author Jonah Berger in his book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On , identified six principles at work in the most shared messages, products and ideas.

Client 52

Client Clients Developer Development 52

EntreArchitect

JANUARY 23, 2022

But the ping pong game starts when the user/client sees the options we define, with their preconceptions, and hopes fully presented, then variants, then fully reconsidered ideas derived from the same database the user/client gives you. The ideas of user/clients are thus transformed by the open creative process.

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Architecture Client Clients Firms 57

EntreArchitect

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

For years architects have been looking for ways to justify their fees and hourly rates to their clients. We need to take the time to understand our clients’ needs and concerns and then educate them about the value-added aspects of our service. Their EXPECTATION is for their professional consultants to be technically competent.

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Architect Client Clients Consulting 52

EntreArchitect

AUGUST 15, 2017

I just need to tack up my shingle, design great buildings and clients will come knocking. Maybe… but whether clients come knocking or not, its not so simple to keep them knocking. Jim Horan, author of The One Page Business Plan series of books says, “The greatest value in creating a business plan is not the final document.

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Architecture Firm Firms Architecture Small Firm 52

EntreArchitect

OCTOBER 9, 2018

Architects get the most attention for new work that actually gets built, from those who find them from somewhere else (usually a friend or client)… through referral. My second book was coming out in 1986 and I would go on to write 6 more, all meshing with the demands of the media. But the books were not about me.

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Client Clients Small Firm Home 52

EntreArchitect

JULY 5, 2018

This allows us to educate future clients on what is important to us, how we work, what we are working on, what we’ve recently completed, what is available, etc. We did not sell the house from the open house, but we did secure 4 other jobs from clients who attended that open house. With clients? Autocad and Sketchup.

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Mining Housing Contractor Permits 52

EntreArchitect

SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

It says that 80% of new commissions come from repeat clients and referrals. I published a case study recently where the small architecture firm I highlighted could trace $10 million dollars of construction back to just 4 people. They were the repeat clients and referrers; the R&R’s. What if they’re competitors?

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Client Clients Firms Architecture Firm 52

EntreArchitect

JULY 4, 2015

And yet residential architects have a challenging situation when finding new clients: we rarely know who may be thinking about remodeling or building a new residence. This makes it very difficult to find new clients unless they come seeking us out. Do you enjoy working for this type of client? Pick The Right Bait.

Architecture Firm 52

Architecture Firm Residential Firms Architecture 52

EntreArchitect

APRIL 20, 2020

Learn more about Blair Enns, his fantastic books, The Win Without Pitching Manifesto and Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond the Billable Hour , and his impactful coaching and training programs here. Keeping current clients active. We are a small business that works with only a handful of clients.

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Client Clients Management Finances 52

EntreArchitect

MARCH 13, 2017

Our prospective clients learn with their heads, but decide with their hearts. After years of research and gathering information, often when a client chooses to work with an architect, it simply comes down to their feelings. How can we use virtual reality tools to allow our clients a visual and aural experience inside our designs?

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Home Housing Architect Client 52

EntreArchitect

APRIL 27, 2015

As small firm architects, we are all working so hard to get everything done. Between the many hours we dedicate to building our firms and the time we spend building strong relationships at home, there are not many minutes left to do anything else. Set expectations with your team and clients and you will live happily ever after.

Small Firm 52

Small Firm Management Firms Mining 52

EntreArchitect

MAY 11, 2015

Eric has authored several books on architecture, his most recent is entitled, Architect and Entrepreneur: A Field Guide to Building, Branding, and Marketing Your Startup Design Business , which expands on his thoughts below and other topics related to contemporary practice. Clients began calling, writing gigs popped up, and I sold plans.

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Client Clients Small Firm Sketching 52

Life of an Architect

JUNE 18, 2014

Home / Career / Your Behavior Matters Your Behavior Matters Bob Borson — June 19, 2014 — 42 Comments We’ve all heard the expression that you shouldn’t ever judge a book by its cover, and I for one, tend to agree with this expression. Didn’t the client/owner of the commercial building intervene at any point?

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Architect Contractor Construction Construction 104

EntreArchitect

DECEMBER 16, 2012

Most sole proprietors and small firms I know, struggle to meet the minimum requirements of operation. These are services available to your client, but are NOT included in your basic architectural services. Through the years we have learned that not every project and not every client is a good fit for these services though.

Architect 52

Architect Client Clients Insurance 52