EntreArchitect Podcast with Mark R. LePage

How to Succeed as a Married Couple in Architecture “Being a married couple in architecture may be the most difficult,  the most satisfying and the most successful approach at being small firm architects. It’s not always easy and it’s not always pretty, but I wouldn’t trade my life as an architect with my wife and partner Annmarie for anything. How we’ve established our roles and responsibilities for both our firm and our family is how we’ve become successful.” This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Mark R. LePage speaks with Claire and Cavin Costello from The Ranch Mine to share their story about How to Succeed as a Married Couple in Architecture. Cavin’s Origin Story Cavin is originally from Connecticut and attended Northeastern University for his undergraduate and graduate degree while working over two years in firms in Connecticut and Boston. After graduating, he felt a change was necessary and he packed up and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. A friend introduced him to Claire the first day he arrived, and the rest is history. Listen to episode 138 to hear Cavin’s full origin story and How To Design and Sell Modern Architecture. Claire’s Origin Story Claire was born and raised in Phoenix, and grew up studying furniture catalogues. Her grandfather built his own home and farm in Indiana; the pride he had and the stories he told about the building process painted a dialogue about creating a home. Similarly, her uncle in Tucson built a rammed earth house and, during a visit, she learned a lot about that process. Both people played a big part in fostering an interest in Claire about creating a home. Her degrees are in English and communication, but her personal relationships followed the design world. A mutual friend introduced her to Cavin, who was obviously very rooted in architecture, and the conversations they had about the built environment and what someone could do with design drew her in. They took a leap to purchase and renovate a foreclosure, and having survived that challenge early on makes other challenges that come their way surmountable. Would you recommend a foreclosure renovation to other married couples? The sequence of building their own designs was such a hands-on experience that Claire found a lot of value in the experience, though it did put them through the wringer. Cavin remembers the process being taxing from both a financial and emotional standpoint, and mixing both of those strains is not for the faint of heart. Jumping into the most difficult thing accelerated their growth and made everything down the road possible. For the Costellos, it was easier to take the risk at the beginning. By diving straight in, do you feel you were able to get some systems in place? It was eye-opening to see the architectural components of moving walls and doing additions, and then you have the interiors of cabinets, tiles, and other finished items. Some things don’t have to be decided at the design part, which they learned along the way. Now, there’s two sets of documents the clients receive including the architectural construction documents and the interior specifications book, which is easily changed if needed. It’s more manageable for clients to have all of the information in front of them with a timeline of the decisions and priorities. How is The Ranch Mine business structured? The Ranch Mine includes Cavin as the Registered Architect and Claire as the Chief Executive. Cavin is the lead on design, but the Costellos collaborate a lot by visiting projects for initial visits, working to wrap both of their heads around existing conditions, and joining together for different design elements. They work with independent contractors on certain projects from time to time. If there are hard choices to be made, if it’s a business decision Claire has the final say and if it’s an architecture decision then Cavin has the final say. Cavin usually starts from the big picture and Claire starts from the details and the perspective of the homeowner, and then the work to meet in the middle. The flexibility comes from the thought that each project is geared more towards their clients’ needs than what Claire or Cavin might personally prefer in the end. Differences of opinion often give their clients two different viewpoints to choose from and push both of them to challenge each other along the process. If you didn’t meet, do you think you would have succeeded as quickly? If Cavin and Claire didn’t meet, Cavin doubts he would have been able to make the business end of it work as well. The success in how fast they’ve grown wouldn’t have been the same, because the speed, efficiency and growth is a direct result of their relationship. The mixing of alternating strengths has been a huge benefit. How do you balance your work and personal life? At the beginning of their partnership, the business took over and it was hard to create boundaries. After a few years, they started getting more firm about boundaries and began to create time for themselves on evenings and weekends. During working hours, Cavin and Claire work in their own spaces to complete their own work. They’ve also found that it helps to find activities that they both enjoy outside of work to disengage. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “Be grounded in the right projects for you and what those criterion would be. Be empowered to turn down projects that aren’t the right fit. Identify your ideal projects and what those terms are. Then, find a network, including a landscape architect or an interior designer, so that when you say no to a project for whatever reason, you can still be a resource because you have a network of people you feel comfortable referring to.” – Claire Costello Connect with the Cavin & Claire online at TheRanchMine.com or find them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Visit our Platform Sponsors TruStile is a leader in high end, architectural interior doors. Visit them at TruStile.com to learn more! Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Learn more at FreshBooks.com.  Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Referenced in this Episode EntreArchitect Profit Plan Course (free) Episode 138: How to Design and Sell Modern Architecture with Cavin Costello The post EA154: How to Succeed as a Married Couple in Architecture [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:SpacesGabl CESContext & Clarity

How to Pursue Your Passion as a Small Firm Architect Most architects are born dreamers, but we tend to be afraid to pursue those dreams. Often our dreams are stuck in our head and it’s hard to find a way to reach them. Success in achieving our greatest goals can only occur if we… start. Make a plan and take the first step to move toward your dreams! This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Victor Caban-Diaz talks big ideas and Pursuing Your Passion as a Small Firm Architect.   Astronaut or Comic Book Artist? Victor didn’t make the decision to study architecture until he was ready to make a decision about where he wanted to go to college. Growing up, various professions like being an astronaut or a comic book artist were more appealing to him. In high school, he was great at math and art and wanted to pursue both skills, eventually landing on architecture and attending the University of Miami in Florida. He received his bachelor’s degree there and began his degree. In the beginning, he didn’t feel like he was doing anything of value. He ended up jumping around from firm to firm every two to three years because of the recession. He struggled with feeling like he was advancing and growing in his own value. Most recently Victor had been working for Fort Lauderdale and decided to go out on his own. Victor had the idea for Building Ingenuity for the last five years in his mind from the buzz surrounding the architect-as-developer concept. He had some previous experience with the direct marketing world, and it left an impact on him. The thought that someone could control a project and reap the rewards from it with residual income was amazing to him. He wanted to replicate the concept within the architecture world. The thought behind Building Ingenuity is to help other architects by offering traditional architecture, including residential, mixed-use and commercial, BIM consulting for architects, and development services.  Investing in Other Architects After reading the Richest Man in Babylon, Victor’s main take-away was to invest in other people’s talents. In his opinion, the best people to invest in architects are other architects. Through the architect-as-developer concept, he wants to perfect that business model and teach others how to do it and invest in their business. Victor wants to use the profits he makes on his business and reinvest them, with the goal to create growth and residual income for the whole network involved.  As Victor points out, architects are constantly being taught how to grow and improve, but they aren’t reaping any of the rewards. We are not taught how to pursue your passion as a small firm architect. If you have a mentor who’s invested in your success who’s showing you the way, you have a greater chance of achieving your dreams. What’s Next for Victor? Victor’s plan is to continue building funds and recruiting architects to join the franchise. Currently, he’s done some work to acquire a property in a neighborhood that’s great for what his target audience is looking for, and he now has one property that he is working to develop and build. Down the road, Victor hopes to have a large coworking-type office, filled with a wide variety of architects using their talents to enable greater investments in development for their clients. This industry is one that is ripe for disruption! What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “Get involved with your community: associations, local chamber of commerce, AIA. One of the reasons I’m succeeding is because of the mentorship I receive from other architects and the help I get from other colleagues. Don’t sit there alone trying to make business from your office. Get back to the profession and get involved. ” – Victor Caban-Diaz Connect with Victor online at BuildIngenuity.com or on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Visit our Platform Sponsors TruStile is a leader in high end, architectural interior doors. Visit them at TruStile.com to learn more! Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Learn more at FreshBooks.com.  Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Referenced in this Episode EntreArchitect Profit Plan Course (free) The post EA153: Pursuing Your Passion as a Small Firm Architect [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:SpacesGabl CESContext & Clarity

10 Steps for Creating Standard Operating Procedures for Architects Michael Gerber, the author of The E-Myth Revisited, said, “Organize around business functions, not people. Build systems within each business function. Let systems run the business and people run the systems. People come and go, but the systems remain constant.” This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Simple SOPs: 10 Steps for Creating Standard Operating Procedures for Architects. In business, standard operating procedures are the answer to your questions. How do you make more money? How can you find more work? How can you get your employees or contractors to do what you want them to? How do I get more done? The answer is SOPs; Standard Operating Procedures for Architects. They make you a stronger, more effective leader. They clarify your vision and communicate, support and help with decision-making for realizing that vision. SOPs build a better culture. They’re an intentional reinforcement of the behaviors that help us realize our vision and the kind of workplace that we want our firms to be. SOPs allow us to build better businesses, so we can be better architects. Once they’re developed, they allow us to focus on what matters most to us and spend more time on the things that we love to do. Creating SOPs might be the most important task we have as entrepreneurs.  Unfortunately, most of us don’t have standard operating procedures. Why? Because we feel that the systems will hinder our creativity? That if we great a standard process we’ll start to create standard projects? Of course not! They’ll allow us to have more time to spend on developing our creativity and give us more opportunities to be better architects. Or maybe we don’t create processes because we were never taught. We’re not business people, we’re architects. What are the 5 components of every SOP? A process, the manual methods used for accomplishing a task. Effective processes are clear, replicable, documented, supported by tools, and easily accessible. Systems, or automated methods for accomplishing tasks. Roles are the expectations for how someone doing the work should use his/her skills to achieve the goals. Skills are complete sets of knowledge that are used to execute the processes. Structure is how the different roles interact.  “For the first 25 years of my life, I wanted freedom. For the next 25 years I wanted order. For the next 25 years I realized the order is freedom.” – Winston Churchill 10 Steps to Creating Standard Operating Procedures for Architects 1. Company Identity // Your firm’s name, logo, letterhead. Maybe you want to document your firm’s mission and vision to remind your firm of the purpose of your work. 2. Introduction // Have clear communication about the background for the SOP. What is the purpose and scope? Why are you creating it? If your SOPs are digital, you can have keywords that are searchable for future reference. 3. Role // Which role is responsible for this SOP? 4. Responsibilities // What is included in performing this SOP? 5. Skills // What is required to accomplish this task? You want to align the skills with the responsibilities and roles, so pick someone who possesses the strengths needed for this role. 6. Resources // What do you need to accomplish this SOP? Organize a list of links, a book, a specific section in a book, etc. 7. Instructions // A written, step-by-step procedure including every single step, no matter how small the detail. If it works for what you’re doing, create a screen-share video of the task as you’re completing it. The more time you spend on developing the clarity, the more time you’ll save in the end. 8. Monitoring // Check in for the effectiveness and efficiency of the process. As it’s being carried out, someone should be reviewing how it’s working. 9. Correction // We want things to improve and evolve as technology changes and you have more experience. How can you correct your procedures as you know more? 10. Verification // This is where accountability comes in. The process gets assigned to the implementor who confirms that the process has been completed. Then, the reviewer confirms that the work was done effectively. It sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Use whatever works for you: Evernote, Google Docs, Trello or something else that fits with your firm’s culture. You can create a system for anything: CRM, marketing, website maintenance, advertising, social media, sales, technology processes, hiring and performance reviews, communications, and more. Homework: This week, pick one procedure and document it. Use these 10 steps to develop  your first SOP and you’ll see: it’s not that hard! Don’t miss this week’s blog on my one word for 2017: Simplify. Visit EntreArchitect to learn more! Visit our Platform Sponsors TruStile is a leader in high end, architectural interior doors. Visit them at TruStile.com to learn more! Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Learn more at FreshBooks.com.  Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Referenced in this Episode EntreArchitect Profit Plan Course (free) The post EA152: 10 Steps for Creating Standard Operating Procedures for Architects [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Context & ClaritySpacesGabl CES

 How to Grow Your Architecture Firm This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, How to Grow Your Architecture Firm with Todd Reding, President and CEO of Charrette Venture Group and Rena Klein, founder of RM Klein Consulting. What is Charrette Venture Group? Charrette Venture Group (CVG) is a firm that provides a wholistic approach to building a business; they provide services from management, leadership, finance, marketing, business development, and more to architecture firms who are seeking to build a strong business in the design space. What’s new for Charrette Venture Group? CVG is thrilled to announce a merge with RM Klein Consulting. The parallels with of Rena’s mission and CVG and with EntreArchitect led her to want to share what she knows with those around her, building a consulting practice to help architecture firms succeed. She was excited to meet the founder of CVG, Matt Ostanik, and join in an innovative approach to helping small firms succeed. She found that one of the barriers to success is having the money to invest and the help you need, so CVG’s model of investing as a team to help small firm architects appealed to her. Because her expertise is in operations and finance, it’s great to be a part of a team of experts with skills in different areas. As a consultant with CVG, Rena has enjoyed having a more “long term relationship” with clients to help them grow. After some time, it made sense to both Todd and Rena to merge their similar missions and specialized skills into one company. Rena brings some larger clients to the table, helping them to accomplish goals after initial growth like sustainability and value growth. One of the most exciting things about this merger is the creation of the CVG brand message. As kind of a startup going through a merger, they’re working to model the opportunities and decisions that investment partners are having to make these days. When CVG invests in a new partner firm, what happens? It’s different with each firm, but before even beginning CVG works with each firm to map out a five year plan. What do they need? When do they need it? One firm may need a lot of bookkeeping help right off the bat. Another may need a rebrand with a new website that fits them better. Then, the firm owners participate in a biweekly assessment to keep up with the progress that’s being made. Those are the kinds of services that are constructed and members of the team get involved at different parts of the process. Can you tell us about the ideal CVG partner? Typically it’s a firm under 10 employees with $500K in annual revenue, but they’re always interested in talking to firms larger than that. There’s a thorough assessment process, but it always comes down to the answer to, “What do you want out of this business?” Do you want to build a sustainable business that will allow you to do the work you enjoy and provide for you and your family?  CVG is looking for firm leaders who have aspirations for growth. While there’s nothing wrong with having a small firm and wanting it to stay that way, if you have a desire to grow you need to be willing to professionalize and give up control in certain areas to broaden what you imagine is possible for your business. If someone’s interested in taking the next step with CVG, how can they do so? There’s a space on the website to schedule a free consultation for a general inquiry or for any of CVG’s products/services. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “I’m so confident in our team that I’d say you should contact Charrette Venture Group. That’s not a commercial, I’m not trying to sell you anything, but the people on this team are really good at what they do and the firms we work with would reinforce that. If you want to grow a great business, give us a call – no obligations. We’re looking to help firms grow.” – Todd Reding “Take a look at your 2016 results, see how you actually did, and do some planning with your staff for 2017. This is a moment in time where you can think about your goals for your work culture, financial benchmarks, and your design aspirations.” – Rena Klein Connect with Todd & Rena online by visiting Charrette Venture Group and RM Klein Consulting, or by connecting on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Visit our Platform Sponsors TruStile is a leader in high end, architectural interior doors. Visit them at TruStile.com to learn more! Tanglewood Conservatories combines the romanticism of the 19th century glass architecture with state-of-the-art technology today. Learn more at TanglewoodConservatories.com. Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Learn more at FreshBooks.com.  Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Referenced in this Episode EntreArchitect Profit Plan Course (free) The post EA151: How to Grow Your Architecture Firm [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Context & ClaritySpacesGabl CES

Beautifully Simple Websites for Architects How can you find more work? How can you convert more proposals into projects? Tell your unique story to your target audience. That’s brand building, the essence of marketing. The best and maybe most important tool we have to accomplish this strategy is our website. When our potential clients start the process of seeking an architect, the first step is to search online for someone in their local region. Are you on the first page of Google? If not, you’re invisible. You need a website that can find its way to the first results of a search engine. When your prospects find your website, it has to be beautiful and clear, and it must tell your unique story as the first impression of your brand. We know you have so much to do and so little time. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Beautifully Simple Websites for Architects with Robert Yuen of Monograph.io. What is Monograph.io? Monograph is a website builder with a concierges’ service. As three previous architects diving into technology, we’re trying to build specific tools for architects. Three months after being launched, we have 150 architects on board already. What inspired you and your partners to leave architecture and start a company providing services for architects? Robert and his two partners were usually in charge of building websites for the architecture firms they were at for the first five to ten years of their careers. When they got to know each other, they felt they had a larger value to give back as digital designers verses traditional architects. After doing that on a freelance basis for a while, they came together to form an agency to provide digital tools for project management, team management, and processes for the back end of websites. Monograph is the evolution of that work. Since often architects can’t afford the fees of an agency model but the need is there to have a great way to represent their work, they could leverage the same technology and put it into Monograph. What does Monograph offer that models like WordPress, Wix, and SquareSpace don’t? Monograph starts with a product and then incorporates a concierges’ service. That means that any client gets round-the-clock service from the team regarding resolutions, responsiveness, optimizations, SEO, digital representation, what is possible and what isn’t, etc. Monograph also allows a feature to categorize for architects, to show the different types of work. If you’re doing residential and small commercial work, you can categorize your projects into whatever section is relevant. What is website responsiveness? A responsive website adapts to whatever device you’re using. If you change the size of your browser window and things don’t optimize, that means it’s static and doesn’t present as well as it could for a small business. How does Monograph work to get your website optimized so Google can find you? Fundamentally, Monograph is designed with a lot of things done automatically for every user. All the visuals and images are also pushed to the top as new clients may be looking for architectural inspiration. As a part of the concierges’ service, Monograph helps clients understand Google analytics and webmaster services, which essentially assess the website’s performance. Once the website is finished, how do you maintain and update it with Monograph? There’s no maintaining on the technical end, because that’s what Monograph does. If you want to update something, you just add a new project, upload the photos and text, and let Monograph know that you’ve got something new. The user interface is set up to be as simple as possible to use. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “Find the nearest events and go and have fun! Especially this time of year, take opportunities to meet new friends, colleagues and leads. The hardest part is telling yourself you can and the easiest part is just doing it.” – Robert Yuen Find Robert online at Monograph.io, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or get in touch with him at robert@monograph.io. Visit our Platform Sponsors TruStile is a leader in high end, architectural interior doors. Visit them at TruStile.com to learn more! Tanglewood Conservatories combines the romanticism of the 19th century glass architecture with state-of-the-art technology today. Learn more at TanglewoodConservatories.com. Referenced in this Episode EntreArchitect Profit Plan Course (free) Hear Robert’s origin story on EA Episode 133 Review us on iTunes For EntreArchitect listeners, receive $50 off the annual plan with Monograph from now until the end of the year! The post EA150: Beautifully Simple Websites for Architects with Robert Yuen [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:SpacesGabl CESContext & Clarity

Copyright Protection for Architects A question often raised is, “How do we protect our designs?” How can we deter a client from overextending their license to our ideas and using our designs beyond their initially intended or contractually bound uses? As creatives, how do we protect our creativity? This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Copyright Protection for Architects with Abe Cohn of Howard M. Cohn & Associates. Abe’s Origin Story Abe has always been interested in entrepreneurship, and finds it fascinating to deal with so many people in so many different areas who have such different and novel ideas. He started a tech company a few years ago and after dealing with a ton of intellectual property law there, it made sense for him to move over to the legal sides of things. What’s the difference between copyright, trademarks and patents? Intellectual property is a broad category that includes the intangibles involved in a new creation. Depending on what that is, you can turn to a specific piece of that property. If you were to walk into a shoe store and saw a swoosh; you would immediately recognize that product as a part of the Nike corporation. In that case, the swoosh is a trademark: a mark that serves as an identifier for a good. There’s also a servicemark, which is attached to a service being provided. Legally, the process is exactly the same. Next, you walk into a car shop and saw a gorgeous engine inside a Lamborghini. That engine is a creation that someone has invested a lot of time, money and talents into making. How do we protect that person’s rights? Patents protect novel processes, things that people are building and the ideas behind them. In any Harry Potter book, JK Rowling turned to copyrights to protect her creative manifestations. Copyrights protects her literary work and ensures that others can’t steal, use or copy her brilliant ideas. How are architects protected by copyright law? Architects have claims to different copyrights, like the drawings and designs of the building. About 25 years ago, Congress passed the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act to expand the scope of what it is that architects can actually copy, which states, “An original design of a building created in any tangible medium of expression, including a constructed building or architectural plans, models, or drawings…Protection extends to the overall form as well as the arrangement and composition of spaces and elements in the design but does not include individual standard features.” Now not only are the plans and drawings covered, but the building itself can be copyrighted. You can’t get a copyright on the door itself, but as it relates to some other features because your creative work is novel in that each composite features interacts with the adjacent features. What if you’re designing something that isn’t novel, like a standard Colonial house? Works that are copyrightable have to be in concrete form and have to be substantially unique enough. Part of the design could be copyrightable, while others are not because they aren’t unique. Why do you need a copyright? The moment you put your unique enterprise down, there’s a preliminary set of rights. You can’t stop someone from using it until you register with the copyright office. The legal distinction of registering your copyright is having it on paper is a notice from the government to prove that you own it so you can stop someone from stealing it. You can submit the forms via the mail or online at Copyright.gov. What if I’ve done one design for one home, and then someone wants to build twenty more with the same design? From the client’s point of view, the intuition is that since they’ve just payed the architect to do something, they own that thing that’s been done for them. The truth is that the client has payed for the end result, and doesn’t necessarily own the copyright on the whole thing he’s bought. Think of a wedding photographer: the couple hired the photographer for pictures, but what are they getting? They’re getting the physical copies of the pictures, but they don’t own the rights to the photos. If you’re an architect who wants to be sure you’re getting paid for specifically for one home or for twenty renditions, you want to make sure you negotiate those rights into that contract in advance and in tandem with a competent attorney. What do you do if someone does infringe on your rights? Hire an attorney and have them send a letter or email to cease and desist. The sticky point can come when the architect might not have the resources to go after a huge developer. If you’re confident enough in your case and you have the resources to take them to court, then you do. The most important thing is to set yourself up in the beginning so you’re protected. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “Don’t neglect being on the web: get an amazing website, YouTube channel, etc. Start speaking about what you’re passionate about and how people in your particular industry can benefit from your services. Be involved and get excited.” – Abe Cohn Connect with Abe directly at avraham@cohnpatents.com, online at CohnPatents.com or on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Visit our Platform Sponsors TruStile is a leader in high end, architectural interior doors. Visit them at TruStile.com to learn more! Tanglewood Conservatories combines the romanticism of the 19th century glass architecture with state-of-the-art technology today. Learn more at TanglewoodConservatories.com. Referenced in this Episode EntreArchitect Profit Plan Course (free) Review us on iTunes The post EA149: Copyright Protection for Architects [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:SpacesGabl CESContext & Clarity

Public Interest Design Firms At EntreArchitect, we’re learning that we need to build a better business so we can be better architects. We want to make the work a better place. That’s why we became architects in the first place. We want to provide a positive social impact. What if by building better businesses we built a better world? What if a part of what we do benefits the public in an impactful way? Stay tuned as we share a new online resource to learn more on this idea. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Public Interest Design Firms with Mia Scharphie and Gilad Meron of Proactive Practices. Mia’s Origin Story Mia has a masters in landscape architecture but feels that she’s secretly a social worker with designer skills. She’s always been interested in people who get left out and how to bring them back in for most of her life. She worked at a nonprofit in San Fransisco, Public Architecture, that takes on design challenges that the private market doesn’t have an incentive to be involved in. Today she runs Creative Agency, a research and design consulting practice that works with affordable housing and arts organizations focusing on projects that use creative tools to make change and Build Yourself Workshop, an empowerment workshop for women in creative fields teaching women how to negotiate, be an advocate, and be proactive. Gilad’s Origin Story Gilad has a background in design from a program called Design and Environmental Analysis, an interesting mix of social science research and architecture and design. He got involved in participatory planning and design as a method to shake the environments we live in. That led to public design or community design, as some like to call it. Currently he’s on the board at The Association for Community Design doing research writing with nonprofits and foundations who do different types of community development work. Living in New Orleans, he started a small coworking space and design collective, The Blue House, where others can come and have dialogue about civil issues. What is Proactive Practices? Proactive Practices is a web publication that collects case studies on socially impactful design firms. They’re mostly looking at the different ways that designers design for social impact and find ways to do that within their business models. They aren’t just telling the stories and the beauty of the project, but to look at the organizations that make these projects possible. They want to know how you can build a business where you can create social impact over and over again. What inspired you to do this? Mia, Gilad and Nick, their third teammate, had all previously worked or interned at Public Architecture in San Fransisco. At the time, with a limited amount of experience, they had to figure out what pieces were relevant for them to begin the work. Through that organization, they were connected with many people in the growing field of public interest design. There were a public interest projects in that area, but no examinations of the practices behind those projects. They wanted to understand how firms were being built to sustain practices that focused on this kind of work instead of doing just one random project. When they dove in further, they realized the complexity of research they needed to build an understanding. Over the last few years, they’ve gathered lots of insights as to what would be needed and useful to understand the full scope of how these firms practice. A personal incentive came from the motivations to work at or run a firm like some of the ones they’ve studied. From an up-and-coming professional who wants to start a firm or a mid-career professional shifting practices, they wanted to understand how to build a practice around this type of work. Since each of them has different strengths, they push each other and come to a better synthesis of what’s going on and what they can take from it to grow. How did you decide what kind of firms to include in your research? As they were trying to figure out what types of firms to profile, they wanted to get a wide range of the types of ways that public interest design is practiced. There are for-profit firms, non-profit firms, hybrid firms, as well as a range of different sized firms. Are you seeing a lot of firms that want to have social impact as a part of their model? One firm they work with didn’t intend to have a socially impactful firm, but realized that was the kind of work she wanted to do through her experience working with Architecture for Humanity and other socially impactful projects. Since they have a whole set of approaches, they can connect with different types of firms that may not have started out in this direction. It’s been interesting for them to see how different first get into this kind of work; some are there “right out the gate” and sometimes it’s a personal commitment that finds an expression later. They specifically worked to profile a huge diversity for a reason so their readers can connect no matter what kind of firm they’re intesrested in exploring. There’s a fundamental shift in the way that professionals are thinking about impactful design: less as an idealistic goal, but more a third leg to sustainability. This is no longer something people just want to do, it’s a smart business decision to attract young professionals who have an interest in doing this. Will there be a Proactive Practices model for businesses to utilize? As they’ve been generating the project, they’ve realized there’s strategies for everything. How will your staff work? What skill sets do you have? Who will you work with and what can you offer them? How might you be different than a traditional firm? Part of what they’ve done with the design of the case studies is to encourage people to figure out what they can take away from it in order to benefit their firm. Sometimes people forget that whether you’re a nonprofit or for-profit, you still have to have more revenue than you have expenses or you’re out of business. Proactive Practices wants to look at sustainability, and that can take some time to build. At the end of the day, you have to be providing value that someone is willing to pay for and translate that to your target audience. What’s next for you? They want to continue producing case studies and have also thought about turning the research into teaching tools for students. Right now, they’re focused on finishing the first set of ten case studies.   Connect with Mia, Gilad and Nick online at ProactivePractices.org or on social media by keeping up with #ProactivePractices on Twitter @MiaScharphie and @GiladMeron. Visit our Platform Sponsors TruStile is a leader in high end, architectural interior doors. Visit them at TruStile.com to learn more! Tanglewood Conservatories combines the romanticism of the 19th century glass architecture with state-of-the-art technology today. Learn more at TanglewoodConservatories.com. Referenced in this Episode EntreArchitect Profit Plan Course (free) Inscape Publico Leighton Design Group The post EA148: Public Interest Design Firms [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Gabl CESSpacesContext & Clarity

How to Build a Profitable Architecture Firm Profit… Then Art. In order to be a better architect, we must first be better business people. We need to build better businesses. This week’s guest is the author of Profit First, a book outlining the simple process of transforming any business from a cash-eating monster to a money-making machine. Accounting can be overwhelming and complicated, not to mention difficult to understand. This week, you’ll learn a step-by-step process to guarantee that you’ll be profitable. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, How to Build a Profitable Architecture Firm with author Mike Michalowicz. Mike’s Origin Story Mike was a Jersey boy all his life who worked at a computer store right out of college. He had a drive to start his own business and quickly realized that managing a business wasn’t as easy as he thought. It took him a few years of trial-by-fire to fall in love with entrepreneurship. He learned that as the solo-guy, you only eat what you kill; the fear kept him going. He sold his first business to a small private equity firm and then started a computer crime investigation company in the right place at the right time. Although a lot of people face struggles, few people talk about them. After selling his second company, Mike felt he was an expert entrepreneur, he thought he knew all there was to know about running a business. He went on a spending spree and became an angel investor… where he killed every business he invested in. After struggling to pay off his debts slowly, a fire was reignited in him to discover entrepreneurship the right way; he wanted to live a satisfying, sustainable life. He began writing books, at first to process and solve the problems he was personally facing. After hitting rock bottom and losing all his money, he went through a two-year bout of functional depression. Someone suggested journaling to vent, and it inspired him to not only write his problems, but log his solutions. Can you share your thoughts on small firm accounting? It boils down to our behavioral wiring. Many business owners follow certain practices, and GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) teaches us to use a system that counters our natural behaviors. For example, logically we should pass on desert, but behaviorally we eat it anyway. GAAP says that sales minus expenses equals profit. The problem is that when we put the profit last, it’s our behavior to disregard it. In order to prioritize profit, we have to put it first. Every time a deposit comes in, take a predetermined percentage for profit and put it somewhere safe. Then, run your business off of what’s remaining. Pay yourself first. Businesses that do this are all more profitable than they were in the past because the fundamental law says that what we have is what we use. If you have a small amount of food, you’ll eat that. What if someone says, “I already don’t make enough, how can I set anything aside?” If you’re making due with what you have now, you’re still scraping by. By taking the money off the table first, you’ll continue to scrape by but the difference is this time you’ve put money away for profit. Think of 401K: you get a gross payment for your job, but a percentage is taken for your 401K. You never think about the percentage that was taken away because you never see it, your life is already adjusted to live off of the remainder. When you take your profit first and don’t have the money to pay your bills, that’s a direct sign that you need to be more frugal and make some different decisions on your finances. Find the things that bring profitability, and get rid of the things that don’t. How do you suggest putting the money away? You can start by setting the money aside every time a deposit comes in. Get into a rhythm where all the money accumulates and then every other week you allocate the money to profit and other expenses. What are the other accounts you allocate toward? Owner’s pay and taxes are the two primary things. Sometimes there’s manufacturing costs or income or operating expenses too. Think of it as a serving tray: all of the money accumulates on the serving tray, then you allocate it to different accounts based on predetermined amounts. Profit is a celebratory reward for the equity owners who had the courage to take the risk to start this firm. Do something that you get joy out of, do not put it back into the business. If you use it like that, it’s a deferred expense. Owner’s Pay is for the owner/operator who’s sacrificed a lot to keep the company going, often for no pay. Another percentage is allocated here for lifestyle. You don’t go above that, you don’t use credit cards, your extra money is your profit. Taxes need to be set aside for your corporate responsibility and your personal tax responsibilities. Instead of scrambling in April when you owe more than you expected, set your business up to pay your taxes for you. Put money into your tax account so that you’re ahead of the game. Run your business off of operating expenses. From what comes in, allocate a percentage to run your business off of what you have left. What if your accountant pushes back on this plan? The goal is to be more profitable. If your accountant’s clients are all consistently not profitable, adhering to that system is insane. It’s time to start taking your profit first. Can you tell us about your new book, Surge? No one can nail the timing of the markets perfectly, but we can radically improve the odds. Surge is an acronym for the elements: Separate out a community: speak the language of the community that you’re in and anticipate their needs. Unify: cater to your clients’ needs, but stay true to who you are. If you don’t, you’ll resent your business. Rally cry: find the greater purpose and mission you’re serving and speak to it. Gather: find knowledge of what your clients want and improve your offering. Expand: once you’ve mastered the above and surpassed your goals, look at your community and find others like them that you can serve. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “The system can feel overwhelming, so many people hear and think it could work but they never do it. Don’t set up five accounts today, set up one account today and label it profit. Allocate 1% of your deposits to that account. You won’t feel it, you won’t become rich over night, but you’re confidence will explode because you’ll see that you can allocate money to profit. Start slowly, but definitely start. ” – Mike Michalowicz, Author of Profit First Connect with Mike online at MikeMichalowicz.com or on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Visit our Platform Sponsors TruStile is a leader in high end, architectural interior doors. Visit them at TruStile.com to learn more! Tanglewood Conservatories combines the romanticism of the 19th century glass architecture with state-of-the-art technology today. Learn more at TanglewoodConservatories.com. Referenced in this Episode Profit First by Mike Michalowicz (book) Surge by Mike Michalowicz (book) EntreArchitect Profit Plan Course (free) The post EA147: Profit First for Architects with author Mike Michalowicz [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Context & ClarityGabl CESSpaces

Design-Build is the Future of Architecture Architecture, construction, interiors and furniture. This week’s guest is a successful architect from Austin, Texas serving the high-end residential market. He started his firm with a single speculative project and grew it into a $20 million integrated design-build firm. How does a design-build firm like this work? How do they structure their fees and communicate with one another? How do they ensure that every project is built to the exact standards promised by their powerful brand? This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Design-Build is the Future of Architecture with architect Luis Jauregui. Luis is originally from Mexico, and his family moved often when he was a child giving him great exposure to different architecture styles throughout the country. His father was a civil engineer, so the construction concept was already built into him. In high school, he discovered how exciting building was to him. He enrolled in the school of architecture in Mexico City, and within two months of starting school the teachers went on a strike that lasted for months. He then came to the US and attended Texas A&M with a degree in Environmental Design and a Masters in Architecture. He felt fortunate to have a professor who saw some of his work and helped him find a job with an architect. By the time he graduated with his Masters degree, he had six years of experience working with four different architecture firms. One of his mentors began developing his own projects as an entrepreneur and influenced Luis greatly. In Mexico, architects typically run their own construction companies and the consumer comes directly to them for a building. Within two years of graduation, Luis was ready to start his own design-only firm. Soon after, he pulled together some money for a lot and began developing properties in Austin and San Antonio. In 1986, the market crashed and and he felt really fortunate to still find some great commissions despite the downturn. Currently, Luis’s firm practices in Houston and Austin, and serves design-build clients throughout the Dallas area as well. Why did you decide to pursue client-service projects, rather than continue with spec buildings? Design came from a lesson learned: the speculative market has a lot of ups and downs. The custom business emphasized great design, and built them into a great, well-known brand which allows them to spread to other cities. They started the interior design branch of the company, which hurt the brand a bit with a lack of control of the interiors. When a client asked if they could offer furniture recommendations, the interior design team kicked Luis under the table so they jumped into furniture design despite the fear to try something new. Where did your initial fear with selection furniture come from? The fear came from it being an unknown thing and the fact that there were others in the market who were doing a great job. The entrepreneurial spirit pushed Luis forward to being a leader in the industry. How does your fee structure work? The speculative work is one price for everything. Because they’re selling a product, everything is included in the sale price. Client services are the custom part of the business so it works very traditionally. Instead of “architectural services”, Luis wants his clients to understand that they’re engaging a design-build enterprise; the final project is not going to be a design only. In the contract, they specify that they have ownership of the drawings until they go to construction. From that point on, they move to the “pre-construction” and then the construction contract from the state of Texas. Can you walk us through your process? The preliminary stage prepares a cost estimate with every specific piece of the project projected. That way there’s no mystery of cost, so they can move forward to the construction process and continue to fine-tune the cost as they go. Having control of the cost allows them to manage the experience that the client has. How do you create an experience for your clients? Luis feels the responsibility and burden of the control that they have, and uses it strictly for the benefit of the client. In order for their brand to work well and maintain trust with their clients, Luis is very conscious of the fears that the client may arrive with and works to put those to rest with his presentation and process. How does your marketing work? Luis deemphasizes referrals because he doesn’t want to have to rely on his busy, wonderful clients to get his next client; that’s not a very reliable way to do it. What makes the phone ring is having a great brand (a great website, advertising in magazines, hosting events at homes, etc.) that you can spread around to others. Do you have a specific sales process? Over many years, Luis has tried to have someone strong at sales by his side throughout the process. His wife (who is his partner and a real estate specialist) knows the company, the costs and the firm’s story. She is a great person to pick up the phone and work with the client. It’s important to recognize what your strengths are and allow everyone to work in their area of expertise. What’s one of the biggest challenges you have? Because they control the design and the construction, it’s too easy for the construction arm to talk to the design team and ask them not to throw in any difficult designs. It’s important to Luis that the architectural design stays in tact. While everyone needs to listen to one another, it needs to be the right balance that ultimately clients benefit from. It’s a constant process of fine-tuning to prepare for and move through each aspect of the project. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “Communication is key. Talk to your team, learn about construction, be involved and create those kind of networks. Step away from the keyboard and the design table and spend time in the field. Pay attention and connect to other networks of people.” – Luis Jauregui Connect with Luis online at JaureguiArchitect.com or on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Visit our Platform Sponsors TruStile is a leader in high end, architectural interior doors. Visit them at TruStile.com to learn more! Tanglewood Conservatories combines the romanticism of the 19th century glass architecture with state-of-the-art technology today. Learn more at TanglewoodConservatories.com. Referenced in this Episode Cyber Monday 50% Off! Check out our Hybrid Proposal Course, Construction Management Course, Get Focused Productivity and Foundations Business Forms and Checklists from the Black. Available Friday, November 25 through Cyber Monday, November 28, 2016. Offer is available only to subscribers of the EntreArchitect Report. Not subscribed? Visit EntreArchitect.com/newsletter to sign up and take advantage of this great deal before Monday! EntreArchitect Profit Plan Course (free) The post EA146: Design-Build is the Future of Architecture with Luis Jauregui [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Gabl CESSpacesContext & Clarity

An Architect on the Inside at HGTV HGTV To many of us residential architects, that's a four letter word. Promoting unrealistic expectations for most projects regarding time, quality and budget, HGTV has made our tough job as architects even more difficult. This week's guest is a successful residential architect serving the southeastern region of Michigan. One day, about a year before we recorded this episode, she received a mysterious telephone call, which lead to her being the lead architect for the most recent HGTV Urban Oasis giveaway home. She shares the story of her experience of being on the inside at a HGTV project, how she landed the job and her quest to be a faithful representative of us small firm architects. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, An Architect on the Inside at HGTV with the founder of Studio Z Architecture, Dawn Zuber. An “Architect” Since She Was 11 Years Old: ) When Dawn was five, her grandparents moved to Florida from Ohio and they moved back when she was 11. They bought a house that worked for where they were, but they didn’t love it. Dawn, her mom and her grandma would visit open houses every weekend and she would collect the fliers in a folder. She began to redesign them and think about how to fit things into the spaces she saw. In high school, Dawn found herself lucky to have an art teacher who was from a generation that told her she could be a nurse or a teacher, but had a passion for architecture. During her junior year, they spent time looking at slides of homes to learn how to identify the different styles of architecture. When a pipe burst in the gymnasium floor, her drafting teacher invited her to use his drafting table and machine to draw up the painting of the gym floor so that the art students could transpose it onto the floor.  After spending a semester in London and graduating from University of Cincinnati, she met her future husband. In a five-month period, she got married, took the architecture license exam, and moved to southeastern Michigan. There she worked for a small firm that did mostly custom residential, and then moved to another company who did office and school buildings. How did you find your way to leadership with CRAN? Dawn was with CRAN (Custom Residential Architects Network) when they first started in Los Angeles almost 15 years ago at a pre-convention workshop about residential architecture. CRAN is a Knowledge Community that started as a grassroots movement allowing members to organize around specific interest areas, and eventually brought the idea to AIA. She’s been involved in the advisory group since 2009. How is the CRAN symposium organized? Typically the event is 3 days that starts with a home tour and includes cocktail receptions almost every evening and sponsor-hosted networking dinners. There are educational sessions and sponsor showcases for residential architects, and the event is also streamed online via Houzz and available on AIAU for people to watch later for credit. Everyone that attends is on the same track and enjoys the same experience, so it’s a great opportunity to connect with a network of support for residential architects. Tell us about your experience with HGVT. Dawn received a voicemail from a contractor who wanted her help designing a house in Ann Arbor. With her busy schedule, she pushed it aside and planned to call him later. Days later, a friend encouraged her to call him back saying, “If you’re really busy, it’s fine. You should call him back…you won’t regret it“. She met the contractor the next day for 30 minutes and made some jokes about salvaging the 1970s wallpaper, and was hired the next day to complete the project. Then she was let into the secrecy of the project. It took her some time to understand what they wanted to do, the great need for secrecy, the whole process and the speed of how quickly things would unfold. In the span of five weeks she completed several months’ worth of work to meet each deadline; she measured, did the as-builts, nailed down the design and completed construction drawings. Dawn did her best to represent residential architects, reminding those she worked with that HGVT often tends not to mention how much things cost and how long projects actually take.  What is your experience with Houzz? Dawn is a Houzz Pro-Plus user, which provides a lot of support and help to create a strong profile. If you’re investing in Houzz as a tool for marketing, it’s probably a wise choice. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “Get involved in whatever you choose to get involved in. CRAN is a great opportunity for people to meet other architects who do what they do. That network is wonderful for people to connect with others they can work with and ask questions to. Being involved is a great way to get leads and find teammates for projects.” – Dawn Zuber, AIA Connect with Dawn online at StudioZArch.com or on Houzz, or on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Visit our Platform Sponsors TruStile is a leader in high end, architectural interior doors. Visit them at TruStile.com to learn more! Tanglewood Conservatories combines the romanticism of the 19th century glass architecture with state-of-the-art technology today. Learn more at TanglewoodConservatories.com. Referenced in this Episode EntreArchitect Profit Plan Course (free) CRAN (Custom Residential Architects Network)   The post EA145: An Architect on the Inside at HGTV with Dawn Zuber, AIA [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Context & ClarityGabl CESSpaces