The Blessings of Christmas and Being a Residential Architect

Each year from Christmas to New Years Day, Annmarie and I close the studio, send the crew home for the week and enjoy quality time with family and friends. It’s important to take healthy breaks from the intense focus of our work. It allows us to remember what is most important in our lives and return to the studio with fresh ideas and enthusiasm for our projects.

It’s also a great time to look back on the past year and be thankful for loyal, trusting clients. In a time of severe economic crisis throughout the world, we have been blessed with a full roster of projects. We cannot be more appreciative for the opportunities our clients have provided us.

I often think about how our work has literally changed the lives of our clients. The new kitchens, family rooms, fireplaces, master bedrooms… have all created homes where families grow and thrive. There are few professions that allow one to be so intimately involved in how families live, work and have fun. It is truly an honor when clients grant us their trust and permit us to create such spaces.

It is a great feeling to know that on this night, Christmas Eve, there are dozens of families gathered in spaces designed by Fivecat Studio. We are truly blessed to be residential architects.

If you have time this week, please comment below and share your thoughts on the opportunities and honor of being an architect.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very happy holiday season.

 

Great Architecture Will Not Build a Great Business

1) Design great architecture. 2) Get noticed. 3) Thrive!

Isn’t that how it is supposed to work. Well… it doesn’t.

The trick is step 2. Getting noticed. How do you get noticed?

The answer in a word, is Marketing.

Even uber-successful “starchitects” have a marketing team working to get their “great architecture” noticed.

Whether you want to be published in national magazines or looking to get noticed by the homeowners around the corner, you can’t reach your audience without marketing. Great architecture alone will not build a great business.

Marketing is the action of promoting and selling products or services. So, how does it work?

First you need to know your target market. What type of architecture do you design? What range of budgets do your clients have? Who are your clients? What do they do for a living? You need to know as much as possible about your target market.

Have no fear; defining your target market does not restrict you from taking on other non-target work. It just allows you to focus your marketing budget and effort appropriately.

Once you have a target, prepare a marketing strategy (and add it to your business plan). How do you best hit your target? Should you advertise in local newspapers, magazines or online? Should you focus your efforts on getting published in national magazines? Should you attend local networking events? Should you focus your attention on Twitter, Facebook and other social media? Whatever it takes to get YOUR “great architecture” noticed by the people in your target market responsible for hiring an architect is your marketing strategy.

Now you have a target market and a marketing strategy. Next you need to execute.

Take your strategy, set some goals and create a marketing action plan. What are you going to do and when will it be done by?

Marketing. It is not a dirty word. Try it and watch your business grow.

Entrepreneur Architect Poll 121211

Things I Didn’t Learn at Architecture School (But Need to Know): How do I start and keep a business alive?

No one told me that I needed to know how to run a business. I’m an architect. I just need to tack up my shingle, design great buildings and clients will come knocking. Right?

Maybe… but whether clients come knocking or not, its not so simple to keep them knocking.

The solution? Write a business plan.

I know, I know; “I don’t need a business plan,” you say. “It takes too much time and effort.”

Wait! Before you discount my suggestion, think about it from a different perspective. A simple, stripped down perspective. Your first business plan doesn’t need to be a 100 page document, with financial projections and fully developed marketing strategies. In fact, I recommend that it not be. Start with just one page.

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. It’s the communication, prioritization, focus, clarity and learning that make the process worthwhile.”

Get started by taking a single sheet of paper and writing a single paragraph describing your vision. What will your business someday look like? Then scribe your mission. Why are you starting this business? List a few simple strategies. How do you get there? Then a few specific goals; benchmarks that will lead you to executing your strategies. With goals set, commit to paper an action plan. What specific tasks will you accomplish to reach your goals? When will you accomplish them? Who will accomplish them?

That’s it… a business plan. Done. It really is that simple.

I revisit and revise my business plan at least twice a year. As our firm grows and evolves, priorities change, markets shift, economies collapse. My business plan needs to evolve too. It’s also a great source of inspiration and motivation. A periodic reminder of my big ideas and reasons-for-being, keeps me focused and wanting to push Fivecat Studio to the next level.

So, go do it. Now… Don’t wait. Reach over and grab a sheet of paper.

What’s your vision?

Are You “Locally Famous”?

What are you doing to become “locally famous”?

Do you have a facebook account with which you post regularly and interact with your fans? Do you follow Twitter feeds for people who have influence in your local communities… and respond to their tweets?

Do you blog… consistently, and have a website which reflects the expectations of the market in which you wish to become “famous”?

What happens when you Google your name? Your firm? The term “architect” followed by your location? Are you there… on the first page? (Google Entrepreneur Architect and see what happens.)

Do you network with local business organizations?  Do you share your passion for what you do with others… with large groups or organizations… as a speaker?

Does your business card include your website URL and email… as well as your facebook and Twitter accounts?

To become “locally famous”, you must first truly “know your stuff” and be viewed as THE expert people turn to. Second; you must be everywhere they are and everywhere they look. Third; you must interact with the people from which you are seeking “fame”… and fourth, smile (a lot) and be nice. When you are sincerely nice to people, good things happen.