“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)

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When performing our Design Development phase with clients, we typically assist them in selecting all their finishes, plumbing fixtures and lighting. This process is completed most efficiently when we discover and learn, through questionnaires and images, what our clients like and what they dislike. Then, with thorough knowledge of their taste, we offer a limited number of items from which they select.

We find that when clients attempt to perform this task themselves, they are often overwhelmed by the almost infinite number of choices from which to pick. This typically leads them back to us and our efficient process…

Today, Guy Kawasaki tweeted a link to Catherine Faas’ blog post, Why you should stop giving your customers too many choices. Catherine references an eye-opening case study showing redbox beating out Netflix by making DVD selection easier for their customers.

How can we make our clients’ project experience easier and more enjoyable? Should we be limiting their stress by limiting their choices?

I wonder how our clients’ would answer these questions…

What are your thoughts on choices?

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Becky Shankle (@ecomod) is thinking out of the box… the IKEA box to be more specific.

Becky is the founder and lead designer at eco-modernism. In addition to designing and installing custom kitchens and baths in the Raleigh, NC region, she has launched an innovative IKEA kitchen services. By promoting her firm as IKEA specialists, she differentiates eco-mod from the dozens of other kitchen designers in her region. She’s a Purple Cow. She’s remarkable. She has found a way to inspire people to “remark” about her firm (here I am writing about her… so it worked).

How can you transform your firm to be more remarkable?

Learn more about Becky and eco-modernism at her website, her blog or follow her on Twitter.

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Scott Anthony, author of the new book, The Silver Lining, contributed a recent HarvardBusiness blog post about “loving the low end”. Few architects are seeking the “low end”, but maybe there is something we can learn here. Is there a way we can restructure our basic architectural service and provide an alternative “stripped down” version of what we typically provide? Is there a market seeking that level of our services?

Think Lexus, Toyota, Scion…

What are your thoughts on “loving the low end”?

From HarvardBusiness.org:

One of the key arguments in The Silver Lining is that companies have to find ways to “love the low end” to connect with budget conscious customers and fend off attacks from sharp elbowed, low-cost competitors.

A recent Wall Street Journal story shows how one company has found another benefit of loving the low end — keeping skilled workers gainfully employed as its high-end business shrivels up.

The story describes how legendary guitar maker C.F Martin & Co. has introduced a solid wood product line called the “1 Series” that sells for less than $1,000 — more than 50 percent cheaper than its traditional all-wood guitars (the company also sells cheaper guitars that use laminated plywood).

Customers have, not surprisingly, reacted positively to Martin’s innovation.

Read more.

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At Fivecat Studio, our process of delivering architectural services includes a very highly developed set of construction documents. Every possible decision is made. Every product is specified. Every fixture is scheduled, ready for purchasing.

Our intent is to obtain very competitive bids from general contractors, minimize change orders and reduce construction time by eliminating delays caused by slow or incomplete decisions. Most of the time, this focus on detail pays off in an appreciative client and a healthy relationship with the construction team.

Sometimes though, when the well developed design and thoughtful decisions are second-guessed, changes are made during construction. A tight construction schedule does not allow for a fully developed and scoped out process of decision making. Sometimes this leads to a “snow ball effect” of interrelated elements requiring modification. The desired time or money saved by the change is, many times, counteracted by the additional time and money required to handle the unexpected consequences of the innocent (or not so innocent) change.

So, here is my question to you, the Entrepreneur Architect. What does your process look like?

Do you prepare detailed, highly developed drawing sets for construction? Or, are you a member of the camp that believes the preparation of a basic set of “guideline” drawings are better, with the details and design decisions determined during construction, in the field?

Which process makes for happier clients? Which process makes for a most efficient construction schedule? Which process is most profitable for the architect?

Please share. I would love to read your thoughts…

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Peter Gerr (a good friend from A-school) is an info-data guru. His latest blog post is about infographics and the art of communicating information. We can learn much from looking at other industries and how they are communicating ideas and information. After all, that’s what we do.

The “ink on paper” architectural drawing has been our standard method of visual communication for centuries. With the technologies available today, I am wondering if it’s still the best way to communicate our ideas (our product) to the people using them (our clients and the people required to build what we design).

What do you think? What can we do to improve or change how we communicate our ideas?

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In the tradition of Seth Godin’s Purple Cow, Dan Heath, co-author of Made to Stick, has posted How to Stand Out in a Crowded Marketplace (video) to the AmEx OPEN Forum.

Are you doing something new that no one has seen before? Are you doing one thing ferociously? According to Heath, we need to be doing one or the other. If not, we’ll be lost in the vast sea of the marketplace. Being “better” is not good enough.

What are you doing to stand out in the marketplace of architectural services?

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Forbes has published their list of the Top 10 Richest Billionaires. To me, the most interesting fact is that most are self-made. Few have inherited their wealth from generations before. Each discovered an essential need and developed a business to supply the demand for that need….mostly from scratch.

Buildings are an essential need. The modern human race would not survive without them. As Entrepreneur Architects, we must work to develop efficient systems that will allow us to profitably supply the demand for that essential need. What part of what we do can be improved? Which parts must we abandon, and develop new ways of providing architecture to the people and companies we serve?

None of Forbes’ billionaires are Entrepreneur Architects, but I say, “Never say never”.

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With an intent to start building a strong supportive network of Entrepreneur Architects, I have created a new Entrepreneur Architects Group on LinkedIn. If you are interested in business success and the practice of architecture, architect or not, I invite you to join.

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Building Design that Builds Businesses – BusinessWeek.

BusinessWeek magazine announced the winners of their annual BusinessWeek/Architectural Record Awards this week. Of all the awards programs, this one is one of my favorites. I appreciate the promotion that great architecture helps build great businesses.