by Ross Clark

Success in architectural practice can be elusive. Regardless of practice size or years of experience, many practice owners, directors and leaders believe that if they devote most of their energy to creating great architecture, business and financial success will follow. Fifteen years on, they still find themselves struggling in survival mode, never quite winning the top clients or projects that the ‘favoured’ practices seem to attract with ease.

So, what is a successful architecture practice doing differently? More importantly, what are you doing, or not doing, that’s holding you back? What’s creating barriers between you and real practice success? The chances are that a quick review of your practice will reveal some, if not many, of these cardinal sins of architecture practice:

#1 – You’re playing-to-play, not playing-to-win

Becoming an architect takes a lot of hard work. Getting to the point of founding your own successful architecture practice is an enormous achievement. You’re in the game!

However, like any creative, just being able to do what your competitors can do will only get you so far. Sure, if you do your best, you’ll probably manage to meet your costs, and you may win some happy clients along the way. But if you aim to be the best, to lead rather than follow, and to do everything possible to win, rather than just survive, you’ll go a long way to creating not just brilliant architecture, but continuous financial success as well.

Fix: Engage a suitably experienced business advisor or coach to help you create a clear business strategy. Ensure your plan is firmly based on a winning mindset, by focusing on hard work and not just talent, building resilience and perseverance, taking many small steps, and by being action-oriented rather than reflecting on what might have been.

#2 – You don’t know your ‘why’

Playing-to-win means you need a plan to win: A strategy to take your practice where few other practices go. This plan needs to have a specific objective. Otherwise, it’s pointless.

In any business, having clarity of purpose is essential to success. This purpose can’t just be to create great designs or even to build unique residences. Like Google (“To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”), Tesla (“To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy”) or TED (“Spread ideas”), who are all winners in their respective fields, you need to articulate a purpose that can continually drive you and your team to exceed your clients’ expectations. This purpose is your ‘why’.

Fix: Take some time out with your team and (if possible) a specialist consultant, to refine and clarify your ‘why’.

#3 – You’re not proactive about lead generation

Offering amazing outcomes won’t matter much if you don’t have any clients! The same can be said if you don’t tell them what your offer is and how it is relevant and unique.

Architects are in the sales business just as any other business owner. Yet many architects adopt the philosophy: Do good work, and the clients will walk in the door. However, the most profitable practices devote time, energy and money to nurturing leads, figuring out where the best prospects come from, and really getting to know and understand those people and organisations they target as potential clients.

Fix: Develop and implement a lead generation and nurturing program, using suitable software to automate as much of it as possible. The most popular packages include Monday.com. HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce Pardot and LinkedIn.

#4 – You sell what you do, not the problem you solve

Probably the most common mistake architects make in sales and marketing – whether on their website, promotional material or in submissions – is to focus on what they do.

Well, guess what? Every other successful architecture practice out there can design. And document. And administer contracts. And apply for building approvals. What sets you apart, and what will have clients wanting to work with you, and even paying higher fees, is the ability to connect with them. Explain how you’re perfectly placed to solve their particular set of problems. Most potential clients only want to know that you’re on their page and that you can empathise with their unique circumstances.

Fix: Reconfigure your marketing to focus on the problems your practice solves. And use storytelling techniques to engage compellingly with prospective clients and shift the focus from product to people, just like Nike, Airbnb and Lego.

#5 – You think it’s all about design

One of the most common motivations for creative professionals starting their own practice is to regain design autonomy. Many architects wish to recapture the design freedom they had at university.

Yes, design is important. It can be critical to your brand and reputation. But you and your team will be lucky to spend 10% of your time in the creative phase of design. The rest of your time will be spent planning its execution and doing non-designerly things like making your business actually run. Devoting unrealistic amounts of time to design might make you feel great, but it won’t lead to success.

Fix: Track the time you and your team spend on all tasks and, based on the evidence you collect, ensure you maintain a sensible balance of income-producing time and non-income producing time.

#6 – You don’t see architectural practice as a team sport

Many architectural practices are sole practitioners. Many are known by the name of their founder. But no architect ever delivered a great building without input from others.

Whether you’re a sole practitioner or the principal of a large multi-office practice, you’re reliant on a range of players working together to deliver your product successfully. Some of these players may sit inside your practice, while others may be collaborators, consultants or outsourced contributors. Regardless of who they are, their ability to align and function as a high-performing team will be a crucial determinant of your practice’s success.

Given the rarity of high-performing teams, creating one can be a compelling point of difference. A high-performing team can overcome all sorts of challenges and consistently generate real innovation, creativity and sustainable business growth. A team’s effectiveness will often boil down to one simple thing: Trust. Without it, there can be no permission to fail, no encouragement to challenge the status quo, and no motivation to do better.

Fix: Getting the practice’s leadership to move away from an egocentric, do-as-I-say approach can be challenging. Generally, this can only happen when leader(s) fully commit to a genuine, team-based philosophy. It is virtually impossible for an ego-based leader to drive change – in these instances, an independent business adviser or coach will need to be engaged.

#7 – You never say ‘no’

As well as building trust within a team, you also need to build trust and belief in yourself. Have you ever said ‘yes’ to a project you really didn’t want? Have you persisted with a client who is not on the same page as you? Have you agreed to a low fee – or no fee at all – just to get the job?

Most architects have done all these things, especially in the early years of their practice.  But despite rationalisations – “maybe this project will lead to something more exciting” or “I’m sure the client will change” or “let’s think of this low-fee job as an investment” – learning to trust your intuition and say ‘no’ is an essential milestone on your pathway to success.

Fix: Develop a clear strategic business plan. Clarify and define your overarching purpose. Build a team culture based on trust, where everyone operates with the same set of core values. A clear understanding of where you are going and how you plan to get there makes all the decision-making far more straightforward and empowers you to say ‘no’ to anything that is not aligned with your direction.

#8 – You consider yourself an expert rather than a facilitator

As a professional, part of your allure and value lies in your expertise – knowledge and awareness that the client doesn’t have. There was once a time when clients submitted to the view of the expert. But those days are virtually gone.

Business in the 21st century requires an equitable dialogue between customer and professional. A discussion that is based less on how much the professional knows and more on how effectively they can discover the unique aspects of the client’s needs and circumstances, will enable a genuinely creative outcome.

Fix: Prioritise continuous learning for everyone in your practice. Develop a clear strategy to embed proactive innovation and research into all aspects of your practice’s culture and operations.

#9 – You don’t plan for success

You wouldn’t recommend to a client that they build without a suitable plan. So, it’s confounding that so many architects feel comfortable trying to grow their business without a plan. It is ideal to create several different plans, extending from the big picture, strategic aspects of the business (strategic plan, business plan, growth strategy) down to the finer operational details (financial, resources, facilities, marketing).

To move from ‘survival’ to ‘sustainability’, it is best to focus on the financial plan and resources plan. Or, in simple terms, the finance budget and time budget. It is essential to set realistic targets based on your knowledge of past performance at both practice and project levels to deliver ongoing success.

Fix: How do you feel about the client who wants to override your specialist advice and design their own building? How often do you carry out your own structural or mechanical service designs? Business and strategic planning is a specialist skill, so hire a suitably experienced specialist to help you.

You don’t track or measure your performance

Without a plan, it’s almost impossible to measure performance effectively. This is because you have nothing to measure it against.

I suspect most practices would say they do measure performance. But while basic comparative statistics like the number of new projects, staff, or bank balance are informative, none of these bears any causal relationship to profitability. You could have twice as many projects, or staff, or a higher bank balance, but your business could still be less profitable.

Profit is not the only meaningful measure. Other values include client satisfaction, media coverage of your projects, and staff turnover. The better you perform across all aspects of your business, the closer you will get to success.

Fix: Establish critical measures relevant to your practice, set appropriate targets, and make sure you have systems in place to capture the performance data you need. Relevant measures might cover financial data (profitability, revenue, cash), staff (time, cost, length of tenure, satisfaction), customers (sources, conversion rates, satisfaction), media and awards coverage, and projects (type, size, value, services offered). Regularly compare actual performance with targets and be sure to take appropriate management action when targets aren’t met.

Breaking down these barriers to success

Practices that have overcome most of all of these barriers are far more likely to achieve success at levels well beyond basic business sustainability. But it is critical for highly a successful architecture practice to implement the required management actions deliberately and explicitly.

Behavioural and operational guidance is needed for everyone in the practice, to contribute to achieving great outcomes. Ensure that your practice’s leadership compiles, shares, and actively reinforces these guidelines with everyone in the business.

So, survival, sustainability or success? Which of these goals is the ceiling for your practice?

How far you can go will depend on how hard, and how smart, you’re prepared to work. A successful architecture practice will tell you that success is definitely achievable, and absolutely rewarding.

Ross Clark is the founder of Melbourne-based business coaching and advisory service, WhyWhatHow. He started his career as an architect and has more than thirty years’ experience in mentoring and coaching architects and creative professionals so they can start, innovate, and grow highly successful architecture practices.

The post Survival>Sustainability>Success: How to Take Your Practice to the Next Level appeared first on Archipreneur.

This week’s interview is with Volker Eich and Elke Anna Mehner, who founded Strategiekreis Architekten Business Design (Strategy circle for architects). Through their consulting program, they help architects who have their own practices to improve on them, fortifying their business ideas and developing suitable strategies for them.

Volker Eich has also written a book, Das Strategiebuch für Architekten (The Strategy Book for Architects, currently only available in German), which is essential reading for any prospective archipreneur.

Both Eich and Mehner worked as architects for years before Eich founded the Strategy Circles, so they are insiders to the industry and know precisely how architects tick. As both had external interests in addition to architecture, they were keen to combine their passion for architecture with these interests, from art to drama, and build a business on the values that they found complemented the architecture industry. What resulted was their business addressing a very interesting niche in the architectural industry: business design.

Let’s hear what both have to say about the architecture industry, as well as how an archipreneur can develop a strategy for his/her practice and business design.

Enjoy!

What made you decide to become strategy coaches for architects after having worked for some time as architects yourselves?

Volker: Before I decided to become an architect, I had wanted to be an artist. But I didn’t have the guts for it. I didn’t know any artists then and I hardly knew anything about the arts. I was aware of my calling but in my family the artist’s profession was not considered suitable and so I was expected to choose a more secure career for myself. In the end I studied architecture, which was an acceptable compromise!

When I graduated from university I first started out as an employee in an architect’s office, which was quite convenient because it meant that I had regular income. But I really wanted to have my own office. In order to prepare for that, I applied for a teaching job at the Technical University Berlin, and I participated in numerous competitions for architects. But I failed in this approach. After 5 years, the teaching job was over and I had not won any of the competitions to which I had submitted my work. At that point I realized that I had never really wanted to be an architect. So I decided to find a job as a freelancer and confront the question that would end up changing everything: “What is my mission in life?”

I wanted to find out if there really were any “golden rules” for success.

Elke Anna: When I first met Volker, I knew immediately that I wanted to join the Strategiekreis Architekten (Strategy Circle for Architects) as a member. I had previously worked very hard for a career in architecture but in spite of my efforts, my attempted architectural business wasn’t profitable. I felt like I was trying to navigate a stormy sea while sitting in a nutshell! If I had continued, my business would have been doomed, and what’s worse, my family would have had to pay the price.

I had previously worked very hard for a career in architecture but in spite of my efforts, my attempted architectural business wasn’t profitable. I felt like I was trying to navigate a stormy sea while sitting in a nutshell!

While working with the members of the Circle, something completely unexpected happened. I recalled a childhood dream of mine. When I was a little girl, I wanted to become an actress and spent hundreds of hours in front of the mirror, watching all the characters that appeared in my play. That mirror was my secret audience. Supported by the Circle, I began to ask myself what had happened to these childhood dreams of mine. The Strategy Circle encouraged me to question my self-image as an architect. That was the decisive step that helped to put me back on the right career path. Despite my enthusiasm for architecture, I realized that I wasn’t in the right place. But in the Strategy Circle, I was at least with the right people.

The Circle shared problems that were all quite familiar to me, particularly the gap between being an artist and the desire to be an entrepreneur. That was a recurring drive for members of the Circle. In the two years that followed, I completed my coaching training and finally ended my career as an architect. In those years, I had found out what truly moved me, deep down. My concern is now to be able to relate with other people and to help them find out who they are and where they want to be in their careers.

What was the main reason that sealed your decision to become a strategy coach?

Volker: I sealed my decision while on the island of Lanzarote. One day, I was sitting on a beach, talking with two new friends whom I had met on the island. Our conversation there revealed all the elements that were missing in my job at the time – we were talking about the sorts of things people don’t normally discuss.

We shared problems and fears. We talked about the things we loved and the things we were hoping for in life. We stopped pretending to be someone; all three of us tried to unveil who we really were, inside. It was a risk, but it ended up being my epiphany. I thought that this was exactly what I wanted to experience in my work: being connected, and sharing the thoughts and feelings that really matter.

All of a sudden, I heard this strange numinous voice say, “Are you willing to take this seriously?” My answer was “YES!” and, four weeks later, I ended my career as an architect. This “beach scene” brought about the Strategy Circle. I began to understand that, for me, the ultimate art form was found in the relationships we forge as human beings. My business model was beginning to take shape, along with an understanding of what kind of artist I would be.

Elke Anna: In order to recognize who you are, you need another person to be your mirror. When I decided to become a strategy coach, I inverted my childhood dream and became the mirror we are all in need of, rather than the girl sitting in front of it. Three years after joining the Circle, Volker asked me to become his business partner.

What types of clients do you typically help with your coaching offer?

Volker: Our service is only available to individuals. We don’t work for companies or organizations; we consider ourselves as dialogue partners for architects who are self-employed. Some of our clients are interior designers, landscape architects, urban designers and structural engineers. Some of them have very small offices, while others have up to 50 or 60 employees. Most of our clients are based in Germany but we also have clients in Austria, Switzerland and the United States of America.

Elke Anna: There are a few things all our clients have in common: they all suffer from their daily workload. Many of them don’t have the clients they want. They would love to get more recognition and make more money. They all want to change something in their practice.

How does business design for architects work?

Volker: When you decide to design your business model with us, we will ask you a number of questions. We want to understand, first, who you are and what kind of change you want to bring to the world. We want to learn about your mission – What story are you telling your audience? Who belongs in your community? Who would be the coolest people / companies / organizations to become your future clients? Why do your clients love your business? Who would be the coolest people to work for your company? How will your business change the world? Which innovations make your business unique? How have you been making sure that your company will outlive you?

How will your business change the world?

Elke Anna: By answering these questions and many others, you design a dynamic model of your business. By writing down your answers, you create a manual that lays out all the necessary elements and procedures you need in order to fulfill your business’ mission. With your company manual, you possess a powerful quality management system that helps you to increase the level of organization in your company. Once you have completed the first stage of your business design, you can change, improve and redesign your business as often as you want. Or, you might choose to sell the model.

How do you help architects to develop their practice?

Volker: We provide two formats: you can choose between our Mentor Program or the Strategy Circle.

In our Super Mentor Program, you get a series of one-to-ones with your personal mentor. These conversations are carried out through personal meetings, email and Skype. The end result of these conversations is a workable business model. With our support, designing your complete company model usually takes between 18-24 months. A corporate manual for your company is produced from a series of question/answer responses that have been gathered over the months of our support.

We also offer a Mini Mentor program, which concentrates on just one aspect of your business model. It might be rounding out your mission, a better understanding of how to become an entrepreneur, creating a thriving community, designing your dream innovation, hiring the best staff, and so on.

Elke Anna: The Strategy Circle comprises a community of self-employed architects who support each other. Circle members get together for three days biannually. Every meeting is moderated by two mentors, which makes all the difference because they make it very easy for architects to talk about things they would normally not share with other architects, such as: How can I become an archipreneur? How can I build up a community of clients who love my work? How can I turn my architectural office into a brand? In the Strategy Circle, your competitors become your allies.

We all dream of a better world but when it comes to turning the dream into a reality, we are often guilty of getting in our own way. If we want our own future to develop in a way we want, we must make sure to behave in an appropriate way. Just as you need a mirror in order to see yourself, you also need someone to give you feedback and thus become aware of how others see you and your business. In the business world, you will hardly find anyone willing to give you that kind of feedback.

The outstanding value of the Strategy Circle derives from the feedback you get from its other members; and our policy is that Circle members are always honest, respectful and supportive of each other. The Circle is a laboratory in which you can make your business relationships work. And the better they work within the Circle the better they will work outside.

Why do you think it is necessary for architects to develop a business strategy?

Volker: Strategy is a key component of your business model because when you work as an architect today you have to deal with an increasing number of competitors. So you might want to find out what makes your company unique and special. For us, the art of strategy is all about creating relationships. As an entrepreneur, your goal is to create a relationship between your company and your community, your clients and your staff.

As an entrepreneur, your goal is to create a relationship between your company and your community, your clients and your staff.

Elke Anna: The most important relationship, though, is the one you have with yourself. A good strategy must match who you are as a person. The better you know your character and ambitions, the easier you will find clients and staff who love you and your work.

When we learn how to create better relationships, we also learn how to be successful. The truth is that our uniqueness only reveals itself once it has been subjected to a process of self-awareness. Just as we need a mirror to recognize our physical image we also need a peer to recognize our own uniqueness. The moment we realize what makes us unique is the moment we can start to develop a strategy that leads us to the right decisions, the right people and the right business that support our mission. Only by following the path of a dynamic strategy that has your mission in mind will archipreneurs be able to turn their ideas into real companies.

In which areas (outside of traditional practice) can you see major business opportunities for up and coming architects?

Volker: I have a funny feeling about the distinction you make between traditional practice and – what? An architect will always do what architects have been doing: design buildings. But the market now demands that you also design new business models. That is the real challenge for today’s architects. I would, however, advise against solely looking for opportunities that appear to be the most profitable. First and foremost, you have to find a business model that fits with who you are as a person.

Elke Anna: We believe that there are as many business opportunities as there are people in the world. When we meet a new client, the first thing we do is ask that person to tell us their life story. We believe that everyone’s story is a good one and that they each contain a personal challenge that the hero of the story (the narrator) has to master or overcome. Those who are ready to engage with that challenge may expect to find treasure. We all need to discover the golden thread in our own story – the thing that weaves together our dreams and ambitions. When you find out what moves you, you will know where to go and what to do.

Volker: When you graduate from architecture school and begin your career as an architect, you usually either begin as a freelancer or an employee. But it is not easy to find a good employer because most architects already in the industry don’t have a strategy for themselves. Many don’t have a business model, either. Their business, instead, is highly dependent on the contemporaneous situation of the building industry. They may have a number of great projects today, but they may just as well be left without any work at all four weeks later. Architectural offices hire and fire, and are often unable to offer long-term perspectives for their hopeful employees.

As an architect, you are dealing with building design. As an entrepreneur, you are dealing with business design. As an archipreneur, you are dealing with both.

Therefore, many newcomers to the industry find themselves very keen to start up a business of their own but in architecture school nobody told them how to run an office, create a business model, attract a community of people who love their work, and so on. In other words, there is always the danger of repeating the mistakes of the generation that went before. It is a vicious circle, and the only chance to free yourself from that dynamic is to tailor your own role in the industry and become an archipreneur. As an architect, you are dealing with building design. As an entrepreneur, you are dealing with business design. As an archipreneur, you are dealing with both.

Do you have any advice for “archipreneurs” who are interested in creating a strategy for their business?

Elke Anna: Yes, (laughing) if you are able to read German, read Volker’s DAS STRATEGIEBUCH FÜR ARCHITEKTEN. Find out about the deeper purpose behind your efforts, beyond all the selfish stuff like making money and becoming famous. I know it’s not easy, doing it alone. So find your ‘mirror’. Find a mentor who best reflects who you are and who accompanies you through the experience of becoming an archipreneur.

Volker: Let me quote Steve Jobs: “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works!” So my advice is not only to concentrate on designing beautiful buildings, cities or landscapes but also to focus on designing your own company! Design a beautiful business! Get in touch with the people who love you and your work! Your creativity contains hidden treasure. Go find that treasure! Find the entrepreneur within yourself! And let me tell you a secret: being an entrepreneur is so much fun!

About Volker Eich & Elke Anna Mehner

Volker Eich worked as an architect for 16 years. He taught design at the Technische Universität Berlin. In 2006 he founded Strategiekreis Architekten. In 2013 he self-published DAS STRATEGIEBUCH FÜR ARCHITEKTEN.

Elke Anna Mehner worked as an architect for 17 years. She’s an expert of business design. In 2011 she joined the team; in 2013 she became a partner.

STRATEGIEKREIS ARCHITEKTEN BUSINESS DESIGN is based in Leipzig, Germany.

www.strategiekreis-architekten.de

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