Small Firms Ideas Exchange

I need to admit; I go to AIA conventions as a “trip out” of the ordinary. The conventions of the past few years have been fairly “status quo,” that is, the seminars haven’t really challenged me.

I was only in San Francisco for 37 hours total during the convention (yes, it was a lot of effort as I have tons of other responsibilities this year). I need to say that the seminars I had the pleasure to attend were very informative. The underlying theme that I was struck with is the renewed passion at which all the speakers presented. My guess is if they were there speaking, they really wanted to be there. 

It also seems that there have been significant advances in materials, recycling techniques, application of new technologies to buildings, building envelope analysis, etc. so that what I heard 2-3 years ago really has been reinvented or is completely new. It was quite eye opening. 

It would seem that the green and sustainable movement is behind some of the materials and applications. It would also seem that what I call “the LEED effect” indeed has produced a new soapbox on which to stand when hawking a product; but truly I believe the impetus behind it all is

• the cost of doing business
• the cost of operating buildings. 

If you stop and read or consider the 2030 challenge, or ponder what a 10-20% savings on office physical plant costs would really mean for how you run your business, and if you can carry that to your clients, there is some teeth to the road and it’s not gravel. 

Based on my direct experiences, I am going to brave the AIA web site and download the sessions and/or see these programs again.  I might even find some others and get the online streaming.

Session T40, Etiquette of Discussing Race and Culture in the Firm: this is not only about “diversity” but really speaks to how our firms and practices are made stronger.

Session F16, Using LEED to Maximize the Benefits: excellent panel preparation on how and what works in their respective industries; carpet, glass and new recycling techniques that weren’t available 2-3 years ago – the industry is really getting better!

Session F53, The Value of Exterior Insulation: excellent analysis of building envelope performance and links to online modeling software for building analysis. This one was really cool and I thought I was just going to grab another nap.

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/btc/apps/moisture/index.html

Any other suggestions or recommendations?  After all, if we engage the content online, we can still get CEUs for it!  Rock on!

—Lisa Stacholy, AIA

I get buried in e-mail from time to time. It’s a bear to keep up with, especially those wonderful folks who “reply all”… aarrgghh!

I read something recently that is a good reminder.  Use the journalistic inverted pyramid when crafting e-mails; your readers will thank you.

Putting the “who, what, when, where, why and how” clearly up front in your e-mail is critical for concise communication.

Remember: e-mail is just a simple tool. It should not be a treatise on your topic and put a deadline or timeline on the information you’re communicating. It will help you and your readers not clog e-mail in boxes with stuff just hanging around.

Read more:http://h30458.www3.hp.com/us/us/ent/732569.html?jumpid=em_di_480926_US_US_0_000_hpc_us_793119_across-bg&dimid=1006812714&dicid=taw_May09&mrm=1-4BVUP

—Lisa Stacholy, AIA

Remember those days in (or just before) college when you and your friends were trying to select majors?  I still joke that folks with really short attention spans wound up in accounting (alphabetical order for catalogs?) and those who spent a little more time (before running off to the watering hole) wound up in architecture? I never have figured out who wound up in zoology (ha ha, that’s a joke). All joking aside, I realized that the college curriculum for architecture wouldn’t really “teach” me how to run a business; I took summer electives in accounting and economics. (Okay, so maybe I tend to be a little geeky; but hey, don’t we all?).

I’d like to thank Denis D. from the northern side of Arkansas for the question/suggestion on this blog. He’s a sole practitioner who is stepping into QuikBooks for his accounting program. My sole advice to him was twofold:

• “keep it simple enough that you’ll actually use the chart of accounts”
• “create topics that are standard enough to be recognized or common, while being useful to track the expenses (and income) that is important to you”

I forwarded the chart of accounts which my accountant gave me years ago (along with my numerous edits, pencil additions, and deletions) along with some other “wisdom” on how I hate doing all the withholding, FUTA, SUTA, FICA, etc.  Essentially, I took the first list provided to me and edited/modified the accounts and numbering sequence to follow (sequentially, sort of) the timeline process by which we manage projects from initial contact through completion.

How else have other small firm or sole practitioners tackled this beast? I’d also be interested in your successes (or what you did that you don’t like). In a nutshell, I do my billings (accounts receivable and payable) on Mondays to get us motivated for a good week; and we do all the filing on Fridays (ha ha; Money Monday and Filing Friday).

After all, life’s too short for each of us to make all the same mistakes. Let’s learn from each other. Cheers!

—Lisa Stacholy, AIA