Small Firms Ideas Exchange

I like being an architect. I love having my own practice. I adore my office, a scant ¾ of a mile from my house (in Atlanta, this is practically unheard of). I have an incredible passion for the project types that I work on. I delight in a job well done and praise from my clients – I loathe getting paid when client’s don’t hold up their end of the bargain.  I’ve finally figured out a few things:

• Know your client – check out their story and/or references.  If they are on the up and up, they won’t be offended if you make sure they have the ability to pay.
  
• Get a retainer up front (hopefully enough to cover the raw cost of labor to prepare the work).
  
• Don't be too nice of a guy (or gal) and give away tons of work for free.
  
• Learn how to file a Mechanics Lien in your state – get the form and have it on hand.
  
• Find a “black hat” you can have make a few phone calls as your preliminary “collection agency” – it could be a colleague, your accountant, or a business associate, essentially someone who is not internal to your practice and can be objective about asking for the money.
  
• Find a real collection agency you can talk to before you need them – you’ll pick a better one to use.
  
• Don't be afraid to fill out the Mechanics Lien papers and send a copy (via certified and regular mail, of course) along with a Demand Invoice. That gets more slow payments in than any other tactic I know of.
  
• Don't be to willing to walk away from money you earned – unless you know that the time/effort to collect it will be too hard, painful, or if the client is vengeful (may get a claim on your policy – see “know your client” above).
  

Funny, since I have taken the time to educate myself on the topic and get a few simple policies in place, the “bad debts” my firm experiences have declined – sort of like the preparation has emanated a new air in the firm and my clients don’t want to go there. It's like my karate Sensei tells us, “If you’re prepared, there is a much better chance you’ll never need to really use any of this self-defense stuff.” (Thanks, Sam!)

I need to credit the head of school where my children attend elementary with this notion. At the end-of-year assembly, she described how all our children have learned and grown physically, emotionally, mentally, etc. She described how the success of some experiments, although not  “successful” by the children’s analysis, transcended only the one answer for that one experiment. Further, she told the audience how her dad said to her, "Jerri, life is too short for you to make all the mistakes yourself.  You need to learn to watch your friends and others to see their mistakes so you can learn from theirs too.”

Agreements

• Always (no matter what) get a signed agreement, whether it is a letter form, memo of understanding, or a full contract
• Always (no matter what) start work after all your terms are met—get that retainer check at the contract signing; don’t release your permit drawings until you have been paid through CDs
  
• Always (if you haven’t done them, do them now!) establish your own list of “Must Have,” “Nice to Have,” “Don’t Agree To” for your use when evaluating a client and developing a working relationship

—Lisa Stacholy, AIA, NCARB

I’d like to thank Mimi J. of Pittsburgh for asking Revit be a new blog topic. At the recent Boston convention, she test drove it at the Autodesk booth and was “totally excited about what the software can do.”

Following up to last week's posting, it occurred to me that architects should be “happy.”  How do you define happiness?  Is it always being right?  Is it doing your very best job?  Is it what you do outside of being an architect?  I try to find happiness in everything I do and I’ve learned that the most positive aspect my repeat clients say when they come back again and again is that,  “You’re fun to work with. If you don’t know the answer, you don’t give us a line of BS. You say you’ll go find the answer and get back to us. You do what you say you’re going to do. You’re willing to learn. You’re willing to teach us.” This sort of underscores how I try to approach business; that, along with what my stepdad told me when I was learning to sail and got frustrated that the power boats didn’t pay attention to the rules of the water. He said, “Lisa, it won’t make any difference if you had the right of way… if you and the boat are on the bottom of the lake. Pay attention to the right things.”

—Lisa Stacholy, AIA, NCARB

It has occurred to me that one way to “recession proof” our profession and our practices is to maintain good relationships with our clients. Now that’s a really “duh” comment but to talk about or consider the types of things that make happiness is worthwhile. Some things may make our clients happy (i.e., beautiful projects, great value, sustainability) and some things make us happy (i.e., creating beauty, making money, doing good things for the world). I find that when I can get the greatest cross-section of happiness, the end result is not an end but rather a continuum. Oftentimes it makes me happy to make my clients happy.  The alignment between both makes it better for both. What do you do to make your clients happy . . .finish on time?  help the contractor control costs?  pick the right materials?

In her article, Embracing Change in the current issue of SPP Journal, Margine Biswas notes that having your own firm is a constant learning experience and it includes being prepared. The more prepared you are, the better your outcome will be. What lessons learned can you share about being prepared . . . or not being prepared? 

Popular media and news all seem to be about doom and gloom (unemployment rate, inflation rates, the price of gas, etc.) but rarely about smiles and sunshine (champions of green and sustainable, advances in medicine, things just working right). Some of my clients are affected by the negative, some see the world only through rose-colored glasses. It gets tiring but seems like a necessary evil in what we do. To combat the “glass-is-half-empty” syndrome in my office, we go out of our way to find positive ways architects can get involved in neighborhoods and communities to spread a little goodness. It usually brings a smile to at least a few. What do you do to maintain an even keel for your practice? How do you manage to smile in the face of adversity? How can you “capitalize” on current market conditions?  How can you do good in your neck of the woods? 

—Lisa Stacholy, AIA, NCARB