Entrearchitect Podcast With Mark R. Lepage

When someone wants one thing and we want another, how do we successfully convince them to go our way? How do we find a solution that works for everyone involved? Negotiation doesn't always come easy to us small firm architects. We are lovers, not fighters. We just want to make beautiful art and live a happy stress-free life. Well, the truth is that we don't need to fight. Like much in business, there are rules for negotiation. Learn the rules and you will be more successful. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, I will share How to Negotiate as a Small Firm Architect. Visit our Platform Sponsor FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Photo Credit: Pixabay / JanDix   The post EA110: How to Negotiate as a Small Firm Architect [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects.

Sales… It conjures up images of slippery slick salespeople pushing their unnecessary products on to people who don't even want them. For many of us small firm architects, the idea of high pressure sales tactics and dishonest tricks and techniques makes us squirm and sweat. Well, I have good news. Sales tricks don't work. High pressure will repel your prospective clients and send them into the arms of your competition. There is a better way and many of you small firm architects are already good at it. This week at the EntreArchitect Podcast, I will share 5 Steps to Successful Sales for Small Firm Architects. Visit our Platform Sponsors FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Photo Credit: Shutterstock / holbox   The post EA109: 5 Steps to Successful Sales for Small Firm Architects [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects.

With a twisted sense of pride, too many architects today accept the small firm stereotype of starving artist . Seeds planted in architecture school bloom into a full-on virus as professionals launch their own firms and find their way to small business. New firms are launched every day without proper planning, without an understanding of basic business fundamentals and often with an eager acceptance that life as an architect will be a difficult struggle. Even my choice of Architect as a career was based on my naive understanding of the profession. At the age of 10, I chose architecture for my career path because, Artists don't make enough money. Architecture is a profession like law and medicine. Architects are rich. As I entered architecture school, it happened too quickly. Within days of starting first-year studio, I began to hear the stories. Architecture is not about the money. We change the world through our art. You must love the art, because you will never make enough money as an architect. Do

It takes time and effort to learn what we need to know to be successful. As EntreArchitects, we need to build better businesses. Focusing on our finances must be a priority. Understanding how to prepare, and why to review, the financial reports for our business will make everything else we do easier. It will allow us to plan and predict and find the work we want. This week at the EntreArchitect Podcast, I will talk about Financial Intelligence for Small Firm Architects. Visit our Platform Sponsors FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) The Architecture Business Plan Competition Take your firm to greater success with a plan. It's free to enter and grand prize is $10,000. Learn more and register at ArchBusinessPlan.com Referenced in this Episode Basic Financial Statements for Small Firm Architects (blog) The Architect’s Guide to Small Firm Management: Making Chaos Work for Your

Are you an award wining architect? Would you like to promote your firm through the recognition of your design excellence? Design awards are a great way to differentiate your firm from others. This week at the EntreArchitect Podcast, I am speaking with two residential architects about a new design awards program that is specifically created to help you earn the recognition you deserve. We’ll share how to use design awards to promote your architecture firm. Visit our Platform Sponsors FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) The Architecture Business Plan Competition Take your firm to greater success with a plan. It's free to enter and grand prize is $10,000. Learn more and register at ArchBusinessPlan.com Referenced in This Episode ArCH: Architects Creating Homes ArCHdes Design Awards Program EntreArchitect Podcast Episode 33: Architects Crating Homes with Rand Soellner EntreArc

Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed your holiday and have started your new year with enthusiasm, determination and focus. It's going to be a great 2016. I'm sure you are noticing a few changes around here. We've been very hard at work during the year-end break. Today on the EntreArchitect Podcast, I am going to share what we've been doing here at EntreArchitect and why you should join the all-new EntreArchitect Academy. Learn more about EntreArchitect Academy Photo Credit: Shutterstock / Studio_G   The post EA105: The All-New EntreArchitect Academy [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects.

It's that time of year again. The bells are ringing for the holidays and we're all busy wrapping up deadlines before the turn of a new year. It's also time to look ahead to 2016. How are we going to make 2016 our best year ever? How are we going to find the work we want, make the money we need and live the life of our dreams? This week on the EntreArchitect Podcast, I am going to share my thoughts on how to take your business and life to greater success in 2016 with just ONE goal. Visit our Platform Sponsors FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) For an exclusive tour inside FreshBooks, join me and Tim Lee from FreshBooks at this free video series. The Architecture Business Plan Competition Take your firm to greater success with a plan. It's free to enter and grand prize is $10,000. Learn more and register at ArchBusinessPlan.com Referenced in This Episode The ONE Th

Architecture is a tough business. How do we find work? How do we find help? How do we grow, make more money and ensure that our small firms are profitable? This week I welcome back a friend of the show who, in the past 12 months has interviewed almost 200 small firm architects. He knows our strengths. He knows our weaknesses. This week on the EntreArchitect Podcast, I'm speaking with Todd Reding of Charrette Venture Group about the 3 roadblocks experienced by every entrepreneur architect and what to do to find your way to success. Visit our Platform Sponsor FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) For an exclusive tour inside FreshBooks, join me and Tim Lee from FreshBooks at this free video series. The Architecture Business Plan Competition Take your firm to greater success… with a plan. It’s free to enter and grand prize is $10,000. Learn more and register at ArchBusines

A dream for so many of us small firm architects; design, build and develop our own residential architecture. No rules. No limits. No clients. You make the decisions for what gets built and what does not. There is much risk in residential development, but there is also much reward. Creative rewards, professional rewards and financial rewards. This week on the EntreArchitect Podcast I am speaking with Jim Zack of San Francisco-based Zack DeVito Architecture about his risks and rewards as an architect developer. Visit our Platform Sponsor FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) For an exclusive tour inside FreshBooks, join me and Tim Lee from FreshBooks at this free video series. Referenced in this Episode Zack DeVito Architecture and Construction Jonathan Segal Architect   The post EA102: Risks and Rewards with Architect Developer Jim Zack [ Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect //

Starting your own design business while still in architecture school. Graduating, growing and building that simple idea into a thriving multi-disciplined design build company. That's what this week's guest did. On the show is a former guest from way back at Episode 8. He’s here to share an update after 2 years of business development. Learn what he did right and what he did wrong. This week on the EntreArchitect Podcast we are discussing How To Grow Your Design Business with Brian Corcodilos of Designblendz, LLC. Visit our Platform Sponsors ArchiSnapper A simple cloud-based tool for creating and managing field reports. Try the ArchiSnapper Field Report App Free for 30 Days FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) For an exclusive tour inside FreshBooks, join me and Tim Lee from FreshBooks at this free video series. Referenced in this Episode EntreArchitect Podcast Episode 8

So, this is it! Episode 100 of the EntreArchitect Podcast. This is certainly a milestone in the history of the EntreArchitect Platform and there is no way this could have happened without you, the EntreArchitect Community. Those of you who subscribe and download and listen to this show each and every week have been the motivation and inspiration to continue and proceed with sharing what I know and helping others to share what they know. To honor the friendships and support for one another that has formed around this podcast as well as the entire EntreArchitect Platform on the blog, at the newsletter and throughout our many groups on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and other social media; this week on the on the EntreArchitect Podcast, I asked you to share your answer to this question: What is one thing that you did this year to improve your business, your leadership or your life? This week, on this very special Episode 100, I am featuring you, the EntreArchitect Community. Visit our Platform Sponsors ArchiSnapper

You listened to Episode 97 and you have your upcoming self-published book all figured out. You know what you're writing about, to whom you are writing, how to actually sit down every day and write. Yes you can do it in addition to being a full time architect if you want to. You even know how to publish your book on the largest platform for selling books, Amazon.com. But that's only half of the equation. Now that your book is ready for the world to read, you need to get to work and let them all know that it’s available. This week on the EntreArchitect Podcast, we have the 4th in the Field Guide Series and Part 2 about self-publishing your book. This week, Eric Reinholdt of 30X40 Design Workshop is back to talk with us about Marketing Your Self-Published Book as a Small Firm Architect. Visit our Platform Sponsors ArchiSnapper A simple cloud-based tool for creating and managing field reports. Try the ArchiSnapper Field Report App Free for 30 Days FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, man

Have you ever considered following a dream other than a traditional practice in architecture? Do you have a passion that is burning inside? Maybe you have a great idea for a new business, but you are afraid to pursue it because of all the work it required to become a licensed architect? You don't want to leave behind your dream of being an architect, for a new dream pursuing something else. But, what if you did? What if you pushed through that fear and took a new path? What if you allowed yourself to follow your passion and take your life in a new direction? Our guest this week did just that. He had an idea and followed his passion to create something amazing, something influential and beneficial to others. This week I invited the founder of BlackSpectacles.com, Marc Teer, to join me and talk about the Life of an Entrepreneur Architect on the EntreArchitect Podcast. Visit our Platform Sponsors ArchiSnapper A simple cloud-based tool for creating and managing field reports. Try the ArchiSnapper Field Repor

We all have a story. We all have knowledge that we can share. We are all experts at something. I think… we all have a book in us that needs to be written. On this.. Part Three of the EntreArchitect Podcast Field Guide Series, I welcome back to the show, the founder of 30X40 Design Workshop and author of two self-published books, our friend Eric Reinholdt. This week on the EntreArchitect Podcast, we will share, step-by-step How to Self-Publish Your Book as a Small Firm Architect. Visit our Platform Sponsors ArchiSnapper A simple cloud-based tool for creating and managing field reports. Try the ArchiSnapper Field Report App Free for 30 Days FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Referenced in this Episode 30X40 Design Workshop Episode 84: Field Guide Series – Building, Branding and Marketing Your Startup Design Business Episode 89: Field Guide Series – Passive Income for

We all work so hard at what we do. We spend hours meeting with potential clients, preparing proposals and selling our services. When we finally get the job, we spend months developing the designs for our projects to be the best they can be. They're built under our observation and we provide construction administration services to ensure a safe, healthy complete project and to ensure a happy client leading us to more happy clients. So, if we spend all that time creating our art, should we not value it enough to document that art through professional photography? Too expensive you say? This week on the EntreArchitect Podcast, I will share 15 Reasons Why Hiring a Professional Architectural Photographer is Worth Every Penny. Visit our Platform Sponsors ArchiSnapper A simple cloud-based tool for creating and managing field reports. Try the ArchiSnapper Field Report App Free for 30 Days FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBoo

Your story in the mind of the client is your brand. That story is told, one chapter at a time, through everything you do and everything you say. At every point of contact your client is learning more about who you are and what you do. They are developing their thoughts and carrying their opinions about your firm at every step and throughout the entire process. It’s an overwhelming process with barriers and obstacles found throughout. The more we define these obstacles and develop systems that successfully guide our clients through the process with comfort and understanding, the stronger our brand will be. The story our clients tell their friends will be the story you want told. Throughout the process of delivering a typical architecture project, there is a series of touch points that our clients experience. The level of development, intention and management at each one of these points of contact determines the overall satisfaction of our clients. This week on the EntreArchitect Podcast, I will share 5 S

We are living at a time when massive, paradigm shifting technologies are being introduced everyday. Change is happening very rapidly. New technologies are going to change the way we practice, how we run our businesses and how we live our lives. Reach into your pocket and pull out that iPhone and you will understand what I am talking about. Do you remember what it was like before we had the knowledge of the entire world in our pocket? These changes and developments in technology will provide new opportunities to the profession as a whole and to us as individual independent architects. This week on the EntreArchitect Podcast, I welcome back a former guest and friend of the show George Valdes to discuss The Consequence of Technology on the Profession of Architecture. Visit our Platform Sponsors ArchiSnapper A simple cloud-based tool for creating and managing field reports. Try the ArchiSnapper Field Report App Free for 30 Days FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Acce

Last week on the podcast, I shared my 12 Steps to Business Success in Architecture, the same presentation I shared at the recent AIA CRAN Symposium. I proposed that if you learn how to execute on each of the 12 steps, you will be a successful architect, with a profitable business leading to creating more art and better architecture. This week we are continuing where I left off last week. We will get more practical, go deeper and discuss what it takes to be successful in small business; whether you are running an ice cream stand, a manufacturing company or an architecture firm. This week on the EntreArchitect Podcast, I am speaking with CEO of Crown Point Cabinetry Brian Stowell and we discussed the anatomy of a successful small business. Visit our Platform Sponsors ArchiSnapper A simple cloud-based tool for creating and managing field reports. Try the ArchiSnapper Field Report App Free for 30 Days FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial a

12 Steps to Business Success in Architecture I'm a day late on producing this episode because Annmarie and I just returned from Minneapolis, Minnesota where we attended the Custom Residential Architects Network 2015 Symposium (aka CRAN). This was the second CRAN event we attended. Last year we traveled to Charleston, SC, which was a fantastic introduction to the symposium and certainly the inspiration for attending again this year. As we began to plan for our travel arrangements to Minneapolis, the incoming CRAN chairperson and the chairperson of the 2015 Symposium, Dawn Zuber contacted me and asked if I would present at this year's event. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity to spread the word of EntreArchitect and our mission to become an influential force in the profession. So I did just that and I had a great time. I hung out with several of my friends from the last event and from the EntreArchitect Academy. My favorite part of attending these conferences is connecting with other small firm ar

One guest-post that has made a major impact on the EntreArchitect Community was written by architect and educator Kevin J. Singh about a year ago. That post, 21 Rules for a Successful Life in Architecture, is consistently one of the most visited articles on the site. This week I invite Kevin to join us here on the EntreArchitect Podcast to expand his thoughts on that article and discuss his new e-book, Beginning Your Career in Architecture, inspired by that original post. Visit our Platform Sponsor ArchiSnapper.com A Simple Cloud-Based Tool for Creating and Managing Field Reports Try the ArchiSnapper Field Report App Free for 30 Days Referenced in this Episode The Journey to Success Begins Within You (blog) 21 Rules for a Successful Life in Architecture (blog) Beginning Your Career in Architecture: Candid Advice for Emerging Professionals (e-book) The post EA091: Beginning Your Career in Architecture with Kevin J. Singh [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects.