EntreArchitect Podcast with Mark R. LePage

This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, I talk about my week and share my insights on the Business Plan Competition and the AIA National Convention. It was a fantastic week. Please review the podcast on iTunes. References from this Episode Architecture Business Plan Competition AIA Convention WoodenBoat Show in Mystic Connecticut Hotel Burnham Eleven:59 Studio Latent Design Ascent Architecture AIA Foresight Report The Greenway Group Independent Architects are Leading the Way for Change (Design Intelligence article) Building a Debt Zero Business Twitter.com/EntreArchitect Business Plans for Small Firm Architects Custom Residential Architects Network (CRAN) Hang Your Shingle Out (Presentation) Architect as Developer (Online Seminar) Lou Malnati’s Restaurant Archispeak Podcast (Episode 37) AIA 25 Year Award presented to Harry Weese AIA Gold Medal Award presented to Julia Morgan Tony Hsieh of Zappos Downtown Project (closing keynote presentation) ConventionLive Resiliency Dream Team (keynote presentation) AIA Call for Proposals for AIA Convention 2015 Presentations The post EA036: A Call to Action for Small Firm Architects at AIA Convention 2015 [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast I chatted with my friend Enoch Sears, the founder of BusinessOfArchitecture.com. Each week, Enoch hosts the Business of Architecture Show, a video podcast, which may be viewed on his website, on his YouTube channel or you may listen to the audio on iTunes. Enoch’s show is specifically focused on advancing the business of architecture through training and education. If you like what I am doing here at Entrepreneur Architect, you'll love BusinessOfArchitecture.com. Please review the podcast on iTunes. Topics Discussed on this Episode Business Systems for Architects Virtual Teams Marketing Strategies for Architects Links Referenced in this Episode Episode 34: How to Raise Your Fees ArchispeakPodcast.com The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber (Book) Jing Screencast-O-Matic Snagit Screenflow BusinessOfArchitecture.com/Free BricsCAD Dropbox (Tell them Mark LePage referred you and we’ll both get 500 MB of bonus storage space. Use my Fivecat email at mlepage at fivecat dot com.) Architects Are Facing a Silent War (Article) ArchitectsMarketing.com/Training (Free Training) My schedule at AIA Convention 2014 (Come support me and my mission for Entrepreneur Architect.) The post EA035: Business Systems for Architects with Enoch Sears of BusinessOfArchitecture.com [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

When Annmarie and I launched Fivecat Studio back in 1999, we took the work we could get and charged what we thought our clients wanted to pay. As we matured as architects and grew as a business, we learned that we needed to make more money in order to build a better business. Are you in this same position? Are you working too hard and earning too little? This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, I talk about how to raise your fees. Please review the podcast on iTunes. Links Referenced in This Episode EA033: Architects Creating Homes with Rand Soellner [Podcast] 25 Architects You Should Follow on Twitter Purchase my Hybrid Proposal for Architectural Services *** Photo Copyright: rolffimages / 123RF Stock Photo The post EA034: How to Raise Your Fees [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

Residential architecture is very different than any other building type. The scale is different. The materials are different. The details are different… and our clients well, they are very different. The life of a residential architect is very challenging. The psychology involved in a successful residential architecture project is something that can only be learned after many years in practice. The process, from acquiring the project, discovering what our clients really want, through designing, developing and ultimately working with residential contractors to bring our clients dreams to reality is much like giving birth, raising a child, watching her become an adult and letting her go out into the world on her own. It's not easy… and every project is like another child, with all the joys and pain of parenthood. The money we make compared to many of our “commercially-focused” brothers and sisters is often very different. We are launching small businesses with little knowledge of how to succeed and little support from those who do. Only after years of trial, error, successes and failures, do we finally learn how to keep food on the table for our families. Well, there's a growing group of residential architects who understand your pain and want to do something about it. This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, I'm chatting with Rand Soellner a founding member of ArCH, also known as Architects Creating Homes, the only American organization of licensed architects focusing exclusively on residential architecture. As a residential architect myself, I found this conversation very interesting and I think you'll enjoy it too. Please review the podcast on iTunes. Links Mentioned in this Episode HOME Architects 7 Reasons Why Small Firm Architects Should NOT Abandon the AIA ArCH Architects Creating Homes The post EA033: Architects Creating Homes with Rand Soellner appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, I am turning things over to you, the Entrepreneur Architect Community. Every day I receive emails from members of the community. Many are letters of support and encouragement and truthfully, those are the emails that inspire me to continue and to grow Entrepreneur Architect into all that it can be. So I thank you for sending those messages. Many other emails contain questions for me, asking for advice or guidance for their careers. I'm just a small firm architect building the best business I can. I've learned a lot in my 20 years since graduating and l love to share what I know. I’m not an expert in everything business. I only know what I know. If my writing here on the blog or my voice on the podcast can help to inspire you to build a better business, live a better life or help to strengthen our profession, well then I’m all in! So, this week on the podcast, I am sharing a few questions from the community and I'll give you my thoughts on each. Please review the podcast on iTunes. Links Referenced in This Episode The Hybrid Proposal for Architectural Service Foundations: Business Forms and Checklists for Architects Book: The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber Book: The E-Myth Architect by Michael Gerber and Norbert C. Lemermeyer Guest Author Guidelines for Submitting an Article for Publication at EntreArchitect.com EntreArchitect on Facebook EntreArchitect on Twitter Subscriber to The Entrepreneur Architect Report The Entrepreneur Architect Podcast on iTunes *** Photo Credit: outstyle / 123RF Stock Photo The post EA032: Business Classes for Architecture Students, Architect Moms and More Q & A from the Community [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

We need to talk. This may be uncomfortable, but we need to talk about money. Are you making enough to finish each month with a profit? Are you making enough to live comfortably? Are you making enough to simply pay the bills? So many architects I know are not making ends meet. We architects are notoriously horrible business people. My mission is to change that. (So share this blog with every architect you know!) I believe, deep down, we all want to be successful. We all want to make more money, but we are afraid. We are afraid to do the things necessary to make the money we truly deserve. This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, I'm talking about money and how to make more of it. I'm talking about my Architectural Services Sales System for Fivecat Studio. Homework A few weeks back I shared my original Business Plan for Fivecat Studio. If you haven't listened, or if you want to listen again, its over at EntreArchitect.com/episode24. I hope that episode inspired you to write your one page business plan. If so, for homework, I want you to go back and review your business plan, specifically your mission. That's your purpose. When you sell your service, sell with purpose. You're not in it for the money or else you'd be doing something else. You are working toward something more important, something bigger than money, and you want to share it with as many people as possible. The beautiful thing is that the more you share and sell with purpose, the more money you are going to make. Try this system with your next prospective client and let me know how it works for you. It works for me and I hope that it make you lots of money. The world deserves it. Do you have a great sales system? Please share your ideas with us by leaving a comment below. *** Photo Credit: rouslan / 123RF Stock Photo The post EA031: The Architectural Services Sales System [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

One of the most important of all the tasks we perform as architects is Project Management. The success of each project sits squarely in our hands. If managed poorly, a single project may set our progress back years. If managed well, it can take us to great heights. This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, I share my Ten Rules to Project Management Success. Please review the podcast on iTunes. What are some of your rules for successful project management? Do you have any thoughts that I did not cover? Do you have anything to add to what I have shared? I would love to start a discussion about better Project Management here at the blog. This podcast is just to get the ball rolling. The real value happens when listeners like you share your thoughts. *** Photo Credit: Shutterstock / Sergey Nivens The post EA030: Ten Rules to Project Management Success [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

I met my wife Annmarie in 1993 at my first job with Barry Poskanzer Architecture and Planning in Ridgewood, NJ. I had been working as an intern for several months and Barry was seeking a new employee, another intern to help with lower level tasks and to work with the licensed architects in the firm as a draftsman. If you are interested in my story my journey from architecture school to owning my own small firm, check out an earlier episode of the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast at EntreArchitect.com/episode21. Soon after Annmarie was hired, a large package from Gateway computers arrived in the studio. It was a new workstation, the firm's first. Later that day, a couple drafting boards were pushed to the side, a work table was cleared and the massive tower was set up beside the new CRT 21 monitor. Cutting edge software was then painstakingly installed via a dozen or so 3.5 floppy disks; AutoCAD release R12 for the latest version of Windows 3.1. Up until that day, the firm had developed every design with pencils on sketch paper and prepared final drawings with ink on mylar. Annmarie and I were the guinea pigs hired to learn the new software and help transition the firm into the new era of computer aided design. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, I'm going to explore the world of architectural design software and what packages are best for a small firm architecture studio. Is BIM really worth the hype? Or is AutoCAD LT, as basic as it is… is AutoCAD LT a better choice for a small firm architect? I don't know the answer. I'd love to know what you think. Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts. BIM vs. AutoCAD for small firm architects… What’s your opinion? *** Photo Credit: Shutterstock / nostal6ie The post EA029: BIMsanity… Is AutoCAD LT a Better Choice for Small Firm Architects? [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

One of the most important tasks architects should be doing to improve the success of their firms is to develop strong business systems that will allow them to quickly perform the routine everyday tasks of running a busy architecture firm. The quickest and maybe the most effective way to do this is to leverage the power of software developed to perform these tasks with ease and efficiency. Steven Burns is an architect who saw a need for such an application. He set out to create a software package that managed most every aspect of running his own small firm. Several years later, his software became his business and that business was eventually acquired by BQE Software, where today Steven is the Chief Creative Officer. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes I've wanted to talk to Steven for a while now about, ArchiOffice, the software he developed, to learn more about how it works and how it can help us small firm Entrepreneur Architects build better businesses. I thought it would also be interesting to chat with Steven to learn how he moved from being an architect to a full time software developer and how he felt about making that move. I know there are many architects out there that have passion for something other than architecture and have too much fear or guilt to pursue their true purpose. I thank Steven for sharing his story with us and for sharing a few details about ArchiOffice. Are you running ArchiOffice in your firm? Are you using another package to manage your business systems? I'd love to know how software is helping YOUR firm succeed. Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts. Topics Referenced in This Episode Financial Management for Small Firms (Entrepreneur Architect Academy Podcast Series) Massachusetts Institute of Technology Harvard GSD Skidmore Owens and Merrill (S.O.M.) Burns and Beyerl Architects Developing software for small firm architects ArchiOffice Software BQE Software Connections leading to success Decision to leave architecture for software development full time How software can help small firm architects succeed Transitions from manual business systems to software systems Web-based software vs Cloud-based software Dropbox Evernote Nicholas Negroponte” target=”_blank”>Nicholas Negroponte The death of the fax machine HipChat The future death of email The post EA028: Business Software for Small Firm Architects with Steven Burns, FAIA [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

Architecture school graduating classes consist of approximately 50% men and 50% women, but somewhere along the way to licensure, 32% of the women drop out of the profession to pursue other paths. Why does this gender gap exist? What are those women doing, if they're not pursuing architecture? Where did they go? My guest this week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, is on a mission to find out. Architect Rosa Sheng is a member of the board of directors at AIA San Francisco and leads a committee called The Missing 32%. Their mission is to investigate what is causing this disparity between men and women architects and to support the women who do decide to pursue their passion for architecture. Topics Referenced in this Episode Syracuse University Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects Apple Retail Stores A personal story about Steve Jobs Mills College AIA San Francisco The Missing 32% Committee Denise Scott Brown Pritzker Prize Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead (book) Katrina Alcom, Maxed Out: American Moms on the Brink (book) Gender Equity National Equal Pay Act The Missing 32% Survey Australia Institute of Architects Equity in Architecture Policy Equity by Design Symposium Tara Imani Neal Pann Enoch Sears Virtual Firms Flexible Hours Telecommuting Small firms leading large firms using virtual collaboration tools Women and confidence Links from this Episode The Missing 32% Julia Morgan: Breaking the Glass Ceiling for Women in Architecture by Tara Imani The Confidence Gap, Atlantic Magazine   The post EA027: Investigating the Missing 32% with Architect Rosa Sheng [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart