Business advice?

Log Out | Topics | Search Moderators | Register | Edit Profile

Author Message David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1377 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - 08:47 pm:    I would like to get some advice from those of you who have been in specification consulting for a while. How are you able to run a profitable business? What are some pitfalls to avoid. Thanks! David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant/Web Publisher www.localproductreps.com J. Peter Jordan Senior Member Username: jpjordan Post Number: 791 Registered: 05-2004 Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 08:10 am:    Basic Model: Get the work. Do the work. Invoice for work done. Collect on invoice. Real World: Write proposal for Project 01. Write proposal for Project 02. Proposal for Project 02 approved. Start Project 01. Write proposal for Project 03. Negotiate lower fee for Project 01. Do Project 02. Write proposal for Project 04. Finish Project 02. Project 01 approved. Invoice for Project 02. Start Project 01. Write proposal for Project 05. Do Project 01. Answer questions from Bidders on Project 02. Finish Project 01. ... ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 853 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 08:54 am:    Now I remember why I went back to working as an in-house Specifier. Pretty much the same process except I don't have to do billing or collections. Ronald L. Geren, FCSI, AIA, CCS, CCCA, SCIP Senior Member Username: specman Post Number: 1279 Registered: 03-2003 Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 09:50 am:    Peter, it never goes that smoothly. Ron Geren, FCSI, AIA, CCS, CCCA, SCIP www.specsandcodes.com Lynn Javoroski FCSI CCS LEED® AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 1940 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 11:08 am:    I agree with Ken; in house has all those same issues, except the invoicing. And our fees are already at rock bottom or below. We just don't always know that, so we do the work as it should be done and then get yelled at because the company didn't make any money on the project. And clearly, the 40 hours we spent on the project was the cause, not the 360 hours the design team spent. Phil Kabza Senior Member Username: phil_kabza Post Number: 552 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 12:38 pm:    Keep marketing until you have to turn down work. Turn down work from architects who don't value your work, and from architects whose inefficiencies impact your bottom line. Meet with your best clients (PMs and CA reps) and glean from them what matters most in the specifications, and provide it. Simplify issues like document management and formatting so you're not spending time being a secretary - get paid for being a construction consultant. Increase your fees; let your clients negotiate you down if you must. If someone doesn't pay you for six months, they want someone else to do their work. Keep a strict budget for ancillary activities like continuing ed and association work. And forum postings ... Jeffrey Wilson CSI CCS SCIP Senior Member Username: wilsonconsulting Post Number: 156 Registered: 03-2006 Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 01:58 pm:    This guiding principle has served my practice well: Compete on quality of the service and product rather than price. There will always be someone willing to provide the service at lower cost -- make sure there is no one that can do it better. Admittedly, this approach has better success during good economic times and can falter when business contracts. Loyalty cannot always be counted on as clients are forced to prioritize the bottom line. Fee flexibility becomes more important during lean times, but clients will remember in the long run if you never waiver on a commitment to qualities like thoroughness, accuracy, and follow-through. For firms that don't seem to value or understand quality, keep your competitors' contact info handy and pass it on. Jeff Wilson Wilson Consulting Inc Narberth PA David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1378 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 02:00 pm:    Peter, In the real world it goes like this: Beg for work. Work like a dog. Beg to get paid. Starve to death waiting for the check. ;-) David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant/Web Publisher www.localproductreps.com Jeffrey Wilson CSI CCS SCIP Senior Member Username: wilsonconsulting Post Number: 157 Registered: 03-2006 Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 02:04 pm:    Also: By far the most effective marketing is through personal contact. Engaging in conversation during events and programs attended by potential clients -- while avoiding direct promotion -- is much more likely to land consulting work than any method I have used. Mailings can be useful in building a practice, but there is nothing like face-to-face contact to get someone's attention and register your potential value. Jeff Wilson Wilson Consulting Inc Narberth PA ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 854 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 04:53 pm:    Exactly Lynn. Reminds me of the firm I went to work at that promised me an assistant, saying that funds were available and workload warranted the hire. After a short while I requested that the hiring process begin only to be told that there was no longer a budget for the new hire. I know I never spent the funding so I can only imagine where the money went. Oddly, the workload wasn't reduced till the project ended. Lynn Javoroski FCSI CCS LEED® AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 1941 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 05:09 pm:    Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose! ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 855 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - 06:24 pm:    Call your friends who are independent specifiers and ask them if they have any overflow you can help with. Set up a "Stump the Specifier" booth at the next local AIA function. Even if they stump you, you'll still get to know people out there. Get to know your local ASPE (estimators) group. Once you become friends with them, you can share leads for architectural firms who need both of your services. Network Like An Introvert. Talk with people you meet and ask them how you can help them. Good luck! David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1379 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Thursday, December 18, 2014 - 02:16 pm:    Let's get back to my original question. What are some tips on running a profitable business? BTW, I have no problem getting work. I am currently inundated and have been turning down work. The problem is being efficient and profitable. Thanks! David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant/Web Publisher www.localproductreps.com Liz O'Sullivan Senior Member Username: liz_osullivan Post Number: 169 Registered: 10-2011 Posted on Thursday, December 18, 2014 - 03:23 pm:    Projects from repeat clients are the most efficient and profitable. All my current clients have more work now than previously - I haven't taken a project from a new client in over a year, so that I can do my best to keep current clients happy. John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 1611 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Thursday, December 18, 2014 - 03:55 pm:    There's the question of how to measure profit when you are a sole proprietor. Really, after expenses, everything left could equally be considered "profit" (no salary) or "salary" (no profit). So the question is: how do you establish a budget for how much money's left over for yourself, and how many hours do you want to work? This calculus is going to be different for everyone. Of course, everyone wants to make a half-million dollars a year working part-time, but we know that is not realistic. So having the result being a realistic balance seems to be the goal. Being efficient is a separate question, of course. There are many, many aspects to efficiency because it affects every aspect of how you operate. I suggest keeping all your systems (such as bookkeeping, billing etc.) as simple as you can as long as you can get the information you need. As to efficiencies to producing the work, there's where you probably can gain the most. That's a very big topic. If you are turning away work, that's a good start. Be sure that's not because you're underpricing, but then again, you don't want to charge so much your clients abandon you if times become lean. Anon (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Thursday, December 18, 2014 - 05:21 pm:    my efficiency has skyrocketed since committing 100% to data-base-driven specification software I started using a few years ago - eSpecs. I estimate at least a 40% improvement/reduction in time of editing compared to editing static Word/rtf documents. I have heard comparable results from those that use BSD Speclink, also data-base-driven. It's a mystery to me why more independents haven't invested in these programs! The learning curve/Masters development time is peanuts when compared with the efficiencies gained! Scott Piper Senior Member Username: spiper Post Number: 18 Registered: 08-2014 Posted on Friday, December 19, 2014 - 09:51 am:    At the risk of sounding like a commercial I do have to agree with Anon to some extent. I would not put a percentage on my time saved but I do find our program (speclink-e) to be a time saver. I also do not feel that the program limits our ability to customize or edit our specs to fit the client. The learning curve is not "peanuts" in my opinion and I am convinced I am still only utilizing a fraction of the programs functionality. However if I was using word I would no doubt not be taking full advantage of that program's options either. Even with those qualifications I am very happy with our decision to go to a data-based program over 15 years ago. To further qualify my response I work at a smaller firm so writing all of our specs is not a full time job. I do a bunch of specs then it can be weeks before I do another one so my knowledge/recollection of the program suffers. Due to this fact I find the data-base program more intuitive in terms of sequencing, sectioning, paragraph headings, etc. It I was using word for specs and doing specs full time this might not be as big of an issue. Sorry again for sounding like a commercial, that is not my intent. Robin E. Snyder Senior Member Username: robin Post Number: 585 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Sunday, December 21, 2014 - 02:57 pm:    Dave - let me know if you want to chat a few minutes via phone - may be easier to target any of your specific concerns/questions. Happy to offer my 2 cents. David J. Wyatt, CDT Senior Member Username: david_j_wyatt_cdt Post Number: 99 Registered: 03-2011 Posted on Monday, December 22, 2014 - 11:48 am:    I agree with most of what has been posted so far. It is hard to do everything by yourself, and at a certain point you cannot grow, even when the growth opportunities are there. To capture some of that business you are currently turning down, I suggest recruiting a mentor to help you with pulling together drafts and organizing projects for you. A bright college student could learn to do that fairly quickly. When I was on my own, I taught my son, a college freshman at the time, how to go through sets of drawings with a MasterFormat checklist and identify the major materials and systems. He would highlight the things he did not understand and we worked those out later. It really helped me, I was able to pay him more than he could make at the usual jobs available to students, and I was able to run the business instead of the business running me so much. David J. Wyatt, CDT Senior Member Username: david_j_wyatt_cdt Post Number: 100 Registered: 03-2011 Posted on Monday, December 22, 2014 - 11:49 am:    I should not have written "recruiting a mentor." I meant "recruiting an apprentice."