Each year from Christmas to New Years Day, Annmarie and I close the studio, send the crew home for the week and enjoy quality time with family and friends. It’s important to take healthy breaks from the intense focus of our work. It allows us to remember what is most important in our lives and […]
Great Architecture Will Not Build a Great Business
1) Design great architecture. 2) Get noticed. 3) Thrive! Isn’t that how it is supposed to work. Well… it doesn’t. The trick is step 2. Getting noticed. How do you get noticed? The answer in a word, is Marketing. Even uber-successful “starchitects” have a marketing team working to get their “great architecture” noticed. Whether you […]
Things I Didn’t Learn at Architecture School (But Need to Know): How do I start and keep a business alive?
No one told me that I needed to know how to run a business. I’m an architect. I just need to tack up my shingle, design great buildings and clients will come knocking. Right? Maybe… but whether clients come knocking or not, its not so simple to keep them knocking. The solution? Write a business […]
Are You “Locally Famous”?
What are you doing to become “locally famous”? Do you have a facebook account with which you post regularly and interact with your fans? Do you follow Twitter feeds for people who have influence in your local communities… and respond to their tweets? Do you blog… consistently, and have a website which reflects the expectations […]
How does one get it all done?
As an Entrepreneur Architect I wear many hats. I’m a designer, a draftsman, a project manager, a construction manager, a book keeper, a marketing director, a salesman, a customer service representative, an IT manager, a boss, a partner, a CEO, a COO, a CFO… the list goes on and on. It can be very stressful. […]
How Do You Organize Your Week?
So today is Monday. I typically reserve Mondays for administrative work and prepping for the rest of the week. I work on business systems and schedule project interviews on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Friday is a day to wrap up loose ends and make sure clients are happy. Obviously, in order to be successful my […]
Five Lessons of Success I Learned from Eminem
1. Be Real. Whatever your opinion of Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, and his controversial rap music recordings, one thing cannot be denied… he is real. The stories told in his lyrics talk about a life of poverty, violence and overcoming the fear of what may come next. He is bitter, angry and aggressive. He is […]
Success List
The following is a list of words and phrases that I have assembled over the past few years. I use it to remind myself what is most important in terms of success. They are in no particular order; simply a random, continuous brainstorm. What have I missed? Post your thoughts in the comments. Courage Execution […]
How do you measure your success?
There’s a saying in business, “What gets measured, gets managed.” Winning companies track several metrics to gauge their performance and measure business success. ROI (return on investment), EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization), average sales, website traffic, employee churn and average inventory are all key business indicators. Large retailers track same store sales, […]
It Pays to be Nice
Tonight I met with a couple to discuss plans for their home’s renovation. Following a warm welcome and a quick introduction, I was told that I was called to this meeting because of my mother. If you are a regular reader of my Living Well in Westchester blog, you know that my Mom and Dad […]
Survival: How’d YOU do it?
The year 2009 was a very tough time for business. As we move our way past first quarter 2010, we’re starting to see a bit of improvement; a few rays of sunshine among the clouds. We are not yet seeing 2007 numbers, but things are certainly moving in the right direction. I have discussed how […]
Fear
Fear. I think there’s lots of this stuff floating around lately. Personally, I feel that most of our current economic woes can be tied directly to “fear of the unknown” and “fear of the different”. When the politicians in Washington want the economy to recover, they’ll delay making changes that will forever alter society as […]