Success and Failures of a Small Firm Architecture Studio

If you’re not failing, then you’re not pushing yourself enough… and real success will never come.

The current edition of Residential Architect magazine includes a feature titled, Rebound. It leads with a story about my firm, Fivecat Studio. I shared my story with Cheryl Weber (one of my favorite trade writers) about some of the mistakes Annmarie and I made in 2003 when we moved the firm from our home office to our current 2,000 square foot studio in nearby Pleasantville. I’ve shared this story before, in much more depth here at the blog, in hopes of helping others avoid some of the pitfalls we’ve experienced over the years.

I’m a natural born entrepreneur and my optimistic nature has always pushed our firm to the limits. We’ve experimented with operations and systems since we launched. Some have failed and others have helped to make us the success that we’ve become.

The superstorm of these past recession years have been painful. Only recently have we moved from Survival Mode to Recovery Mode. There is much damage to repair and many debts to repay.

As the rains cease, the sun is finally peeking out from around the dark clouds. The cool breezes of a healing economy usher in new possibilities.

At our peak, we employed three architects and an administrative assistant. Through the storm, we lost all but one. As the storm moves off over the horizon (hopefully for good this time), our workload has improved and we’re as busy as ever. We need to grow again.

It’s time to make some decisions. It’s as if we’re starting over again, but this time with the wisdom and knowledge of experienced business owners. I am very excited about the future of Fivecat Studio.

Ten years later, the world is a very different place. Technology and tools exist today to make our processes more efficient and to make our systems have greater impact on our bottom line. And to make things even more interesting, the lease on our Pleasantville studio is up for renewal this coming November.

In these next few months, we’ll be making some changes at Fivecat Studio and as promised many times before, I will share our story here on the blog; all the success and, yes, also the failures.

Have you made changes to your firm as the economy begins to improve? Has technology changed the way you do business? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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photo credit: kevin dooley via photopin cc