Business of Architecture Podcast

Sprayed by the pool vacuum - the ArchitectCEO Daily update. Hey architect nation! Today's parable is: sprayed by the pool vacuum. So the other day I was walking out by the pool in my backyard. The pool has an automatic vacuum that cleans up debris that falls into the pool. On the end of this vacuum is a hose that sweeps back and forth across the bottom of the pool to stir up debris so the vacuum and pool filer can clean the water and keep the pool sparkling blue. Well, it was a beautiful, cool morning here in central California, and as I walked by the edge of the pool, the hose on the end of the vacuum comes out of the water and sprays me from head to toe! My first reaction was to get pissed and throw a couple of mental expletives. Then I realized the truth of the situation. Here I was in a free, democratic country with a full belly and clothes on my back. I have a pool and live in California. I remembered that I can control some things, I can influence some things, and I have absolutely no control over most things. The only things I can control are the things inside of me - my thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions. As I stood there on the side of the pool, I felt gratitude for this lesson that the pool vacuum had given me. This is similar to life. Often it feels like we are just going along enjoying a beautiful day when, whamo! Something comes out of left field and knocks us down. At that point, the only thing we can do is choose how we react to that situation. It's the same in the game of running an architecture firm. All you can control is the actions you take in your firm, not the result. If you want to learn what actions you need to take to build your DREAM Practice, register for my next free online presentation on 3 Keys to Design Your Perfect Job, Your Perfect Clients and Your Perfect Firm: http://architectresources.org/8in2 Carpe diem. Enoch Bartlett Sears

One of the top challenges of small firm architects is the feast and famine cycle of the building industry. The #1 question I get from architecture firm owners is, "how do I get consistent clients?" This is the topic of today's ArchitectCEO Update. Watch it and let me know what you think. If you're looking for a roadmap to consistent clients in your firm, I invite you to register for my next free online presentation on building your Dream Practice:http://architectresources.org/9negs6

Today we celebrate Independence Day here in the United States of America. Let's talk about architectural freedom ...

Today I answer a viewer question. “Enoch, what is the roadmap for marketing a small architecture firm?” – Tom Great question Tom. I get asked this frequently, because if work isn't coming into a firm, the firm doesn't eat. And a lot of firms out there are struggling to get the food they want to eat. There are three systems that make up the roadmap to marketing a small architecture firm. A system to create attention, interest and desire around the services that your firm provides from your ideal clients A system to convert those relationships into work A system to follow up and nurture relationships that may turn into work later If you want a shortcut to developing these marketing systems for your firm, consider applying to the DREAM Practice Accelerator. The DREAM Practice accelerator helps architecture firm owners build their dream practice, a practice that is dependable, rewarding, provides an exceptional experience for themselves and their team, is autonomous (can function without them there) and mission driven (a clear purpose). Click here to discover more about the DREAM Practice Accelerator.

How to win more of the RIGHT architecture projects: the ArchitectCEO Daily Update. I live in California's Great Central Valley – a huge agricultural region that runs the entire length of California. The farmers around here produce billions of dollars of produce every year. As I was driving around recently, I looked over the endless orchards and thought about the difference between farming and hunting as it relates to business development for architects. A farmer prepares the ground, plants the seed and gives that seed what it needs to grow and produce fruit. After a time, the farmer harvests the produce of that effort. The hunter on the other hand has a tougher job. The hunter travels to a location where the target game is found and must find the prey. Waiting for word-of-mouth is like farming. After doing good work over time, past clients refer you. This process is slow but steady, and these referrals usually turn out to be good clients. However, there are scenarios where simply waiting for word-of-mouth (farming) doesn't work. Farming takes time. If you're getting hungry right now, it's time to hunt. To discover how to do hunting that actually works, attend my next free online architect Masterclass: http://architectresources.org/bshd7ya Carpe diem Enoch Bartlett Sears

Hello Architect Nation! This morning, as usual, I went to the Crossfit gym where I work out with my wife and 6 - 7 other people. Our coach was explaining today's workout, when suddenly he was interrupted by the deafening noise of the gas-powered blower the yard maintenance guy was using outside. The Crossfit gym where I exercise is housed in a metal building. Both of the rolling doors were up to let in the cool morning air. Coach Devin crossed his arms with a smile, "Guess I'll have to wait until yard guy is done." Eventually the noise from the blower died down as the yard guy walked away. Coach Devin continued to explain the workout and I had a successful session sweating, grunting and in general torturing myself. This experience with the noisy yard blower got me thinking - how often are we interrupted by figurative yard blowers throughout our day? An unexpected phone call or an email sends me on a wild goose chase of being reactionary instead of pro-active. What I'd have you consider today is this - where in your firm are you being distracted by the noisy blowers instead of focusing on the strategic moves that will put your firm on a solid and successful foundation for the future? Where do you need to shut down the outside noise and focus on what matters? Have you identified what matters? The number one thing you can do to help your architecture firm in the future is to build a solid foundation now. The DREAM Practice Accelerator is a program for architecture firm owners who want to build their dream firm - a firm that is in-demand and highly sought after because of the great work that you do. To discover how to create your bullet-proof firm, click here and register for my next 60-minute DREAM Practice training. Carpe diem. Enoch Bartlett Sears

Have you ever done something you regret? Of course not, right?   I did - just two days ago when I blew up at my wife for doing me a needed favor.   As I stood there, looking at my wife with tears in her eyes, I felt horrible for being such a royal jerk to the most wonderful lady in my life, my beautiful queen.   I learned an important lesson that day.   Hear the whole story in today's ArchitectCEO daily update: You Made Your Bed - Now Sleep In It.

Today I welcome Kevin Collins to the show. Kevin Collins is the Underwriting Manager for the Professional Liability program at Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, one of the largest providers of professional liability insurance for architects and engineers. We discuss the top 5 things you should consider when getting professional liability insurance. ► Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for updates: https://www.youtube.com/c/BusinessofArchitecture ******* For more free tools and resources for running a profitable, impactful and fulfilling practice, connect with me on: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessofarchitecture Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enoch.sears/ Website: https://www.businessofarchitecture.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BusinessofArch Podcast: http://www.businessofarchitecture.com/podcast/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/business-architecture-podcast/id588987926 Android Podcast Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BusinessofArchitecture-podcast ******* Access the FREE Architecture Firm Profit Map video here: http://freearchitectgift.com Download the FREE Architecture Firm Marketing Process Flowchart video here: http://freearchitectgift.com Come to my next live, in-person event: https://www.businessofarchitecture.com/live Carpe Diem!

The Theory of Constraints is a management theory developed by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt. He discusses it in his popular book, The Goal. The theory states that every system's output will be limited by it's weakest link. For instance, if you're doing an exercise - say squats, the amount you can lift will be limited by the muscle that gives out first when trying to lift the weight. In a building structural system, the integrity of the building is limited by the element that fails first. In a business system, if you can identify the constraint, you can work to pro-actively fix it, improving the efficiency and output of the entire system. This theory simplifies the improvement of your business - just find the weakest link, improve it, iterate, then find the next weakest link. Recently on a trip to the beach I had an experience that reminded me of the theory of constraints. My brother-in-law brought a fabric cooler he had gotten at Costco. The lid of the cooler is sealed shut with a zipper. The zipper broke, and now the entire cooler is useless. The cooler fell prey to the Theory of Constraints. If the manufacturer had designed a sturdier zipper, the cooler would have lasted longer - and another part would have failed first. What I'd have you consider today is what is the constraint in your business that is holding you back from getting the outcome you want? Identify this constraint and fix it. If you don't know how to fix it, consult with someone who does. If you want help fixing the constraints in your architecture firm, apply for the DREAM Practice Accelerator. Go to https://www.businessofarchitecture.com/reviews to find out more.

What is holding you back? You're working hard to get specific results, but there are so many obstacles in your way. The ArchitectCEO Update: What if I told you that the only thing that is holding you back is you?!? It isn't what's on the outside – your employees, your spouse, your education or lack thereof – You're the one that is responsible for your results in your life. You're the one that is holding you back. This can be a hard pill to swallow, but it's also empowering because you have 100% of the power needed to change your situation and the life you're living. To learn more about how to create your DREAM Architecture practice, go to http://architectresources.org/9mjd7s

This morning as I was doing my daily workout, I looked up and saw a little sparrow chasing a crow. This brought to mind the parable of the crows vs the eagle. Listen and let me know what you think. Enoch

On this episode, you'll discover the parable of "Red on Right on Return" and discover one simple way to differentiate your architecture firm.

This morning as I pulled into my neighborhood, I saw a stack of white papers littering the side of the road. They had begun to blow down the street creating a huge eye-sore. As I drove past I wondered, “who will clean up those papers?” My initial reaction was to leave them for someone else to clean up. Then I realized that no one else would clean them up. They would likely sit there for days littering the street and blowing into adjacent yards if someone didn't collect them up. I realized that if they bothered me, it was up to me to clean them up. So I turned my car around, parked on the side of the street and collected the stack of papers and all the strays. This experience is similar to all areas of life, including business. I have figurative ‘papers' littering my life, my business, my relationships and my health. These are the things that are keeping me from getting the result I want in life. Instead of recognizing them and cleaning them up, I continue to let them blow around in the wind. For example, in my business one team member has the duty to fill out a spreadsheet at the end of the day. The reason for doing this is so that I can see where the business is headed and make corrections if necessary. Well, yesterday afternoon I noticed that the spreadsheet hadn't been filled out. I had an internal conflict. Should I point this out to this team member and risk making this person feel annoyed or defensive? Or should I just let it go? Then I realized that if I ignore the small but important things, big things follow. New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani cleaned up Manhattan by cracking down on small offenses like littering and jay-walking. Because of his attention to the small things, New York City saw a steep decline in both violent crimes and quality-of-life crimes. Attention to the small stuff created a new culture in New York City. The same principle applies in your business. What culture are you creating by either ignoring or not ignoring the small stuff – both for yourself and your staff? The question I'd have you consider today is this: Where across the domains of body, being, balance and business do you have figurative ‘papers' blowing around that need to be cleaned up? Where are you driving by and letting them litter your neighborhood without taking action? Write that thing down and make a decision, do you want this part of your neighborhood littered or clean? Then take the steps to make it happen. If you know you have a lot of papers blowing around and you want a shortcut to cleaning them up and building the firm of your dreams, you may be a fit for my DREAM Practice Accelerator. Go here to find out more and discover if the DREAM Practice Accelerator is for you. Carpe diem. Enoch Bartlett Sears

How you do one thing is how you do everything. The bad (and good) habits that we have repeat through all areas of life. This is a concept that one of my business mentors taught me years ago. Recently I took a hard look at my life and what I'm doing and I noticed this pattern showing up. First let me share an incident that reminded me of this recently, and then I'll share how I saw this pop up in my own life. Two weeks ago I was attending a business seminar. One guy out of our group was continually late to the sessions. When he finally arrived, he sat off to the side at the front of the room. After repeatedly seeing this guy walk in late, the man running the seminar confronted him. “You came to this seminar to learn how to improve your business. But you're showing up late. You're not engaging in the exercises and you're not even taking notes. Do you care about your f**ing business or not? The message I'm getting is that you don't care … you aren't ALL IN.” “How you do ONE THING is how you do EVERYTHING. My guess is that this habit shows up in other areas of your business and life. And this is one major reason why you aren't getting the results that you want.” Boom. I felt bad for the guy that was on the receiving end of this fire – he was stone-faced and silent, but he knew what the trainer was saying was true. How I Saw This In My Life Yesterday was Sunday, and I was at church with my family. One of my church responsibilities is to find someone to give an opening prayer and someone to give a closing prayer for the church service. I was sitting up on the stand waiting for the service to start with about one minute left. Suddenly, the Bishop (leader of the congregation) leans over to me and asks me if I had asked anyone to offer the prayers. Doh! I hadn't. It was all I could do to keep from letting loose an expletive there in front of the congregation – that would have been a meeting to remember! Feeling a temporary burst of embarrassment, I quickly stepped down from the stand and found two unwitting, but willing, victims in the congregation and asked them to give the prayers. Fortunately, they obliged. So what lesson did I learn from this? How you do one thing is how you do everything. I've always told myself that I'm not a ‘details' guy. This is the story I tell myself about who I am. I realize that lack of attention to the details is a repeated pattern for me (no surprise here). But my attitude changed when I considered how this habit is showing up in other areas of my life. Fortunately, I can change. So this moment of recognition allows me to take some actions and change my ways. If I can achieve what I've achieved without attention to the details, imagine what I can do when I become the person who handles not only the big picture, but the attention to details! This is how I like to think about things. What I'd have you consider today is this: Where in your business or your life do you have a pattern of doing something that is sabotaging the results you want to get? Perhaps you aren't even aware of this thing. Write that thing down in your journal and ask yourself the question, how is this pattern showing up in other areas of my life? What can I do to change it? That's all for today. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Carpe diem. Enoch Bartlett Sears

"The way we build is stupid," proclaims sustainable evangelist and architect Eric Corey Freed. In this episode of the Business of Architecture Show, you'll discover how some companies are innovating how buildings are built and what's possible in the future. ► Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for updates: https://www.youtube.com/c/BusinessofArchitecture ******* For more free tools and resources for running a profitable, impactful and fulfilling practice, connect with me on: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/businessofarchitecture Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enoch.sears/ Website: https://www.businessofarchitecture.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BusinessofArch Podcast: http://www.businessofarchitecture.com/podcast/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/business-architecture-podcast/id588987926 Android Podcast Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BusinessofArchitecture-podcast ******* Access the FREE Architecture Firm Profit Map video here: http://freearchitectgift.com Download the FREE Architecture Firm Marketing Process Flowchart video here: http://freearchitectgift.com Come to my next live, in-person event: https://www.businessofarchitecture.com/live Carpe Diem!