Practical Tips for Starting Your Architecture Business

 

Starting an architecture business from scratch can be quite daunting. Making the most of the resources available to build a reputation and increase profits is vital to gain a foothold in this industry.

Despite the challenges and the rising competition, the architecture industry has a host of avenues that can be leveraged to make your business stand out. With the forecasts for architects looking up, surviving on your own is actually not a difficult task if you have the right strategies in place.

Apart from being competitive, the architecture industry is quite exciting. Swarming with business opportunities, your innovative idea is just what the architecture industry needs to add to its directory of success stories. However, to stay buoyant, you would need to adopt a few unique techniques. Let’s take a look at these in details.

Build Effective Client Relationships

A good customer relationship is crucial for your architecture business. The first step is to attract the right clients. For this, you would require a plan of action that should include building a good and unique image of your brand. Be very clear about the values and goals of your business.

You need to understand that yours and your clients’ opinions are not going to match in all circumstances. Be patient, professional and most importantly, honest. While talent plays a significant role in the architecture industry, it is no longer a differentiator. Sure, a wonderful design will open the door for you, but what matters the most is how well you communicate that to your clients.

While choosing which clients to work with will uphold the integrity and reputation of your company, you should also find ways to balance your creative ideas with your clients’ requirements.

Leverage Social Media

Social media is a long-term approach to building brands, engaging customers and increasing profits. As much as 2.1 billion of the world’s population use social media and this number is expected to rise to 2.5 billion by 2018. Therefore, using social media to publish and market your design work can create an abundance of opportunities for building valuable networks.

Social media allows you to:

• connect with the professionals in your industry
• be more aware of the trends and developments in architecture
• keep up with the evolving requirements of customers
• join debates with other like-minded professionals and so on

Embrace New Technology

Technology is here for a reason: to make our lives easier. Your architecture business could make use of its benefits to fully establish the effectiveness of your work.

From conceiving a germ of an idea to sketching up the blueprint for design, architectural visualization makes the entire process easier. A 3D rendering model provides complete and accurate information of a design. Thus, any flaws in the basic concept can be pointed out and necessary alterations can be made way before the construction process begins. This enhances visual communication and opens up better opportunities to market your designs effectively.

Apart from this, virtual reality has also been gaining steam as an effective presentation tool and recently, many architecture firms have already started embracing it.

“VR opens a big door to enable new kinds of dynamic and exciting interactions”, says Steve McConnell, managing partner of the architecture firm, NBBJ. He adds, “It begins with the essential need to keep innovating what we do. It’s about the ease and ability for clients to understand the worlds we create.”

Provide Additional Services

Additional services are usually not included in the basic services offered by a firm. These make the customers aware of the extra services that your firm is extending as a goodwill gesture. Some of these may include the following:

• Management responsibilities of the entire project
• Purchase and delivery of the products that need to be outsourced for the project
• Utilizing your own stock of products for the completion of the project

These should be presented to the clients when you provide the initial quote to your client. The entire process of upselling and cross-selling to clients can be exceptionally beneficial for your architecture business.

It goes without saying that even one instance of a flawed outcome can be detrimental to the future of your business. While there is nothing wrong with building monumental buildings, sustainability and an ability to solve your clients’ problems creatively can help you stand out in this highly competitive industry. These can help you create a brand that is unique and showcases what you do best.

 

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