Staying Small Successfully: A Guide for Architects, Engineers, and Design Professionals [Hardcover]

Frank A. Stasiowski (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471407739 | ISBN-13: 978-0471407737 | Publication Date: August 16, 2001 | Edition: 2

Making smaller A/E/C firms more productive and more profitable

Want to do big things with a small company? This no-nonsense guide shows leaders of smaller architecture, engineering, and design firms how to compete successfully against larger organizations without becoming one of them. It demonstrates how a smaller firm can position itself to bring more value to its clients, operate over a larger geographical area, and develop a strategic plan for increasing revenues and profits.

Featuring new chapters on forming strategic alliances and maximizing the benefits of information technology, this new edition presents updated case studies of more than fifty small design firms. These firms have achieved remarkable success and handled large contracts with limited staff, and the case studies illustrate how they learned to:
* Anticipate client needs and meet them in advance
* Narrow the target market and expand the client base
* Leverage core competencies to create powerful marketing tools
* Establish strategic partnerships
* Survive and thrive during an economic downturn


Read Staying Small Successfully, Second Edition and follow its recommendations one step at a time. Your company will stay small, but your business, your revenues, and your profits will soar.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Describes the management and marketing techniques that allow small firms to increase profitability without a surge in overhead. Covers planning, marketing, business and financial management project management, and automation. Also gives hints for strengthening quality control and reducing liability and for improving human resources management. A special chapter deals with the role of the owner/principal(s). Includes profiles of successful firms, profit and loss statements and cash flow tables. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

In this new book by a veteran of the design industry, proven strategies are mapped out for setting up a small business or guiding an existing one to success. Using miniprofiles of successful small design firms, Staying Small Successfully pinpoints exactly what has enabled them to flourish. You’ll learn:

• How to develop effective plans and strategies. Many firms flounder because they have no vision, or plan, for the future. Chapter 1 outlines the six elements of the strategic planning process.
• How to focus your practice. Many firms spend years struggling with only "average" profit levels. Chapter 2 shows you how to double the average profit levels by focusing on a specific niche.
• How to service the client. Retaining repeat clients is one of the toughest challenges for a new company. Chapter 3 shows you how to build a loyal clientele as well as a solid reputation for impeccable service.
• How to hire the best and the brightest. Chapter 4 describes how to make your company a magnet for top talent.
• How to manage the bottom line. Chapter 6 shows you how to measure the financial health of your firm with key financial measures —using only a one page report.
• How to master the psychology of winning. Chapter 9 details the tough choices you must make when running a small firm and their impact on your firm’s style, flow, and ultimate success.

You’ll also have instant access to useful resources—like checklists and flowcharts plus numerous appendices containing a listing of design firm management consultants, a typical marketing plan, a survey of typical marketing costs, and a survey of successful small firms—that will put your firm quickly on track. Insightful and assuring, Staying Small Successfully shows you how to meet your profit goals and manage your growth rate—by staying small. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (August 16, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471407739
• ISBN-13: 978-0471407737
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #426,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good guide for engineering and design firms, July 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Staying Small Successfully: A Guide for Architects, Engineers, and Design Professionals (Hardcover)

I stumbled across this book while at a client's office. They had never read it, and what a shame! There are few books written for those that market engineering and design firms. The book tends to talk more about architects than I had expected, but still applies well to designers and engineers. The basic principles are sound and helpful. As an owner of a marketing consulting company, I use the book periodically to get insights on growth, planning, compensation and other issues dealing with the challenges this niche business presents. I highly recommend it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much broader than Architects, Engineers & Design Firms, March 16, 2002

By 

B. DesLauriers "Healthy Living Tours" (BELLEVUE, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Staying Small Successfully: A Guide for Architects, Engineers, and Design Professionals (Hardcover)

This is one of those rare books that offers more than what the cover reveals. Being a fan of Wiley as a business publisher I was first attracted while searching for books on business strategy. This is a bit of a sleeper to me. My business has nothing to do with the target market yet I can safely rate this as a five star based on the excellent content that works in most business environments.

I like the way the author begins his introduction by taking the reader on a separate pathway that helps shape their personal destiny. His view on breaking from tradition and how being different means being visible aims right at one of the great weaknesses of many professional businesses. He slaps the reader with the realization that they must stand apart from the crowd to be seen in today's frantic world.

Then he leads you into the planning and strategy chapter where he imparts the need for a defined vision in writing as part of your plan. From there he focuses on servicing the client, hiring right, paying right and not trying to grow too fast. Hence the title --- `Staying Small Successfully.'

This is excellent sage advice for just about any business I can think of and goes far beyond its intended market. I'm in the online content delivery business and I consider the insight and wisdom within perfect for my business.

With a few minor changes this could be reissued as 'Growing Your Small Business Successfully.'

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mostly Sagely Advice for Architects and Designers, August 24, 2006

By 

B. P. Murphy (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Staying Small Successfully: A Guide for Architects, Engineers, and Design Professionals (Hardcover)

Clearly, this book is well worth the price for anyone involved in the management or administration of architectural and design firms. The content is comprehensive, relevant and well-written. Numerous examples and lists as well as an extensive appendix make it very easy to apply concepts. The technical aspects of the book are particularly useful and lucid, especially concerning legal and financial topics. Other sections on planning, marketing and managing growth also offer much information and many insights. Overall, the book certainly stays on track about business by focusing on practice management versus project management. Philosophizing about architecture and design and its place in society is kept to a minimum--a welcome relief from many books on this subject.

The sections on human resource topics such as personnel and compensation tend to be slightly oversimplified in the advice offered. The basic information is perfectly adequate. However, a few of the recommendations may not be as universally appropriate as they appear. The information technology section is helpful, but understandably dated since its publication in 2001, at least so far as Internet-based tools are concerned.

Aside from a couple of rather expensive and ponderous AIA publications, few good resources are available on how to manage the business of architecture and design. The book is the best value and most concise option available. Every firm should have a copy in its library.