ArchiPreneur Introduction PDF

AR. GILYAN L. FORTUNO, uap BUSINESS MANAGEMENT & APPLICATION 1 ARCHIPRENEUR INTRODUCTION What is Architecture and the business side of it? How to win as Architects and leverage your business? What a...

AR. GILYAN L. FORTUNO, uap BUSINESS MANAGEMENT & APPLICATION 1 ARCHIPRENEUR INTRODUCTION What is Architecture and the business side of it? How to win as Architects and leverage your business? What are the strategies and tactics in branding in your practice of 01 architecture? Do you have an idea that is burning a hole in your brain, begging to be made Frequently Asked real? Questions: Are you a risk taker and love taking chances, even in the face of adversity? Are you ready to spend hours and hours a day and night making your ideas happen? Are you prepared to have your life dominated by your ideas/projects, often at the expense of your personal and home life? Are you up for waking up in cold sweat in the middle of the night realizing that the success or failure of your plan relies 03 mostly on you? ARE YOU READY?  WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE? the process of creating buildings and introducing them into the visual landscape of our cities. WHAT IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP? the process of developing and introducing products or services into society. WHAT IS A BUSINESS? the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." a usually commercial or mercantile activity engaged in as a means of livelihood. a commercial or sometimes an industrial enterprise. dealings or transactions especially of an economic nature.  WHAT IS MANAGEMENT? is a process of planning, decision making, organizing, leading, motivation and controlling the human resources, financial, physical, and information resources of an organization to reach its goals efficiently and effectively. THE ARCHITECTURE EDUCATION  ARCHITECTURE EDUCATION Mainly oriented in It is a very narrow Students only trained to teaching how to design minded thinking on what go working into and build buildings.used is architecture. architectural offices. as demonstrations. half of the students are women, nearly 60%; and they work for less money in offices (between 25 and 30% less), never become the head of their own office (less than 10%). ARCHITECTURE EDUCATION That means that half of the students disappears or become employed workers in offices. What is the future for them? Is this what they expected when doing their studies when most of the time they were very good students? For the new young generation, more than half of them do not want to be employees, they want to work for themselves. ARCHITECTURE EDUCATION Objectives for educators today: to help students to give students the to give them enough being self-confident skills to open the way autonomy to decide in themselves in of practicing who they want to order to become architecture and become and how entrepreneurs, they want to build their own life. ARCHITECTURE EDUCATION  Architects needs to become more Architecture is more a discipline and a entrepreneurial culture than only a profession. Facing very complex questions that implicate most of the disciplines such as law, art, anthropology, philosophy, design, geography, sociology, technics, etc. Architects needs to become more entrepreneurial We are trained to make This uniqueness for the Students need to be synthesis with all of definition of prepared and trained to them together in order “Architecture Thinking”. decide how to apply to create a diagnosis their uniqueness and from which we then this is not only by need to do a proposal Need to reinstate the designing and building that has to be efficient pride of being educated buildings. in architecture and the Training as at every scale from the role of the architect for entrepreneurs, students littlest one to the the world. will be able to act and biggest one. help the world. Thematic fields that should be part of the architecture education: Neurosciences; architectural studies need to New technologies; be re-orientated toward Social action; more humanistic questions; Visual Art; and more integrated in the Physics prospective visions about our future way of living.  Business and Entrepreneurship Being an entrepreneur or having an entrepreneurial attitude is not studying business! This is not a discipline to be learned. This is more of an attitude that students get through autonomy and responsibility. Instead of asking to do, students are put in conditions to decide how to behave and how to manage.  TO BE ARCHIPRENEURS Always believe it is possible. Need to have a bit of talent but more determination. Be involved, take strong positions, take risks and don’t be afraid of failing. Learn from failures more than successes. “Taking risks – collaborating – making mistakes – learning from one’s mistakes – persevering – discovering new concepts and succeeding” - Odile Decq, a French architect and urban planner How do you see the future of your architectural profession? In which areas (outside of traditional practice) can you see major opportunities? The conditions of the world and the society today are the optimal conditions for the future. This is a great opportunity for new directions, new ways of thinking and acting. Tasked to invent the century, to create it by deciding which life you want to have. The Architectural Entrepreneurship Despite the emergence of collective and interdisciplinary practices, architectural entrepreneurship remains a vague discipline. Stepping into the "real world", fresh graduates who decide to venture into their professional journey as freelancers or in start- As academic institutes focus on cultivating students' ups, often find themselves overwhelmed with questions; hard skills during their undergraduate years, their soft skills are often overlooked, left to be acquired or strengthened during their work experience. How do I convince the client? Am I communicating my concept properly to the contractors? Am I charging the client enough? Why is the project not being executed like I designed it? Why is this project taking a lot more time than I intended it to? How can I run a successful business if I've never taken a business course in architecture school? 3 F’s IN ARCHITECTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP 1 2 3 FULLFILMENT FREEDOM as having a business that allows FINANCES in this context as the power to you to do the work that aligns with chart one’s own destiny, every architect and design your ethos. In other words, you get whether that is what kind of profession can (and should) be great satisfaction and feel luck to projects and clients you take on, work on the projects you’re working handsomely rewarded for their how often you take vacation, or on. your personal schedule. creative effort. The do's and don'ts of architectural Should “gaining plenty of profit” become a entrepreneurship priority for the architect? Did we go into architecture because we wanted to be rich? We went into architecture because we value doing interesting and fulfilling work over money. ARCHITECTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP  ARCHITECTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP The DO's and DONT’s of architectural Is not having enough money a detriment to entrepreneurship success? Architects should be handsomely rewarded for their creative effort. A destructive business practice that harms the entire industry. Many architects are willing to prostitute out their services (trying to get their fees as low as possible) to try and win the job. What are the biggest business mistakes that fresh graduates make? Every experience is an opportunity to learn. Don’t limit yourself to what you think is possible. Be willing to take risks. Explore different paths. ARCHITECTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP One thing an architecture student should know. Every architecture school has a different ethos The curriculum is very heavy on theory. Understand your personality and values. There is something out there for everyone. Should business courses be given to architecture students? Architecture students generally aren’t interested in business. Subjecting architecture students to business courses sounds like a cruel form of torture. ARCHITECTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP Schools should teach architecture students that if they want to succeed in design and run their own firm. Master the game of business. Too many intricacies to business that cannot be taught out of a textbook. ARCHITECTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP  FUNDAMENTALS Business management is the process of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling the activities of a business or organization to achieve its goals and objectives It involves overseeing all aspects of a business, from finance and operations to marketing and human resources. Functional Areas What do we need to successfully lead a team or become a well-rounded entrepreneur strong business management skills a good grasp of the core business functions FUNDAMENTALS FUNDAMENTALS 6 Fundamentals of MANAGEMENT and how to incorporate them into your business or job role. People Management Operations Accounting Strategy Data Analytics Marketing  FUNDAMENTALS People Management Applying the standard human resources management processes is not enough to build a high-performing business environment. Successful managers who display high levels of empathy affect their employee’s performance three times more than those who display lower levels of empathy. AS MORE ORGANIZATIONS SHIFT TO HYBRID WORK AND IMPLEMENT MORE TECHNOLOGY TO MONITOR EMPLOYEES, MOTIVATING AND DRIVING PERFORMANCE FROM THEIR TEAM MEMBERS WILL BECOME EVEN MORE CRITICAL FOR SUCCESS. "AT THE END OF THE DAY, HOW WELL YOU MANAGE YOURSELF DETERMINES HOW EFFECTIVE A MANAGER YOU ARE.“ -VASANTHIS SRINVASAN  OPERATIONS Operations management oversees the entire production process of a good or service. Managing a supply chain and making sure production meets demand under tight deadlines can Folks in operations management be incredibly complex and is spend much of their time problem- critical to business success. solving and thinking about how to improve the production processes. This requires an understanding of a range of concepts such as: capacity planning; productivity analysis; quality assurance; and lean management. FUNDAMENTALS  ACCOUNTING Proper management Knowing basic business By understanding: of finances is accounting will enable you profit margins; important to make to answer questions such cash flow; and critical business as: managing debts decisions. how much you can and expenses. spend on marketing; or whether you have the ability to secure a loan from a bank. You are equipping yourself with the knowledge to ensure that your business stays profitable. FUNDAMENTALS  Strategy The ability to take a A good business Strategy high-level, strategic strategy should give: But the strategic view of a business is a clear vision of management of a a must to meet target audience; business requires higher business goals. business’s unique levels of critical thinking. value proposition; While having a good available strategy is very resources be can important, It is strongly “It’s through this process that you can gain much utilized; and believed that the clarity about where to focus your energy and how to stay process of thinking more resources, which competitive. deeply about strategy is ultimately will lead to a higher performance of even more important. your organization.” -Nicolaj Siggelkow FUNDAMENTALS Data Analytics TODAY’S BUSINESSES HAVE MORE DATA THAN EVER BEFORE. Implementing insights from large amounts of data into your business model can be invaluable to: optimize performance; decision making; and increasing your business’s ROI.  ACCORDING TO SISENSE’S STATE OF BI & ANALYTICS REPORT, 49% OF COMPANIES RELY MORE ON DATA ANALYTICS. “Being able to extract information from data is actually a very powerful position to be in with data being collected in all aspects of society, ranging from marketing to health and even to sports and entertainment," -Philippe Rigollet, Associate Professor in the MIT mathematics department and Statistics and Data Science Center. MARKETING Marketing is more than advertising or having a social media presence. Learning marketing fundamentals can help you gain insight into: who your customers are; what marketing channels you need to utilize; and how to build a strong and recognizable brand. FUNDAMENTALS THE BUSINESS OF ARCHITECTURE THE BUSINESS OF ARCHITECTURE Architecture practice extends much beyond just creative spatial solutions. As an architect progresses in professional practice over the years, designing occupies only fraction of work agenda. Young architects are unaware of the practical challenges that come into play before design even commences and those snags that erupt post-completion and handover. Commonly, the lack of knowledge is about on-going market rates, tentative project cost or consultation fees for the project. Even if they manage to acquire a job, they are unaware of professional liabilities and legal implications of their appointment. These roles and responsibilities of an architect are often not adequately addressed in academic curriculum.  THE BUSINESS OF ARCHITECTURE The curriculum mandate of architectural internship offers students their first glimpse into the practice; but the exposure is limited to the tasks handed to them. Owing to their limited skills, interns mostly work on presentations, 3D modelling, drawing corrections etc. If they are lucky; concepts of small projects, an occasional site visit and perhaps; some interactions with consultant and/or client. Professional firms do benefit from the interns and some firms do undertake sincere effort to involve them in projects during their internship. Yet, due to the limitation of skills and time, interns are unable to comprehend the complexities of architecture as a business.  THE BUSINESS OF ARCHITECTURE Post obtaining the bachelor's degree, young architects are often on their own. Most dominant aspiration of architects is to start their own firm or practice, but they are unsure of the path leading to this dream. It is a very confusing stage for these young enthusiasts. They begin their professional journey unsure of where it will lead them. In most cases they take up the first opportunity that comes across. As soon as they enter the work force, they realize that they lack much skills that the profession demands. Architecture offices mostly utilize the drawing and presentation skills of young architects as they are still not equipped to get involved in the business of our profession. It takes many years of experience to finally become a part of a firm's business development and financial decisions. By the time an architect comes close to understanding these operational business skills, many precious years and considerable amount of enthusiasm is already LOST.  This traditional on-going pattern needs a revamp... a fresh outlook. NOW LET'S LOOK AT THE POSSIBILITY OF COMPLETELY CHANGING THIS SCENARIO FROM THE START. We introduce the students with aspects of money management and business skills in the college. They are introduced to legal liabilities of an architect and about entrepreneurship. A cross connect between various disciplines beyond building industry. Faculty from different fields introduce these allied and essential knowledge-systems to architecture students. Teaching staff of architecture college is not only restricted to architects or structural engineers, but expands to charted accountants, business management, financial advisors and law faculty.  We deliberately and positively burst the 'bubble' of believing that pure spatial creativity is required to succeed as an architect. In the process we try to expand their horizon towards marketability, feasibility and budget control as they design. We teach them about their rights as a professional, legalities of business and intellectual property protection. As these students cross over to the professional world, they are better aware of multifaceted aspects of architectural practices. Equipped with a broader understanding about projects and practice, they will contribute productively to the projects in the professional world.  THE BUSINESS OF ARCHITECTURE The responsibility of upgrading young architects in practical aspects does not solely lie on educational institutes. The architects in practice and architectural firms will also play their share of roles in this scenario. With some basic background from academia these young minds will start contributing to business in a holistic way. Architects and firms should mentor young architects early-on in areas of business development, project finances, legalities and liabilities of practice. This process will escalate the growth of fresh architect into a more responsible professional and they will mature faster in their respective careers. It will help the firms.  THE BUSINESS OF ARCHITECTURE and they will mature faster in their respective careers. It will help the firms to get more productive and practical solutions for their projects and a helping hand in development of their business. Employees who think and act like entrepreneurs will escalate their own growth as well as the growth of their firm. Contrary to the most dominant fear of losing the business to the employee, knowledge shared is knowledge gained. By equipping young architects with entrepreneur skills, a practicing architect can harness their fresh ideas and will stay abreast with latest trends. Younger generation being techno savvy will keep the firm afloat in this fast paced, ever changing digital world. There are symbiotic benefits in involving young architects into business.  1 Following are few suggested areas which will mutually benefit both firms and young architects: FINANCIAL LITERACY Understanding of finance and money management is a very important aspects of any profession. Ideally, one should start learning about money and its equations right from school. After all, we learn so we can earn. But this most important part of our learning often takes a backseat in our education. Nevertheless at least financial literacy ought to start in professional colleges and then get imbibed in our practice. We need to understand the worth of our self as professionals, our projects as products and price we pay to be in business. In totality, we should learn and teach about: Professional remunerations for architects Fees structures and payment stages of projects Taxes which we are entitled to pay  2 ACQUIRING JOBS An architecture practice will thrive only if there is a steady inflow land outflow of projects. The part of getting the job, fulfilling the expectation of project/ client and successful execution of project forms the core of architectural practice. A practice is successful only if it keeps excelling in all three aspects leading to repeat business, good reputation and referrals for further projects. Successful project execution is the result of efforts and skills. A repeat job from the same client or a reference from the client is a certificate of your success. It is a proof of architect's merit and client's faith. It is a start of building a reputation in professional world. Every firm or architect has different approaches to handle jobs, which could be taught and groomed by a mentor in the firm. This will help young architects to produce more feasible and convincing work for the firm. 3 MANAGING BUSINESS/OFFICE Managing office is a challenging task. A young architect needs to understand the responsibilities incurred by an architect when a project is designed or approved under their name. The professional liabilities and legal bindings which comes to the architect as a professional. The importance and necessities of regulations, empanelment, copy rights, intellectual property protection and all the legalities which comes with operating of firms. Apart from this, cost of the setup and recurring expenditure which are inevitable part of architectural practice should be understood by all the employees who work in the firm. This awareness and understanding will make them more involved as a team member and responsible about using office resources. Inculcating these values in employees will also help the firm against plagiarism and copyright infringements. 4 Architecture practice being a service, caters to requirements of clients while dealing with spectrum of professionals from building industry and beyond. Besides clients, we deal with consultants, artists, contractors, site workers, approving authorities, PERSONAL SKILLS government officials, vendors, lawyers and accountants to name few. They range from skilled, semi-skilled to unskilled category. While interacting with such wide variety of people, one requires good communication skills. people management skills along with good amount of emotional intelligence quotient. A professional who gets their work done while maintaining good relations, respecting fellow professionals and keeping professional ethics uncompromised is respected in market. This is a tough equation to maintain. However, an architect will only thrive in their career if they learn to strike this perfect balance. The same lesson needs to be imbibed within budding architects. A joint effort from academician, professionals and even budding architects is required to change the age-old impression of an architect as mere artist with professional degree. In modern times, architect is expected to play multitude of roles and we are not equipped enough for it. We need to take a fresh look at entire scenario from education, mentorship to professional management in order to collectively upgrade. We should be an all-inclusive community working in cohesion to grow together and develop our fraternity.