I am now a licensed Architect. I have worked with my Uncle since I started studying architecture. He is extremely old school. So much so that he does rely mostly on hard copy drawings and has little exposure to CAD and similar software. He had designed many projects in my country and has a great team of engineers working for him. But the office is now run down. It is old with cracks everywhere and leaks, file cabinets containing two-decade old projects and documents. We do not have a PM and no one else would love to bring the firm back to life as much as I do.
We have the following departments ( Civil, Architecture, MEP, and Land Survey). We have about 19 employees at the meantime. But yet, I feel I need to revamp this firm and bring back its glory new-school style.
Since I am pretty much a fresh graduate I lack much of the experience many of you have. So I would love to hear some advice. The office will be torn down and done from scratch that means I will have to bring in an IT team to help with all the new wiring etc.
If there already is a similar thread with the same points, that would be great.
Alright so I need recommendations regarding the following
- Server system ( I have had many problems before with colleagues saving a file as "20.10.2015 client A villa' and then find out that the latest revised one was 19.10.2015" this was truly a nightmare. How can I sort this out. How can I establish a server system with a single file that can be edited simultaneously. Is there a software?
- Organization : How to organize all my projects, clientele, documents. Should it be digital? What should my secretary be responsible for?
We have 3 Civil engineers (1 structural, 2 site engineers)
4 Architects
3 MEP engineers
4 Land surveyors
2 Secretaries
1 accountant
Believe it or not. Up till today all invoices, salary slips, etc have been hand-written. All accounts and payments have been registered in a blue book (also by hand).
So how does everyone sort their accounts these days? Design costs, downpayements, Balances? is there a specific software?I plan on hiring younger secretaries that have better new-school exposure.
What else should I be aware of and how can I bring this firm back to life?
Apologies for the long post.
stone
Nov 3, 15 4:20 pm
My advice - find a job somewhere else and save yourself a lot of heartache.
Unless your Uncle has said "Here bahraini, I'm turning the firm over to you -- you have a free hand to make whatever changes you think might be needed" you're probably going to run up against recalcitrance and obstruction at every turn. And, because you're so young and inexperienced, you are not likely to have the credibility needed to change anybody's mind.
Why suffer through this frustration? If they felt the need to change, they already would have done so.
However, if you insist on trying to turn this rusty old barge around, don't try to change everything at once. Tackle only one problem at a time and be absolutely sure you handle that problem successfully. Then move on to the next problem. That way you can build credibility and, with success, the others will soon start listening more attentively to what you have to say.
bahraini
Nov 4, 15 3:12 am
Yes stone. He will eventually turn the firm to me. I have a lot of things going on if I choose to stay. 1 the Company is grade A (Architectural, Civil) that means we can handle any project at any budget and participate in any tender. 2. The company itself is over 40 years old so that will help as opposed to a new firm that no one heard of. 3. The company is well known and is one of the pioneering engineering firms in my country. Albeit its old school technologies, I still have faith.
Frankly, leaving is not an option.
bahraini
Nov 4, 15 6:02 am
I did. That's why i'm here. The ball is in my court at the moment so I can make the decisions. He is accepting the idea but he wants to understand my strategy.
null pointer
Nov 4, 15 8:14 am
nepotism.
I left a firm for this same fucking reason.
Expect to lose some staff.
gruen
Nov 4, 15 10:33 am
I'm going to offer a different suggestion.
You are making a business decision - bring an "old school" firm up to "new school" standards.
Why do you make this sort of decision - when you are a business owner? You make these sort of decisions because either:
1) you're going to make more money if you make the changes
OR
2) The firm will sink unless you make the changes
Right now, you haven't indicated that the firm is failing in any way - just that it looks old and run down to you.
It may be that the firm could do better financially, and be better prepared to move ahead if you make the changes. Or it may be that you rock the boat too much and lose key staff who are making the firm real money with their 'old ways'.
You may also make the changes and invest too much money in them, and find it very difficult to make the money back, and sink the firm anyway.
You need to be very careful in these cases.
But you have a tremendous opportunity.
The first thing you need to do is get a written agreement with your Uncle about you taking over the firm. What role do you have during the transition (does he let you start these changes, etc?), what is your cost to buy him out, and what do you get for your money (clients, employees, etc).
Then, you need to map out the costs moving forward - really do a business plan with numbers attached to it. This will tell you about the costs (of buying a server for example) against the expected return on that investment. Without this document - and have it reviewed by smart people who have business experience and learn from their advice - you shouldn't move forward with expensive changes.
Finally, you need to get the staff on board. You need to be honest with them - probably many of them are older - and VERY experienced. They are awesome to have around, they will provide real value to you - but you don't want to scare them off. And probably many of them won't want to learn new software - why should they if they are getting close to retirement, etc? You need to talk to them about their legacy and about training a new generation to continue their legacy. It's a psychological game and you may need to integrate new and old ways of doing business to make it work.
And don't throw out the old ways. If something is done well on paper instead of the computer there's nothing wrong with it just because it's paper based. Look instead at the SYSTEMS in place and see if they are solid or not.
Here's a key - a good business is made up of systems. In all good businesses, some of these systems aren't so good - but even a bad system is better than no system at all.
For example: if the business has a paper based invoicing system that runs like clockwork each month, then it's a decent system. If it could be made a bit better by going digital, then you need to decide if it's worth it to upgrade that system. If there's no system of any kind, and invoicing sucks, then you need a system of some sort - paper or digital.
Make sense?
Technology is NOT a system, just a bunch of tools. The tech could be paper and pencil or REVIT, but both are just tools. It's up to you as a business owner to turn them into systems. A guy who has a great system on pencil and paper will run rings around a guy who can't turn REVIT into a system.
gruen
Nov 4, 15 10:34 am
PS: don't do anything unless your Uncle can commit to actually signing a transition document with you.
quizzical
Nov 4, 15 5:23 pm
bahraini - pay close attention to what gruen writes above - his suggestions make a lot of sense.
Also, if you have any funds available and you're not altogether sure you know how to design an appropriate plan for the firm, you might want to consider bringing in a management consultant who specializes in design firms. A consultant like that can help you develop a 'strategic plan' to guide the sorts of operational improvements you want to implement.
Good luck.
Miles Jaffe
Nov 4, 15 5:34 pm
The office will be torn down and done from scratch
Gotta love it when the hot-shit fresh-out-of-school no-nothing comes in to save the established successful firm.
Gruen what you just said answers a bunch of questions I had going in my mind. It does in fact make a lot of sense. Maybe I haven't been extremely clear. The firm is doing well (could be much better) but I can see a lot of flaws from the get go. A lot of things can be improved. Renovating this office is inevitable and it will happen as soon as a few months. So in my mind, coming here and getting some professional insight would help and I am sure many of us here had went through a relatively similar scenario. Don't get me wrong we are using Autocad mostly, but we do not have a 3D visualizer, we don't mess with the photoshop mumbo jumbo and yet we have about 11 projects going. A few 9 story buildings, a bunch of villas, two factories. Most of the clients are loyal and have been coming back to us for decades. But still, we are way behind the competition.
I am not worried about any of the legal matters. I am all that my uncle has and he does not have kids. So I am mainly focusing on improving this firm and I need the right approach.
I guess I can jump back to the old/new dilemma. If you were to judge our firm, you would say we still operate like we are in the 90's. A lot of the plotters are outdated, Monitors are first gen flat screens, software is all outdated, lots of shelves filled with dusty old files. The internet system is a nightmare, we do not even have a shared folder that we can all access/edit the same file. Instead we have many of the same dwg sorted by date and revision, and I cannot tell you how many times I spent hours revising the wrong file. It sucks.
bahraini
Nov 4, 15 6:00 pm
Miles Jaffe.
I am not the one doing it from scratch nor am I the one paying for it. He is, after I spent years convincing him. I will not save the firm either it has been doing fine for 40 years. I am just trying to improve things. I am 27 years old, and I only have 2 years of professional experience but I am not stupid.
gruen
Nov 4, 15 7:24 pm
Any money you spend ON the firm means less money in your pocket. Therefore, smart business owners try to spend as little ON their business as possible.
Of course, you need to spend enough to keep the doors open and have a "good enough" business in order to succeed.
This may, or may not include having a nice place to work. If it does not look good, does that mean you can't attract top talent, or does it mean that clients don't hire you? Maybe it does, or maybe it does not.
Same thing with software and hardware. If it works and is good enough, then don't change it. Instead, focus on the things that do matter. For example, you would be losing money if your employees often work on the wrong file and have to re-do work. The cost of a new modern server system might be worth it, but upgrading everyone to Revit, when they are using CAD might not be worth it right away.
Don't compare yourself to the competition as long as the firm is doing well. Instead, focus on sustainable growth and improving.
Let me explain my business a bit.
I am a sole proprietor architect and work out of my house. I have a nice office that I share with my wife. I have a great laptop and a big screen to attach to it. I have an old plotter (about 10 or more years old) that I got for almost nothing. It's slow, but works well for what I need, and I can plot a large sheet for about $.50. I use Revit LT and AutoCAD LT. Honestly, Revit is an investment for me - I'm quite certain I could use a freeware cad program and do just fine for most of my business. I do not do anything fancy in terms of graphics. That's my business - it's not the same for everyone, but that's the type of business I'm building and I expect that I will eventually make a lot more money off of it than I would as an employee. Right now, the money is about the same.
I work really hard to keep my overhead low. My wife thinks I should get a nice office and some employees in order to attract larger projects. I know that getting a certain size and type of project would require a nice office and employees, but right now I'm not ready to take on those expenses, mainly because I cannot yet articulate to an employee what they need to do in order to make me money. I will avoid getting an office for as long as I can, because it's an expense.
I know from past business ventures that it's VERY easy to spend money on your business, and very difficult to make money off of it. It's VERY easy to get a nice office, and VERY easy to get employees and fun hardware and software. It's much harder to put these things together and make money off of it.
Your largest expenses are:
1) employees (far and away the most expensive thing)
2) rent / work space, including the cost of utilities)
You can turn hardware and software into a big expense too.
It sounds to me that the office could use some organization and some systems to help stay organized. It might help to clear out some of the old files (this is often true) or archive things.
Can you renovate the office on the cheap? New paint and flooring, maybe new lights? Can you renovate only part of the office - the part that the clients see?
But these are all just things - not systems. Systems are critical.
I recommend reading E-myth. It has helped me focus my business on systems and efficiency. I am a bit disappointed in it because it never tells you HOW to really systematize, but at least it points you in the right direction. I'm also working my way through Staying Small Successfully for about the 3rd time - a wealth of information on running a small to medium sized design firm. Actually, I'll probably get some flak for this, but I've found Scott Adams to be great for talking about systems too. His latest book is How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big really touches on a lot of things you need to know to run a business - systems and marketing.
Larchinect
Nov 4, 15 8:06 pm
Sounds like a great learning experience to me.
I like Gruens comments--frame youre decision making in the context of a business plan, ie 'how will this make our process more streamlined, make our working environment more enjoyable, earn the attention of new clients, etc?
My partner and I have built our still very small landscape architecture firm from scratch and we are almost beside ourselves to see the business grow--it really is a satisfying experience and a totally separate one from that of the day-to-day architect. Most will never understand or appreciate what goes into starting and running the business side of things.
Obviously you have the advanyage of much of that leg work being done, but I like how you seem to have a respect for your uncles successes and he seems to see you as his protege. Dont listen to some who say you should run for greener pastures. You will undoubtedly learn far more sticking with your situation, learning, and helping bring the firm intot the 21st century.
Good luck!
Larchinect
Nov 4, 15 8:18 pm
To actually answer your questions:
Never date files (it will inevitably happen in a pinch). Make an 'archive' folder to hold a record of old files as revisions are made.
Source (Files from CLient/consultants, dated and organized by consultant)
Secretary can save consultant files in appropriate places, billing, archiving, admin stuff. Yes, it should all be digital. You also need an on site and off site backup.
Miles Jaffe
Nov 4, 15 8:39 pm
bahraini, no need to get your knickers in a twist. I didn't say you were stupid, I said you don't know anything. There is a difference between stupid and ignorant. Asking for advice is an indication that you're not stupid.
I'm not going to go into the technical because gruen has thoughtfully and graciously covered that. I will address the human, which is in many respects more inportant. The 19 people there are accustomed to doing things a certain way, and not just ordinary things but the incredibly complex and interwoven things that successfully completing multiple architectural projects simultaneously requires.
Any changes are bound to have an effect on both the work and the people, and you should understand that the 19 people in that office have found a way to successfully manage the complexity of their work loads, responsibilities and professional relationships, and that is why the firm is successful. This is a beautiful, efficient and fragile thing that I don't expect you to understand with your lack of experience, but it's not the pretty office or slick computer that makes the work happen, it's the experienced people working together with mutual respect, comfort and security in an office's culture and environment.
The hiring or firing of a single person - or the ill-considered change of a even single process - can derail the entire well-oiled machine. In other words, you're far more likely to break something than you are to fix it. Changes aren't required because of appearances, they are required when functions are insufficient or fail in one way or another.
You have little experience in the profession and no training or experience in management, yet you expect to turn the business on its head and improve it. That's a guaranteed way to destroy it.
gruen
Nov 4, 15 9:18 pm
Miles is right- the people have invented their own systems-and they work. Part of this-and it's really important-is the social aspect.
Bring them in to the process-get them to document their systems and how they work together. Get them to show you what works and what does not. Give them a lot of respect. Then, get them to buy into change-to protect their legacy and help keep what is unique about what they do
bahraini
Nov 5, 15 3:27 am
I have no idea why some guys are not providing the valuable input, and choose to bash instead.
Thanks Larchinect that's a good start.
Now if I can get some valuable advice instead of stating that I will ruin this firm with my inexperience, that would be great. Where is that meme when you need it lol.
Again, I am not the manager or principal. I will not destroy anything. I have faith in our system but again, I am just trying to upgrade, its 2015 for crying out loud.
archiwutm8
Nov 5, 15 4:18 am
Valuable input? everyone is giving you valuable input in what you're planning to do, just because its not a positive one you want doesn't mean it's not valuable some of these guys and girls have been in the business far longer than you and have a shit ton more experience than you, you studied architecture, you must have been criticised.
I've seen this done at my previous place and it left employees disgruntled and a lot quit, we lost work because of shit like this. Do it slowly and consult with everyone when you make changes, don't go in like a bull in a china shop.
bahraini
Nov 5, 15 5:07 am
Again, I don't understand the hate. I am not butt hurt and I really appreciate most of the input. But stating that the firm will fail because of my inexperience and why you make it sound like I am the principal of this firm is beyond me. If you had a family owned business, and it is deteriorating in some ways, you will at least try to improve based on your generations ideologies.
Yes I may be young. But I know what many architects/designers my age don't. I have been to 3 design/build studios, built sustainable housing for low income folks, I helped in post-tension slab construction, I have calculated shear walls using the finite element method. I have also designed a fiber glass 25m span dome with some of my structural engineers assistance. I have both topographical and hydrographic survey experience. I have designed housing buildings with precast walls, slabs, and foundations with only grout as the sole raw concrete material. I fabricated I-beams and C-channels and welded truss systems on my own while earning an Architecture Degree. I am not ignorant so please stop with that nonsense.
null pointer
Nov 5, 15 10:36 am
let's get this straight: you're getting the job because your uncle runs the shop. there are probably a lot more qualified employees that could run the shop but because of you are the CEO's nephew, you're getting dibs on an instant promotion.
your uncle is an idiot.
you've built nothing and you deserve nothing.
most people here are telling you to be respectful, tactful and not to fuck shit up. you just seem to be ignoring them by listing a long list of short-term qualifications that read like a tactfully crafted resume.
Miles Jaffe
Nov 5, 15 11:16 am
bahraini, you ask for advice and then complain that you don't like it?
I take it back. You are stupid.
bahraini
Nov 5, 15 11:41 am
Miles I dont think anything you said is of any value to me. What Larchinect said is somewhere along the lines of what I expected. Thanks to the people who helped.
bahraini
Nov 5, 15 11:43 am
Null pointer I think you're oozing with either jealousy/hate or both. I dont know if its because you work at walmart or trying to finish your idp hours.
null pointer
Nov 5, 15 12:03 pm
jealousy? nope. no fucking way i'd ever leave nyc to work in bumfuck nowhere in india. i like being able to drink my tap water without getting the shits.
hate? always.
bahraini
Nov 5, 15 12:36 pm
What gave you the impression I live in india? Ignorance at its finest. Im from bahrain and we dont drink tap water buddy.
Non Sequitur
Nov 5, 15 1:08 pm
Bahrain? like it's any better and not drinking tap water is not something to be proud of. Null is quite on point here, as is Miles.
This was quite enjoyable to read.
no_form
Nov 5, 15 1:32 pm
When the oil runs out non sequitur...Bahrain will be drafting with a stick in the sand.
archiwutm8
Nov 6, 15 4:10 am
Being rude at its finest, maybe learn some manners before anything else.
bahraini
Nov 6, 15 10:35 am
Please read my first post. I came here and asked friendly and simple questions. I was after valuable advice. Instead I got attacked by strangers who went off topic. It ended with racism, how brilliant.
Only two out of twenty people responded to the topic. The rest is hate, racism, and bullshit.
poop876
Nov 6, 15 11:01 am
bahraini,
don't take it personal. Some of posters are cad monkeys that are still doing bathroom elevations, some have their last real project 15 years ago, yet they all have the knowledge how to run business and some are architects out of their basement.
I personally jumped into a business venture with a friend and we revived an old company that struggled after and during the recession. Two of us in 09 to 7 now, so it is possible. But then again, both of us don't post on Archinect all day long.
Miles Jaffe
Nov 6, 15 11:47 am
Only two out of twenty people responded to the topic.
Correction: only 2 of 20 responded to the question in a way that you liked, confirming your preconceived notions. Looking at it statistically you are 90% wrong.
I'll be charitable and tell you that good advice is not necessarily that which you agree with, but I certainly don't expect you to agree or even get it as your cup is full to overflowing and there is not room for even a single drop.
Have a nice day.
null pointer
Nov 6, 15 5:39 pm
Racism? Fuck no. The fact that you conflate calling you Indian to be racist is racist.
Elitist? Fuck yes. You're operating in a third world country in a company where nepotism runs so deep that your uncle will hand over the reigns to you, a kid with a couple of years of experience, rather than promote anyone in the company / work out a transition with the people who have been with the company for more than a decade. So yeah, your uncle is an idiot.
curtkram
Nov 6, 15 7:18 pm
i'm not sure bahrain would really be a 3rd world country....
of course, nepotism is a stupid way to run a company. the reason you won't be successful in making wholesale changes to your uncle's business is because you don't know what you're doing. you don't have experience, you haven't spent enough time seeing how business works, or especially how people work.
the fact you think you can step in and lead people from such a minor position suggests you're probably too narcissistic to be aware of whats' going on around you, so you'll only listen to the people on here who support your already deranged view.
aside from that, here's my advise, which i only give because you won't listen and therefore it's useless to you. people are more important than software, or any other 'fix' for what you've identified as a 'problem.' i don't mean that in some moral sense, but rather in your business, it's the people that do the work, the people that build your reputation, and the people that make you profitable. they will always be your most important resource.
having said that, my advice is to try to recognize the best people in your firm (hint: it's not you, you're at the bottom) and talk to them. listen to them. do what they tell you to do. if they resist your changes, you're fucked.
sameolddoctor
Nov 6, 15 7:54 pm
"jealousy? nope. no fucking way i'd ever leave nyc to work in bumfuck nowhere in india. i like being able to drink my tap water without getting the shits."
Fact is, you're probably to dumb to work in a place like India anyways. And yes, you sound jealous, as you will always be an employee all your life. A loyal one, like a puppy. Nothing wrong with that.
Frankly, nepotism happens everywhere, especially in our business. No need to bag on bahraini for that, just because a lot of you got butthurt because of this. There are countless examples in corporate america where the pretty white boys get promoted while the rest dont.
null pointer
Nov 6, 15 8:56 pm
Nepotism isn't that common in my market. Having to get licensed to own a firm in NYS makes things a bit tougher when it comes to passing a firm over to a family member. I've seen it happen once and then I quit, oh and I started my own firm right then by the way. Best decision of my life.
Carry on.
boy in a well
Nov 7, 15 1:47 am
Fuck off, Miles.
Carry on.
bahraini
Nov 7, 15 4:41 am
Bahrain is not a third world country. Dubai is not either. We are brothers and neighbors. I cannot believe how stupid some of the posts are. I will however thank all those who tried. Funny you bring Nepotism up. FYI, My uncle and I have the same family name/blood. I am the only Architect related to him. Guess what the firm is called? Yes, you idiots "Nullpointer, Miles, and their bandwagon" its our family name. Why would he hand over the firm and legacy to a Greek Civil Engineer or a Scottish Structural Engineer who knows no Arabic? Has little social exposure? Who would leave the firm for a better salary just like any of you would?
Makes no sense.
In other words, My uncle has worked 40 years of his life so the name can carry on under a relative or offspring not because of Nepotism. But because, no foreigner would care to expand his legacy.
Don't get me wrong though, I will always consult/listen to my Senior Engineers no matter what happens.
curtkram
Nov 7, 15 8:42 am
your uncle chose to run his company such that people are rewarded based on who their parents are rather than any measure of merit. the down side of that is of course that any of those people working for your uncle would leave if they found better opportunity, since they don't have a future working where they are. the upside is that you get to feel important, even though your only qualification was given to you by your parents, right?
no reason for any of us to be upset by that. i can say the birth lottery gave me a life where i can safely drink tap water, so that alone says i'm doing pretty good.
null pointer
Nov 7, 15 9:22 am
Why would he hand over the firm and legacy to a Greek Civil Engineer or a Scottish Structural Engineer who knows no Arabic?
And with that, I'm out of this thread.
Thanks for shooting yourself in the head; I was just aiming at the knees.
no_form
Nov 7, 15 11:07 am
Nepotism-a person with power who favors family and relatives, especially giving them jobs.
Your uncle wouldn't hand over the company to a senior Bahraini who knew everything about the company either because he isn't family.
bahraini
Nov 7, 15 11:32 am
Why the hell is everyone so concerned about how someone runs their business halfway around the world?
For the record, he wont be handing it over anytime soon. I will be much more experienced by the time he does.
Im pretty tired of this "Neopotism" bullshit. Please focus on your jobs and putting food on the table instead.
sameolddoctor
Nov 7, 15 11:41 am
bahraini, I was on your side, but you have managed to fuck yourself by your new comments. In the western world, firms with family names (think SOM etc) do not necessarily go to the next of kin. Though, I do understand that Bahrain is different. That said, why is it not possible for you to get a share ownership of the company, while the talented Scottish or Greek engineers handle the work, the way they have done for years now?
Miles Jaffe
Nov 7, 15 11:52 am
Beyond nepotism I'm pretty sure there are some religious aspects to this. For example the 'family' is probably Shia while the workers are Sunni. Bahrain is not exactly renowned for tolerance.
Why the hell is everyone so concerned about how someone runs their business halfway around the world?
Because we're good-hearted people trying to help some clueless moron. It's good to see that you are starting to recognize the inevitable.
Nov 7, 15 12:29 pm
Given your limited experience and no ownership stake and the Uncle is in control then the uncle is the one making the decisions so this whole discussion is A) premature and B) bahraini, you shouldn't be discussing changes until you are in control.
Sorry but I have to agree, this kind of discussion can guarantee you don't get the firm because frankly by the time you have enough experience to be considered for control, it might be possible that the firm is handled over to someone who has experience that isn't going to cause religious concerns but also he could decide to close the firm.
Given the work environment, I'm guessing you will not be heading the firm for another 10 years because that is about how much time you will need to have gained enough experience and rapport with your staff.
Your proposal seems to make a big mistake. I'll ask you this very straight to the point.... DID YOU CONSULT OR DISCUSS WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES WHAT THE NEEDS OF YOUR COLLEAGUES ARE TO IMPROVE THEIR WORK PROCESS ?
Nov 7, 15 12:43 pm
My above post is directed at bahraini.
Nov 7, 15 1:31 pm
bahraini,
Although the building codes may differ, the tax code may differ and some other differences......... However, there are basic common aspects of running a firm or any business at that.
gruen and Miles brought up very good and very important points. You focused on irrelevant bullshit like where your country is vs. India. Who gives a shit for the sake of point as the points are valid points regardless what country you are in that allows you to have a privately owned company. You focused on statements like nepotism. Really, that is kind of indicates that you are immature and focus on the non-essential stuff and not the essential and valuable points. You did not indicate that their important and valid points are really understood.
You did not respond to those points. Miles had been running a business in architecture for longer than your total education and experience.
If you want to show that you have any understanding of running a business, you might want to consider and respond to the question I given above and these questions:
What is gruen's points on his posts on November 4, 2015, about frugality of money expenditures? Why is it important? What are the benefits of doing so? What are the dangers you face if you don't? How does the market effect your business? What is price ceiling? How is price ceiling established? How do the factors that establishes price ceiling impact your business? What are the revenue to cost expenditure? (Don't tell us your firm's revenue and your firm's expenditure breakdown) What is contribution margin? Is there enough to save to build capital? How are the cash flow? Do you have a cash flow graph showing your firm's cash flow monthly for each month for the past 5 to 10 years? Have you studied it? What are your project work load and how have well have your clients paid on time? They should be incorporated into your firm's cash flow. We do not need to know the specific details but you should have this information understood before making decisions about what to spend money on and when to spend it.
Next set of questions relates to Miles point about people in the firm.
Miles wrote:
I will address the human, which is in many respects more inportant. The 19 people there are accustomed to doing things a certain way, and not just ordinary things but the incredibly complex and interwoven things that successfully completing multiple architectural projects simultaneously requires.
Any changes are bound to have an effect on both the work and the people, and you should understand that the 19 people in that office have found a way to successfully manage the complexity of their work loads, responsibilities and professional relationships, and that is why the firm is successful. This is a beautiful, efficient and fragile thing that I don't expect you to understand with your lack of experience, but it's not the pretty office or slick computer that makes the work happen, it's the experienced people working together with mutual respect, comfort and security in an office's culture and environment.
The hiring or firing of a single person - or the ill-considered change of a even single process - can derail the entire well-oiled machine. In other words, you're far more likely to break something than you are to fix it. Changes aren't required because of appearances, they are required when functions are insufficient or fail in one way or another.
You have little experience in the profession and no training or experience in management, yet you expect to turn the business on its head and improve it. That's a guaranteed way to destroy it.
With this in mind: Did you consult the fellow employees about what changes they need to see happen to improve their work progress? Considering the changes that you proposed, have you analyzed the impact that changes in process will have? Have you considered the performance drop during the learning curve and the length of the learning curve? How does that effect revenue? If you had not consulted them, how does the changes proposed going to effect morale? What are the effects of loss in worker morale? How important is worker/employee morale? How important is rapport between you and the employees? How is your working relationship with the employees? Do they respect your input and thoughts? Do they view you are a peer with them or do they see you as just a 'child' or 'greenhorn' ? Be honest and truthful to yourself and us. Why do they see you that way? With that in mind, identify areas to improve in work relationship between you and the staff... what do you need to do to improve the relationship and how do you plan to implement and when?
With all this in mind, are you ready to be making decisions for the firm?
When you can answer all these questions and take sufficient action and can resolutely answer the last question with a resolute Yes, then you would be much more ready to run this firm. Remember, these are not all the questions you need to answer in the process.
bahraini
Nov 8, 15 5:56 am
The firm will ultimately be under my name by the next 10-15 years. Nepotism or not, this is the fact. That being said, the rest of the engineering staff will play a tremendous role in the formation of the firm and its success. I acknowledge that and without the Senior Engineers and Architects we wouldn't be here after 40 years.
Things here in the Arab world are run differently. Think the Waltons and Walmart. Think Mars and the Mars family. Think Koch and the Koch family. You have prime examples living on your soil so I don't understand the sensitivity this thread has caused since I posted a week or so ago.
I frankly do NOT care what some of you are implying, I really could care less about your ideologies. I came here and asked for input regarding a strategy that one would take if they had the power to change they way a firm runs, from old-school to new-school. Things as simple as a digital invoice system, drawings organization, essential software, etc. Is that really hard? I know there are countless people going through the same scenario. People with even less experience looking to make their firm a better one. This thread should have served them as well. They could've learned a lot from the constructive information people provided here. But instead we have a guy with zero geographical bearings talk about tap water and another dude talking about oil and its significance in our region. Seriously? Someone should've brought the "do you ride a camel to work" comment to seal it off.
Bear in mind, I have lived between Americans for 7 years and studied at your universities and learned everything I could about your History and Architecture. I have been to more than 34 states in the process and met people from different races. I always knew your people to be friendly and helpful. Not on here I guess.
I appreciate a lot of what you guys said. A lot of you have at least 30 more years of experience. I will always learn from my seniors, the same way I remember what my professors taught me in sophomore year. But still, I can see a lot of butt hurt keyboard badasses going off-topic into religious and pointless subjects.
Y'all can have a great day.
gruen
Nov 8, 15 10:32 am
Some of the ignorant comments in this are just silly. Tap water? Why bring this up?
Are you jealous that this guy might be running a firm without "enough experience "?
I'm mostly concerned that he will not get the firm at all, after spending years working on it. He can relieve this issue by getting a written agreement now.
Yes, he needs insight and experience. If he does not have the experience, then he needs to face his shortcomings and ask questions and proceed carefully. Which is exactly what he is doing.
Smart entrepreneurs proceed without complete knowledge because you don't succeed by waiting until you know everything. Waiting for experience is what employees will tell you to do-owners know this is foolish.
To the op-ignore the naysayers-you will get plenty of negative comments-as a business owner-it's not easy.
Non Sequitur
Nov 8, 15 10:49 am
So, quick question, what are the chance of a woman getting the company instead?
Seems like the only qualifications are accident of birth and availabilty of a penis.
Nov 8, 15 6:36 pm
bahraini,
Sometimes, it is easier to start a new firm altogether for new school than old school. Exactly define what 'new school' and what 'old school' means. If you been around long enough, you'd know that these are buzz words for concepts that are entirely relative to context.
Define what you mean by it so we are all on the same page.
Before making changes, I would advise you consult with colleagues. You really shouldn't be acting like you own the business when you don't.
A lot of times it is easier to create a new business that is new school than it is to change an existing firm.
Why not start an architectural firm with the new processes and have the engineering firm as a back office support?
Nov 8, 15 6:51 pm
If you intend to make changes at the engineering firm, I would advise that you consult the firm's staff. The importance of that is getting their input and that has social advantages as well when making changes that will enhance and improve things. Don't make changes that will cause strife. You would want the support of the firm staff.
Don't push changes that they won't support. Make small micro-changes that improves individual processes a little at a time.
Major shifts and they can be lost in the change and that can cause major cash flow stalls because learning curve means they can't proceed through things as quickly and there is some degree of correlation between productivity and cash flow.
It's an AEC industry firm not a tech industry business.
Hello everyone,
I am now a licensed Architect. I have worked with my Uncle since I started studying architecture. He is extremely old school. So much so that he does rely mostly on hard copy drawings and has little exposure to CAD and similar software. He had designed many projects in my country and has a great team of engineers working for him. But the office is now run down. It is old with cracks everywhere and leaks, file cabinets containing two-decade old projects and documents. We do not have a PM and no one else would love to bring the firm back to life as much as I do.
We have the following departments ( Civil, Architecture, MEP, and Land Survey). We have about 19 employees at the meantime. But yet, I feel I need to revamp this firm and bring back its glory new-school style.
Since I am pretty much a fresh graduate I lack much of the experience many of you have. So I would love to hear some advice. The office will be torn down and done from scratch that means I will have to bring in an IT team to help with all the new wiring etc.
If there already is a similar thread with the same points, that would be great.
Alright so I need recommendations regarding the following
- Server system ( I have had many problems before with colleagues saving a file as "20.10.2015 client A villa' and then find out that the latest revised one was 19.10.2015" this was truly a nightmare. How can I sort this out. How can I establish a server system with a single file that can be edited simultaneously. Is there a software?
- Organization : How to organize all my projects, clientele, documents. Should it be digital? What should my secretary be responsible for?
We have 3 Civil engineers (1 structural, 2 site engineers)
4 Architects
3 MEP engineers
4 Land surveyors
2 Secretaries
1 accountant
Believe it or not. Up till today all invoices, salary slips, etc have been hand-written. All accounts and payments have been registered in a blue book (also by hand).
So how does everyone sort their accounts these days? Design costs, downpayements, Balances? is there a specific software?I plan on hiring younger secretaries that have better new-school exposure.
What else should I be aware of and how can I bring this firm back to life?
Apologies for the long post.
My advice - find a job somewhere else and save yourself a lot of heartache.
Unless your Uncle has said "Here bahraini, I'm turning the firm over to you -- you have a free hand to make whatever changes you think might be needed" you're probably going to run up against recalcitrance and obstruction at every turn. And, because you're so young and inexperienced, you are not likely to have the credibility needed to change anybody's mind.
Why suffer through this frustration? If they felt the need to change, they already would have done so.
However, if you insist on trying to turn this rusty old barge around, don't try to change everything at once. Tackle only one problem at a time and be absolutely sure you handle that problem successfully. Then move on to the next problem. That way you can build credibility and, with success, the others will soon start listening more attentively to what you have to say.
Yes stone. He will eventually turn the firm to me. I have a lot of things going on if I choose to stay. 1 the Company is grade A (Architectural, Civil) that means we can handle any project at any budget and participate in any tender. 2. The company itself is over 40 years old so that will help as opposed to a new firm that no one heard of. 3. The company is well known and is one of the pioneering engineering firms in my country. Albeit its old school technologies, I still have faith.
Frankly, leaving is not an option.
I did. That's why i'm here. The ball is in my court at the moment so I can make the decisions. He is accepting the idea but he wants to understand my strategy.
nepotism.
I left a firm for this same fucking reason.
Expect to lose some staff.
I'm going to offer a different suggestion.
You are making a business decision - bring an "old school" firm up to "new school" standards.
Why do you make this sort of decision - when you are a business owner? You make these sort of decisions because either:
1) you're going to make more money if you make the changes
OR
2) The firm will sink unless you make the changes
Right now, you haven't indicated that the firm is failing in any way - just that it looks old and run down to you.
It may be that the firm could do better financially, and be better prepared to move ahead if you make the changes. Or it may be that you rock the boat too much and lose key staff who are making the firm real money with their 'old ways'.
You may also make the changes and invest too much money in them, and find it very difficult to make the money back, and sink the firm anyway.
You need to be very careful in these cases.
But you have a tremendous opportunity.
The first thing you need to do is get a written agreement with your Uncle about you taking over the firm. What role do you have during the transition (does he let you start these changes, etc?), what is your cost to buy him out, and what do you get for your money (clients, employees, etc).
Then, you need to map out the costs moving forward - really do a business plan with numbers attached to it. This will tell you about the costs (of buying a server for example) against the expected return on that investment. Without this document - and have it reviewed by smart people who have business experience and learn from their advice - you shouldn't move forward with expensive changes.
Finally, you need to get the staff on board. You need to be honest with them - probably many of them are older - and VERY experienced. They are awesome to have around, they will provide real value to you - but you don't want to scare them off. And probably many of them won't want to learn new software - why should they if they are getting close to retirement, etc? You need to talk to them about their legacy and about training a new generation to continue their legacy. It's a psychological game and you may need to integrate new and old ways of doing business to make it work.
And don't throw out the old ways. If something is done well on paper instead of the computer there's nothing wrong with it just because it's paper based. Look instead at the SYSTEMS in place and see if they are solid or not.
Here's a key - a good business is made up of systems. In all good businesses, some of these systems aren't so good - but even a bad system is better than no system at all.
For example: if the business has a paper based invoicing system that runs like clockwork each month, then it's a decent system. If it could be made a bit better by going digital, then you need to decide if it's worth it to upgrade that system. If there's no system of any kind, and invoicing sucks, then you need a system of some sort - paper or digital.
Make sense?
Technology is NOT a system, just a bunch of tools. The tech could be paper and pencil or REVIT, but both are just tools. It's up to you as a business owner to turn them into systems. A guy who has a great system on pencil and paper will run rings around a guy who can't turn REVIT into a system.
PS: don't do anything unless your Uncle can commit to actually signing a transition document with you.
bahraini - pay close attention to what gruen writes above - his suggestions make a lot of sense.
Also, if you have any funds available and you're not altogether sure you know how to design an appropriate plan for the firm, you might want to consider bringing in a management consultant who specializes in design firms. A consultant like that can help you develop a 'strategic plan' to guide the sorts of operational improvements you want to implement.
Good luck.
The office will be torn down and done from scratch
Gotta love it when the hot-shit fresh-out-of-school no-nothing comes in to save the established successful firm.
Old and busted ... new and hot.
Gruen what you just said answers a bunch of questions I had going in my mind. It does in fact make a lot of sense. Maybe I haven't been extremely clear. The firm is doing well (could be much better) but I can see a lot of flaws from the get go. A lot of things can be improved. Renovating this office is inevitable and it will happen as soon as a few months. So in my mind, coming here and getting some professional insight would help and I am sure many of us here had went through a relatively similar scenario. Don't get me wrong we are using Autocad mostly, but we do not have a 3D visualizer, we don't mess with the photoshop mumbo jumbo and yet we have about 11 projects going. A few 9 story buildings, a bunch of villas, two factories. Most of the clients are loyal and have been coming back to us for decades. But still, we are way behind the competition.
I am not worried about any of the legal matters. I am all that my uncle has and he does not have kids. So I am mainly focusing on improving this firm and I need the right approach.
I guess I can jump back to the old/new dilemma. If you were to judge our firm, you would say we still operate like we are in the 90's. A lot of the plotters are outdated, Monitors are first gen flat screens, software is all outdated, lots of shelves filled with dusty old files. The internet system is a nightmare, we do not even have a shared folder that we can all access/edit the same file. Instead we have many of the same dwg sorted by date and revision, and I cannot tell you how many times I spent hours revising the wrong file. It sucks.
Miles Jaffe.
I am not the one doing it from scratch nor am I the one paying for it. He is, after I spent years convincing him. I will not save the firm either it has been doing fine for 40 years. I am just trying to improve things. I am 27 years old, and I only have 2 years of professional experience but I am not stupid.
Any money you spend ON the firm means less money in your pocket. Therefore, smart business owners try to spend as little ON their business as possible.
Of course, you need to spend enough to keep the doors open and have a "good enough" business in order to succeed.
This may, or may not include having a nice place to work. If it does not look good, does that mean you can't attract top talent, or does it mean that clients don't hire you? Maybe it does, or maybe it does not.
Same thing with software and hardware. If it works and is good enough, then don't change it. Instead, focus on the things that do matter. For example, you would be losing money if your employees often work on the wrong file and have to re-do work. The cost of a new modern server system might be worth it, but upgrading everyone to Revit, when they are using CAD might not be worth it right away.
Don't compare yourself to the competition as long as the firm is doing well. Instead, focus on sustainable growth and improving.
Let me explain my business a bit.
I am a sole proprietor architect and work out of my house. I have a nice office that I share with my wife. I have a great laptop and a big screen to attach to it. I have an old plotter (about 10 or more years old) that I got for almost nothing. It's slow, but works well for what I need, and I can plot a large sheet for about $.50. I use Revit LT and AutoCAD LT. Honestly, Revit is an investment for me - I'm quite certain I could use a freeware cad program and do just fine for most of my business. I do not do anything fancy in terms of graphics. That's my business - it's not the same for everyone, but that's the type of business I'm building and I expect that I will eventually make a lot more money off of it than I would as an employee. Right now, the money is about the same.
I work really hard to keep my overhead low. My wife thinks I should get a nice office and some employees in order to attract larger projects. I know that getting a certain size and type of project would require a nice office and employees, but right now I'm not ready to take on those expenses, mainly because I cannot yet articulate to an employee what they need to do in order to make me money. I will avoid getting an office for as long as I can, because it's an expense.
I know from past business ventures that it's VERY easy to spend money on your business, and very difficult to make money off of it. It's VERY easy to get a nice office, and VERY easy to get employees and fun hardware and software. It's much harder to put these things together and make money off of it.
Your largest expenses are:
1) employees (far and away the most expensive thing)
2) rent / work space, including the cost of utilities)
You can turn hardware and software into a big expense too.
It sounds to me that the office could use some organization and some systems to help stay organized. It might help to clear out some of the old files (this is often true) or archive things.
Can you renovate the office on the cheap? New paint and flooring, maybe new lights? Can you renovate only part of the office - the part that the clients see?
But these are all just things - not systems. Systems are critical.
I recommend reading E-myth. It has helped me focus my business on systems and efficiency. I am a bit disappointed in it because it never tells you HOW to really systematize, but at least it points you in the right direction. I'm also working my way through Staying Small Successfully for about the 3rd time - a wealth of information on running a small to medium sized design firm. Actually, I'll probably get some flak for this, but I've found Scott Adams to be great for talking about systems too. His latest book is How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big really touches on a lot of things you need to know to run a business - systems and marketing.
Sounds like a great learning experience to me.
I like Gruens comments--frame youre decision making in the context of a business plan, ie 'how will this make our process more streamlined, make our working environment more enjoyable, earn the attention of new clients, etc?
My partner and I have built our still very small landscape architecture firm from scratch and we are almost beside ourselves to see the business grow--it really is a satisfying experience and a totally separate one from that of the day-to-day architect. Most will never understand or appreciate what goes into starting and running the business side of things.
Obviously you have the advanyage of much of that leg work being done, but I like how you seem to have a respect for your uncles successes and he seems to see you as his protege. Dont listen to some who say you should run for greener pastures. You will undoubtedly learn far more sticking with your situation, learning, and helping bring the firm intot the 21st century.
Good luck!
To actually answer your questions:
Never date files (it will inevitably happen in a pinch). Make an 'archive' folder to hold a record of old files as revisions are made.
We organize pretty much like so:
Top level:
Sample Project Folder Organization:
Secretary can save consultant files in appropriate places, billing, archiving, admin stuff. Yes, it should all be digital. You also need an on site and off site backup.
bahraini, no need to get your knickers in a twist. I didn't say you were stupid, I said you don't know anything. There is a difference between stupid and ignorant. Asking for advice is an indication that you're not stupid.
I'm not going to go into the technical because gruen has thoughtfully and graciously covered that. I will address the human, which is in many respects more inportant. The 19 people there are accustomed to doing things a certain way, and not just ordinary things but the incredibly complex and interwoven things that successfully completing multiple architectural projects simultaneously requires.
Any changes are bound to have an effect on both the work and the people, and you should understand that the 19 people in that office have found a way to successfully manage the complexity of their work loads, responsibilities and professional relationships, and that is why the firm is successful. This is a beautiful, efficient and fragile thing that I don't expect you to understand with your lack of experience, but it's not the pretty office or slick computer that makes the work happen, it's the experienced people working together with mutual respect, comfort and security in an office's culture and environment.
The hiring or firing of a single person - or the ill-considered change of a even single process - can derail the entire well-oiled machine. In other words, you're far more likely to break something than you are to fix it. Changes aren't required because of appearances, they are required when functions are insufficient or fail in one way or another.
You have little experience in the profession and no training or experience in management, yet you expect to turn the business on its head and improve it. That's a guaranteed way to destroy it.
Miles is right- the people have invented their own systems-and they work. Part of this-and it's really important-is the social aspect.
Bring them in to the process-get them to document their systems and how they work together. Get them to show you what works and what does not. Give them a lot of respect. Then, get them to buy into change-to protect their legacy and help keep what is unique about what they do
I have no idea why some guys are not providing the valuable input, and choose to bash instead.
Thanks Larchinect that's a good start.
Now if I can get some valuable advice instead of stating that I will ruin this firm with my inexperience, that would be great. Where is that meme when you need it lol.
Again, I am not the manager or principal. I will not destroy anything. I have faith in our system but again, I am just trying to upgrade, its 2015 for crying out loud.
Valuable input? everyone is giving you valuable input in what you're planning to do, just because its not a positive one you want doesn't mean it's not valuable some of these guys and girls have been in the business far longer than you and have a shit ton more experience than you, you studied architecture, you must have been criticised.
I've seen this done at my previous place and it left employees disgruntled and a lot quit, we lost work because of shit like this. Do it slowly and consult with everyone when you make changes, don't go in like a bull in a china shop.
Again, I don't understand the hate. I am not butt hurt and I really appreciate most of the input. But stating that the firm will fail because of my inexperience and why you make it sound like I am the principal of this firm is beyond me. If you had a family owned business, and it is deteriorating in some ways, you will at least try to improve based on your generations ideologies.
Yes I may be young. But I know what many architects/designers my age don't. I have been to 3 design/build studios, built sustainable housing for low income folks, I helped in post-tension slab construction, I have calculated shear walls using the finite element method. I have also designed a fiber glass 25m span dome with some of my structural engineers assistance. I have both topographical and hydrographic survey experience. I have designed housing buildings with precast walls, slabs, and foundations with only grout as the sole raw concrete material. I fabricated I-beams and C-channels and welded truss systems on my own while earning an Architecture Degree. I am not ignorant so please stop with that nonsense.
let's get this straight: you're getting the job because your uncle runs the shop. there are probably a lot more qualified employees that could run the shop but because of you are the CEO's nephew, you're getting dibs on an instant promotion.
your uncle is an idiot.
you've built nothing and you deserve nothing.
most people here are telling you to be respectful, tactful and not to fuck shit up. you just seem to be ignoring them by listing a long list of short-term qualifications that read like a tactfully crafted resume.
bahraini, you ask for advice and then complain that you don't like it?
I take it back. You are stupid.
Miles I dont think anything you said is of any value to me. What Larchinect said is somewhere along the lines of what I expected. Thanks to the people who helped.
Null pointer I think you're oozing with either jealousy/hate or both. I dont know if its because you work at walmart or trying to finish your idp hours.
jealousy? nope. no fucking way i'd ever leave nyc to work in bumfuck nowhere in india. i like being able to drink my tap water without getting the shits.
hate? always.
What gave you the impression I live in india? Ignorance at its finest. Im from bahrain and we dont drink tap water buddy.
Bahrain? like it's any better and not drinking tap water is not something to be proud of. Null is quite on point here, as is Miles.
This was quite enjoyable to read.
When the oil runs out non sequitur...Bahrain will be drafting with a stick in the sand.
Being rude at its finest, maybe learn some manners before anything else.
Please read my first post. I came here and asked friendly and simple questions. I was after valuable advice. Instead I got attacked by strangers who went off topic. It ended with racism, how brilliant.
Only two out of twenty people responded to the topic. The rest is hate, racism, and bullshit.
bahraini,
don't take it personal. Some of posters are cad monkeys that are still doing bathroom elevations, some have their last real project 15 years ago, yet they all have the knowledge how to run business and some are architects out of their basement.
I personally jumped into a business venture with a friend and we revived an old company that struggled after and during the recession. Two of us in 09 to 7 now, so it is possible. But then again, both of us don't post on Archinect all day long.
Only two out of twenty people responded to the topic.
Correction: only 2 of 20 responded to the question in a way that you liked, confirming your preconceived notions. Looking at it statistically you are 90% wrong.
I'll be charitable and tell you that good advice is not necessarily that which you agree with, but I certainly don't expect you to agree or even get it as your cup is full to overflowing and there is not room for even a single drop.
Have a nice day.
Racism? Fuck no. The fact that you conflate calling you Indian to be racist is racist.
Elitist? Fuck yes. You're operating in a third world country in a company where nepotism runs so deep that your uncle will hand over the reigns to you, a kid with a couple of years of experience, rather than promote anyone in the company / work out a transition with the people who have been with the company for more than a decade. So yeah, your uncle is an idiot.
i'm not sure bahrain would really be a 3rd world country....
of course, nepotism is a stupid way to run a company. the reason you won't be successful in making wholesale changes to your uncle's business is because you don't know what you're doing. you don't have experience, you haven't spent enough time seeing how business works, or especially how people work.
the fact you think you can step in and lead people from such a minor position suggests you're probably too narcissistic to be aware of whats' going on around you, so you'll only listen to the people on here who support your already deranged view.
aside from that, here's my advise, which i only give because you won't listen and therefore it's useless to you. people are more important than software, or any other 'fix' for what you've identified as a 'problem.' i don't mean that in some moral sense, but rather in your business, it's the people that do the work, the people that build your reputation, and the people that make you profitable. they will always be your most important resource.
having said that, my advice is to try to recognize the best people in your firm (hint: it's not you, you're at the bottom) and talk to them. listen to them. do what they tell you to do. if they resist your changes, you're fucked.
"jealousy? nope. no fucking way i'd ever leave nyc to work in bumfuck nowhere in india. i like being able to drink my tap water without getting the shits."
Fact is, you're probably to dumb to work in a place like India anyways. And yes, you sound jealous, as you will always be an employee all your life. A loyal one, like a puppy. Nothing wrong with that.
Frankly, nepotism happens everywhere, especially in our business. No need to bag on bahraini for that, just because a lot of you got butthurt because of this. There are countless examples in corporate america where the pretty white boys get promoted while the rest dont.
Nepotism isn't that common in my market. Having to get licensed to own a firm in NYS makes things a bit tougher when it comes to passing a firm over to a family member. I've seen it happen once and then I quit, oh and I started my own firm right then by the way. Best decision of my life.
Carry on.
Fuck off, Miles.
Carry on.
Bahrain is not a third world country. Dubai is not either. We are brothers and neighbors. I cannot believe how stupid some of the posts are. I will however thank all those who tried. Funny you bring Nepotism up. FYI, My uncle and I have the same family name/blood. I am the only Architect related to him. Guess what the firm is called? Yes, you idiots "Nullpointer, Miles, and their bandwagon" its our family name. Why would he hand over the firm and legacy to a Greek Civil Engineer or a Scottish Structural Engineer who knows no Arabic? Has little social exposure? Who would leave the firm for a better salary just like any of you would?
Makes no sense.
In other words, My uncle has worked 40 years of his life so the name can carry on under a relative or offspring not because of Nepotism. But because, no foreigner would care to expand his legacy.
Don't get me wrong though, I will always consult/listen to my Senior Engineers no matter what happens.
your uncle chose to run his company such that people are rewarded based on who their parents are rather than any measure of merit. the down side of that is of course that any of those people working for your uncle would leave if they found better opportunity, since they don't have a future working where they are. the upside is that you get to feel important, even though your only qualification was given to you by your parents, right?
no reason for any of us to be upset by that. i can say the birth lottery gave me a life where i can safely drink tap water, so that alone says i'm doing pretty good.
Why would he hand over the firm and legacy to a Greek Civil Engineer or a Scottish Structural Engineer who knows no Arabic?
And with that, I'm out of this thread.
Thanks for shooting yourself in the head; I was just aiming at the knees.
Nepotism-a person with power who favors family and relatives, especially giving them jobs.
Your uncle wouldn't hand over the company to a senior Bahraini who knew everything about the company either because he isn't family.
Why the hell is everyone so concerned about how someone runs their business halfway around the world?
For the record, he wont be handing it over anytime soon. I will be much more experienced by the time he does.
Im pretty tired of this "Neopotism" bullshit. Please focus on your jobs and putting food on the table instead.
bahraini, I was on your side, but you have managed to fuck yourself by your new comments. In the western world, firms with family names (think SOM etc) do not necessarily go to the next of kin. Though, I do understand that Bahrain is different. That said, why is it not possible for you to get a share ownership of the company, while the talented Scottish or Greek engineers handle the work, the way they have done for years now?
Beyond nepotism I'm pretty sure there are some religious aspects to this. For example the 'family' is probably Shia while the workers are Sunni. Bahrain is not exactly renowned for tolerance.
Why the hell is everyone so concerned about how someone runs their business halfway around the world?
Because we're good-hearted people trying to help some clueless moron. It's good to see that you are starting to recognize the inevitable.
Given your limited experience and no ownership stake and the Uncle is in control then the uncle is the one making the decisions so this whole discussion is A) premature and B) bahraini, you shouldn't be discussing changes until you are in control.
Sorry but I have to agree, this kind of discussion can guarantee you don't get the firm because frankly by the time you have enough experience to be considered for control, it might be possible that the firm is handled over to someone who has experience that isn't going to cause religious concerns but also he could decide to close the firm.
Given the work environment, I'm guessing you will not be heading the firm for another 10 years because that is about how much time you will need to have gained enough experience and rapport with your staff.
Your proposal seems to make a big mistake. I'll ask you this very straight to the point.... DID YOU CONSULT OR DISCUSS WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES WHAT THE NEEDS OF YOUR COLLEAGUES ARE TO IMPROVE THEIR WORK PROCESS ?
My above post is directed at bahraini.
bahraini,
Although the building codes may differ, the tax code may differ and some other differences......... However, there are basic common aspects of running a firm or any business at that.
gruen and Miles brought up very good and very important points. You focused on irrelevant bullshit like where your country is vs. India. Who gives a shit for the sake of point as the points are valid points regardless what country you are in that allows you to have a privately owned company. You focused on statements like nepotism. Really, that is kind of indicates that you are immature and focus on the non-essential stuff and not the essential and valuable points. You did not indicate that their important and valid points are really understood.
You did not respond to those points. Miles had been running a business in architecture for longer than your total education and experience.
If you want to show that you have any understanding of running a business, you might want to consider and respond to the question I given above and these questions:
What is gruen's points on his posts on November 4, 2015, about frugality of money expenditures? Why is it important? What are the benefits of doing so? What are the dangers you face if you don't? How does the market effect your business? What is price ceiling? How is price ceiling established? How do the factors that establishes price ceiling impact your business? What are the revenue to cost expenditure? (Don't tell us your firm's revenue and your firm's expenditure breakdown) What is contribution margin? Is there enough to save to build capital? How are the cash flow? Do you have a cash flow graph showing your firm's cash flow monthly for each month for the past 5 to 10 years? Have you studied it? What are your project work load and how have well have your clients paid on time? They should be incorporated into your firm's cash flow. We do not need to know the specific details but you should have this information understood before making decisions about what to spend money on and when to spend it.
Next set of questions relates to Miles point about people in the firm.
Miles wrote:
I will address the human, which is in many respects more inportant. The 19 people there are accustomed to doing things a certain way, and not just ordinary things but the incredibly complex and interwoven things that successfully completing multiple architectural projects simultaneously requires.
Any changes are bound to have an effect on both the work and the people, and you should understand that the 19 people in that office have found a way to successfully manage the complexity of their work loads, responsibilities and professional relationships, and that is why the firm is successful. This is a beautiful, efficient and fragile thing that I don't expect you to understand with your lack of experience, but it's not the pretty office or slick computer that makes the work happen, it's the experienced people working together with mutual respect, comfort and security in an office's culture and environment.
The hiring or firing of a single person - or the ill-considered change of a even single process - can derail the entire well-oiled machine. In other words, you're far more likely to break something than you are to fix it. Changes aren't required because of appearances, they are required when functions are insufficient or fail in one way or another.
You have little experience in the profession and no training or experience in management, yet you expect to turn the business on its head and improve it. That's a guaranteed way to destroy it.
With this in mind: Did you consult the fellow employees about what changes they need to see happen to improve their work progress? Considering the changes that you proposed, have you analyzed the impact that changes in process will have? Have you considered the performance drop during the learning curve and the length of the learning curve? How does that effect revenue? If you had not consulted them, how does the changes proposed going to effect morale? What are the effects of loss in worker morale? How important is worker/employee morale? How important is rapport between you and the employees? How is your working relationship with the employees? Do they respect your input and thoughts? Do they view you are a peer with them or do they see you as just a 'child' or 'greenhorn' ? Be honest and truthful to yourself and us. Why do they see you that way? With that in mind, identify areas to improve in work relationship between you and the staff... what do you need to do to improve the relationship and how do you plan to implement and when?
With all this in mind, are you ready to be making decisions for the firm?
When you can answer all these questions and take sufficient action and can resolutely answer the last question with a resolute Yes, then you would be much more ready to run this firm. Remember, these are not all the questions you need to answer in the process.
The firm will ultimately be under my name by the next 10-15 years. Nepotism or not, this is the fact. That being said, the rest of the engineering staff will play a tremendous role in the formation of the firm and its success. I acknowledge that and without the Senior Engineers and Architects we wouldn't be here after 40 years.
Things here in the Arab world are run differently. Think the Waltons and Walmart. Think Mars and the Mars family. Think Koch and the Koch family. You have prime examples living on your soil so I don't understand the sensitivity this thread has caused since I posted a week or so ago.
I frankly do NOT care what some of you are implying, I really could care less about your ideologies. I came here and asked for input regarding a strategy that one would take if they had the power to change they way a firm runs, from old-school to new-school. Things as simple as a digital invoice system, drawings organization, essential software, etc. Is that really hard? I know there are countless people going through the same scenario. People with even less experience looking to make their firm a better one. This thread should have served them as well. They could've learned a lot from the constructive information people provided here. But instead we have a guy with zero geographical bearings talk about tap water and another dude talking about oil and its significance in our region. Seriously? Someone should've brought the "do you ride a camel to work" comment to seal it off.
Bear in mind, I have lived between Americans for 7 years and studied at your universities and learned everything I could about your History and Architecture. I have been to more than 34 states in the process and met people from different races. I always knew your people to be friendly and helpful. Not on here I guess.
I appreciate a lot of what you guys said. A lot of you have at least 30 more years of experience. I will always learn from my seniors, the same way I remember what my professors taught me in sophomore year. But still, I can see a lot of butt hurt keyboard badasses going off-topic into religious and pointless subjects.
Y'all can have a great day.
Some of the ignorant comments in this are just silly. Tap water? Why bring this up?
Are you jealous that this guy might be running a firm without "enough experience "?
I'm mostly concerned that he will not get the firm at all, after spending years working on it. He can relieve this issue by getting a written agreement now.
Yes, he needs insight and experience. If he does not have the experience, then he needs to face his shortcomings and ask questions and proceed carefully. Which is exactly what he is doing.
Smart entrepreneurs proceed without complete knowledge because you don't succeed by waiting until you know everything. Waiting for experience is what employees will tell you to do-owners know this is foolish.
To the op-ignore the naysayers-you will get plenty of negative comments-as a business owner-it's not easy.
So, quick question, what are the chance of a woman getting the company instead?
Seems like the only qualifications are accident of birth and availabilty of a penis.
bahraini,
Sometimes, it is easier to start a new firm altogether for new school than old school. Exactly define what 'new school' and what 'old school' means. If you been around long enough, you'd know that these are buzz words for concepts that are entirely relative to context.
Define what you mean by it so we are all on the same page.
Before making changes, I would advise you consult with colleagues. You really shouldn't be acting like you own the business when you don't.
A lot of times it is easier to create a new business that is new school than it is to change an existing firm.
Why not start an architectural firm with the new processes and have the engineering firm as a back office support?
If you intend to make changes at the engineering firm, I would advise that you consult the firm's staff. The importance of that is getting their input and that has social advantages as well when making changes that will enhance and improve things. Don't make changes that will cause strife. You would want the support of the firm staff.
Don't push changes that they won't support. Make small micro-changes that improves individual processes a little at a time.
Major shifts and they can be lost in the change and that can cause major cash flow stalls because learning curve means they can't proceed through things as quickly and there is some degree of correlation between productivity and cash flow.
It's an AEC industry firm not a tech industry business.