Looking back, creating an AEC start-up during the brutal recession of the early 2000’s sounds like the worst timing imaginable. Sounds like a great way to lose everything, a great way to regret chasing a dream, a great way to move back in with your parents. What it doesn’t sound like is the beginning of a success story that defies all logic and luck and proves that 3 people with a big dream can actually become more profitable than they ever imagined. Here’s Ampirical’s incredible story.
Let’s get this straight: Ampirical isn’t just successful—it’s nationally recognized and shattering predictions by growing over 2,000% in revenue in the last seven years.
Ampirical went from three employees to being in the Top 25 of Engineering on Inc. Magazine’s Top 500|5000 fastest growing private companies in just seven years. And they can actually pinpoint why.
Ampirical, By the Numbers:
Staff growth over seven years: From three employees to 77
Percentage staff growth = 2,466%
Engineering revenue in 2006: $391,000
Engineering revenue in 2012: $9,375,000
Revenue growth: 2,297%
Ok, seriously—a comma? Who has a comma in their growth percentage? What is Ampirical doing that makes them so amazing?
First off, their engineering, architectural and surveying work is heralded as a benchmark in the industry and companies from all over the country seek them out for it. No cutting corners there.
But secondly, they prioritize beautifully and their office efficiency is off the charts, so they’re running at maximum billable hours at all times.
For those office management tasks, they credit BillQuick for speeding up their cash flow and helping them “spoil” their regular clients. Here’s how it breaks down:
First They Sped Up Cash Flow
Pamela Flucke, CPA and Controller at Ampirical explains, “BillQuick sped up the invoicing process immensely because all the required information for our workflow is kept in one spot. Previously, we kept time and expense entries in QuickBooks and we had to sync time. Now we’ve eliminated that step entirely. It’s a lot more user-friendly. For example, with QuickBooks, we could only manage to create and send 20-25 invoices a month. Now we’re able to do 100+ a month. It’s grown by leaps and bounds. So as a result our cash flow has improved due to faster cycle time. We typically email instead of manual mail and that saves time too.”
Ampirical credits BQE's BillQuick for speeding up the firm's cash flow.
Then They Managed Budgets Better
Knowing where you stand in regards to the budget is easy when you can automate reporting, Flucke explains. “Project managers are running reports in BillQuick and having them delivered to their email every Monday morning, so instead of having to manually check how many hours they’ve spent so far and how many they have left in their budget, they just know. They’re also starting to manage their employee’s utilization levels with that. They don’t have to think about it—it’s one less thing, since it’s automatically generated.”
They Keep Clients Coming Back
When asked if it helps her juggle clients easier, Pamela laughs, “Yes! And each one wants to see something different on the invoice. We’re up to 20 custom invoices—we’re very accommodating to clients in that way—we like to spoil them. Most of them are repeat clients.”
Here’s How They Made All That Money
While the rest of their staff grew 60% from 2010-2012, and their number of invoices, time sheets and reports grew exponentially, they didn’t have to expand their admin staff. They only added more engineers and specialists to provide even better service, and as a result, their revenue skyrocketed without adding overhead for non-billable staff.
Learn how BillQuick can help you improve your cash flow too.
Read more about Ampirical’s impressive Inc. Top 500|5000 nod here.
Related Stories
| Dec 1, 2014
9 most controversial buildings ever: ArchDaily report
Inexplicable designs. Questionable functionality. Absurd budgeting. Just plain inappropriate. These are some of the characteristics that distinguish projects that ArchDaily has identified as most controversial in the annals of architecture and construction.
| Dec 1, 2014
Skanska, Foster + Partners team up on development of first commercial 3D concrete printing robot
Skanska will participate in an 18-month program with a consortium of partners to develop a robot capable of printing complex structural components with concrete.
| Dec 1, 2014
How public-private partnerships can help with public building projects
Minimizing lifecycle costs and transferring risk to the private sector are among the benefits to applying the P3 project delivery model on public building projects, according to experts from Skanska USA.
High-rise Construction | Dec 1, 2014
ThyssenKrupp develops world’s first rope-free elevator system
ThyssenKrupp's latest offering, named MULTI, will allow several cabins in the same shaft to move vertically and horizontally.
| Nov 29, 2014
20 tallest towers that were never completed
Remember the Chicago Spire? What about Russia Tower? These are two of the tallest building projects that were started, but never completed, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The CTBUH Research team offers a roundup of the top 20 stalled skyscrapers across the globe.
| Nov 26, 2014
USITT Selects Bahrain National Theatre for Honor Award
The Bahrain National Theatre will be recognized with an Honor Award by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) in 2015.
| Nov 26, 2014
How the 'maker culture' brings the power of design to life
Most people affiliate the maker culture with metal working, welding, ceramics, glass blowing, painting, and soldering. But it also includes coding and online content creation, writes Gensler’s Douglas Wittnebel.
| Nov 26, 2014
U.S. Steel decides to stay in Pittsburgh, plans new HQ near Penguins arena
The giant steelmaker has agreed to move into a new headquarters that is slated to be part of a major redevelopment.
Sponsored | | Nov 26, 2014
What’s in a coating?
A beautiful coating on metal products can make a strong statement, whether used on a high-end commercial project or an industrial building. SPONSORED CONTENT
Sponsored | | Nov 26, 2014
Virtual reality in 3D models, iPhone thermal imaging: Inside one very cool tech toybox
A little over a year ago, I embarked on a search to find individuals in the AEC space who were putting new hardware to work in the field.