flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Turning Down Projects and Tripling Revenue: One Firm’s Story

Turning Down Projects and Tripling Revenue: One Firm’s Story

How does a firm make the jump from two to twelve employees in just a few years during a recession? Matt Parker, Business Manager at Vertical Arts Architecture, admits surviving and thriving during a recession wasn’t exactly easy. 


By BQE Software | November 21, 2013

They started with just 2 employees and a big dream—to be a premier high-end, multidisciplinary firm, able to provide clients with a full range of services. They wanted to meet and exceed the most discerning clients’ expectations and have Vertical Arts’ vision stamped on every aspect of production.

Since Vertical Arts opened its doors in ’05, they’ve been using ArchiOffice to handle billing and project management. They had fluctuations like everyone else during the roughest years of the recession, yet they’ve more than quadrupled their staff and have plans to expand even more in the coming years.

Their revenue has gone up 300-350% in eight years’ time. Their accountant has even started recommending ArchiOffice to neighboring firms.

They’re able to offer a full service architectural experience—coordinating surveyors, helping clients orchestrate moves or get home inspections done, and allowing consultant billing to come through them.

How Do They Do It?

They Invoice in Half a Day or So

Using ArchiOffice means they can get billing done for all their complex projects in half a day to a day. So all employees’ hours are always billable, and Parker, the company’s only administrative employee can tackle billing efficiently, getting on to his other responsibilities. “If we didn’t have ArchiOffice, we’d have to hire at least one more person, part or full time,” he admits.  Instead, they can take on more jobs and projects because their staff isn’t tied up doing administrative work.

They Organize Projects Ridiculously Well

Parker explains: “We have one specific project that we’ve chosen to divide into with 9 sub-projects, so that we can individually track time and expense per sub-project. And ArchiOffice keeps that whole world organized for us. ArchiOffice allows us to manage more jobs and projects with still just one support staff member.”

 


Since Vertical Arts opened its doors, the firm has been using ArchiOffice to handle billing and project management. The firm can get billing done for their projects in less than a day.

 

Their Client Relationships are Rock Solid

“It streamlines our process and gives us access to tons of information and reports quickly so we don’t spend much time answering questions for clients—we just generate it and send it right back. I know our clients trust our billing and our process. It’s really strengthened our client relationships.”

They Became an Incredibly Impressive Firm

“Overall ArchiOffice is just a great billing and project management software—to be able to go to one place and see all your time, all your budgets, all your invoices and transactions, it just streamlines the administrative side significantly,” explains Parker.

Now, Vertical Arts doesn’t have to settle for taking on uninspiring projects. They do most of their work with a number of individual clients. They’ve achieved their dream of being a multidisciplinary high-end firm—they have an interior designer on staff, a landscape architect, as well as a full architectural team, so they’re able to provide the full range of services they know their clients deserve.

Learn more about ArchiOffice Software here.

Check out Vertical Arts Architecture here. 

Tags

Related Stories

Office Buildings | Jun 1, 2015

Can you make a new building as cool as a warehouse?

Just as we looked at that boarded up warehouse and thought it could be something other, office towers can be reborn, writes CannonDesign's Robert Benson.

Fire and Life Safety | May 27, 2015

7 bold applications and innovations for fire and life safety

BD+C’s roundup features colorful sprinklers for offices, hotels, museums; a fire-rated curtain wall at a transit hub in Manhattan; a combination CO/smoke detector; and more.

BIM and Information Technology | May 27, 2015

4 projects honored with AIA TAP Innovation Awards for excellence in BIM and project delivery

Morphosis Architects' Emerson College building in Los Angeles and the University of Delaware’s ISE Lab are among the projects honored by AIA for their use of BIM/VDC tools.

Healthcare Facilities | May 27, 2015

Rochester, Minn., looks to escape Twin Cities’ shadow with $6.5 billion biotech development

The 20-year plan would also be a boon to Mayo Clinic, this city’s best-known address.

BIM and Information Technology | May 26, 2015

Lego-like model building kit was created by an architect for architects

Arckit, as the system is called, was designed to a 1:48 scale, making it easy to create models accurate to the real-life, physical building projected.

BIM and Information Technology | May 26, 2015

Moore's Law and the future of urban design

SmithGroupJJR's Stephen Conschafter, urban designer and planner, discusses his thoughts on the 50th anniversary of Moore's Law and how technology is transforming urban design.

Architects | May 20, 2015

Architecture billings remain stuck in winter slowdown

Regional business conditions continue to thrive in the South and West

University Buildings | May 19, 2015

Special Report: How your firm can help struggling colleges and universities meet their building project goals

Building Teams that want to succeed in the higher education market have to help their clients find new funding sources, control costs, and provide the maximum value for every dollar.

University Buildings | May 19, 2015

Renovate or build new: How to resolve the eternal question

With capital budgets strained, renovation may be an increasingly attractive money-saving option for many college and universities. 

University Buildings | May 19, 2015

KU Jayhawks take a gander at a P3 development

The P3 concept is getting a tryout at the University of Kansas, where state funding for construction has fallen from 20% of project costs to about 11% over the last 10 years.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Construction Costs

Data center construction costs for 2024

Gordian’s data features more than 100 building models, including computer data centers. These localized models allow architects, engineers, and other preconstruction professionals to quickly and accurately create conceptual estimates for future builds. This table shows a five-year view of costs per square foot for one-story computer data centers. 


Sustainability

Grimshaw launches free online tool to help accelerate decarbonization of buildings

Minoro, an online platform to help accelerate the decarbonization of buildings, was recently launched by architecture firm Grimshaw, in collaboration with more than 20 supporting organizations including World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), RIBA, Architecture 2030, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) and several national Green Building Councils from across the globe.


halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021