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

| Oct 8, 2014

First look: Woods Bagot unveils plans for new Christchurch Convention Center

The locally-inspired building is meant to serve as a symbol of the city's recovery from the earthquake of 2011.

| Oct 8, 2014

Denver transit project wins design-build Project of the Year honor

The Denver Union Station Transit Improvement Project is among 25 projects honored by the Design Build Institute of America for excellence in design-build project delivery.

| Oct 7, 2014

Analysis: Student loans will cost housing industry $83 billion in 2014

More than 410,000 single- and multifamily home sales will be lost in 2014 due to student loan debt, according to analysis by John Burns Real Estate Consulting.

Sponsored | | Oct 7, 2014

Boost efficiency with advanced framing

As architects continue to search for ways to improve building efficiencies, more and more are turning to advanced framing methods, particularly for multifamily and light commercial projects. 

| Oct 7, 2014

Economic gains are rallying rents in Raleigh, N.C.

The greater Raleigh, N.C., market appears to be getting back on its feet again, which is good news for rental property owners.

| Oct 7, 2014

Structured, not stirred: The architecture of cocktails [infographic]

In this downloadable graphic, technologist Shaan Hurley dissects 37 cocktails and analyzes their architectural makeup. 

| Oct 6, 2014

Moshe Safdie: Skyscrapers lead to erosion of urban connectivity

The 76-year-old architect sees skyscrapers and the privatization of public space to be the most problematic parts of modern city design. 

| Oct 6, 2014

Houston's office construction is soaring

Houston has 19 million square feet of office space under construction, 54% more than a year ago, and its highest level since the booming 1980s, according to local news reports.

| Oct 6, 2014

Design activity at architecture firms finally back to pre-recession levels: AIA report

Gross billings at architecture firms have increased by 20% since 2011, according to a new report by the AIA.

| Oct 6, 2014

Retelling an old story: Why women are underrepresented in architecture

Women account for more than half of the U.S. population. But even with significant gains over the past 25 years, their numbers and positions among the ranks of practicing architects appear to have stalled.

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