Book Description

Staying Small Successfully A Guide for Architects, Engineers, and Design Professionals Frank A. Stasiowski Today's design professional with entrepreneurial ambitions often has in mind a small firm. Written by a veteran architect and consultant, here is a clear, detailed road map to setting up a small business or guiding an existing one to success. Using miniprofiles of several small successful design firms, the author pinpoints exactly what's made them flourish. In a step-by-step format, he describes the six elements of the strategic planning process, tips on doubling average profit levels, building a loyal clientele, making your company a magnet for top talent, as well as measuring the financial health of your firm. This all-in-one seminar includes numerous checklists and flowcharts, a list of design firm management consultants, a typical marketing plan, and a survey of typical marketing costs. 1991 (0-471-50652-4) 297 pp. Value Pricing for the Design Firm Frank A. Stasiowski Essential to the design firm negotiating tough economic times, here is a handbook to garnering the most effective price for your services. Making the traditional cost-per-hour approach obsolete, the book teaches you how to price services based on their value to your client. Full of tactics that can be applied immediately, the book outlines the different methods of value pricing, ways to create value, a format for charging minimum fees, and a formula for price contracts. Other practical pricing tips include mini-scoping your services, charging for reimbursables, pricing change orders, as well as advice on negotiating a better contract. Complete with sample forms and lists, the book is a practical, easy-to-implement recession survival kit for the design firm. 1993 (0-471-57933-5) 240 pp. Cash Management for the Design Firm Frank A. Stasiowski While excellence in design and engineering may generate clients, monitoring and planning the movement of cash is central to a company's survival. This practical guide outlines a det!ailed cash management plan that makes continued financial health possible even during lean economic times. Using a clear, easy-to-implement approach, the book describes: cash management techniques, project budgeting, profitable project pricing structures, controlling project and overhead costs, getting paid, and planning and monitoring performance. The book also includes valuable advice on negotiating a contract, the most profitable contract types, the purchasing process, acquiring capital equipment, and internal financial controls. Numerous checklists and exercises as well as sample reports and financial documents are included. 1993 (0-471-59711-2) 324 pp.