Practice Management Member Conversations

For the last six years I've been mentoring a young architect (we were at lunch when he received notice of his first job!), and in the course of our conversations the topic of finances has come up. I can share with him my experiences, but I don't have any recommendations on what he might read or web sites he might visit. I was lucky enough to go into business with someone who already had 27 years of management under their belt. They were great to learn from, but it’s put me in a tough spot in trying to recommend resources.

Can anyone recommend some good resources they've used that I can refer to him?

------------------------------
Larry Paschall AIA
CEO/Top Dog
Spotted Dog Architecture
Dallas TX
------------------------------

Hi, Larry,
When you say, "the topic of finances," are you talking about the business side of professional practice, or personal finances?

With regard to the professional practice side, I highly recommend "The Business of Design" by Keith Granet. (It's available in print and ebook options.) Keith lays out all of the basics for architectural and interior design businesses.

In addition, Deltek produces webinars on the functional areas of management, using statistics from their annual A/E Clarity Report. They are available on the Deltek website.

I hope this helps.

Beset,
Marjanne Pearson

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Marjanne Pearson, Chief
Talentstar.com
San Francisco CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-30-2019 22:08
From: Lawrence Paschall
Subject: Financial Resources

For the last six years I've been mentoring a young architect (we were at lunch when he received notice of his first job!), and in the course of our conversations the topic of finances has come up. I can share with him my experiences, but I don't have any recommendations on what he might read or web sites he might visit. I was lucky enough to go into business with someone who already had 27 years of management under their belt. They were great to learn from, but it's put me in a tough spot in trying to recommend resources.

Can anyone recommend some good resources they've used that I can refer to him?

------------------------------
Larry Paschall AIA
CEO/Top Dog
Spotted Dog Architecture
Dallas TX
------------------------------

Original Message------

For the last six years I've been mentoring a young architect (we were at lunch when he received notice of his first job!), and in the course of our conversations the topic of finances has come up. I can share with him my experiences, but I don't have any recommendations on what he might read or web sites he might visit. I was lucky enough to go into business with someone who already had 27 years of management under their belt. They were great to learn from, but it’s put me in a tough spot in trying to recommend resources.

Can anyone recommend some good resources they've used that I can refer to him?

------------------------------
Larry Paschall AIA
CEO/Top Dog
Spotted Dog Architecture
Dallas TX
------------------------------

Original Message------

For the last six years I've been mentoring a young architect (we were at lunch when he received notice of his first job!), and in the course of our conversations the topic of finances has come up. I can share with him my experiences, but I don't have any recommendations on what he might read or web sites he might visit. I was lucky enough to go into business with someone who already had 27 years of management under their belt. They were great to learn from, but it’s put me in a tough spot in trying to recommend resources.

Can anyone recommend some good resources they've used that I can refer to him?

------------------------------
Larry Paschall AIA
CEO/Top Dog
Spotted Dog Architecture
Dallas TX
------------------------------

Original Message------

For the last six years I've been mentoring a young architect (we were at lunch when he received notice of his first job!), and in the course of our conversations the topic of finances has come up. I can share with him my experiences, but I don't have any recommendations on what he might read or web sites he might visit. I was lucky enough to go into business with someone who already had 27 years of management under their belt. They were great to learn from, but it’s put me in a tough spot in trying to recommend resources.

Can anyone recommend some good resources they've used that I can refer to him?

------------------------------
Larry Paschall AIA
CEO/Top Dog
Spotted Dog Architecture
Dallas TX
------------------------------

I hope this response doesn't come through as a shameless plug, however, our national organization, SDA (Society for Design Administration) serves the A/E industry and can help your team learn the critical operational roles to help make your firm successful (think Finance, Human Resources, business operations, etc.). Our members are the operations experts in their firms and are very knowledgeable about all of these areas and then some. You can learn more about SDA here.  There is a local SDA chapter in Dallas that offers monthly programs, and our national headquarters offers many webinars in these areas as well including our fall virtual conference and our spring in-person conference. 

I would be happy to share more information with you at any time. Feel free to reach out to me directly any time if I can be of any assistance.

------------------------------
Stephanie Kirschner, CDFA
SDA National Headquarters
admin@sdanational.org
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-30-2019 22:08
From: Lawrence Paschall
Subject: Financial Resources

For the last six years I've been mentoring a young architect (we were at lunch when he received notice of his first job!), and in the course of our conversations the topic of finances has come up. I can share with him my experiences, but I don't have any recommendations on what he might read or web sites he might visit. I was lucky enough to go into business with someone who already had 27 years of management under their belt. They were great to learn from, but it's put me in a tough spot in trying to recommend resources.

Can anyone recommend some good resources they've used that I can refer to him?

------------------------------
Larry Paschall AIA
CEO/Top Dog
Spotted Dog Architecture
Dallas TX
------------------------------

I'd like to support Stephanie Kirschner's recommendation regarding SDA. The CFO for one of our client firms - Vicki Marcellino of Withee Malcolm in LA - is an active member. IMHO she's one of the best CFOs in the A/E industry.

SDA was founded more than 60 years ago, and it came under the wing of AIA, as an affiliated organization, in 1978.

Best,
M.

------------------------------
Marjanne Pearson
Talentstar, Inc.
Petaluma CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-01-2019 18:17
From: Stephanie Kirschner
Subject: Financial Resources

I hope this response doesn't come through as a shameless plug, however, our national organization, SDA (Society for Design Administration) serves the A/E industry and can help your team learn the critical operational roles to help make your firm successful (think Finance, Human Resources, business operations, etc.). Our members are the operations experts in their firms and are very knowledgeable about all of these areas and then some. You can learn more about SDA here.  There is a local SDA chapter in Dallas that offers monthly programs, and our national headquarters offers many webinars in these areas as well including our fall virtual conference and our spring in-person conference.

I would be happy to share more information with you at any time. Feel free to reach out to me directly any time if I can be of any assistance.

------------------------------
Stephanie Kirschner, CDFA
SDA National Headquarters
admin@sdanational.org

Original Message:
Sent: 09-30-2019 22:08
From: Lawrence Paschall
Subject: Financial Resources

For the last six years I've been mentoring a young architect (we were at lunch when he received notice of his first job!), and in the course of our conversations the topic of finances has come up. I can share with him my experiences, but I don't have any recommendations on what he might read or web sites he might visit. I was lucky enough to go into business with someone who already had 27 years of management under their belt. They were great to learn from, but it's put me in a tough spot in trying to recommend resources.

Can anyone recommend some good resources they've used that I can refer to him?

------------------------------
Larry Paschall AIA
CEO/Top Dog
Spotted Dog Architecture
Dallas TX
------------------------------

Original Message------

For the last six years I've been mentoring a young architect (we were at lunch when he received notice of his first job!), and in the course of our conversations the topic of finances has come up. I can share with him my experiences, but I don't have any recommendations on what he might read or web sites he might visit. I was lucky enough to go into business with someone who already had 27 years of management under their belt. They were great to learn from, but it’s put me in a tough spot in trying to recommend resources.

Can anyone recommend some good resources they've used that I can refer to him?

------------------------------
Larry Paschall AIA
CEO/Top Dog
Spotted Dog Architecture
Dallas TX
------------------------------

Original Message------

For the last six years I've been mentoring a young architect (we were at lunch when he received notice of his first job!), and in the course of our conversations the topic of finances has come up. I can share with him my experiences, but I don't have any recommendations on what he might read or web sites he might visit. I was lucky enough to go into business with someone who already had 27 years of management under their belt. They were great to learn from, but it’s put me in a tough spot in trying to recommend resources.

Can anyone recommend some good resources they've used that I can refer to him?

------------------------------
Larry Paschall AIA
CEO/Top Dog
Spotted Dog Architecture
Dallas TX
------------------------------