Doug: Designline Architects specializes on helping the customer create a vision for their project that fits their lifestyle. We offer a two step process 1). Develop a conceptual design package that will confirm the design and provide enough drawings to “tell the story”, allowing the general contractor to give you a rough cost estimate. 2). Then once the owner confirms their design and budget, when they’re ready, we’ll finish the drawings suitable to obtain a building permit and handle all the city submittals. We also offer additional services to act as the owner’s representative through the Interior Design, Landscape Design, Bid Negotiation, and Construction Administration process. It’s a menu of services we offer in an a’la carte fashion.
Ken: You’re really more of a consultant, right? You’re not just the architect.
Doug: Right. We provide expert advice and strategy to guide the owner through all aspects of the process. We’re are creative problem solvers who first gather the appropriate information, then master plan all the goals into one cohesive design that can be broken into phases, if needed.
Ken: You’re consulting and coming up with bid strategies and negotiations with contractors. Is that correct?
Doug: That’s right. We are available through the construction process. There’s always going to be questions that come up. Especially during a renovation, the contractor’s going to run into something unforeseen. We’re always available to call, and if needed, to collaborate with an engineer, for instance, if they run into something that they didn’t expect, which is quite common. You open up a wall and you discover something that was unexpected. You have to quickly and efficiently be able to figure out who will handle the issue and if needed, get it re-approved through the city, so that the construction doesn’t get slowed down.
Ken: I picture it almost like you’re the grease for the wheels, right? You have the goal and the vision of what it’s going to look like when it’s done, and then you help that whole process along to completion.
Doug: The architect is very much in a leadership role, where follow up is the key to keeping the ball rolling, and otherwise, having that bigger vision in mind the whole time to make sure it all happens like the client requested.
Ken: That’s great and I can see that you’d be a really valuable resource for someone to engage through the construction process and to have someone like that on board. Doug, I want to focus a little bit on your business strategy and expertise. What has the growth of your business been like over the last five or six years?
Doug: Well, for the first two years, it was during the big slow down. 2009 is when we opened, and construction of anything had almost stopped during those years. It wasn’t really until the beginning of 2012 when business started to pick up speed. Since then, there really wasn’t a time that I ever really slowed down. I’m not sure what it was, but it seemed like one project led to another and many times there was a buildup of multiple projects. I was constantly juggling the job of project management, designer, writing proposals, invoices, marketing – it was just me. Since 2012, it has stayed very steady. Instead of employees, I would hire consultants, which included designers and drafters, in addition to all the engineering. While I’m working on my projects, I can then have another person be designing and getting started on the next project. I’m moving into more of a project management role and becoming more of a front person to building relationships. So growth has been challenging.
Ken: A lot of business owners I talk to have that same issue. They’re trying to essentially duplicate themselves. A lot of people feel like nobody’s going to do it as well as they can. But ultimately to grow, you do have to have some help, people doing some of the tasks that you shouldn’t be doing and should be focused on growing your business. Along the way, Doug, with that kind of growth, what are some of the obstacles that you came across when you were growing your business and how were you able to overcome those?
Doug: My goal has always been to stay as a single operator and to keep my overhead and fees very low. My challenges have been to maintain proper communication with my team. Also, finding the right people who I can hire as consultants has been a challenge as well. Not only that, but also as a sole proprietor, it’s been a challenge to wear all the different hats; whether it’s marketing, paying the bills, and so on to be able to handle all the different aspects of a business.
Ken: It sounds like the way you overcame that was to outsource the things you needed to specialists. That way, you don’t constantly have to try to learn new things that weren’t really in your industry but part of being a business owner, and being able to rely on trusted people to handle that part of your business so you can focus on the things that make your business grow.
