What's Your Problem?

On this blog, I've been sharing lessons learned from clients’ mistakes, in the hope that they won’t become your mistakes. We can learn a lot from others’ mistakes, and we can learn just as much from others' questions. So, I've chosen to share my answers to some of the more frequent questions asked of me in the last few months. Enjoy!

Do you have suggestions for business development plans for small (1-5 person) firms?

Keep it simple. Know your value, know your competition and know your client. Public clients manage their risk by limiting their “small firms” selections. Sad, but true. You must make a compelling case.

Next, establish a budget. It’s easy to “throw good money after bad” in the pursuit of work. But, just like with your household budget, you need to set boundaries.

Finally, develop business where you have relationships. It is hard to go head to head against a larger firm(s) when you have no relationship with the client. Put your collective heads together and make a short-list of end-users, peers and partners with whom you could develop work.


For a smaller firm (15+/-), given a choice between pursuing governmental or institutional clients who open RPFs to everyone with no filter verses pursuing private clients who invite respondents, which would you choose to pursue?

Okay. You’re trying to bait me! The answer depends on your experience and portfolio. What I think you want to ask me is: “Who has less competition?” The private sector does, generally. But, an educated institutional or public client could use a QBS to reduce competition just as easily. It's important to look at your experience and determine if you have a value proposition to compete no matter what market you choose.

For more information, see the AIA PMKC webinar Wisdom of the Ages: Best Practices in Business Development Part 2. This popular series and other resources are available on A3K Consulting's "Inform" webpage.

Karen Compton, CPSM. Karen Compton is principal of A3K Consulting (Glendale, CA), a business development and strategic planning firm specializing in the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Ms. Compton is also the founder of Industry Speaks™, a web-based business-to-business portal that connects AEC firms with experienced consultants, provides peer reviews of consultants, reports on key industry trends, and publishes expert reviews of professional courses and books. Contact her at kcompton@a3kconsulting.com.