FREE SBA Certification Workshop July 25in Santa Ana, Calif.

Another business building resource via email blast:

Learn how to get 8(a), HUBZone, EDWOSB, and WOSB Certified.

Small business certifications offer professional documentary capacity to add business opportunities with the federal government and prime contractors who repeatedly have small businesses utilization goals.

Thursday, July 25, 2013
Santa Ana District Office Training Room
200 W. Santa Ana Blvd. Ste. 700, Santa Ana, CA 92701

Molly Muro - SBA's 8(a) business development program
Sandra Anguiano - HUBZone & WOSB Procurement Programs

· Registration: 8 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
· 8(a) Business Development Certification: 8:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.
· HUBZone & WOSB Certifications: 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

RSVP: Sandra Anguiano, sandra.anguiano@sba.gov. All workshop participants must indicate how long they have been in business.

Follow You Where?

Even our readers who aren’t familiar with the Bible can appreciate this analogy. The Bible speaks of a time when the Lord told Abraham to pick up his belongings and be led to a land of promise. Abraham picked up everything he had without any idea where he was going, and followed. The punch line is: You are not the Lord! You cannot ask your staff to follow you without communicating a plan and without direction.

A Business Plan is a necessary part of your business. It is not optional. It defines where you want to go as a business, and the needs and expectations of your staff as you all set out on this journey. Beyond these benefits, it prioritizes what you need to do and identifies milestones for achievement.

I have a wonderful and very successful client whose discipline shall remain unnamed. It really isn’t relevant. What is relevant is that he is CEO of a firm that does a lot of work with a particular public agency. Like most owners, he is a seller-doer. He sells the work and oversees its delivery back to his clients. On any given day, he deals with everything from lines of credit, to client meetings, new business endeavors, service delivery and mentoring. Sound familiar? It’s your life and mine. The problem is, as I explained to him, that he will go about the day-to-day requirements of running a business in the years ahead and never move any closer to the objectives he wants to achieve.

Do a Business Plan. You say, “But that takes too much time!” To which I retort, “Which is worse: spending 10 hours planning your future or waking up in ten years realizing you never achieved it?”

Learn from my client. He invested time in the development of a business plan. He defined priorities for himself and his staff because he finally focused on the larger goal: positioning his firm for an acquisition. Guess what? He’s well into his strategy and has grown his revenue and client base by 15% percent in what can only be called a bad economy. He didn’t do it because he was large and had a lot of resources. He did it because he took the time to plan for it. You can, too!

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.

New Tools, New Technology: Why Now?

Large firms, understandably, have advantages in the marketplace. They have extensive networks of associates that can provide them with the “best business advice” to achieve their business objectives. But, small (minority, women-owned, emerging growth) firms don’t have those connections. It’s not for lack of trying...it’s for lack of time. Small businesses are focused on what they do, not the back office functions—legal, marketing, information technology, finance, human resources. Yet without these professionals, our designs, engineering solutions and facilities would be little more than a heap of sketches on a floor. So, how does one close the gap?

The full article on Industry Speaks™ tells why the online portal was created and how it addresses small firm needs. (Reprinted from the 40th Anniversary Magazine Issue of the National Association of Minority Architects, October 2012.)

Positioning Your Firm for Growth - Friday Seminar at LA EXPO in Long Beach, Calif.

How do you grow a practice, manage growth and transition for change? The answer is simple: through planning! This Friday, February 8, 1:30-3 p.m., Industry Speaks™ founder Karen Compton will join Lynn Capouya, president of a 20+ person landscape architecture firm, to discuss how planning gave Lynn Capouya, Inc. a clear and cohesive firm vision, and allowed the firm principal to face the future with confidence.

The two industry experts will present How to Get From Here to There: A Case Study of Firm Management and Growth at the LA EXPO landscape architecture western trade show in Long Beach, Calif. (February 8-9, at the Long Beach Convention Center).

What's Your Value?

Every time I ask that question, someone wants to quantify their business ‘worth.” But, your firm’s business worth is an extension of its value.  To determine value from the client’s point of view, ask yourself, “What is unique about my firm?” HINT: It’s not the people! In a service business such as architecture, engineering or construction, we all have people.  Everyone says that.  In which case, it is not true.

For A3K Consulting, the unique attribute is our process.  The process that we take our clients through to discover and define who and what they are and the future of their business and its leadership is unique.  It has been defined by some as, “tough”, others have said it that at its conclusion, it offered “clarify and direction.”

That’s our story.  What’s yours?  Challenge your firm to define what is unique about them. In doing so, you’ll define your value and increase your worth.

Karen Compton

Industry Speaks