How do the most successful architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms do business? What are they doing that you’re not? Find out with the 2007-2008 Successful Firm Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms. This new publication covers every area of management for leaders of design and environmental firms.
Whether you want answers to questions on financial performance, marketing, information technology, project management, compensation, billing practices, or other issues, you’ll find it all in this one report. Statistics are shown for fast-growth firms and high-profit firms separately from the overall sample so you can benchmark your firm against the most successful firms in the design and environmental consulting industry.
The 2007-2008 Successful Firm Survey will help you:
Benchmark your firm against the most successful firms in the design and environmental industry to see how your firm stacks up
Find out how the most successful firms operate in every area of firm management—from project management to ownership to compensation
Make sure your firm is aiming for higher than the industry averages when setting goals for growth in 2008 and beyond
Find out how much the fastest-growing and most-profitable firms are spending on marketing, information technology, compensation, and more
Get the secrets on how the most-profitable firms handle billing, personnel policies & procedures, branch offices, and other areas of management
Make sure your firm is setting high standards and not settling to be just "average!"
How do the most successful architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms do business? What are they doing that you’re not? Find out with the 2007-2008 Successful Firm Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms. This new publication will tell you everything you need to know about how firms just like yours are growing and turning a profit.
The Successful Firm Survey is a compilation of all the major management topics covered in 12 of ZweigWhite’s survey reports conducted throughout 2007. In addition to compiling survey data from other reports, we also broke data down by the overall sample compared to the fastest-growing firms and the most-profitable firms. The survey defines a fast-growth firm as one that had average annual revenue and staff growth of 20% or more for the last three years, and a high-profit firm as one with average annual net pre-tax, pre-bonus profit on net service revenue of 15% or more for the last three years. Whether you’re a firm president, CEO, vice president, principal, or division or department director or manager, you’re going to want to see these survey results!
Topics covered include:
Financial performance: How does your firm stand up to your competition? Get hard data on revenue per employee, profit margins, multipliers, average collection period, and more for the top firms in the industry. You’ll find out where you’re ahead, and where you’re behind.
Marketing: How much do fast-growth and high-profit firms spend on marketing? What kind of hit rates do they get on their proposals? How do they use web sites, newsletters, press releases, and other marketing tools? Find out how the top firms in the industry handle these issues and make sure your firm is on track for marketing success!
Billing practices: How much should you be charging for your employees’ time? Compare fast-growth and high-profit firms’ billing rates for every level of employee—from clerks and design/technical staff to project managers, associates, and principals—to your firm’s rates. Should you be charging more?
Information technology: IT can be a costly expense for many firms. But how much is really necessary to invest? Where’s the boundary between investments that will improve productivity down the line and those that just break the bank? Find out if high-profit and fast-growth firms typically spend more or less on IT than average firms. Data on hardware and software systems, project web sites, and IT staff are also included.
Compensation: Are you paying your top managers enough? Too much? Find out how much financial managers, HR directors, IT managers, marketing directors, project managers, branch office managers, and principals are earning in the most successful design and environmental firms. Make sure you’re paying enough to attract the best people—people that will help your firm achieve success!
Also included are data on multi-office firm management; mergers & acquisitions; project management; principals and owners; training and development; personnel policies, procedures and benefits; and incentive compensation.
Don’t miss out on this comprehensive report! You won’t find another book that covers every area of design and environmental firm management AND shows the breakdown of average firms versus the most successful ones. See how fast-growth and high-profit firms handle business and set your firm up for success in 2008 and beyond!
Chapter 1 - About the Survey Introduction • Data collection • Definitions • Data sources
Chapter 2 - Financial Performance Profit/loss • EBITDA margins • Net service revenue per employee • Returns on equity and assets • Debt to equity ratios • Contribution rate (gross profit margin) • Overhead rates • Current and quick ratios • Average collection period and average payment period • Multipliers, chargeability, revenue factor • Staff ratio and turnover rates • Bonus costs
Chapter 3 - Policies, Procedures & Benefits Human resources staff • Human resources director • Recruiting/human resources budget • Job market • Telecommuting • Work-related travel • Performance appraisals • Compensation policies • Overtime pay • 401(k) plans • Medical/dental insurance • Paid time off • Sick leave • Disability insurance and maternity/paternity leave • Tuition reimbursement • Professional registration • Feedback on benefits
Chapter 4 - Principals, Partners & Owners Ownership • Company cars and auto allowances • Perks • Work habits • Personal digital assistants (PDAs) • Background • Age, race & gender • Attitudes toward fellow principals
Chapter 6 - Information Technology Operating systems • Wide area networks (WANs) • Internet connections and web sites • Project web sites • E-mail • Videoconferencing • Remote network access • IT management and training • Disaster recovery • Software licensing • IT staff • Opinions about IT • IT spending
Chapter 7 - Multi-Office Firms Company policies • Accounting methods • Corporate overhead allocations • Labor multiplier and utilization rate • Most successful branch offices • Division leaders and regional managers • Branch office profitability • Branch office sales, revenue, and costs
Chapter 8 - Marketing Marketing staff • Marketing director responsibilities • New versus repeat clients • Web sites • CRM databases • Marketing material distribution • Press releases • Marketing newsletters • Proposals • Marketing budgets and spending
Chapter 10 - Training & Development Total training expenses • Training structure • Design/technical training and CADD training • IT, marketing, and HR training • Management and leadership training
Financial Performance Survey, 2007 Comprehensive financial performance statistics and finance & accounting data for A/E and environmental firms. Find out exactly where your firm stands among your peers!
Valuation Survey, 2008 Do you know how much your A/E/P or environmental consulting firm is worth? If you’re an owner of an A/E/P or environmental consulting firm, you can’t risk not knowing the value of your business.
Transitioning A/E Firm Ownership Through an ESOP This 90-minute recorded webinar will discuss how to structure and implement a management-led leveraged ESOP buy-out (“LEBO”) as an alternative to traditional LEBO liquidity strategies and sales to third parties that can enhance financing capacity, shorten payout times, and yield a better return to and a better result for management.
Incentive Compensation Survey, 2007 A/E industry statistics on performance bonuses, profit sharing, signing and retention bonuses, and other types of incentive compensation, along with firm leaders’ opinions on the most and least successful incentive compensation plans.
Success Secrets of the Leading Architecture Firms This market intelligence report investigates top architecture firms to uncover the strategic and operational characteristics that lead to their success.
