Data, data, data. As Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective Sherlock Holmes once said of data, “I cannot make bricks without clay.” Data is the currency of business in 2015, and it is the clay that a business uses to grow and prosper. Without it, your architecture firm could quickly fall behind.
Where does your data come from? Every job, every quote and every invoice generated provides your company with valuable data. By using a cloud-based system for managing your projects, you’re able to capture that data in an electronic format, and then run reports on it to gain insights. And, what’s more, cloud applications can talk to each other and share data between them, so your project management, accounting, payroll and other tools can provide information to help your practice grow.
Sydney-based architecture firm, Georgina Wilson Architects, know firsthand how valuable data can be. The company is being recognised across Australia not just for their award-winning design, but also for challenging the industry’s status quo when it comes to managing their practice. Top priority for husband-and-wife team, Georgina and Marcus Wilson, is offering clients a clear breakdown of costs in their quotes and invoices. “Historically, there’s been very little transparency between deliverables and actual cost”, explains Georgina. “We’ve taken an approach right from the very beginning that we want to be honest about these things.”
Since implementing WorkflowMax - online job management software for architects - to manage jobs within the company, Georgina Wilson Architects have gone from strength to strength. It takes them less than 30 minutes to create accurate quotes broken down into tasks and costs, and invoicing has never been simpler. How? The power of data.
“We’re collecting data all the time.” explains Georgina. “Our invoicing helps determine what we might quote for the next job, and because we’re charging hourly rates, we really need to make sure we’re still on point with our fees.”
Because WorkflowMax is cloud-based, on-site staff can login and access job data, as well as track hours on the go. Back in the office, admin flows smoothly from one task to another. Georgina has an instant snapshot of exactly where each job is at, and can send quotes or invoices out in minutes. Because WorkflowMax integrates with Xero - the firm’s accounting platform - their entire admin process works as one seamless system, saving hours of work.
Georgina’s team use the data that comes out of WorkflowMax to improve processes, refine pricing and drive profitability. “To be able to use the data that comes out of WorkflowMax to drive top-line revenue and bottom-line profit, has been phenomenal.”
Data is as important as imagination when it comes to building your architecture practice. Online tools give businesses like Georgina Wilson Architects the ability to streamline admin and turn data into real business insights, and this gives them a significant competitive edge. What data are you pulling from your business? Is it time you moved on from outdated systems and joined the data revolution?
