Are You using S.M.A.R.T. Goals to Grow your Architecture Firm?
What gets planned gets done!
— Michael Hyatt, Productivity Guru
Strategic planning and goal setting are often overlooked by architects.
Why, because, despite having to know everything under the sun about building design, most architects are not educated about sound business principles.
Architects — S.M.A.R.T. goals make smart plans! If you are not setting clear goals for yourself and your firm, keep reading, and be sure to download our free guide in the sidebar below.
Are goals important for architects?
Let’s be honest, no matter what your situation with your firm, SMART planning can help.
- Have you ever struggled to keep your firm going?
- Do you wonder when the next really great client will show up?
- Are you still saying Yes to some projects when you'd rather say No?
- Did you just have had your best year ever?
We don't have to search too much to find reminders that anything (good or bad) can happen without much warning. And because of that, it’s especially important to have goals and a plan. Yes, especially because the unexpected can always happen.
Keep reading to learn how setting clear, S.M.A.R.T., goals can help you prepare for and achieve success for your firm. No matter what happens next.
You may think: “Why should I care about planning?”
The truth is, every year is unpredictable. We do not know what is going to happen in the coming year, just like we did not know what was coming last year.
And this underscores an important aspect about planning: We don’t set goals because we can predict the future or for ideal conditions.
Goals and plans provide guidance and clarity no matter what happens.
Goals define the milestones we are striving to reach.
Planning not only helps us prepare for the year ahead and how to reach those goals, but it also provides guidance for how to adapt and adjust when things do not go as expected.
“He who fails to plan is planning to fail.”
— Sir Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Churchill said, ”He who fails to plan is planning to fail.”
While, on the surface, this quote may seem simplistic, it highlights a great point, without a plan, you are leaving your future up for grabs.
Honestly, it’s all too easy to fall back on old habits, to let our goals slide and push our dreams off to the future, but doing so can lead to missed opportunities, lost ambitions and frustration.
Keep reading to for advice on how to create Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Time-bound or S.M.A.R.T. goals with a focus of
working
on
your business — i.e. the work you do to build and manage a more successful architecture firm.
Goals Guide The Future Growth of Your Architecture Firm
Goals can help you in many areas of your firm, from developing new business, growing your firm, and/or improving how well your firm is operating and the profits you are able to generate.
For far too long, many architects believed that if they did great work, somehow society would recognize the contributions and value they were making to the world and reward them with an endless stream of passion projects to grow their firm.
However, the truth is that running an architecture firm is exactly the same as running any other business.
You have to work just as hard to win business as you do to deliver it.
And, to run a successful firm, you also need a clear roadmap to help you identify and achieve your career goals.

To get your SMART GOALS Guidebook click the download button below…
The Five Common Types of Goals Important for Architects
When we are thinking about goals related to successful architecture firms (or any business), there are five key categories to consider.
Money
Money goals are related to increasing or conserving your firm’s revenue or profits.
Based on our discussions with some architecture firm owners, a great money goal is to be able to take home a minimum base salary from the firm each year.
However, if you are trying to grow your firm, you’ll have to account for costs related to servicing your growth, for example, making investments in new technology, or hiring additional staff members.
An important point to remember is that you are running a business, and typically, the costs of running a business increases year over year.
Your money goals should define the revenues and profits you’ll need to accommodate these increases, and support the growth you want for your firm.
Time
Time goals focus on how to increase or conserve time in your business.
For example, as a firm owner, you may want to spend time away from your firm, to take a vacation, or have more time at home with your family.
You may want to increase the productivity of your staff, improve or automate some processes, spend less time in ZOOM meetings, or find more time to focus on running your firm’s operations.
A great way to start setting time-related goals is to think about activities and tasks that take your time away from the things you want to do and are good at doing, but which you could eliminate or delegate to someone else.
For example, one of the first areas of business that firm owner’s delegate is bookkeeping, invoicing, or similar administrative tasks.
Time goals should help you and your team to better use your resources. Think about how you can increase your productivity, assign the right tasks to the best people, or eliminate or outsource the activities that are draining your time, or that which you simply dislike doing.

People
People goals typically focus on who you want to work with.
This can include the employees you want on staff, but it can also include the type of clients you want to attract.
This past year, our clients at Schimberg Group Architects set a goal to work with more non-profit clients.
In their experience, working with non-profits has provided their team not only a great sense of fulfillment but also a deeper connection to their local community.
Their goal is to be known as the ‘architects for non-profits.’
Working with us, they were able to connect with an ideal prospect and close a $6M ground up non-profit project, at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Who we work with can greatly affect our enthusiasm and motivation on the job, so setting goals around who we choose to work with can have immense impact on our attitude towards our work.

Status
Status goals refer to the type of recognition you want for your firm.
Is it important that your firm achieve specific goals such as winning awards, getting featured in specific publications, or do you, as the firm owner, want to gain recognition as a speaker, blogger or podcast host?
For many firms, status goals relate to achieving recognition as contributors, experts, or leaders in the communities, industries, or markets they serve.
Our clients at Architecture Joyce Owens wanted to increase their recognition as the “Go-To” firm to design high-end, modern coastal homes on the islands of Sanibel and Captiva in Southwest Florida.
To achieve this goal, we have helped them revitalize their website design and content to bring more attention to the projects that best demonstrate their experience, expertise, and talent, and we have promoted the significant awards the firm and its principal have received.
We have also worked with them to create and engaging stream of social media posts and to pursue feature opportunities in high-profile publications aimed at raising the firm’s status and visibility with more ideal clients.
Status goals can require long-term commitment and strategy, but, as many architects will affirm, relationships and reputation can contribute greatly to long-term success.

Happiness
Happiness goals can relate to anything that helps you and your team be more comfortable and content in your work.
Often these goals focus on improving your work culture, reducing stress, or improving your productivity and cohesion as a team.
Our clients at Arcwerks, Inc. added a game console in their conference room, inviting staff to play video games during breaks.
This has lead to regular competitions and, in keeping with the client’s strong collaborative team culture, has improved the sense of community within the group.
Happiness goals can also come from providing team members greater involvement and responsibility in your firm’s operation, or can include training opportunities to help develop your staff.
In our own firm, we give our team members access to new tools and training resources to provide opportunities to expand and enhance their knowledge and skills, and advance their role in our agency.
Opportunities such as these can give your team members a greater sense that they have a clear a future in your firm.
Where to Get Started with Goals
To decide on what goals to pursue, first take stock of what you have, what you want, and what you need for your firm.
Use the five common types of goals above as a lens to think about your firm and where you want to be in ten, three, and one-year’s time.

Ask yourself and your team which goals are going to help you advance your firm.
Also consider any weak spots that may need improvement.
TRY THIS GOAL-SETTING EXERCISE
A great exercise is to start thinking about what success looks like for your firm ten years from now. First, get in a quiet place and remove any distractions.
Try to picture that success in your mind. When you are ready, answer these questions:
- Are you in the same or new office space?
- Do you have the same team or new staff?
- Who are the clients you are working with?
- What types of projects are you working on?
- Are you recognized by your peers, community, clients?
Don’t stop there, try to visualize your future firm in as much detail as possible.
When you have that picture in your mind, take a blank sheet of paper and start writing down everything you saw or thought about in your vision.
The important step in this exercise is writing as many of your ideas down as you can.
Do not keep them stuck in your head — get them on paper.
Ready. Set. Goals.
Once you have those ideas written down. It’s time to start thinking about the steps you’ll need to take to create your vision.
Working backwards from your vision ask yourself the following:
- What needs to happen in the next ten years to achieve your vision?
- What needs to happen in the next three years?
- What needs to happen this year?
- What actions do you need to take in the next 90 days to advance or complete your goals for the coming year?
Goal setting can be challenging, so try not to concern yourself with every detail of how to reach your vision. Think more about the major milestones you need to reach.
Do not try to shortcut or breeze through this process. Goal setting and Project management is an important part of running a business.
If you don’t set goals, you won’t know how effective you are in moving towards the success you are trying to achieve.
You won’t know if you are making progress and what’s working or hurting your firm.
And you won't be able to provide clear direction to your team or outside partners who work with you and support you in achieving those goals.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals Improve Your Planning
S.M.A.R.T. goals set you up for success by helping you define goals which are:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Actionable
R = Relevant
T = Time-bound
By their nature, S.M.A.R.T. goals provide you with clarity, direction, and motivation for moving your firm forward.
What do we mean by S.M.A.R.T. goals?
SPECIFIC
This isn't the time to be vague. Don't just say, "I want to make more money." Be precise: What specific increases will help you reach your goal within a defined timeframe? For example, “I want to increase gross revenue by 25% and profits by 10% in 12 months by adding 3 new luxury residential projects,” is very specific and helps you and your team understand the specific measures for success.
MEASURABLE
Determine upfront how you will measure your progress and results. For example, maybe you want your architecture firm to show up more often in Google searches for architects in your area or specialty. Or, maybe you want to double the number of new clients or projects you bring in.
TIP: Try to determine which 1-3 measurements (key performance indicators or KPIs) which will help you keep track of your progress over time, as you work toward your goal.
“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”
— W. Edward Deming
ACHIEVABLE
Keep your goals grounded in reality. Be realistic about the timetable and the budget you will need to reach your goals.
For example, a goal of 10 new projects in the coming year may be realistic if you normally handle 40+ projects a year, but it’s probably not realistic if you normally only handle 2-3 projects.
Also be clear about what you need to take on yourself and what you can achieve with help from staff or outside support.
Determine roles, responsibilities, and milestones as you set the goals, so all parties clearly know what part they play in achieving your goals.
RELEVANT
It’s not enough to take action on just anything. Focus on actions that are relevant to the results you want in your business.
If your goal is to grow revenue, you’ll need to either increase your client base, project base, or increase the fees you are charging your clients.
Goals that are relevant to your firm’s business performance are obvious choices, but also think about bottlenecks and roadblocks that get in your way, and the goals that can help you overcome these issues.
TIME-BOUND
Goals can include short- and long-term objectives. Some goals can be limited to a very specific date or deadline, others may have an extended timetable with intermediate tasks, milestones, and stages.
It’s important to set deadlines for completing goals. This keeps you and your team from getting sidetracked or forgetting them.
Got Goals? Get Going!
At this point, if you followed the exercise and wrote down your vision, then filtered what you wrote down through the five types of goals, you should have a good start on your goals.
Now, click on the button below and get your copy of our
S.M.A.R.T. Goals Guidebook to start planning out your goals.
Keep in mind that if you find yourself thinking you can’t possibly make these goals happen, you may have set goals that were not realistically achievable. While it’s human nature to think big, especially for entrepreneurial firm owners, those lofty goals can also hold us back from being able to take action and make progress.
Not sure how to start? What goals to go with?
Struggle to stick to your goals? Need someone to hold you accountable?
We're here to help! We consult and guide you through the goal-setting process and can serve as your accountability partner to help you focus on your plan of action to make those goals reality.
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