How to compete within the architectural industry in a way that makes sense?

The market is big – but the number of colleagues competing for the work is also huge. On top of this, quite a few projects never even come on the market but instead, bypass the architect altogether.

Many medium sized businesses go directly to building contractors, oblivious of what they lose by not utilizing an architect in their project.

The nature of the industry is such that architects seldom get to influence the initial decision process of upcoming projects. Especially in the commercial sector it is the final "to build or not to build" decision that has to be reached before there IS any project and need for proposals, quotes, or bids.

This is especially true in regards to the MILLIONS of projects in the corporate sector... the nonprofessional clients; mid-size businesses that intend to have their own office building, warehouse, a production plant, or annex built.

Project competition: The point where you can most influence your own chances

In the physical universe, time is forever evolving development. Things build on earlier thing and happenings.

If you could only influence one single element in competition, you'd be wise to pick the TIME when you enter the scene. In other words, you'd want to meet that prospective client WAY AHEAD of other architects - preferably MONTHS before the project is even announced and requests for proposals sent out, right?

That would be the simplest way to UNDO competition - be there before there is any. Get in the backdoor, create good rapport with the client, become his expert on everything concerning the future project... things like that.

Once the project is published, requests for proposals sent out, then the law of supply and demand is at work. One project and perhaps ten architects – only one can win.

Theoretically, that would render 90 percent of your work for new projects useless. But only theoretically.

Winning competitions requires tools for selling your architectural concept

One could say that the more you AGREE to the seeming odds in a competition, the more it governs the outcome of it to you - and unfortunately always in a negative way.

The STRUCTURE of competition does not monitor the FUNCTION of winning, in other words. It doesn't matter if there's a hundred architects competing for the same project. You can win just the same.

But only if you have the right attitude and the correct tools to make YOUR proposal the one that gets selected.

It isn't luck that rules a competition. The final selection is only a compilation of earlier smaller decisions. Any decision is based on earlier opinions formed about the subject, see?

It is those EARLIER and smaller decisions you should know how to influence.

You should work with those with certainty on how to make the best impression on those that decide - and then you will win.

I'm not talking about rules of professional conduct or ethical business practice. Those are the basic rules of the game whichever way you play it. I'm talking about the strategy of the game and having certainty AND tested tools to play it.

Don't accept competition to be a lottery, where every participant has equal chances fo winning - and the certainty of losing is about 90 percent.

There are quite a few things you can do to EVALUATE whether to go for a project or not. There are many winning strategies you can adopt to IMPROVE your chances of winning the project despite competition.

Architectural competition - how to win by avoiding it

Democracy is for other things than competition. Only the equal RIGHT to compete and pursue success is constitutional to our civilization. Surrendering your success in competition to the element of chance is NOT.

In competition, you wouldn't mind that low usage of tools bringing an advantage – if you are the one who uses the tools and others won't see them.

The best way to win is to avoid competition altogether. Find the project when it's still an idea. Be there first - way ahead of others - and do the right thing... and there won't be any competition.

Competition is a structure that YOU can monitor. It's a development that has its own schedule. Much time must pass before the idea of a building grows into a launched project open for proposals.

If you can see that you don't have to agree to letting it evolve into a competition stage before you can intercept – if you have the knowledge, system and tools to intercept it before the fact... competition becomes utterly simple and easy to handle.

You can just FORGET about competition in most cases.

The earlier you get there, the more you can influence the outcome. The best way to compete is to get there BEFORE. Before others even know the project exists. Before there IS competition.

If you can find the prospective client before he has made his project public, if you can sign him onto ANY service and become his trusted expert – there won't BE any competition.

Of course, this is not always possible. But you'd be AMAZED how often it is – if you have the tools to make it happen!

If you do, at once you will be able to free yourself from most of the negative effects of competition and enjoy the satisfaction that increased success can give!

Life, after all, is an adventure at its best. Anything that helps you to succeed and make the game less serious and more enjoyable, is well worth exploring.

Tools to influence your acceptance rate in architectural competitions & new projects

There is a way to know what factors influence each individual project. There is a way to observe the competition in a project and apply a correct measure of well-targeted action to the right spots to affect the outcome favorably.

There is a way to find new projects before others – and sign the client onto your services BEFORE there really is a project at all. Delivering this service you will get an overwhelming competitive edge once it's time to select the architect for the launched project itself.

Competition, after all, is a process of elimination. Regardless of the rules of professional conduct, despite social relationships... it's a major point of survival where you either win or lose and directly effect your own prosperity positively or negatively.

Nobody can stay "neutral" to competition... but you can do it ethically. That's the great thing about the tools in our Architect Marketing Guidelines system.

To get more information on the proven tools to win projects with a much improved ratio, click here to see the content of the AMG system.

Best wishes,

Harry Kafka
HDK Consultants U.S.A. Inc.
PMB 211
411 Cleveland Street
Clearwater, FL 33755
U.S.A.
Phone (727) 474 1206
Calls from outside USA: +1 727 474 1206
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