Webinars

Is your AE firm operating at peak efficiency, or are you constantly putting out fires?

Many firms struggle with inconsistent business development, project bottlenecks, financial uncertainty, and disorganized operations—often without realizing the root cause is a lack of business maturity. 

In this 60-minute webinar, Founder of The Well-Designed Firm Steve Burns, FAIA, will walk you through a structured Maturity Index to help you assess your firm’s strengths and weaknesses across six critical areas: Winning Work, Project Management, Client Experience, Finances, Billing, and Operations

After leveraging your architecture or engineering firm’s success for wealth generation, the next step is managing and growing that wealth through smart investments and effective risk management. In this session, Founder of Off the Beaten Path Financial Ryan Sullivan, PE, provides a deep dive into advanced investment strategies, diversification across asset classes, and approaches to assess and manage financial risk. Learn how to balance growth with protection, ensuring your wealth is secure and positioned for long-term success. 

Are you looking to increase profitability and reduce client friction in your architecture or engineering practice? Join us for an enlightening session on transforming your firm's billing model. This webinar will explore proven alternatives to hourly billing that can lead to better client relationships, increased revenue, and more predictable income streams.

Part 4 of the ‘Blueprint for Success’ Masterclass Series

The proposal is the pivotal part in the client onboarding process, a gateway that holds the power to set the stage for a successful project journey. However, in the world of architecture and engineering, there's no one-size-fits-all proposal. Join Founder of Teiger Consulting and architectural entrepreneur Douglas Teiger, FAIA, in this comprehensive course where he’ll dive deep into the art of crafting compelling proposals that resonate with each unique project and client. 

In the bestselling book Atomic Habits, James Clear illustrates that the key to unlocking significant improvements in our lives lies in small, incremental changes, emphasizing systems over goals for sustained progress. This webinar explores how integrating technologies into our daily routines, guided by Clear's four laws of behavior change (make it obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying), can transform our work processes and AE firm’s culture. By adopting a mindset shift towards seeing ourselves not just as design professionals, but as innovators, we align technology with our identity, ensuring its seamless adoption.

Your architecture or engineering firm is more than just a business—it’s a powerful tool for building personal wealth. During this webinar, Ryan Sullivan, PE, focuses on strategies to turn your firm’s success into financial abundance. Learn how to optimize your firm’s profitability, balance reinvestment with personal financial stability, and build wealth beyond the business. Discover actionable steps for achieving financial independence while positioning your firm for long-term growth and flexibility. 

Part 3 of the ‘Blueprint for Success’ Masterclass Series

Ready to master the art of estimating fees and gain profound insights into their impact on your bottom line? Join Douglas Teiger, FAIA, on a journey that begins at the very inception of a project—when that initial request for a proposal lands on your desk or in your inbox. In this comprehensive course, you will not only learn to define project scope, but also develop a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) for construction costs and estimate project hours. We'll culminate by dissecting how fees are structured and introduce a simplified system to enhance your overall project profitability. 

Most firms look at profitability as a bottom-line metric. They use this as a gauge to determine if the firm is financially healthy. However, every firm is composed of countless independent elements: employees, clients, projects, phases, consultants, and a myriad of expenses. 

What does a firm do when they aren’t achieving the profit margins they desire or experiencing losses? Knowing the answer to this question is the purpose of this webinar.  

Integrating personal and business finances can feel overwhelming and lead to inefficiencies or missed opportunities. In this session, expert financial advisor Ryan Sullivan, PE, provides a roadmap for assessing where you stand, balancing goals, and creating a clear system for managing and tracking finances effectively. Gain clarity and control to ensure both your business and personal finances work in harmony. 

The chart of accounts is the bedrock of financial insight for your AE firm. In this course, Douglas Teiger, FAIA, demystifies some often-confusing, essential accounting terms and equips you with the power to wield them effectively. Discover the art of creating a customized chart of accounts, tailored to the unique needs of your AE firm, and dive deep into its organizational prowess, understanding how it can illuminate the flow of money within your practice. Join Douglas as he takes you beyond the numbers! Learn how your chart of accounts becomes the cornerstone of budgeting, empowering you to set ambitious goals and navigate the financial terrain of the upcoming quarters with precision.

In this session, we will learn the fundamentals of all successful AE firms and provide the basis for making well-grounded business decisions. We will learn how firms can transition from being professionals providing services, to highly tuned businesses that can identify the needs of the marketplace and create services and products that are appropriately priced and yield consistent and greater profits. 

Rather than seeking out new projects that merely build upon your current skills, you will start from a business-thinking mindset, where processes that are critical to building a thriving firm are examined and constituted in your firm. We will explore the importance of data within an AE firm and demonstrate how careful collection and interpretation can lead your firm into more exciting and profitable territory. 

Too many architects and engineers assume their firm’s success will secure their future—but what happens when work is no longer an option? In this webinar, we’ll explore the cautionary tale of David, a firm owner who found himself financially unprepared when life didn’t go as planned. Discover the risks of relying solely on your business and learn actionable strategies to diversify income, build a sellable firm, and create a financial plan that ensures freedom and flexibility for the future. Don’t leave your financial security to chance—join us and take control today! 

Part 1 of the ‘Blueprint for Success’ Masterclass Series

In AE practices, time is money. Without proper tracking and allocation of your team’s time, there is no way to understand and manage profitability on your projects. In this foundational session, Douglas Teiger, FAIA, Founder of Teiger Consulting and former managing partner of his own architectural firm for 30-plus years, shows you how to execute advanced time management strategies, including budgeting time to align with project activities rather than just traditional phases, and analyzing the impact of non-billable time on firm profitability. He will also review proven tactics that he uses for his own schedule, like tracking time via buckets, implementing calendar blocking, and creating a realistic, harmonic work-life balance.

Developing the next generation of leaders is essential for every AE firm's long-term success and sustainability, whether you're a solo practitioner or amongst the largest firms in the world. Leadership development is not just about succession—it's a critical investment in building firm value, motivating employees, increasing retention, and ensuring profitability. Firms that embed leadership training into their culture earn the trust and loyalty of their employees and clients while positioning themselves as industry leaders. 

This 1-hour webinar provides practical, scalable strategies to create a leadership pipeline tailored to firms of all sizes. Building on the principles of succession planning, this session demonstrates how leadership development drives innovation, strengthens business resilience, and secures your firm’s future. 

Most AE teams are extremely thoughtful when developing their designs, but often let communicating their brand or actively pursuing ideal clients fall to the wayside. Marketing and business development are the twin engines that fuel your AE firm's ascent, and understanding their synergy is paramount. 

Join Founder of Teiger Consulting Douglas Teiger, FAIA, as he unravels the secrets to sustainable growth and revenue predictability. 

This webinar reveals hidden patterns that can make or break a successful ownership transition - whether that's for a current partner stepping into full ownership, a trusted employee taking the reins, or an experienced professional joining an established firm.

Many AE firms make decisions based on intuition rather than data-driven insights, often overlooking critical performance metrics. Leveraging data from over 1,500 architecture and engineering firms, BQE has compiled a comprehensive report on industry best practices for key performance indicators (KPIs) that all firms should be monitoring. In this webinar, we will explore the findings of our Benchmarking Report and provide actionable strategies for firms to enhance their performance across each metric. 

If your architecture firm’s website was an employee, would you promote it, demote it, or fire it? The honest truth is that most firms have no idea if their website is helping or hurting their firm's ability to attract and engage potential clients. In this webinar, Bryon McCartney of Archmark will share five key insights gained from testing more than 750 architecture firm websites.  

Today's workforce is shaped by two concurrent trends: an increase in 'wisdom workers' as people work longer, and the rising importance of digital intelligence brought by younger employees. These dynamics—seemingly at odds—can be a powerful combination when properly leveraged. 

In this interactive 90-minute session, we'll examine each generation's unique strengths and discuss strategies to bridge generational gaps, fostering a more cohesive and productive workplace. Whether you're an experienced executive or an emerging leader, you'll gain insights and methods to transform generational differences into catalysts for innovation and growth. 

Every project is different, but they all have the same goal: keep the client happy by delivering a project on-time and on-budget. With over 20 years serving the AE industry, we’ve developed best practices, tips, tricks, and technology to help firms take control of their projects.  

Join BQE’s Director of Content & Community, Lucas Gray and Director of Product, Chris Vernon for an interactive discussion on project management, project budgeting and planning best practices to improve your firm’s performance and execution. Throughout this webinar, they’ll discuss strategies and workflows to help deliver quality that fits your client’s schedule and your firm’s workload.  

What does a marketing and business development plan look like, and why does it matter? A plan shows you where you should focus your efforts and why, so that you're using the right tactics to attract the best prospects for your firm. In this webinar, we’ll review how to start a marketing strategy and build an actionable marketing plan that is realistic, budget-friendly, and measurable. Finally, we’ll discuss how authentic business development is separate from marketing but critical to building profitable relationships. 

Financial management is an integral part of running an architecture firm. In fact, having a system in place to manage your finances has a direct impact on your firm’s cash flow and profitability. In this webinar, our experts will help you understand the basics of planning and managing your finances and how this can make a significant impact on your firm's bottom line. 

Managing a growing design firm offers a variety of unique challenges and opportunities. An unpredictable business environment and a quickening pace of change requires firm owners to adapt, but how can firm owners proactively prepare for growth in uncertain times? In this session, we will demystify the business planning process.  

Most AEC consulting firms are looking to grow at a rapid pace; however, they face many challenges around recruiting, development, and retention in this competitive atmosphere.

EMI and ActionsProve have once again asked AEC professionals questions that their firms are afraid to ask! This must-attend session will review the findings to the questions asked in the “Present and Future of Work in Engineering and Architecture Reports” that can help firm owners and managers better recruit, develop, and retain team members in 2024 and beyond. Do not miss access to this game-changing information!

Inspired by Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Workweek, this session will focus on practical applications within the AE industry, highlighting how to optimize workflows, delegate effectively, leverage technology, and create a more balanced, fulfilling professional life. Applying these principles will enable you to “work smarter, not harder,” transforming your firm into a well-oiled machine that runs efficiently and profitably, freeing you up to focus on your passion. It's time to treat your firm as your greatest project and use your design skills to create a business that supports your dreams and aspirations! 

This engaging, bootcamp-style webinar is designed to enhance the financial acumen of AE executives and professionals, offering foundational knowledge and practical strategies to empower your financial management skills. During the session, you will learn how to interpret crucial financial statements, harness technology for efficient financial management, and master the art of budgeting and forecasting. Additionally, you will gain insights into project cost management and optimizing profitability, while also discovering strategies for improving cash flow management through client relationships and automation.

This session will also focus on identifying the right clients, winning them over, and positioning your firm uniquely in the market.

Prepare to be inspired by one of the most accomplished and forward-thinking experts in the AE industry! We invite you to attend this dynamic webinar led by Steven Burns, FAIA, a visionary with nearly 40 years of entrepreneurial and AE business consulting experience. As the founder of The Well-Designed Firm and former Chief Creative Officer of BQE Software, Steve has witnessed the full spectrum of the industry – from the best to the worst.

Industry surveys show that many AE firms rely on outdated software or spreadsheets to manage their business information, leading to inefficiencies and reduced profitability. In the webinar, we'll cover new business automation technologies, beyond CAD & BIM, that boost efficiency and engagement for all firm members, regardless of size. Join us to learn how you can break free of these obsolete tools, eliminate repetitive, mundane work, and return to doing the work you enjoy most.

The primary objective for every firm is to generate value. This value stems from the loyalty and trust you cultivate with your clients. This webinar reviews each step of the ideal project process and includes 10 strategies your firm can implement to achieve financial stability and increase profit margins, which will not only alleviate financial stress but enable your firm to recruit top talent, attract the right clients, and grow.

In this session, we will learn the fundamentals of all successful AE firms and provide the basis for making well-grounded business decisions. We will learn how firms can transition from being professionals providing services, to highly tuned businesses that can identify the needs of the marketplace and create services and products that are appropriately priced and yield consistent and greater profits.

Ready to start mastering fees and better understand what they mean for your bottom line? In this course, you will learn how to define your project scope, develop a Rough Order of Magnitude of construction cost, and estimate your project hours. 

Are the relentless stress, erratic income, and constant demands of your architectural practice leaving you drained? This session tears apart these issues and provides a bold, unconventional roadmap to running a more enjoyable, stress-free practice. You'll uncover the raw truth about successful practice management—truths you've sensed all along, but never heard laid out so plainly and powerfully. 

Most consultants strive to collect cash for their services within 30 days, but many wait 60, or even 120 days, to receive payment from their clients. In this training, we will examine the complete project lifecycle to understand how cashflow can be increased or decreased. Participants will gain valuable tips to improve cashflow by improving timesheet practices, reducing the billing cycle, and improving client relationships and collection practices.

Business intelligence opens up a world of possibilities for A/E professionals. It gives you unprecedented visibility into your practice and makes it simple to identify—and seize—opportunities for growth. Discover the practical applications of this cutting-edge technology, which boosts profits and positions your firm as a leader in the years to come. Learn how principals, partners, CFOs, and other managers are using business intelligence to streamline their daily tasks, gain a competitive advantage, and grow their organizations like never before.

Join Steven Burns, FAIA, Founder of The Well-Designed Firm, as he walks you through how smart technology can help you save time on repetitive tasks and unlock the meaning to your valuable stream of data. During the webinar, Steven will share the lessons he’s learned while working with over 1,300 AE firms and demonstrate how your firm can leverage this mine of precious data to achieve greater organization, efficiency, and profitability by adopting best practices and taking advantage of modern, user-friendly, and affordable computing technologies.

 Join four seasoned AE thought leaders as they review the facts, give advice, and take your questions about how to keep your firm thriving during uncertain economic times.

Join experts from ActionsProve, LLC and the Engineering Management Institute as they review an in-depth study of the state of the A/E industry and talent market.

The new research uncovers key workplace issues in a fast-changing world and how employers can attract and retain top talent amidst the Great Resignation and position themselves for greater growth and prosperity.

This session will share techniques and technologies that your firm must embrace to have the highest efficiency and profitability. Your firm can apply the same rigor and discipline you apply to your projects but focused inward. Learn best practices for Client Relationship Management (CRM), marketing, project management, billing, and accounting.

This session is based on the new book by June Jewell, RAISE Your Value: 5 Steps to Uncover Hidden Value, Design a Winning Advantage and Charge More. You will discover that with the right approach, understanding and language tools, it is possible to transform your client relationships and business practices away from accepting unprofitable work towards a value-based business partnership.

All AE consulting firms want their projects to be as profitable as possible; however, most will identify their biggest project management pitfall as: doing work outside of the scope (aka scope creep), which greatly reduces profits. Depending on the size of your firm, scope creep could cost you thousands, or even millions, of dollars annually.

While this is a common and debilitating challenge that MOST firms face, the reality is that by installing a few simple processes you can greatly reduce scope creep on your projects.

Culled from experiences working with more than 3,000 AE firms over 25 years, this session will examine the seven common denominators of every successful firm. Success comes in many flavors. For some, it’s money; for others, it is peer recognition, awards, or fame; for most of us, it’s having access to challenging or exciting projects.

Regardless of how you measure success, by adopting these Seven Pillars you will create the framework from which you and every member of your firm can achieve their professional goals.

Most A&E firms don’t apply the same rigor, discipline, and consistency that they use when executing their projects. We will show how easy it is for your firm to be well-organized, efficient, and profitable by applying best practices and utilizing modern, effortless, affordable computing technologies.

Join us for an engaging, live webinar presented by Steven Burns, FAIA, Chief Creative Officer at BQE Software, as he shares lessons learned over 35 years working with over 1,000 A&E firms.  

Key performance indicators (KPIs) track project success by measuring how your projects (or team, clients, and so on) are performing. Because each architecture and engineering firm has different goals and ways of working, your vital KPIs will vary from project to project.

Within the world of project performance and finance, certain KPIs should always be used to monitor and improve your success.  

We've rounded up some of our most successful customers, who have become more efficient, profitable, and organized with BQE CORE's real-time insights for better decision making.

Join BQE's Training & Consulting Manager Scott McKissock as he interviews four different CORE customers (with four different job functions) to discuss their experience implementing and utilizing CORE, as well as the wins, losses, and lessons learned along the way. At the end of the session, we’ll take questions from the audience, so you can hear answers and feedback from real customers.

Are you being compensated both in recognition and money for the enormous value you bring to the table as an architect? Do your clients clearly recognize your value? Can they articulate it? Can YOU articulate it? Often there is a misalignment between the perception of architects and their clients in terms of value. As a result, it isn’t uncommon for design firms to have their fees questioned and examined by clients, be price-shopped, and compete with other firms on fee alone. This creates a working pressure that decreases the quality of work and creative innovation, not to mention stress and business problems for practitioners.  

Join us for an engaging, live webinar presented by entrepreneur and founder of The Well-Designed Firm, Steven Burns, FAIA, as he explores 10 project performance KPIs that, when tracked properly, will transform the way your business operates, and subsequently how profitable each project is.

This free, live professional development webinar reveals a simple approach to end the chaos of business and get back to what you love: architecture. 

Join us as four different CORE customers discuss their experience implementing and utilizing CORE, as well as the wins, losses, and lessons learned along the way. At the end of the session, we’ll take questions from the audience, so you can hear answers and feedback from real customers.