Here's a behind-the-scenes look at a 6-year-old architecture firm in London, as told by the owner. The firm has 6 employees and does a wide range of work including museums, universities, public work, commercial, and high-end residential.

Office Situation:

The office is rented in Zone 1 of Central London. Monthly rent is £6000.

Salary:

My salary has increased yearly. It's currently £150,000 + £30K pension contributions per year.

Work/life balance:

Very good, mostly. I occasionally work weekends or late in the day.

Debt:

We have £15,000 debt and use an HSBC credit card.

Revenue & Profit:

£760,000 in revenue of the last 12 months. The annual revenue has increased each year except for 2021.

Our Net Profit in 2024 was 29%.

I want to achieve £1m in retained earnings in the next 5 years through growth in our current client base and innovation like the transfer of equity to senior team members.

Favorite Expense:

My favourite expenses are IT investment and Staff Welfare, which are respectively 4.8% and 1.7% of turnover (total revenue).

Savings & Investments:

We're depositing into savings accounts until we get over £500K in retained earnings that we don't need for working capital.

Biggest Mistake:

Letting our overheads get to 50% of our turnover (total revenue) pre-pandemic. It was slow and painful to respond to the pandemic and adapt to sudden change.

Book Recommendations:

E-myth Revisted by Michael Gerber
Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury
Architect & Entrepreneur by Eric Reinholdt
What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

Final Nugget:

I'm really interested to know what other firms spend on marketing and how that breaks down to spend on SEO, social, ad words or print etc.