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By Mark Zweig | Firm owners should consider adding key employees to ownership for motivation, transition planning, and financial strength – before it’s too late.

By Ezequiel Tovar | Deciding what you will do with your firm, whether you decide to sell internally or externally, will be life-changing.

By Will Swearingen | The 2024 Valuation Report highlights strong AEC industry performance and essential metrics for firm leaders.

Zweig Group announces the release of its 2024 Valuation Report of AEC Firms, marking more than three decades of commitment to providing the AEC industry with comprehensive valuation data and analysis.

By Ezequiel Tovar | Neglecting succession planning jeopardizes the future of your company’s internal transition.

By Will Swearingen, Kevin Johns & Alexis Martin | Finding extra deductions or credits will serve you now and when the time comes to transfer ownership.

By Mark Zweig | Owning a firm that will be profitable and grow over time requires a longer term view and a willingness to invest in the people who generate the revenue.

By Julia DeFrances | Creating an engaging culture across multiple offices is a challenge that requires constant diligence.

By Kevin Johns | These five financial considerations are just a few of the measures that successful AEC firms put in place to build long-term organizational health.

By Will Swearingen | Management incentives can be used to motivate key staff and to build capital and liquidity for individuals in the event of a transition.

By Mark Zweig | There are 10 things practically every firm in this business should do but won’t. If you try these things, your firm will be more successful.

By giving employees the opportunity to own company stock, you can develop a culture in which employees have a greater stake in the company and more opportunities to reap the rewards of capital ownership. 

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Despite the challenging environment, there are tremendous opportunities to be had.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | A good incentive compensation program needs to be carefully matched with the specific goals of your firm.

“If you have lofty ambitions for the growth of your firm, but aren’t exactly sure of what you need to do to accomplish it, here is my best advice.”

President and CEO of DBR (Houston, TX), a 150-person Texas firm that values communication and superior service above all.

President and CEO of CME (Hot Firm #36 for 2018), an engineering firm headquartered in Connecticut that refuses to be affordable and mediocre. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “If we cannot grow fast enough to provide...

President and CEO of SEPI Engineering & Construction, Inc. (Hot Firm #74 for 2017), a 350-person firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “People need to feel like their work life is...

Founder and CEO of GATE (Hot Firm #35 for 2017), a 300-plus person oil and gas engineering consulting company based in Houston. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “When clients/friends see what we post and comment to...

Take a hard look at your firm. Is your operation lean and mean, or is it bloated with perks and unneeded extras? A friend of mine, an Austin-based land use attorney, grew up listening to...

This post first appeared as an article in The Zweig Letter, Issue 1223 Besides the fact that an external sale will typically provide the greatest financial return for A/E owners who want to transition out...

Besides the fact that an external sale will typically provide the greatest financial return for A/E owners who want to transition out of their firms, a solid majority of principals still prefer internal ownership transition....

Besides the fact that an external sale will typically provide the greatest financial return for A/E owners who want to transition out of their firms, a solid majority of principals still prefer internal ownership transition....

CEO and chairman of Mead & Hunt (#82 Hot Firm for 2017), a 592-person national firm offering services in planning, design, architecture, and engineering. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “There is something to be said for...

You can leverage M&A to accelerate strategic shifts and implement your growth strategy, but there are plenty of risks along with the reward. While M&A is not a strategy in and of itself, it is...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 21, 2017) – Zweig Group just released the 2017 Principals, Partners and Owners of Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms Survey. For nearly 30 years, Zweig Group has surveyed the industry’s...

We are a bunch of conformists. It’s a big problem in the AEC business. Everyone is sitting around waiting to do what the other guy is doing. And this is precisely the WRONG course of...

An internal market for the company’s stock, and a company culture of ‘just get it done’ are two key drivers of the firm’s success. By Dale D. Conger CobbFendley (Hot Firm #21 for 2016) was...

Alternative collection methods at this time of year, even if it’s something radical, might come in handy if you need to ‘stock the cash coffers.’ As the last quarter of 2016 draws to a close,...

Zweig Group just released the 2016 Principals, Partners and Owners of Architectural, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms Survey. Over the past 30 years, this publication has picked the brains of some of the industry’s...

Think your small firm should stay small? Think again. Here’s why you should strive for growth in your firm. Without a doubt, there are some entrepreneurial firms in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business today....

Without a doubt, there are some entrepreneurial firms in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business today. That said—and I’ve written it before in these pages—just because you are privately-held and a small business does NOT...

By Mark C. Zweig We have come a long way in the A/E/P business over the last 30 years. Not only is it OK to market to clients, we even have computers on every desk...

I had a lengthy conversation the other day with someone who is currently in the throes of helping his company design a new incentive compensation plan. This fellow is a smart guy. He had done...

After 26 years of immersion in A/E/P and environmental firms, it has come to my attention that one thing probably holds more firms back from achieving their potential more than anything else: the owners’ fear....

It’s hard to grow if you can’t keep the people you already have working for you. Every time someone leaves you have to replace them. And it’s as hard or harder than ever— as well...

Antoine Nicholas Smith had just started feeling a little better. He’d survived some tough times recently and come out smelling like a rose. After 9/11, his firm, Jones and Stern, tanked. They were losing money,...

I’m seeing a lot of firms following a program of short-term profit-maximization right now. It’s easy to understand. Industry profits are down as the results from our 2002 Financial Performance Survey of A/E/P & Environmental...

Jose Piranha listened to his two partners, Stephanie Straighthair and Jason Loseria, discuss how to dole out the firm’s profits in the coming year. They were sitting at their favorite table at Hugo’s, the little...

Leroy Whiteside, president and CEO of Those Fabulous Architects, Inc., a 200-person firm based in Charleston, South Carolina, is a great guy. He is, in many ways, the archetypal design firm principal. He works 60...

John Dilbertson left the Dilbertson & Terry board meeting shaking his head. How many times did they have to reconsider the issue of principal compensation, particularly base pay? It seemed like it never ended. One...

At the end of every year, Larz Picklefranz, managing partner of architecture and interiors firm Picklefranz, Lordosa, Fauna, and Schlossenberger, got the blues. Maybe it was just that the holidays reminded him of his long...

Denise Jones, CADD technician and seven-year employee at DEF Associates, was fed up with the complainers at her firm. What was wrong with these people? All they could do was gripe about one thing or...

With all of the employment-related pressures that firms face today, it’s getting harder and harder to figure out what you really need to pay somebody to do a given job. There are so many ways...

Although most of our readers are unaware, 65% of our revenues here at Zweig White & Associates come from providing consulting services. We’re much more like our readers (and clients) than many folks think. That’s...

As hard as it may seem to believe, 1999 is already wrapping up. We’re into the last quarter of the year now. Over the next couple of months, many A/E/P and environmental firms will be...

If you want to build an A/E/P or environmental consulting firm that has lasting, sustainable value, this is where it is at: You have to get your primary revenue producers to see the forest instead...

Do you know how many times a day I think this? I can’t count that high! Some of what we see and hear in our work with A/E/P and environmental consulting firms is truly amazing....

Say “strategy” to an architect, engineer, planner, or scientist and you are bound to get a negative reaction. These folks have been through all of the strategic planning meetings conducted by the management consultant of...

One of the most interesting products we have put together is our new Fast-Growth Firm Survey, just released a couple weeks ago. It’s just fascinating when you look at the comparisons between A/E/P and environmental...

Every single firm we deal with at Zweig White & Associates, Inc. could benefit from working on their hiring process. Everyone in the A/E/P and environmental business agrees that it’s hard to hire. Well here...

I just got back from a business planning retreat one of our Atlanta-based clients held at The Highlands Inn in Highlands, North Carolina. Highlands is an absolutely idyllic small-town setting. It’s like something from another...

t seems to me the only way to really be successful is to be different from everyone else. Whether it’s your career or your firm we are talking about, it’s all the same. Yet many...

I spend more of my billable time helping A/E/P and environmental consulting firms with their business planning than anything else. Most firm owners want to do more with their businesses, to be more successful. But...

No doubt about it, all of us who are managers in an A/E/P or environmental firm have to face some tough situations from time to time. They aren’t usually “fun” decisions, or situations that give...

Let’s face it, readers— the A/E/P and environmental business just isn’t what it used to be. The old assumptions just don’t hold true. The old ways of doing things aren’t working. The people who can’t...

I just got back from the annual business planning meeting with the board of directors of a client of ours that underwent a significant turnaround in the last couple of years. They went through everything...

Scott Adams, the creator of comic strip “Dilbert” and author of the best-seller “The Dilbert Principle,” is clearly familiar with the absurd, idiotic stuff some companies do in the name of “better management.” In fact,...

Sometimes I think the owners and managers of A/E and environmental firms need a strong dose of realism. We seem to want to bury our heads in the sand to avoid the obvious, or wish...

If you are like a lot of our clients, 1994 was a really great year. For many firms, all indicators were up— including sales, backlog, revenues, and profitability. Our ZWEIG 100 index (based on 100...

What’s the best way to motivate staff people? When faced with that question, most firm principals think about what to give them. The experts tell us to pay spot bonuses for an effort that goes...

Deciding how to reward principals is a perennial problem. Spread out the rewards equally, and one principal is bound to feel cheated while another principal gets more than he deserves. Vary the compensation of principals,...

We give out a lot of advice to our clients. Some of it’s free, but we get paid for most of it. In our business, just like yours, clients are usually happy when you first...

Throughout my working career, I never asked for a raise. I never asked for a bigger bonus. I figured if my employers weren’t smart enough to pay me what I was worth, I’d go somewhere...

Several recent experiences with consulting engineering firms lead me to believe that it’s time all of us looked at our compensation schemes and put some incentive back into the business— especially for principals. The desire...