Design: Business

The first module of the ‘Design Yourself-2’ business modelling intensives held by Plan The Best communications agency in cooperation with the MARSH School of Architecture has come to an end.

During the week of the intensives, the students independently created a business model based on the template of A. Osterwalder and I. Pinier for their company for a year, and also received a professional upgrade in the following areas: finance and legal aspects, team management, marketing, service and sales.

The business modelling approach allowed to identify the very uniqueness of each project, to find the very features that will be an advantage in the market. It was evident that the students of the intensives were well prepared for the defence of their projects and deeply analysed the situation, as a result of which each of them successfully assembled their own business model based on the goals for the coming year.

According to the course supervisor Katya Panova, if you compare what the students came with at the beginning of the intensive with what they presented a week later, you can see that a lot of work has been done and everyone has rethought what they do, which in itself is an absolutely amazing fact.

Immersing themselves in the intensity allows architects, designers, planners and related professionals to understand how key factors in their business are interconnected, find effective solutions, identify ineffective chains and realise where their strengths lie.

Reviews:

Vladislav Kliman, leading conceptual architect

First of all I would like to thank Ekaterina Panova for organisation, professionalism and flexibility - despite the objective force majeure - everything went well! The event was rich and comprehensive. My gratitude to the teachers and lecturers participating in the intensive (it is not easy to share so much information in such a short time).

The most valuable thing I think is that as a result of the course I managed to form a whole picture of modern aspects of doing business - it allows me to look at everything more broadly. The intensive in this respect saves time and effort that could have been spent on independent study.

Special thanks for the interviews with the heads of Wowhaus and Arteza studio. It is difficult to overestimate first-hand information from real practitioners. With their results they showed that there are no special magic secrets - the model and methods of management can be different - organisation, systematisation against the background of growth should be thoughtfully and calculatedly dealt with.

Before the class, I formulated for myself the following expectations from the course:

- To receive comprehensive and systematic coverage of the main aspects of the functioning of an architectural office

- To get a professional assessment and consultation on the current state of my own office

- To supplement my personal picture with the knowledge of specialists from other fields.

- To make acquaintances and spread the word.

On each point I believe I got the result I needed!

In general, I will give the best compliment - I will recommend to others! m

Anna Zinkovskaya, interior designer

The biggest problem in any creative business, in my opinion, is the organisation of the business itself. There have always been many questions: from legal to financial. I came for answers.

I really liked the fact that I had a lot of established professionals at my desk - such an exchange of experience. I got answers to many questions, and I will study something on my own in the future. A revelation for me was working with Alexander Obermeister, who helped me to put our worksheets in order, thanks to which I made completely unexpected conclusions.

The overall impression is the best! In any case, I have never seen anything like it among training programmes for designers and architects. I can only say thank you!Anna Zinkovskaya, interior designer

The biggest problem in any creative business, in my opinion, is the organisation of the business itself. There have always been many questions: from legal to financial. I came for answers.

I really liked the fact that I had a lot of established professionals at my desk - such an exchange of experience. I got answers to many questions, and I will study something on my own in the future. A revelation for me was working with Alexander Obermeister, who helped me to put our worksheets in order, thanks to which I made completely unexpected conclusions.

The overall impression is the best! In any case, I have never seen anything like it among training programmes for designers and architects. I can only say thank you!

Evgeny Sofronov, architect

A more or less general understanding of how the business can be built has begun to form. Motivation increased. Intensive is a short summary of the main things: an opportunity to think, analyse and start.

Anton Gerasimov, interior designer

The Intensive clarified a lot of questions I was puzzled about. I realised that a design office can be a ‘business’. In general, everything is good. Thank you for bringing the course to me, although it was difficult because of the situation in the world.