April 3, 2025 • 30 mins
Building a thriving business isn't always about rapid expansion. When should you hit the accelerator on growth, and when should you pump the brakes? Jannese and Austin are in Nashville, Tennessee to talk with Taku Zhou and Sibusiso Ajayi of TKZ Architecture LLC to explore this crucial entrepreneurial crossroads. The duo shares candid insights from their journey building TKZ Architecture, revealing the moments they knew it was time to scale – and importantly, when it wasn't. They discuss how they balanced the allure of growth against the need to strengthen their foundation through refined workflows, established protocols, and market positioning. Tune in as we unpack the strategic decision-making that goes into sustainable business expansion and learn the telltale signs that you're ready for growth and how to execute that transition successfully.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Ruby.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
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(00:29):
revising any information presented. Listeners should verify statements before relying
on them. Welcome back everyone. This is Mine the Business
Small Business Success Stories, a podcast brought to you by
Into It QuickBooks and Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. I'm Jennis
Torres and.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I'm Austin hankwetz Denis. Your business ventures are obviously much
bigger today than they were when you started, so you
are no stranger to the concept of growing and scaling
a business.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Definitely not a stranger to that, Austin, But I did
have to learn a lot of lessons over the years
about the best approach and strategy to growth because it's
not always a direct line upwards. So in today's episode,
we're going to be talking about strategizing growth in your business.
I'd love to know from you, Austin, what are some
things that you did to grow your business?
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Really great question. I think in the beginning I started
to get a sort of spidery sense that wait a second,
I'm pretty good at marketing my own products as it
relates to financial technology, I wonder if the companies that
I'm working with could also use a helping hand. And
so that was one of the first ways that I
was able to begin expanding my business is looking around
(01:36):
and saying, hmm, I feel like I do this very well.
I wonder if this can also be, you know, have
a positive impact on the people I'm working with beyond
just you know, given some tips and tricks, and then
could this turn into a real business segment that makes
substantial money and really add to our bottom line. So
that was a recent example of something that I've done.
But I'm curious, are there any recent examples for you?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah. So when I first started out with my personal
finance con creator journey, I was teaching a lot of workshops,
and so every single time I was going to teach
a workshop, I had to build out that outline, build
out the presentation, and that takes a lot of work.
So I eventually got to a place where I was
thinking about how can I scale this education business, and
so I ended up turning to creating courses because when
(02:18):
you build an online course, you can build it once
and then you sell it a bunch of times. So
that's something that has helped me be able to monetize
my knowledge without exhausting myself by having to physically teach programs.
Because now people can sign up, they watch the videos,
and lets me serve many clients versus just a couple
at each workshop.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
I think that's really powerful, right, from going one to
one to one to many. Right.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, but enough about us, let's introduce our guests. Takuzo
has been a designer since he was a child. He's
a believer in the power of architecture and its ability
to change people's lives. He also noticed early on that
it was a field that could seem inaccessible to some
with its jargon and potentially extreme price points. So taku
(03:01):
founded TKZ Architecture, which specializes in commercial, healthcare, government, religious,
and residential projects, as well as in the clients themselves.
TKZ Architecture builds trust in their customers, knowing there are
no wrong questions, and makes it a priority to, as
cliche as it may sound, treat their clientele like family.
They're based in Nashville, but serve areas all over Tennessee
(03:24):
and even take on projects around the country and overseas
on a case by case basis. We're also joined by
Cibusiso Ajai, who is the business development lead for TKZ Architecture.
She comes to the role with over twenty years of
healthcare and leadership experience. She's a mother, wife, and visionary
whose service background brings a compassionate dynamic to the business
(03:45):
of designing for clients. Taku and Cibusiso, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Thank you. You can call me Boosey.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
We are so excited to have you. Now, let's take
a step back. How did you get here? What's the story?
Give me the play by play.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
So I'm an architect by training, and before we started
our company, I had worked in a number of different firms.
That's what's required in order to get your architectural license.
Once I got my license, I knew that I wanted
to start a company to make a difference. The philosophy
that I embrace and we embrace as a company is
that a place can change how someone feels and their
(04:23):
trajectory in life just by being in a great place,
and so we wanted to bring that option to the marketplace.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
How have you changed people's day to day lives because
you've been able to change their environments.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
So with our healthcare projects, one of the big things
we look into is not only the patient experience, which
is really big, but also the provider experience. And so
we have taken it upon ourselves to not only design
the client facing aspects, but the provider, the doctor, the nurse,
(04:54):
the place is that they frequent to be mentally relaxing
and rejuvenating for them.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah, I'd love to know more about the different industries
that you guys have worked in. I wasn't expected to
hear healthcare. I thought y'all just building homes.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Yeah, Well, we specialize in a number of industries, healthcare
being one of them. We do work for the State
of Tennessee as well as we do some airport work,
and that's as well another place where you can really
make a difference. We all know how airports can be stressful,
they can be places of high intensity, and so having
well planned out and well that out spaces really makes
(05:31):
a difference for people who travel. We also do residential,
as you mentioned, So those are the big markets that
we typically are in.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
That's really interesting. And yeah, I love me a good airport.
I don't one that's well designed.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yes, wait, so I know. Nashville Airport was just sort
of redesigned over the last couple of years. Were you
all part of that.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Yes, we teamed up with some of the companies here
to help provide services.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
That's so cool.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
So why architecture? What is it about the field that
enticed you to want to pursue it as a career.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Yes, I always wanted to be a designer since I
was a little kid.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Did you play with legos?
Speaker 3 (06:06):
No?
Speaker 4 (06:06):
No, no legos, but cars? Surprisingly, And what I found
is if you draw something, even if you don't physically
have it there, it creates it in reality. So I
would draw cars or buildings or whatever, and in my
mind that thing would be there. And so architecture was
a great field, partly because architecture tends to be a
(06:28):
field where a majority or a big chunk of architects
own their own businesses. The other half work in bigger firms,
and so I thought, hey, if I can own my
own firm, then it'll be a quicker pipeline from bringing
those ideas in my head into reality and really wanting
to serve people. Knowing that building's infrastructure environment can change
(06:51):
how place looked. It just lined up with my personality
and talents.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
It's such a fascinating career. Personally. I'm just always amazed
by how you take something that's in your head and
now see it manifested in real life in the world
and be able to touch it. It's such an awesome
form of I think art.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
It's crazy. I designed a building years ago when I
worked for another firm, and the building was right on
the route I took to work. So every day I'll
look and it was the building that I had sketched
on a notepad. The first time it happened. It's almost
surreal because you're like, that was in my mind and
now it's right there.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
So all right.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
So I'm assuming that the letters TKZ and TKZ architecture
are your initials.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
I love that you're putting your stamp on your company
like that. What motivated you to make that choice?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
So, just like you said, putting the TKZ on our
projects means that we have to stay there and really
believe in what we're doing because my name is on
the end product. So there's no hiding from any equality
defects because they know who it is. So we really
believe that strongly in what we do.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
That is so cool. Now, I'm curious when did you
guys cross the hurdle of WHOA I can live off
this money?
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Now, that's a great question, and it was a eye
opening and wonderful experience to see that, very gratifying. I
think it took about four to six months to really
see that level of income and it, like I said,
it's very satisfying to know that we can put food
on the table for ourselves and also our employees.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Walk me through the process of finding those first one, two, three, four, five,
six clients where you were able to say, Okay, this
is actually working, we are actually putting money into our
bank accounts like this can turn into a thriving business.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
I'd say the first two or three clients came through partnership,
so we partnered with other architecture firms as well as
people we previously knew who reached out and said, hey,
we see you're starting an architecture firm. We have a
house that we want you to do, and so they
trusted us with their house and we didn't let them down.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
That's very cool.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah, you know, I think that it speaks to the
importance of just using your network, especially when you're first
starting out, because typically your first customers are going to
be referrals to people that you've already built trust with.
How do you think you've been able to foster that
part of your career where you were working for other
firms so that you knew like you were going to
have a client tele base when you were starting off
on your own.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Since I knew I was going to start a company
for quite some time, pretty much since high school, having
that in the back of my mind influenced the way
I interacted with coworkers as well as clients. So surprisingly enough,
previous co workers will recommend projects, But just having it
in the back of the mind that I want to
start a company created a way of interacting in those
(09:38):
previous environments.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Tell me about how you knew it was time to
start scaling and bringing this lovely lady on board.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Absolutely. So Boosey has been a gem and one of
the things we saw is the type of clients that
we wanted to bring and focus in. She could have
access to those because of her experience, because of her
gifts and her talents in terms of business development. So
she has hit the road running, setting up appointments, meeting
(10:09):
with new clients, healthcare, real estate, all of the above,
and really engaging and bringing us in new work. So
when we said we wanted to grow in terms of
the type of projects and the scale, that's when we
knew it was time to bring her in.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Bussie.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Can you talk about your background and how it has
benefited the company.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yes, I have a background as a pharmacy tech. I
actually worked as a pharmacy technician while I was in
nursing school, So it's uniquely positioned me to feel very
comfortable in different settings. When mister Taku told me that
he was looking to expand into healthcare, I felt like
I could bring that knowledge to the company because everyone
(10:49):
knows what it feels like to walk into a building
where you're just relaxed, but we don't always know what
goes behind those feelings and being in healthcare, I don't
always know why a building feels. Guy, it's nice to
work with someone who does know why. And then I
can also bring in the aspect of, hey, maybe we
should put this over here instead of there, because this
is how people walk through this building. Those are things
(11:11):
that maybe an architect wouldn't just know off the bat.
Or maybe we should put the physician's lounge on this
side because the nurses will be over here and maybe
they should be able to interact, but maybe not at lunchtime.
You know, everyone wants a break from the work, even
if they're at work, they want a place where they
can relax. So I feel like, because of my healthcare background,
I'm able to contribute very positively to the company that way.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
So we all know the saying more money MO problems,
And I'm wondering, what has the expansion process for your
business looks like and how have you used the information
that you get out of into it quick books to
make decisions around expansion.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
One of the key things I'd say to any small
business owner, and something that we really realized before we
started expanding, is that cash flow is and in our industry,
it's not unusual to send out an invoice and maybe
get paid one two three months later. But if you're
(12:09):
looking to expand you really have to find a way
to bridge those downtimes, and so into it quick Books
has helped us identify the clients who pay on time.
It's identified the clients who tend to take a little longer.
And the great thing is there's a lot of automation
which has helped us follow up with our clients on
an automatic basis, but that the data has also revealed
(12:30):
to us what type of clients we need in order
to have consistent cash flow. So by evaluating that in
our meetings, we've taken that information and strategically positioned ourselves
to go after that type of client. Because when we
bring on new employees, new team members, the cash flow
really makes a huge difference.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
What specific characteristics or key insights do you include in
your sort of process to determine this is something we
take on or this is something we pass on.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
One thing we learned is not all opportunities are great
opportunities for us, and so we're fortunate to be in
a position now where we can select our projects more
selectively and that go no go process looks like evaluating
the timeframe and the expectations of the client, if they're
realistic or not. We provide different tiers of service to
(13:22):
accommodate different levels of engagement and hence the resources financially
that are required. But at the end of the day,
it's if the client's expectations are reasonable, if the timeframe
is reasonable, if the project fits into what we are
specialists at. Sometimes we find that there's a great project,
(13:43):
all of the other boxes are checked, but it's something
that we're not really comfortable with, and when that comes up,
we're happy to refer the client to another architect or
another firm that can better help them.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Because of my healthcare background, I always want to know
why someone wants this building. Build that sounds so basic.
If someone is saying, ah, I just came into this land,
and you know that's different than someone saying this is
all I own and everything I have is writing on
this being perfect. When you hear those things, then you
know how your work ethic is. You know how you're
(14:15):
driven to do things, and you need to hear if
that's gonna work with the person's timeline and also their expectations.
It helps if they've worked with an architect before, but
it's not a requirement. It lets us know that they
have an idea of the process. We have ways of
reassuring the client that we are capable, but at the
end of the day, that's not always what they need.
A lot of people are capable, but we need to
(14:37):
make sure that we're lining up with what they need.
So we're very honest with them because maybe of time constraints,
we just may not be the fit for them right
at this moment.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I think it's very noble that you all are so
open to referring other architecture firms, you know, if fits. Hey, guys,
this isn't a good fit because ABC, but these people
might be a better fit for you. I think that's
a really great way to operate a business.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, that's how you run a business us with integrity,
and that's how you maintain that client relationship for long term.
So I think it's worth it. Coming up on Mine
the business small business success stories.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
They're the saying that success is when opportunity meets preparation.
So we've always been geared to grow. That's one of
the things we've looked at, but we've grown more than
we've expected because of unexpected opportunities.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
We'll be right back. Welcome back to mind the business.
All right. So, the day to day duties of managing
a business obviously can take a lot of your time
and sometimes can get in the way of you being
(15:47):
in that creative space to think about what's next in
the business. So how do you all balance that?
Speaker 4 (15:52):
So one of the things I'm a big proponent on
is sitting down and schedule a meeting with yourself to
plan out your week, and then we go in and
time block. What that does is it offloads the administrative
burden off of our minds so that we can be creative,
because it's tricky being creative coming up with new designs,
(16:13):
new ideas when I'm thinking, oh I have an invoice
to send out, or oh I have a meeting with
the client, or I have to file this tax paperwork.
And so what we found is if we put it
in its convenient cubby, maybe for next Thursday, I know
it's going to get taken care of responsibly, and so
I can now freely exercise creativity so that we're about
(16:35):
the day to day duties.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, that's a good strategy because sometimes you just have.
Especially as an entrepreneur, you have so much going on
in your head that unless you can visualize it and
see kind of what the priorities are, it can all
feel like everything's important.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
All at once.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Let's now talk a little bit more about the growth
side of the equation here. Do you have any specific
action items that you'd like to share with other small
businesses who are saying, Okay, we are ready to take
it to the next level. We've been doing this now
for several months. We have our client base built up,
but we're ready to really scale.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
The first thing that you have to really think about
is what are you doing that is unique? What are
you doing that makes you special. The best way to
do that sometimes is just to ask people around you, Hey,
when you think of me, what comes to mind? How
do you view us? How do you think of us?
It also sheds light on where you're maybe deficient or
where you could improve.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
So as you weigh those pros and cons, walk me
through that process that you all would take as it
relates to growing this business.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Yeah, So it's a decision every business has to come
to whether they grow or they don't grow. And really
one of the pros of growing the business is just
a synergistic effect. The more people that we have, the
bigger projects that we can take on. The clients look
at it favorably because they know that our capacity expands
(17:51):
and we can handle their size of project. One of
the cons though, is as a business owner, it typically
initially means more world for you. So in my case,
I found that I need to work longer in order
to onboard our new hires to bring them up to speed.
But the payoff with that is when they get up
(18:12):
to speed, we really reap the benefits of their added
effort and the synergistic effects.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Our advice for the small business owners is if you're
doing it efficiently and well run on a small scale,
then scaling up becomes a lot more feasible. If the
thing is already a little bit creaky and squeaky and
there's not enough oil in the beginning, then now you
just have a bigger squeaky problem.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
So yeah, it's always easier to scale something that's working
versus trying to retrofit and fix all the problems when
they're at a massive scale. Yes, what about for all
the entrepreneurs listening, the small business owners who maybe aren't
sure how to identify that it is time to expand.
What would you say are some of those telltale signs
(18:59):
that you've realized, Ooh, okay, I think we've reached our capacity.
I think we need to build out so that we
can take on more work without necessarily burning ourselves out.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
We want to make our decision before we reach burnout.
But some telltale signs are if you're consistently working into
the night. As the company grew, I realized, hey, if
I'm always working late into the night, we need to
bring more help in. Or if you're making your partners
or your other employees work late, then you know that
(19:30):
there's enough work to be done and you need to
start thinking of bringing other people in.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
So what strategies have you found helpful in tracking the
size of your business? If that is the steadiness, the growth,
or maybe some unopportune declines here and there. Because we've
heard from other business owners that into it, QuickBooks is
a great tool for simplifying all the different ways there
are to run and grow your business, from tracking money
coming in and going out, to staying on top of
(19:55):
invoices and overhead costs. QuickBooks allows you to do it
all in one place. So how have you guys tracked
your business in a very accurate way?
Speaker 4 (20:04):
Yeah, so into a QuickBooks has been key to helping
us run our business efficiently, and so everything from sending
out invoices and collecting payments we use into it quick Books.
And one of the great things we do is when
we meet we talk about our financial goals for the month,
So we have a financial goal and then stretch goals,
(20:25):
which always you know, can help lining the pockets with profit.
But either way, we quickly can look into QuickBooks dashboard
and they show us where we are for that month
as well as historically around the time of year, what
are the finances doing, and so that historical look in
the past helps us to be able to project into
(20:45):
the future. We know, Okay, maybe there'll be a lull
because of the season, or maybe there'll be a high
point where we need to start reaching out to our engineers,
our other partners to make those connections for more projects.
So that dashboard view on into a QuickBooks has been essential.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
That's amazing. I'm actually curious more about the seasonality of
the business. Do you mind double clicking on that.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
Yeah, So we have times like the holiday season where
people are spending time with their families, so maybe architecture
is not the first thing on their mind, and so
being able to see those trends. Okay, we saw it.
Yeah one, we didn't know what was going on. Year
two or three. It starts to be a repeating pattern,
and so we can ramp up our efforts or ramp
them down depending on that data we receive.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
When you say ramp up your efforts or ramp them down,
I'm curious if you guys have any sort of like
paid marketing efforts.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Yes, you hit the nail on the head when we
talk about ramping them up. It's putting more resources into
the paid marketing right now. We do quite a bit
of Google advertisements. We also do in person business development
where we're having lunches or having meetings with different clients,
and so by ramping them up, we typically put in
(21:56):
a higher intensity for those and when we ramp them down,
we just simil it down, bring it to the back burner.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
And then when you're ramping them up, talk to me
more about how someone goes from I just saw a
Google ad too. Here's a one hundred thousand dollars contract.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
Yes, and it's an amazing thing. So contracts and architecture
tend to be a lot bigger than your average purchase.
But someone who's searching for an architect on Google or
whatever other service has a pretty high intent to buy.
So it's not random advertisement. They've actually themselves searched what's
the best architect near me? And so we come up
(22:31):
organically as well for our very local market here in
Nashville as well as in Georgia. But for the paid ads,
when someone searches that, now we have to bring them
through the process of education to say, hey, you're about
to spend X amount on an investment your home, and
part of that investment is making sure the design is right.
(22:51):
So it's a lot of client education to bring them
to see that fee is what it requires to get
the project done.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
So I can imagine that you can have these plans
for growth in your business, but then there are external
forces that come into play that you can't even anticipate,
something like supply chain issues or labor issues. How do
you at least try to mitigate those things so that
it doesn't impact your growth.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
So we diversify the types of work that we do,
so governmental work or larger municipal work tends to be
a lot more stable than let's say, the residential market.
In the residential market, we get hit with supply chain issues,
and usually what we do is we communicate that to
our clients, and so keeping our ear to the market
(23:34):
trend allows us to readjust our business, but also to
be a great resource to advise our clients.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Yeah, that makes sense. It's kind of like you got
to keep your ear to the streets and see what's
going on.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Over the last couple of years. I'm curious, how has
inflation and the pandemic and all that sort of impacted
your business if at all.
Speaker 4 (23:52):
Surprisingly, business has been quite busy. We were talking about
it earlier that maybe people have been at home and
they've had time in their home space and they've been
able to dream and say, well, you know, I want
to make an addition here or a renovation there. So
it's really helped us in that regard. The surprise, though,
is on the construction side, finding builders has been tricky
(24:14):
because they're very busy, and because of that, prices have
tended to be higher than normal. So we inform our
clients that, hey, this is a great time to design,
but we may take a little longer to find the
right builder for your project because of the demand.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
And in the healthcare space, we've seen that our healthcare
clients have started to think about expansion. It used to
be that when you look at certain facilities, they all
have a similar look, and now hospitals, clinicians, office buildings,
they're trying to put a little personality in their buildings
without going to one extreme or the other. They want
(24:49):
to stand out. They don't want people to feel like
they're going to an institution. So we've come in a
handy with creativity and with all the regulations and stuff.
We have to be aware of what's required, not just
what we want to see. So that's been a very
interesting market, but it's also on the rise because of that.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
That's awesome. Over the lifespan of your business, how much
of your growth has been intentional versus kind of reactive
to what's going on in the market or what customers
are asking for.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
That's a great question. I would say it's been about
fifty to fifty. They're the saying that success is when
opportunity meets preparation. So we've always been geared to grow
but we've grown more than we've expected because of unexpected opportunities,
and so we're thankful that we had the infrastructure in place,
(25:39):
but we've been met with opportunities i'd say out of
left field, and they've propelled us. And I never could
have thought that some of these opportunities would come forward.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
I have to think it's your reputations that attract.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Those I think that's a big part in it.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
And word of mouth is very powerful. Like he said,
supply chain issues, those are things out of our control.
But if on the front end we communicate that people
are put at ease, they can go on that vacation
and when they come back, things will still be rolling.
So it's the communication has been key in helping our
growth because we really value having time with our clients
talking to them. They know they can reach us almost
(26:16):
any time. They can text us, email us, and I
think that's helped set their mind at ease.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Exactly exactly what's next for y'all? What's the next vision?
Speaker 4 (26:25):
The next vision is getting bigger projects. We're looking to
make impact in our city, both here in Nashville as
well as the Atlanta area. So we really want to
bring our projects to a scale where people can appreciate them,
the public can enjoy them, and so growth is definitely
something we're looking into.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
We're trying to get our name out there because we
feel like a lot of times we see a beautiful
building and how often do we even know who built it.
I mean, it's a rare conversation to have. It's just ooh,
unless it's like a stadium or something of that magnitude.
But we're trying to bring the appreciation back for if
it was ever lost, but the appreciation for nice buildings,
(27:04):
for people to feel like, oh, there's something different going
on here. You know. We don't want people to just
feel like because they walked into building on it's just
another building. We want our touch and our seal to
be on things so when people walk in, they're like, wow, Okay,
they're not sure what to call it, but they know
there's something unique going on there.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Yeah, that's exciting.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
How do you all plan to put your mark on
some of these buildings? Do you have buildings in the
past that you've put your mark on it you're more
recognized for that. I mean, is there a strategy around
that or is it more like we kind of hope
that this happens.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
So there's a strategy, and some of it is hope
we put out a consistent product, a consistent design language
where someone can look at our design and our style
and say, Okay, TKZ has made that, and so we
do find that there's people who really appreciate that language
and finding our tribe, finding people who appreciate that getting
(27:54):
our name out there will allow us to have those opportunities.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Very cool. Congratulations on Allyovachiev. I mean, this is so exciting.
I can't wait to see you all take over not
just Nashville, but the rest of the world.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
I'll say what Denis the way talker who's running this business,
is just so inspiring. I can't wait to dig deep
into my biggest takeaways before I do that. What are
some of yours?
Speaker 2 (28:21):
I think for me, the secret that they shared with
us is how impactful those connections, that human connection can
be in your growth strategy for your business. They talked
about how they just don't lose that personal touch, you know,
and I think as you expand as a business, it's
probably very easy to kind of forget how important that
process is of just making sure that you remind yourself
(28:42):
you're still working with human beings, human beings that are
investing in your goals and your dreams as a business owner,
and so I think that's been a key part of
how they've grown, and I think we can use that
as a lesson to just make sure you never get
so big that you forget that human touch.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Most definitely, I think massive takeaway that I had as
well is it is okay to not be the right
person for the job. At the end of the day,
we want our customers to have the best outcomes possible,
and I've realized this as a small business owner, and
it seems like they have too, where sometimes we're not
the solution. Maybe our friends are, maybe our other colleagues,
or maybe another company we worked with, maybe that is
(29:18):
the better solution for the customer. But being customer centric
in general, I think is just speaks volume to their
business and that keeps more customers coming in the door
later on. So I really really resonated with that. Than Man.
This is a really cool conversation.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Absolutely a great episode as always, and we'll be back
in two weeks for our season finale. You can find
me on social media at jokierro Dinto Podcast.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
And you can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can
follow Into QuickBooks on all social media at QuickBooks, and
to get the tools you need to start, run and
grow your business, head to QuickBooks dot com today.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Don't forget to follow this show wherever you listen to
podcasts so you can stay up to date on future episodes.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
We also want to hear from you, so be sure
to leave us a rating and review.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
See you next time. Money movement services are provided by
Intuit Payments, Inc. Licensed as a money transmitter by the
New York State Department of Financial Services. This podcast is
a production of iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Into It QuickBooks.
Our executive producer is Molly Sosha, Our supervising producer is
Nikia Swinton, and our writer is Eric Leja.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Our head of Push Production is James Foster, and our
mixing engineer is Paul Vitulen's of Audiography
Ruby.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
The views, information, and opinions expressed during this podcast are
solely those of the individuals involved and do not represent
those of Into It QuickBooks or any of its cornerstone
brands or employees. This podcast does not constitute financial, legal,
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It QuickBooks does not have any responsibility for updating or
(00:29):
revising any information presented. Listeners should verify statements before relying
on them. Welcome back everyone. This is Mine the Business
Small Business Success Stories, a podcast brought to you by
Into It QuickBooks and Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. I'm Jennis
Torres and.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I'm Austin hankwetz Denis. Your business ventures are obviously much
bigger today than they were when you started, so you
are no stranger to the concept of growing and scaling
a business.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Definitely not a stranger to that, Austin, But I did
have to learn a lot of lessons over the years
about the best approach and strategy to growth because it's
not always a direct line upwards. So in today's episode,
we're going to be talking about strategizing growth in your business.
I'd love to know from you, Austin, what are some
things that you did to grow your business?
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Really great question. I think in the beginning I started
to get a sort of spidery sense that wait a second,
I'm pretty good at marketing my own products as it
relates to financial technology, I wonder if the companies that
I'm working with could also use a helping hand. And
so that was one of the first ways that I
was able to begin expanding my business is looking around
(01:36):
and saying, hmm, I feel like I do this very well.
I wonder if this can also be, you know, have
a positive impact on the people I'm working with beyond
just you know, given some tips and tricks, and then
could this turn into a real business segment that makes
substantial money and really add to our bottom line. So
that was a recent example of something that I've done.
But I'm curious, are there any recent examples for you?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah. So when I first started out with my personal
finance con creator journey, I was teaching a lot of workshops,
and so every single time I was going to teach
a workshop, I had to build out that outline, build
out the presentation, and that takes a lot of work.
So I eventually got to a place where I was
thinking about how can I scale this education business, and
so I ended up turning to creating courses because when
(02:18):
you build an online course, you can build it once
and then you sell it a bunch of times. So
that's something that has helped me be able to monetize
my knowledge without exhausting myself by having to physically teach programs.
Because now people can sign up, they watch the videos,
and lets me serve many clients versus just a couple
at each workshop.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
I think that's really powerful, right, from going one to
one to one to many. Right.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, but enough about us, let's introduce our guests. Takuzo
has been a designer since he was a child. He's
a believer in the power of architecture and its ability
to change people's lives. He also noticed early on that
it was a field that could seem inaccessible to some
with its jargon and potentially extreme price points. So taku
(03:01):
founded TKZ Architecture, which specializes in commercial, healthcare, government, religious,
and residential projects, as well as in the clients themselves.
TKZ Architecture builds trust in their customers, knowing there are
no wrong questions, and makes it a priority to, as
cliche as it may sound, treat their clientele like family.
They're based in Nashville, but serve areas all over Tennessee
(03:24):
and even take on projects around the country and overseas
on a case by case basis. We're also joined by
Cibusiso Ajai, who is the business development lead for TKZ Architecture.
She comes to the role with over twenty years of
healthcare and leadership experience. She's a mother, wife, and visionary
whose service background brings a compassionate dynamic to the business
(03:45):
of designing for clients. Taku and Cibusiso, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Thank you. You can call me Boosey.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
We are so excited to have you. Now, let's take
a step back. How did you get here? What's the story?
Give me the play by play.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
So I'm an architect by training, and before we started
our company, I had worked in a number of different firms.
That's what's required in order to get your architectural license.
Once I got my license, I knew that I wanted
to start a company to make a difference. The philosophy
that I embrace and we embrace as a company is
that a place can change how someone feels and their
(04:23):
trajectory in life just by being in a great place,
and so we wanted to bring that option to the marketplace.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
How have you changed people's day to day lives because
you've been able to change their environments.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
So with our healthcare projects, one of the big things
we look into is not only the patient experience, which
is really big, but also the provider experience. And so
we have taken it upon ourselves to not only design
the client facing aspects, but the provider, the doctor, the nurse,
(04:54):
the place is that they frequent to be mentally relaxing
and rejuvenating for them.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah, I'd love to know more about the different industries
that you guys have worked in. I wasn't expected to
hear healthcare. I thought y'all just building homes.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Yeah, Well, we specialize in a number of industries, healthcare
being one of them. We do work for the State
of Tennessee as well as we do some airport work,
and that's as well another place where you can really
make a difference. We all know how airports can be stressful,
they can be places of high intensity, and so having
well planned out and well that out spaces really makes
(05:31):
a difference for people who travel. We also do residential,
as you mentioned, So those are the big markets that
we typically are in.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
That's really interesting. And yeah, I love me a good airport.
I don't one that's well designed.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yes, wait, so I know. Nashville Airport was just sort
of redesigned over the last couple of years. Were you
all part of that.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Yes, we teamed up with some of the companies here
to help provide services.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
That's so cool.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
So why architecture? What is it about the field that
enticed you to want to pursue it as a career.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Yes, I always wanted to be a designer since I
was a little kid.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Did you play with legos?
Speaker 3 (06:06):
No?
Speaker 4 (06:06):
No, no legos, but cars? Surprisingly, And what I found
is if you draw something, even if you don't physically
have it there, it creates it in reality. So I
would draw cars or buildings or whatever, and in my
mind that thing would be there. And so architecture was
a great field, partly because architecture tends to be a
(06:28):
field where a majority or a big chunk of architects
own their own businesses. The other half work in bigger firms,
and so I thought, hey, if I can own my
own firm, then it'll be a quicker pipeline from bringing
those ideas in my head into reality and really wanting
to serve people. Knowing that building's infrastructure environment can change
(06:51):
how place looked. It just lined up with my personality
and talents.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
It's such a fascinating career. Personally. I'm just always amazed
by how you take something that's in your head and
now see it manifested in real life in the world
and be able to touch it. It's such an awesome
form of I think art.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
It's crazy. I designed a building years ago when I
worked for another firm, and the building was right on
the route I took to work. So every day I'll
look and it was the building that I had sketched
on a notepad. The first time it happened. It's almost
surreal because you're like, that was in my mind and
now it's right there.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
So all right.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
So I'm assuming that the letters TKZ and TKZ architecture
are your initials.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
I love that you're putting your stamp on your company
like that. What motivated you to make that choice?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
So, just like you said, putting the TKZ on our
projects means that we have to stay there and really
believe in what we're doing because my name is on
the end product. So there's no hiding from any equality
defects because they know who it is. So we really
believe that strongly in what we do.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
That is so cool. Now, I'm curious when did you
guys cross the hurdle of WHOA I can live off
this money?
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Now, that's a great question, and it was a eye
opening and wonderful experience to see that, very gratifying. I
think it took about four to six months to really
see that level of income and it, like I said,
it's very satisfying to know that we can put food
on the table for ourselves and also our employees.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Walk me through the process of finding those first one, two, three, four, five,
six clients where you were able to say, Okay, this
is actually working, we are actually putting money into our
bank accounts like this can turn into a thriving business.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
I'd say the first two or three clients came through partnership,
so we partnered with other architecture firms as well as
people we previously knew who reached out and said, hey,
we see you're starting an architecture firm. We have a
house that we want you to do, and so they
trusted us with their house and we didn't let them down.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
That's very cool.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah, you know, I think that it speaks to the
importance of just using your network, especially when you're first
starting out, because typically your first customers are going to
be referrals to people that you've already built trust with.
How do you think you've been able to foster that
part of your career where you were working for other
firms so that you knew like you were going to
have a client tele base when you were starting off
on your own.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Since I knew I was going to start a company
for quite some time, pretty much since high school, having
that in the back of my mind influenced the way
I interacted with coworkers as well as clients. So surprisingly enough,
previous co workers will recommend projects, But just having it
in the back of the mind that I want to
start a company created a way of interacting in those
(09:38):
previous environments.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Tell me about how you knew it was time to
start scaling and bringing this lovely lady on board.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Absolutely. So Boosey has been a gem and one of
the things we saw is the type of clients that
we wanted to bring and focus in. She could have
access to those because of her experience, because of her
gifts and her talents in terms of business development. So
she has hit the road running, setting up appointments, meeting
(10:09):
with new clients, healthcare, real estate, all of the above,
and really engaging and bringing us in new work. So
when we said we wanted to grow in terms of
the type of projects and the scale, that's when we
knew it was time to bring her in.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Bussie.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Can you talk about your background and how it has
benefited the company.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yes, I have a background as a pharmacy tech. I
actually worked as a pharmacy technician while I was in
nursing school, So it's uniquely positioned me to feel very
comfortable in different settings. When mister Taku told me that
he was looking to expand into healthcare, I felt like
I could bring that knowledge to the company because everyone
(10:49):
knows what it feels like to walk into a building
where you're just relaxed, but we don't always know what
goes behind those feelings and being in healthcare, I don't
always know why a building feels. Guy, it's nice to
work with someone who does know why. And then I
can also bring in the aspect of, hey, maybe we
should put this over here instead of there, because this
is how people walk through this building. Those are things
(11:11):
that maybe an architect wouldn't just know off the bat.
Or maybe we should put the physician's lounge on this
side because the nurses will be over here and maybe
they should be able to interact, but maybe not at lunchtime.
You know, everyone wants a break from the work, even
if they're at work, they want a place where they
can relax. So I feel like, because of my healthcare background,
I'm able to contribute very positively to the company that way.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
So we all know the saying more money MO problems,
And I'm wondering, what has the expansion process for your
business looks like and how have you used the information
that you get out of into it quick books to
make decisions around expansion.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
One of the key things I'd say to any small
business owner, and something that we really realized before we
started expanding, is that cash flow is and in our industry,
it's not unusual to send out an invoice and maybe
get paid one two three months later. But if you're
(12:09):
looking to expand you really have to find a way
to bridge those downtimes, and so into it quick Books
has helped us identify the clients who pay on time.
It's identified the clients who tend to take a little longer.
And the great thing is there's a lot of automation
which has helped us follow up with our clients on
an automatic basis, but that the data has also revealed
(12:30):
to us what type of clients we need in order
to have consistent cash flow. So by evaluating that in
our meetings, we've taken that information and strategically positioned ourselves
to go after that type of client. Because when we
bring on new employees, new team members, the cash flow
really makes a huge difference.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
What specific characteristics or key insights do you include in
your sort of process to determine this is something we
take on or this is something we pass on.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
One thing we learned is not all opportunities are great
opportunities for us, and so we're fortunate to be in
a position now where we can select our projects more
selectively and that go no go process looks like evaluating
the timeframe and the expectations of the client, if they're
realistic or not. We provide different tiers of service to
(13:22):
accommodate different levels of engagement and hence the resources financially
that are required. But at the end of the day,
it's if the client's expectations are reasonable, if the timeframe
is reasonable, if the project fits into what we are
specialists at. Sometimes we find that there's a great project,
(13:43):
all of the other boxes are checked, but it's something
that we're not really comfortable with, and when that comes up,
we're happy to refer the client to another architect or
another firm that can better help them.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Because of my healthcare background, I always want to know
why someone wants this building. Build that sounds so basic.
If someone is saying, ah, I just came into this land,
and you know that's different than someone saying this is
all I own and everything I have is writing on
this being perfect. When you hear those things, then you
know how your work ethic is. You know how you're
(14:15):
driven to do things, and you need to hear if
that's gonna work with the person's timeline and also their expectations.
It helps if they've worked with an architect before, but
it's not a requirement. It lets us know that they
have an idea of the process. We have ways of
reassuring the client that we are capable, but at the
end of the day, that's not always what they need.
A lot of people are capable, but we need to
(14:37):
make sure that we're lining up with what they need.
So we're very honest with them because maybe of time constraints,
we just may not be the fit for them right
at this moment.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I think it's very noble that you all are so
open to referring other architecture firms, you know, if fits. Hey, guys,
this isn't a good fit because ABC, but these people
might be a better fit for you. I think that's
a really great way to operate a business.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, that's how you run a business us with integrity,
and that's how you maintain that client relationship for long term.
So I think it's worth it. Coming up on Mine
the business small business success stories.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
They're the saying that success is when opportunity meets preparation.
So we've always been geared to grow. That's one of
the things we've looked at, but we've grown more than
we've expected because of unexpected opportunities.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
We'll be right back. Welcome back to mind the business.
All right. So, the day to day duties of managing
a business obviously can take a lot of your time
and sometimes can get in the way of you being
(15:47):
in that creative space to think about what's next in
the business. So how do you all balance that?
Speaker 4 (15:52):
So one of the things I'm a big proponent on
is sitting down and schedule a meeting with yourself to
plan out your week, and then we go in and
time block. What that does is it offloads the administrative
burden off of our minds so that we can be creative,
because it's tricky being creative coming up with new designs,
(16:13):
new ideas when I'm thinking, oh I have an invoice
to send out, or oh I have a meeting with
the client, or I have to file this tax paperwork.
And so what we found is if we put it
in its convenient cubby, maybe for next Thursday, I know
it's going to get taken care of responsibly, and so
I can now freely exercise creativity so that we're about
(16:35):
the day to day duties.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, that's a good strategy because sometimes you just have.
Especially as an entrepreneur, you have so much going on
in your head that unless you can visualize it and
see kind of what the priorities are, it can all
feel like everything's important.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
All at once.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Let's now talk a little bit more about the growth
side of the equation here. Do you have any specific
action items that you'd like to share with other small
businesses who are saying, Okay, we are ready to take
it to the next level. We've been doing this now
for several months. We have our client base built up,
but we're ready to really scale.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
The first thing that you have to really think about
is what are you doing that is unique? What are
you doing that makes you special. The best way to
do that sometimes is just to ask people around you, Hey,
when you think of me, what comes to mind? How
do you view us? How do you think of us?
It also sheds light on where you're maybe deficient or
where you could improve.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
So as you weigh those pros and cons, walk me
through that process that you all would take as it
relates to growing this business.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Yeah, So it's a decision every business has to come
to whether they grow or they don't grow. And really
one of the pros of growing the business is just
a synergistic effect. The more people that we have, the
bigger projects that we can take on. The clients look
at it favorably because they know that our capacity expands
(17:51):
and we can handle their size of project. One of
the cons though, is as a business owner, it typically
initially means more world for you. So in my case,
I found that I need to work longer in order
to onboard our new hires to bring them up to speed.
But the payoff with that is when they get up
(18:12):
to speed, we really reap the benefits of their added
effort and the synergistic effects.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Our advice for the small business owners is if you're
doing it efficiently and well run on a small scale,
then scaling up becomes a lot more feasible. If the
thing is already a little bit creaky and squeaky and
there's not enough oil in the beginning, then now you
just have a bigger squeaky problem.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
So yeah, it's always easier to scale something that's working
versus trying to retrofit and fix all the problems when
they're at a massive scale. Yes, what about for all
the entrepreneurs listening, the small business owners who maybe aren't
sure how to identify that it is time to expand.
What would you say are some of those telltale signs
(18:59):
that you've realized, Ooh, okay, I think we've reached our capacity.
I think we need to build out so that we
can take on more work without necessarily burning ourselves out.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
We want to make our decision before we reach burnout.
But some telltale signs are if you're consistently working into
the night. As the company grew, I realized, hey, if
I'm always working late into the night, we need to
bring more help in. Or if you're making your partners
or your other employees work late, then you know that
(19:30):
there's enough work to be done and you need to
start thinking of bringing other people in.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
So what strategies have you found helpful in tracking the
size of your business? If that is the steadiness, the growth,
or maybe some unopportune declines here and there. Because we've
heard from other business owners that into it, QuickBooks is
a great tool for simplifying all the different ways there
are to run and grow your business, from tracking money
coming in and going out, to staying on top of
(19:55):
invoices and overhead costs. QuickBooks allows you to do it
all in one place. So how have you guys tracked
your business in a very accurate way?
Speaker 4 (20:04):
Yeah, so into a QuickBooks has been key to helping
us run our business efficiently, and so everything from sending
out invoices and collecting payments we use into it quick Books.
And one of the great things we do is when
we meet we talk about our financial goals for the month,
So we have a financial goal and then stretch goals,
(20:25):
which always you know, can help lining the pockets with profit.
But either way, we quickly can look into QuickBooks dashboard
and they show us where we are for that month
as well as historically around the time of year, what
are the finances doing, and so that historical look in
the past helps us to be able to project into
(20:45):
the future. We know, Okay, maybe there'll be a lull
because of the season, or maybe there'll be a high
point where we need to start reaching out to our engineers,
our other partners to make those connections for more projects.
So that dashboard view on into a QuickBooks has been essential.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
That's amazing. I'm actually curious more about the seasonality of
the business. Do you mind double clicking on that.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
Yeah, So we have times like the holiday season where
people are spending time with their families, so maybe architecture
is not the first thing on their mind, and so
being able to see those trends. Okay, we saw it.
Yeah one, we didn't know what was going on. Year
two or three. It starts to be a repeating pattern,
and so we can ramp up our efforts or ramp
them down depending on that data we receive.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
When you say ramp up your efforts or ramp them down,
I'm curious if you guys have any sort of like
paid marketing efforts.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Yes, you hit the nail on the head when we
talk about ramping them up. It's putting more resources into
the paid marketing right now. We do quite a bit
of Google advertisements. We also do in person business development
where we're having lunches or having meetings with different clients,
and so by ramping them up, we typically put in
(21:56):
a higher intensity for those and when we ramp them down,
we just simil it down, bring it to the back burner.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
And then when you're ramping them up, talk to me
more about how someone goes from I just saw a
Google ad too. Here's a one hundred thousand dollars contract.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
Yes, and it's an amazing thing. So contracts and architecture
tend to be a lot bigger than your average purchase.
But someone who's searching for an architect on Google or
whatever other service has a pretty high intent to buy.
So it's not random advertisement. They've actually themselves searched what's
the best architect near me? And so we come up
(22:31):
organically as well for our very local market here in
Nashville as well as in Georgia. But for the paid ads,
when someone searches that, now we have to bring them
through the process of education to say, hey, you're about
to spend X amount on an investment your home, and
part of that investment is making sure the design is right.
(22:51):
So it's a lot of client education to bring them
to see that fee is what it requires to get
the project done.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
So I can imagine that you can have these plans
for growth in your business, but then there are external
forces that come into play that you can't even anticipate,
something like supply chain issues or labor issues. How do
you at least try to mitigate those things so that
it doesn't impact your growth.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
So we diversify the types of work that we do,
so governmental work or larger municipal work tends to be
a lot more stable than let's say, the residential market.
In the residential market, we get hit with supply chain issues,
and usually what we do is we communicate that to
our clients, and so keeping our ear to the market
(23:34):
trend allows us to readjust our business, but also to
be a great resource to advise our clients.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Yeah, that makes sense. It's kind of like you got
to keep your ear to the streets and see what's
going on.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Over the last couple of years. I'm curious, how has
inflation and the pandemic and all that sort of impacted
your business if at all.
Speaker 4 (23:52):
Surprisingly, business has been quite busy. We were talking about
it earlier that maybe people have been at home and
they've had time in their home space and they've been
able to dream and say, well, you know, I want
to make an addition here or a renovation there. So
it's really helped us in that regard. The surprise, though,
is on the construction side, finding builders has been tricky
(24:14):
because they're very busy, and because of that, prices have
tended to be higher than normal. So we inform our
clients that, hey, this is a great time to design,
but we may take a little longer to find the
right builder for your project because of the demand.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
And in the healthcare space, we've seen that our healthcare
clients have started to think about expansion. It used to
be that when you look at certain facilities, they all
have a similar look, and now hospitals, clinicians, office buildings,
they're trying to put a little personality in their buildings
without going to one extreme or the other. They want
(24:49):
to stand out. They don't want people to feel like
they're going to an institution. So we've come in a
handy with creativity and with all the regulations and stuff.
We have to be aware of what's required, not just
what we want to see. So that's been a very
interesting market, but it's also on the rise because of that.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
That's awesome. Over the lifespan of your business, how much
of your growth has been intentional versus kind of reactive
to what's going on in the market or what customers
are asking for.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
That's a great question. I would say it's been about
fifty to fifty. They're the saying that success is when
opportunity meets preparation. So we've always been geared to grow
but we've grown more than we've expected because of unexpected opportunities,
and so we're thankful that we had the infrastructure in place,
(25:39):
but we've been met with opportunities i'd say out of
left field, and they've propelled us. And I never could
have thought that some of these opportunities would come forward.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
I have to think it's your reputations that attract.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Those I think that's a big part in it.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
And word of mouth is very powerful. Like he said,
supply chain issues, those are things out of our control.
But if on the front end we communicate that people
are put at ease, they can go on that vacation
and when they come back, things will still be rolling.
So it's the communication has been key in helping our
growth because we really value having time with our clients
talking to them. They know they can reach us almost
(26:16):
any time. They can text us, email us, and I
think that's helped set their mind at ease.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Exactly exactly what's next for y'all? What's the next vision?
Speaker 4 (26:25):
The next vision is getting bigger projects. We're looking to
make impact in our city, both here in Nashville as
well as the Atlanta area. So we really want to
bring our projects to a scale where people can appreciate them,
the public can enjoy them, and so growth is definitely
something we're looking into.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
We're trying to get our name out there because we
feel like a lot of times we see a beautiful
building and how often do we even know who built it.
I mean, it's a rare conversation to have. It's just ooh,
unless it's like a stadium or something of that magnitude.
But we're trying to bring the appreciation back for if
it was ever lost, but the appreciation for nice buildings,
(27:04):
for people to feel like, oh, there's something different going
on here. You know. We don't want people to just
feel like because they walked into building on it's just
another building. We want our touch and our seal to
be on things so when people walk in, they're like, wow, Okay,
they're not sure what to call it, but they know
there's something unique going on there.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Yeah, that's exciting.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
How do you all plan to put your mark on
some of these buildings? Do you have buildings in the
past that you've put your mark on it you're more
recognized for that. I mean, is there a strategy around
that or is it more like we kind of hope
that this happens.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
So there's a strategy, and some of it is hope
we put out a consistent product, a consistent design language
where someone can look at our design and our style
and say, Okay, TKZ has made that, and so we
do find that there's people who really appreciate that language
and finding our tribe, finding people who appreciate that getting
(27:54):
our name out there will allow us to have those opportunities.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Very cool. Congratulations on Allyovachiev. I mean, this is so exciting.
I can't wait to see you all take over not
just Nashville, but the rest of the world.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
I'll say what Denis the way talker who's running this business,
is just so inspiring. I can't wait to dig deep
into my biggest takeaways before I do that. What are
some of yours?
Speaker 2 (28:21):
I think for me, the secret that they shared with
us is how impactful those connections, that human connection can
be in your growth strategy for your business. They talked
about how they just don't lose that personal touch, you know,
and I think as you expand as a business, it's
probably very easy to kind of forget how important that
process is of just making sure that you remind yourself
(28:42):
you're still working with human beings, human beings that are
investing in your goals and your dreams as a business owner,
and so I think that's been a key part of
how they've grown, and I think we can use that
as a lesson to just make sure you never get
so big that you forget that human touch.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Most definitely, I think massive takeaway that I had as
well is it is okay to not be the right
person for the job. At the end of the day,
we want our customers to have the best outcomes possible,
and I've realized this as a small business owner, and
it seems like they have too, where sometimes we're not
the solution. Maybe our friends are, maybe our other colleagues,
or maybe another company we worked with, maybe that is
(29:18):
the better solution for the customer. But being customer centric
in general, I think is just speaks volume to their
business and that keeps more customers coming in the door
later on. So I really really resonated with that. Than Man.
This is a really cool conversation.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Absolutely a great episode as always, and we'll be back
in two weeks for our season finale. You can find
me on social media at jokierro Dinto Podcast.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
And you can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can
follow Into QuickBooks on all social media at QuickBooks, and
to get the tools you need to start, run and
grow your business, head to QuickBooks dot com today.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Don't forget to follow this show wherever you listen to
podcasts so you can stay up to date on future episodes.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
We also want to hear from you, so be sure
to leave us a rating and review.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
See you next time. Money movement services are provided by
Intuit Payments, Inc. Licensed as a money transmitter by the
New York State Department of Financial Services. This podcast is
a production of iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Into It QuickBooks.
Our executive producer is Molly Sosha, Our supervising producer is
Nikia Swinton, and our writer is Eric Leja.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Our head of Push Production is James Foster, and our
mixing engineer is Paul Vitulen's of Audiography
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