Ryan Davis
Business Name : ADMG Companies
Website URL : admgusa.com
E-mail : rdavis@admgusa.com
Year Founded: 2009
Number of Employees: 7
What does your company do? ADMG Companies is a commercial architectural and construction firm located in Huntington Beach, CA.
Our Firm – We are a full service architecture and construction firm built specifically for clients requiring regional or national design services. Our integrity is the most valuable thing we can offer to our clients. We believe in accountability, transparent business practices and maintaining ethical standards in all that we do. In an industry where there is substantial risk, liability and cost, our principles ensure that our client’s best interests are top priority on every single project. ADMG is committed to providing our clients with an exceptional level of service by exceeding expectations of the three keys to successful projects: schedule, value, and quality. We achieve this through efficient practices, leading edge delivery methods, and unmatched responsiveness.
The Collaborative Model – Our company is built on a collaborative model that allow us to build the appropriate team for each project, regardless of size, project type or physical location. As a leader in the profession, our affiliations with other architects, contractors, engineers, designers and drafters allow us to build the appropriate team for each project, regardless of size, project type or physical location.
What the Model Means to You – Our organization is leaner, faster, and openly collaborative. By keeping our organization small, we can focus our expertise on a manageable workflow and deliver personalized service to our clients. We eliminate overhead and wasteful practices and the result is lower fees and faster turnaround. By reaching out and collaborating with industry leaders and like-minded organizations, we can expand and adapt our services to meet any project goal.
Was there a specific turning point when you realized your business was moving to the next level? In the past year or so we are securing larger commission on the architectural design side and integrating our construction services in order to bring a true design-build delivery method for design and construction projects, so using resources from sites like archute.com is just helpful in cases like this.
What processes or procedures have you implemented that have helped grow your company? We have tried to maintain a very lean operation model with extremely low overhead. We utilize the best technologies in term of design software, processes, and internal operations. This has helped our fees to remain extremely competitive while offering very personalized service to our clients.
What is most rewarding about running your business? The ability to make the call very quickly in terms of operations. Because we are a small company we do not have to labor over decisions for a long time. That makes us very responsive to client needs but also allows us to be able to seize opportunities much more quickly than may be realized in a much larger firm. We enjoy this decision making ability.
Aside from that all of the challenges that come with running a small business from the little day to day problems that need solving to the actual design and construction of the projects that we have. It is wearing many different hats and makes everything that much more exciting. It is amazing the things you learn when you have to do a lot of the things yourself.
What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them? We started this firm out of my bedroom. Both partners started with very little money after having been let go from a large corporate firm in 2009. I had just come home from a year long combat tour in Baghdad, Iraq as an Army reservist. That alone was a difficult transition back to civilian life without having the challenge of immediately starting my own company.
It is not an easy task to procure large architectural commissions when you are a young,unknown firm. It was a major challenge to just have enough money to keep the lights on most days without even thinking about how we were even going to pay ourselves.
The partners here are a good match and compliments each other’s strengths and weaknesses extremely well. That has been paramount in our success thus far.
We have run the company very lean, made sure we reinvested most if not all of the money early on and ran on a cash basis without credit. This has served us well.
If you were starting over today, what would you do differently? I don’t know if we would do much differently. Like I said our backs were against the wall when we started this Company and had little choice. We just had to go for it I guess you could say.
What advice do you have for other business owners? If you have the itch then you should scratch it. It will never go away. You will always wonder if you could have started your own business. The entrepreneurial spirit is something that just doesn’t go away. I say go for it…you can always go back and work for someone else but if you don’t take the leap then you never know what could have been.
Please list any favorite books, tools or resources (software, website, etc.) you would recommend for others: Books:
Thinking Fast and Slow (in 30 minutes)
Think and Grow Rich
The Personal MBA
Fearless: The Adam Brown Story
The Four Agreements
Thank you for Arguing
Software:
Revit Architecture
Basecamp
Dropbox
ArchiOffice
Quickbooks Online
Microsoft Photosynth
SketchUp
Camscanner
What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you? I have served in the Army as a Paratrooper for almost 8 years now (Army Reserve San Diego, CA). I am an avid power-lifter and reader and enjoy Karaoke. I have also hiked several prominent peaks across the US and love outdoor adventures.
