Boulder design firm holds own against much larger competition

BOULDER — Small can be mighty, as demonstrated by the three-person firm of Koshi-Baker Design Associates in Boulder.

In 2000, the most recent year for which data is available, the firm’s revenue was $1.65 million.

?When we looked at (The Boulder County Business Report’s December 2001) list of Boulder County design firms, we realized why we had bags under our eyes,? said partner Carolyn Baker. ?We only have two or three people, compared to other top-earning firms with many employees.?

Partners Chuck Koshi, an architect, and Baker, a designer, formed their partnership in 1987 when Koshi bought a 50 percent share in Baker Interior Design. Together, they provide full-service architectural design services, including custom and historic remodeling.

Koshi-Baker also employs Baker’s daughter, Kristina Baker, as an interior designer, and occasionally employs interns.

After relocating in 1989 to Boulder from offices in Steamboat Springs and Breckenridge, ?the work dried up,? Baker said. ?We had to regroup and decide what kind of work we wanted.?

Staying small has kept the focus where the partners want it to be. ?Managing a lot of people isn’t what we want to do. We like to do design and architecture,? Baker said.

Make that lots of design and architecture. The firm usually works on 10 projects at a time, ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 apiece in $1 million to $5 million homes.

?We’re currently working on about 14 projects,? Baker said. ?That’s why we’re so crazed. The last four or five years, we’ve been booked solid for months in advance.?

Koshi-Baker works with general contractors local to the site, such as Taylor Homes Ltd. for Boulder-area projects.

The contracting company sees projects with Koshi-Baker as a benefit to its portfolio. ?They do very high quality work and so do we,? said George Raffensperger, owner of Taylor homes. ?So that’s a natural fit.?

Baker said Koshi-Baker uses lots of Boulder artists and companies. One example is Boulder-based tile company Fire and Earth Ceramic Tile & Mural Co. Supplying Koshi-Baker provides another means for Fire and Earth to sell its products, most of which are sold through showrooms in stores such as McGuckin Hardware in Boulder and more than 100 others nationwide.

Koshi-Baker is one of a small number of design firms with which Fire and Earth works directly. ?I’m not trying to push away direct local business,? said Jeff Gaines, owner of Fire and Earth. ?But we’re not set up to handle it. People like (Baker) are set up for the marketing end.?

Koshi-Baker’s business has grown in spite of the sour economy. Its clientele accounts for part of the reason. ?The people at the end of the spectrum with whom we’re dealing haven’t been affected by (the economy) at all,? Baker said.

Another reason is consumers’ shift in focus. ?People are taking care of their homes instead of traveling,? Baker said.

Repeat business has historically been a factor in Koshi-Baker’s success. ?We establish a wonderful relationship (with clients) and they hire us to do their (second) homes in other places,? Baker said.

Word-of-mouth attracted John Coker, a salesman, and Liz Coker, a marketing consultant, to Koshi-Baker to build their home in Steamboat Springs. ?We talked with a couple who had a home built by Koshi-Baker, and they had only great things to say,? Liz Coker said. The couple currently lives in Boulder and has been planning their new home with Koshi-Baker for about a year.

Koshi and Baker stay current by traveling to New York City, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, France and England. ?We find artisans that make our projects special,? Baker said. ?And we use antiques.?

Trade shows help, and the two designers also read ?a gazillion magazines,? Baker said.

With all this busyness, keeping organized challenges the firm, according to Baker. ?We hope to increase our technology to track costs and do the bookkeeping,? Baker said.

A Web site is also on the horizon. ?Our digital camera was the biggest breakthrough,? Baker said. ?We have a couple of clients from the East Coast. We’ve been e-mailing them photos to help them make decisions.?

Baker hopes that more technology will enable the firm to deliver even more personal service. ?We want them to feel that they are the only person we are working with,? she said.

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