Build Blog » How to start your own design firm

JUNE 6TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC

How to start your own design firm

A buddy of ours recently asked for our advice on how to go out on your own as an architect. It’s an interesting question primarily because of the timing and the current economy (or lack thereof). But despite the slow industry, we think its the right time to establish your own firm. While the market will remain slow for a while (probably over another year), when it does pickup, the architects left standing will be flush with work. We see the economic recession as a good time for positioning. While there isn’t a lot of work out there right now, there is much to do to make sure you get work later.

Getting yourself established and attaining those first couple of jobs depends on some key ingredients. Today’s post dives into our recommendations for successfully setting up your own architecture practice – and some of them might surprise you. Take this with a huge grain of salt and a martini. This is just our take; it’s based on our experiences and observations. The profession of architecture is becoming more diverse by the day and our advice pertains to doing cost-effective, modern work with a minimum staff. If you’re interested in doing $800 per square foot residences, theoretical competitions, or overly complicated academic explorations, there may be better ways to go about it – we’re probably not your guys. With that said, here are our main ingredients to set up a small architectural practice:

1. The legal formalities
State (this link only pertains to Washington State, but each state should have a comparable site)
City (this link only pertains to the City of Seattle, but each city should have a comparable site)
Register with the I.R.S. for an Employer ID Number or Tax ID Number
Purchase the basic contracts through your local AIA chapter:
A201: General Conditions of the Contract for Construction
B143: Agreement between Design-Builder and Architect
B141: Agreement between Owner and Architect
A101: Agreement between Owner and Contractor
A114: Agreement between Owner and Contractor
These documents tend to cover the spectrum of architectural work and subsequently tend to be too long and complicated for most of the residential work we do. You can always use these contracts as part of your reference materials and come up with your own version that doesn’t make your clients eyes glaze over.

2. Basic tools
The most important piece of equipment in our operation is the iPhone. While everyone’s got their favorite phone technology, the iPhone is indispensible around here. It provides driving directions to new projects, keeps us attentive to our schedules, helps us take site photos on the fly, allows us to update the blog, Facebook and Twitter on the go, and last but not least it allows us to communicate with each other through a variety of means. There is nothing more efficient than taking a photo on site of a complicated situation and emailing it directly to the cabinet shop for further coordination. We would gladly give up the copier, fax machine, skill-saw and probably even a laptop or two before we’d part with our iPhones.

We use the AutoCAD LT software and the light version has served us well for a decade. The LT version has all the tools we’ve ever needed to produce everything from schematics to construction documents and it’s much more cost effective than the full version of AutoCAD. You don’t need to buy the latest version of this software – get older versions (that will still do everything you need) on eBay.

The options for three-dimensional software are overwhelming; we use Rhino and Form-Z. From what we’ve seen, generating images that enroll clients in a design vision depends less on which programs you’re using and more on how you’re using them.

2. Align your hobbies with your business
Buy Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator and be your own graphic designer. These tools will pay for themselves very quickly. Again, you don’t need to buy the latest version of this software – get older versions (that will still do everything you need) on eBay.

Keep your own books, do your own accounting but hire an accountant for your annual taxes.

Buy a decent camera and start taking your own photos. A guide to the necessary basic equipment can be found here.

3. Don’ts
Don’t rent an office; work out of your house/basement/attic/car/extra desk space at some buddy’s place. Our first office was an 86 Volkswagen Synchro. It was like a shoe-box on four wheels and it got the job done.

Don’t join the AIA: we did the math for Washington State, and for a small architecture shop the numbers don’t pan out. You can always join later but $700 per year is a big expense for a little firm.

Don’t be shy with the tax write-offs. If you use it for work in some capacity, write it off. That includes all those sexy design books you buy. Write-offs will actually make you feel better (like you’re earning more) as you get started (and aren’t bringing in much income).

4. Initiate a digital presence
The value of a website goes without saying, if you don’t have a website, you don’t exist in today’s economy. Check out the liveBooks templates which are perfect for architects and very cost-effective.

Blogs are free. Start a WordPress blog here and start creating a name-brand for yourself. The content that you’ll be constantly updating to your blog will keep your name fresh and searchable on engines like Google. A blog has the ability to catapult your firms name ahead of other websites very quickly.

Tools like Twitter and Facebook also keep your brand-name fresh and on the mind’s of people in your community. Our recommendation is to remain personable on these, not simply throw out soul-less advertisements (in our case, this immediately gets a firm “un-followed”).

5. Develop a marketing package and look official
With the software listed above in section #2 there’s no reason that you can’t look like a fortune 500 company with your stationary and business cards.

Design a logo and letter head and use them on everything that matters.

Get some business cards. We like Overnightprints because they’re quick and cost effective. Just upload some jpegs and in a few days you’ll have more cards than you know what to do with.

Generate a Manifesto and a set of Core Values, or whatever you wish to call it that will help you get out of bed and get busy- there will be many mornings you’ll need some motivation besides your inner voice telling you to hit the snooze button. Get these documents up on your website and blog for people to associate with your brand name.

6. Burn the boats
Dedicate yourself to your business. If you’ve got a plan B to constantly go back to, it’s going to detract from plan A.

7. Use your resources
Your friends, family and community are your biggest asset. Identify your champions. Be straight about looking for projects to keep from muddling your relationships and becoming tacky. Have clear short conversations requesting assistance identifying, getting in front of, potential clients and then get the relationship right back on its friendship track.

8. Keep your feet on the ground.
Watch The Money Pit, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House and refresh yourself on Annie Choi’s essay “Dear Architects, I Am Sick of Your Shit”. The rest of the world does not see architects as we were trained to see ourselves and its important to be aware of this. Most of your clients are not going to care who Steven Holl is or that Elizabeth Diller designed a cloud of fog. They care about getting back into their dining room by Thanksgiving.

9. Get your head out of architecture
There are other texts you need to read out there besides glossy books on architecture. Here’s a quick list of books that have tremendously informed our business over the years:

Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras
From Good to Great by Jim Collins
Tribes by Seth Godin
Massive Change by Bruce Mau

10. Be flexible and scrappy, diversify
You may have to take on a wider scope of work to lock down projects. Have someone you know and trust help you identify all of your capabilities (particularly if that someone has MBA or similar training). If you have secondary skills that are still in the realm of design and building, tout them and put them to use to generate cash flow.

11. Be conventional with your designs
In today’s economy, clients have a renewed sensitivity about budgets and timelines. Both are challenging and neither should be compromised in reaching too far with the design. You’ll have plenty of time later to fine-tune your architectural thesis – for now just do good, solid, dependable work that gets the job done. Think singles and an occasional double, take care reaching for the fences. Trying to hit that home-run each time can lead to a lot of strike-outs.

12. Failures can very easily become successes.
Some of the best champions we have are from jobs we lost. We cannot emphasize enough how important people are in this industry. Because someone doesn’t hire you doesn’t mean that they won’t refer you or remember you. Treat people well and give them your best – even if they don’t hire you. And keep these folks on your list to reach out to and provide something valuable to, just like your champions and close clients.

13. Develop your armor
Chances are good, if you’re doing innovative work that pushes design, that you’re going to be dodging a few tomatoes out there. Use this to your advantage. Let it toughen you up, allow it to craft your position and develop your arguments. Put your neck out there for the right causes and choose your battles intelligently.

14. Beverages
Install a mini-bar in the “office” (refer to #3) or just keep a bottle of good Scotch tucked away. Schedule in Friday afternoon drinks with friends and colleagues or blow off some steam when necessary (refer to #13).

15. Share
The age of exclusivity and secrecy in the design world is over. Don’t be fooled by those trying to still cloak their stuff in a shroud of secrecy- they are dinosaurs. Being a good architect is not about precious details locked up in your desk – it’s about being the type of professional who goes out and implements them. And remember, rising tides raise all boats.

Chances are, we’ve missed a few – so hit that comments button and get in the discussion.

Cheers,

your friends at BUILD

BUILD Behind the Scenes

28 Comments

By Mark from EntrepreneurArchitect.com, June 6, 2009 @ 5:56 pm

This is an excellent summary. Thanks for sharing.

Another “must read” for ANYONE starting their own business (architecture firm or hot dog stand) is The E-Myth, by Michael Gerber.

Keep up the great work!!
By Mark from EntrepreneurArchitect.com, June 6, 2009 @ 5:57 pm

I misspelled my website URL… ugh!
By Lasse Jaakola-architect, June 7, 2009 @ 10:23 am

He really should take the course offered this summer by a prominent construction specifier, Marc Chavez, from ZGF. It is really what he and you should know about specifications and the legal aspects of specifications. What and what not to do. To be an architect, there’s much more than having a bar. Dahh. First you have to know what you’re doing. There are too many fools out there who don’t know their ass from their elbow when it comes to putting documents together and end up making a fool out ot themselves. One thing is for sure, there are many attorney happy people out there ready to sue your ass. Make sure that you’re covered, or put everything that you own in your wifes name and go naked. They’ll come after you for the smallest thing and you’ll never wish that you had ever heard the word “Architect”. It’ the little guys who drive a new car every year who think they have the money to out do you. If he moves his lips, you know he’s lying. I’d like to talk him out of architecture, unless he want’s to work his ass off for no money. I’ve been an architect, worked for other architects, had two firms, owned two companies, been a design build company, and I believe design build is the way to go. ENOUGH………………….
It is called CDT. To become a CDT, certified document technician, you have to pass a course and really know what there is to know about specs and what they cover. Not only do they cover everything that you ever wanted to know about your item #1 – Legal formalities, but much, much more. You have just begun to cover the basics. I’ve been an architect for 30+ years and I learned a lot.
Give him a call and check into it. It might also do you some good. At least it will get a few letters behind your name, if you pass the test.
By casey, June 7, 2009 @ 10:24 am

Thanks for the post. Especially appreciated is #15, a value which is always at the heart of the Build posts, and does not go unnoticed by this upstart (or, I would imagine, the others out there in the internets). Thanks for setting the example.
By TDI, June 7, 2009 @ 10:29 am

Lasse – sounds like you need an office bar more than anyone (to kill the enormous bug up your ass). Thanks for the post guys.
By mike, June 7, 2009 @ 10:52 am

quality posts, guys. thanks for posting this, exactly what i was looking for.
By Adam Crain, June 7, 2009 @ 12:23 pm

nice guide! fantastic really.
should answer a lot of questions for those wanting to go on their own, and hopefully jump start some young architects out there into taking the plunge!
By Rui Duarte, June 8, 2009 @ 5:11 am

Great post, very informative and proper based on today’s standards of small practice survival.

-I would also recommend learning about Green technology and possibly becoming LEED certified to enhance your knowledge base and potential client base.

-And recommend keeping a copy of Matthew Fredrick’s new book “101 Things I Learned in Architecture School” as a refresher to basic architectural design principles in case the Scotch got in the way during those days

-And suggest getting your name out there by Networking. There are networking groups that meet regularly in every community, run a Google search for Chamber of Commerce events and private events

-Become a member of LinkedIn.com to promote your web presence and voice your business opinions and leave Facebook and other social networking sites to just friends and family that already know about your mission!

-Stay active locally, active mentally, and always find something to do when the iPhone is not ringing. Remember it’s your business and it will only become what you put into it. Don’t forget to question yourself and your motives and step back from time to time and ask yourself: Am I doing everything I need to do this very second?

Thanks for sharing on this all too familiar topic!
By Samuel, June 8, 2009 @ 7:11 am

Really well done. A good insurance agent (crafty) and lawyer (quick bits of advice) are also indispensible once the new design firm starts rolling. I think that is what Lasse meant to say, but he accidentally posted the 14 sentence run-on rant instead of boiling it down to this one helpful add-on.
By Meredith Frolio, June 8, 2009 @ 7:49 am

Nice list guys! Handy for me as I go out on my own as a construction manager too. Always nice to have a check list.
By Les Fitzpatrick, June 8, 2009 @ 8:20 am

Perhaps the most critical tool you will acquire is the ability to do your own books. It’s fine to leave the 941s, quarterlies and year-end work to a book keeper and your CPA but you risk everything if you choose ignorance when it comes to basic book keeping. My weapon of choice is Quick Books. Even (perhaps especially)if you have an administrative partner, make sure you know your books intimately.
By archaalto, June 8, 2009 @ 11:33 am

excellent and encouraging advice on all fronts.

maybe another one would be to listen closely [and selectively] to the builders. they can inform architects to devise better way to do things.

thanks for sharing.
By Ben, June 9, 2009 @ 9:04 am

I like this post a lot. Excellent, inspiring and encouraging.

Thanks again Build.
By thefuture, June 9, 2009 @ 9:29 am

I’d only disagree in #2 Basic Tools that in terms of 3d, Sketchup has changed everything. The ability to open and spin around a model for a client and make changes right then and there is huge. Cartoonish yes, but third party photo-realistic rendering of sketchup is almost there and when it is you can forget all those other 3d programs.

Modeling is way faster, hence cheaper, and to me way more fun to do on sketchup.
By Mike D., June 10, 2009 @ 7:05 pm

@thefuture: Totally, totally, totally agree about SketchUp. Before I even hired Build, I was noodling together some initial design mockups in SketchUp. If a client can learn it in a few days, all architects should have at least baseline comfort with it. It’s free, it’s super easy to use, and it produces pretty good rendering even without the third party photo realistic stuff you mention.
By andrew, June 27, 2009 @ 8:16 am

not to beat the sketchup dead horse or anything (build guys, maybe a post about architectural rendering would be fun), but for my buck a thoughtfully rendered sketchup model beats the pants off the ‘fancier’ modeling programs.

photorealism runs the danger of sending the message that the design is set in stone already and therefor the client has little say in outcomes. a design-build mentor of mine still does all of his planning with soft pencil for this reason. (he does small projects).

also, the hyper-realistic renderings run a real risk of coming off as wanky, in my opinion. like the model is the real baby rather than the as yet unfinished structure.

design of buildings should be about experience–imagining the physical and emotional experience of the spaces we create. 3d modeling should be a tool to this end rather than a wowing red herring. the model is not the real thing and should not try to look like it.
By Lewis Wadsworth, July 10, 2009 @ 6:11 am

I can see how a “smart phone” in general might be an indespensible tool for a designer-on-the-go…but why exactly did you settle on the iPhone, as opposed to a Blackberry or a Google Android variant (which are the other two I have been considering)? Although I have just begun my own research on the smart phone I should acquire, already the Apple product seems comparitively more expensive (along with minimalist styling), and I’m not fond of the exclusive carrier for it in the US.
By Build LLC, July 10, 2009 @ 7:05 am

@ Lewis – it’s the quality and options with the photos that makes the iPhone so indispensable to us.
By Lewis Wadsworth, July 11, 2009 @ 5:47 am

Thanks, guys. I’ll walk over to the Apple store and take another look at it. I appreciate your advice here…imminently practical.

Not everyone is so practical. After I wrote here yesterday I met with the general contractor on my current project. I asked him why he had an iPhone. He replied with apparently no ironic intent, “I just like the way it looks. It goes well with my Macbook, too.” Ha!

Irony aside, coincidentally yesterday there was a fairly serious article on Apple’s smartphone and its use in (non-architectural) business here:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/10/editorial-taking-the-iphone-3gs-off-the-job-market/
By grace kim, August 5, 2009 @ 11:05 am

I’ll just add another resource to the mix.
There is a chapter in my book (The Survival Guide to Architectural Internship and Career Development) that is dedicated to starting a design firm – I wrote it as we were starting up our firm (so it’s very much a step-by-step, how-to guide). There are a number of checklists as well as some background on corporate (or not) structures. And there are a few profiles of young firms and their start up process.
If you want to check it out, the book is available at http://www.wiley.com (although you may be able to pick it up for a better price at your more typical booksellers like elliot bay or peter miller or online at amazon).
By Shawn Busse, August 19, 2009 @ 8:44 am

One small suggestion: Consider hiring a graphics person to help with your logo (very least) and website. Some of the WORST logo designs and web sites come from the world of architecture.

If money is tight in the beginning, see if you can get a site setup through a blog platform. Not completely custom, but very flexible and affordable. Once cash flow is less of an issue, hire a pro to help.
By Fulton, December 2, 2009 @ 10:40 am

Great guide for getting started. I would add to not take projects that are beyond your abilities. Big agreement on the iphone, awesome piece of gear. I’ve had other smart phones and that’s the best.

I’ve been using BIM (Revit) for 10 years or so and it’s been worth the money. Not perfect but cuts down on mistakes big time.

The Anne Choi thing was hilarious. I think it’s really important not to talk down to clients about design. I’ve found that most of my clients are older and wealthier than me and don’t necessarily appreciate a design education which lends agreement to the other suggestion about hitting singles and doubles.
By nc, February 11, 2010 @ 9:39 am

2 more things.
Put these clause or a better worded one by your lawyer:
-The project can be terminated by either party with a written letter( Incase you get a crazy client with runaway scope)
-The client and the architect CANNOT sue each other. Everything will be worked out by ourselve or by abritration.(Share fees)

How to start your own design firm

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