Deciding To “go On Your Own”

Question 1

the first question to ask yourself is:

Answer 1

Why do you think that having your own firm is the right thing for you?

Question 2

Nevertheless, we’ve found the answers can be placed into 10 categories, which share a central theme: the desire for greater control over one’s future. These categories are:

Answer 2

1. Ability to realize one’s own goals and follow one’s own interests.
2. Greater ability to balance one’s personal and professional lives.
3. More direct relationship between effort and recognition for one’s professional accomplish- ments.
4. More direct relationship between effort and financial reward (the opportunity to make more money than is possible as an employee of someone else).
5. Greatercontroloverone’sowndestiny,design, and other issues of personal importance.
6. Survival during bad economic times.
7. Satisfaction of building one’s own practice.
8. Ability to be involved in everything.
9. Failure to “fit” into an established organiza- tion.
10. Desire to work with friends, a spouse, or oth- ers of one’s own choosing.

Question 3

The point is, not everyone is cut out to run his or her own firm, but if you feel you have compelling reasons for doing so, there are a number of steps to take before you make the final decision:

Answer 3

1. Be clear as to why you are doing it.
2. Define the type of firm you want to have.
3. Set goals for the first year and for the long
   term.
4. Look at successful models and research how they succeeded.
5. Define what special services or abilities you will offer that potential clients need.
6. Decide if you have all the basic capabilities necessary to succeed, or if you will need part-
   ners and/or colleagues.
7. Decide how you will support yourself until the firm is generating an adequate income to pay you.

Question 4

In the first year, some of the goals can be pretty basic, for example:

Answer 4

b To survive.
b To successfully complete three or four assignments.
b To secure enough work for the next year.

Question 5

Two key driving forces shape the operation, man- agement, and organization of every architecture firm:

Answer 5

b Choice of technology, defined as the system or process the firm employs to do its work
b Collective values of the firm’s principals

Question 6

Technology shapes the firm’s delivery process. Examination of the marketplace reveals three major categories of design firm technologies:

Answer 6

Strong idea firms
Strong service firms
Strong delivery firms

Question 7

which are organized to deliver singular expertise or innovation on unique projects

Answer 7

Strong idea firms

Question 8

which are organized to deliver experience and reliability, especially on complex assignments

Answer 8

Strong service firms

Question 9

which are organized to provide highly efficient service on similar or more routine assignments

Answer 9

Strong delivery firms

Question 10

who see their calling as a way of life, typically have as their major goal the opportunity to serve others and produce examples of their discipline.

Answer 10

Practice centered professional

Question 11

who practice their calling as a means of livelihood, more likely have as their personal objective a quantitative bottom line that is more focused on the tangible rewards of their efforts

Answer 11

Business centered professionals

Question 12

In our experience, 10 common models can be used to launch a successful firm, and there is some- thing to be learned from each. These models are:

Answer 12

1. Major client as “booster rocket”
2. House for mother
3. Academic incubator
4. Better mousetrap
5. Supersalesperson
6. Sponsor
7. Golden handshake
8. Spin-off
9. Rebuild of an existing firm (the phoenix) 10. Starting small in a good market

Question 13

The firm is founded or taken beyond the start-up with the support of a single client willing to gamble on a young firm. The combination of the client and the work of the firm acts as a booster rocket that lifts the firm above the crowd to where it can be seen.

Answer 13

Major clients as first-stage booster rocket

Question 14

For some new firms, the booster rocket comes in the form of a project for a family member or one com- pleted using family money. Charles Gwathmey, Robert Venturi, and Philip Johnson are only a few examples of well-known architects who became visi- ble thanks to such projects.

Answer 14

House for mother

Question 15

Many of the best-known, design firm principals have relied on their teaching positions to provide them with the basic income, time, credibility, and expo- sure to lay the foundations of a practice. Only when their practice becomes too demanding do they cut their academic ties. Thom Mayne of Morphosis relied on his Southern California Institute of Architecture teaching salary until his practice finally took off.

Answer 15

Academic incubator

Question 16

Some firms see an unmet need and set out to fill it. In past years, this has included firms that first focused on specialties, such as recycling historic structures, or smaller projects in communities not served by enough strong local designers, or, currently, sustain- able design.

Answer 16

Better mousetrap

Question 17

A few firms—Kohn Pedersen Fox being one of the best known—got off the ground due in large part to the exceptional sales skills and client relationships of one or more of the founders. All successful architects have some sales skills, but only a handful can con- vince clients to hire a new firm for major projects over the established competition.

Answer 17

Super salesperson

Question 18

A few firms—among them some of the best known—have had other established professionals act as their booster rockets. This takes various forms. Well-known architects, Charles Moore being the most prolific, have lent their names and skills to young firms. In a few cases, elder statesmen, among them Philip Johnson, promote emerging stars. Philip Johnson’s role in winning Michael Graves his first major commission, the Portlandia Building competition, is a well-known example.

Answer 18

Sponsor

Question 19

Sometimes the architect’s former employer provides the new firm’s initial work. When Brad’s grandfather had to leave his position as head of the drafting room of Burnham and Root in the contraction after the 1893 Columbia Exposition, Daniel Burnham helped get him his first commission.

Answer 19

Golden handshake

Question 20

firms that break away from established ones where the new-firm members have built their reputations, skills, and potential client base. In some cases, the spin-offs are led by senior partners of major firms.

Answer 20

Spin-off

Question 21

The converse of the spin-off is the takeover. In a few cases, a new young leadership takes over a declining or moribund existing organization and revives and reshapes it into a new, vibrant firm. Johnson, Fain and Pereira Associates (JFPA, now Johnson Fain) is a well-known example of this model. This model is very complex because—as at JFPA—it involves assuming substantial financial liabilities, an estab- lished image, and an established senior organiza- tional structure. Scott Johnson and Bill Fain had to deal with all these while reshaping the design direc- tion of a large practice.

Answer 21

Phoenix

Question 22

Some firms are content to begin by doing small pro- jects and building on that base. For Tod Williams, Billie Tsien and Associates, a small dormitory at Princeton gave them credibility at an institutional level. After several smaller projects had been pub- lished, Princeton included them on a list of alumni architects to be interviewed for what was to be a small addition. Instead, it became a new building, which won several awards and was widely published.

Answer 22

Starting small