Architect Entrepreneur

Part narrative, part business book; Architect + Entrepreneur is filled with contemporary, relevant, fresh tips and advice, from a seasoned professional architect building a new business. The guide advocates novel strategies and tools that merge entrepreneurship with the practice of architecture and interior design. The Problem:Embarking on a new business venture is intimidating; you have questions. But many of the resources available to help entrepreneur architects and interior designers start their design business lack timeliness and relevance. Most are geared toward building colossal firms like SOM and Gensler using outdated methods and old business models. If you're an individual or small team contemplating starting a design business, this is your field guide; crafted to inspire action. The Solution:Using the lean startup methodology to create a minimum viable product, the handbook encourages successive small wins that support a broader vision enabling one to, "think big, start small, and learn fast." It's a unique take on design practice viewed through the lens of entrepreneurship and is designed to answer the questions all new business owners face, from the rote to the existential. Questions about: - Startup costs - Business models (old and new) - Marriage of business and design - Mindset - Branding & naming (exercises and ideas) - Internet marketing strategies - Passive income ideas - Setting your fee - Taxes - Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) - Securing the work - Client relations - Software - Billing rates - Contracts Building a business isn't a singular act; it's a series of small steps. Using the outline found in Architect + Entrepreneur you can start today. The chapters are organized to guide you from idea to action. Rather than write a business plan you'll be challenged to craft a brand and you'll sell it using new technologies. Follow the guide sequentially and you'll have both the tools and a profitable small business.

The traditional role of the architect is far too passive and uncertain. The profession has positioned itself to sit by the phone until we are called upon and commissioned to do work. Architects have long been charged with creating a better-built environment, but it is the developers who dictate what is actually built in our cities. The decisions made by developers before architects are engaged in a project dictate later success. When all of the initial programming, market studies, and cost estimates are based on market averages, it is unsurprising when the final products in our cities are nothing more than average. In the end, architects have devalued their role to the pencil of the developer's vision. By combining Architect & Developer, you can command a greater sense of control, faster decision making, an efficient process, and the potential for a much better profit. The largest hurdle to becoming an architect as developer is that first project. An entrepreneurial mindset and willingness to take risk is required. What developers do is not difficult, you need only have an appetite for risk. I sat down with over a dozen separate architects who are self-initiating their work. Some were doing this as a side hustle while holding down a nine-to-five job, some were small studios that were dipping their toes into the development game, and some were full-blown Architects & Developers. I wanted to absorb what they have learned throughout the process and consolidate the information into a digestible format. Architect & Developer includes one-on-one interviews from: DDG Mike Benkert, AIA WC Studio Barrett Design Guerrilla Development The UP Studio OJT Alloy, LLC Find more information at architectanddeveloper.com

One of Forbes's Top Ten Technology Books of the Year How to redesign ‘big, old’ companies for digital success—featuring a survey of 300+ business leaders and 30+ global organizations, including Amazon, Uber, LEGO, Toyota North America, Philips, and USAA. Most established companies have deployed such digital technologies as the cloud, mobile apps, the internet of things, and artificial intelligence. But few established companies are designed for digital. This book offers an essential guide for retooling organizations for digital success through 5 key building blocks: • Shared Customer Insights • Operational Backbone • Digital Platform • Accountability Framework • External Developer Platform In the digital economy, rapid pace of change in technology capabilities and customer desires means that business strategy must be fluid. As a result, business design has become a critical management responsibility. Effective business design enables a company to quickly pivot in response to new competitive threats and opportunities. Most leaders today, however, rely on organizational structure to implement strategy, unaware that structure inhibits, rather than enables, agility. In companies that are designed for digital, people, processes, data, and technology are synchronized to identify and deliver innovative customer solutions—and redefine strategy. Digital design, not strategy, is what separates winners from losers in the digital economy. Designed for Digital offers practical advice on digital transformation, with examples that include Amazon, BNY Mellon, DBS Bank, LEGO, Philips, Schneider Electric, USAA, and many other global organizations. Drawing on 5 years of research and in-depth case studies, the book is an essential guide for companies that want to disrupt rather than be disrupted in the new digital landscape.

This story of intrigue and scandal in the life of an early American businessman set during the raucous Jacksonian era brings to light a nearly forgotten tale of high-stakes intrigue, scandal, and financial ruin during a pivotal moment in the economic history of canaltown Buffalo and its western hinterland. Originally called Queen's Epic by the author, Roger Whitman's work probes beneath the surface of Benjamin Rathbun's startling career to reveal the unsettling social and economic forces that the American commercial revolution unleashed. When Rathbun's vast transportation, construction, and real estate empire finally collapsed under the weight of accumulated debt, shock waves rocked markets in the east. Amidst accusations of fraud, investors and currency speculators ran for cover in what soon became the nationwide Panic of 1837. After several decades of neglect, the manuscript was rediscovered and given a new title by editors Scott Eberle and David A. Gerber, who revived the book and shaped its historiographical context. The biography and history that emerges details a personal struggle to build stability, wealth, and rectitude in the shifting moral and economic sands of the Jacksonian era.

Concise lessons in design, drawing, the creative process, and presentation, from the basics of “How to Draw a Line” to the complexities of color theory. This is a book that students of architecture will want to keep in the studio and in their backpacks. It is also a book they may want to keep out of view of their professors, for it expresses in clear and simple language things that tend to be murky and abstruse in the classroom. These 101 concise lessons in design, drawing, the creative process, and presentation—from the basics of "How to Draw a Line" to the complexities of color theory—provide a much-needed primer in architectural literacy, making concrete what too often is left nebulous or open-ended in the architecture curriculum. Each lesson utilizes a two-page format, with a brief explanation and an illustration that can range from diagrammatic to whimsical. The lesson on "How to Draw a Line" is illustrated by examples of good and bad lines; a lesson on the dangers of awkward floor level changes shows the television actor Dick Van Dyke in the midst of a pratfall; a discussion of the proportional differences between traditional and modern buildings features a drawing of a building split neatly in half between the two. Written by an architect and instructor who remembers well the fog of his own student days, 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School provides valuable guideposts for navigating the design studio and other classes in the architecture curriculum. Architecture graduates—from young designers to experienced practitioners—will turn to the book as well, for inspiration and a guide back to basics when solving a complex design problem.

The definitive guide to management success for sole practitioners and leaders of small design firms Owning and operating a small architectural design firm can be challenging, with tight project deadlines, on-the-fly meetings, rush proposals, and fluctuating workloads as part of the firm’s day-to-day activities. To help small firm owners cope with the chaos and prepare for the unexpected, here is The Architect’s Guide to Small Firm Management, a no-nonsense guide to repurposing daily demands into workable, goal-directed solutions. Crucial topics such as self-aware leadership, people management, technology, financial health, scenario planning, sustainable practice, and future trends are examined using real-life case studies and business model paradigms. This definitive text explores the whole system experience of a small firm practice to deliver organizational strategies proven to keep a firm’s creative mission on a steady, productive path. The Architect’s Guide to Small Firm Management addresses how small firm owners can: Deal effectively with unexpected circumstances and shifting work requirements Meet the demands of the marketplace while creating a satisfying workplace Set and achieve goals in an environment of constant change This book is a must-have for those facing the often harsh reality of managing small design firms in a difficult and changing economy. Entrepreneurial architects and designers will discover how to define their own personal and professional meanings of success, as well as how to refocus their business approach to replace long, unrewarding hours with manageable, satisfying ones.

"Running a successful architectural firm is a juggling act. You need expertise in your area of architecture to provide services to clients. You also need the know-how to run a small business. You've probably been well prepared by your education and experience for the technical ins and outs of an architecture firm. Yet what training has prepared you to run a business?"--Description from publisher.

You are a great designer, but no-one knows. Now what? This indispensable book, written by one of the most influential marketers in architecture, will demystify Public Relations and marketing for all architects, whether in large practices or practicing as sole practitioners. It bridges the distance between architects and marketing by giving practical tips, best practice and anecdotes from an author with 20 years’ experience in architecture marketing. It explains all aspects of PR and Business Development for architects: for example, how to write a good press release; how to make a fee proposal; how to prepare for a pitch. It gives examples of how others do it well, and the pitfalls to avoid. In addition, it discusses more general aspects which are linked to PR and BD, such as being a good employer, ethics for architects and the challenges when working abroad. Featuring vital insights from a wide variety of architects, from multinational practices to small offices, this book is an essential companion to any architectural office.