even though I'll be moving to a design field, the habits regarding firm size, etc. are similar so I'll take a shot at this one.

I would like to be in a partnership one day, if I can find the right partner, but not a sole proprietor. I like the freedom of being an owner, but am not quite comfortable with the full responsibility of being the owner. I know this makes me sound lazy, but the fact is that I'm not great with things like bills and equipment, and it would be nice to find someone who is more business-oriented than myself to partner with. I am very attracted to the idea of having fewer people to answer to design-wise (just clients instead of clients + boss), and really being responsible for and being the final say on whole projects. I enjoy mentoring, and am a pretty good judge of talent, so I think hiring/firing stuff would be fine. Maybe I just need to find a good office manager?

On the other hand, I could also be very comfortable if I attained a high position in an established firm. So I guess it's still up in the air, but owning my own firm is a real possibility for me.

Also - if you already have started your own firm: How is it going? Is it easier or harder than you expected? Do you think you'll stay on your own forever, or do you think about going back to working for someone else?

Trying to walk the line right now. I have started a consulting practice on the side and have found moderate success. It was much harder to get started, but mostly because I have a day job, which cuts a lot of the prime work finding time out. I have focused on what I am good at, energy modeling, and it seems that I have tapped something that is at least catching peoples attention, architectural background that can do thermal analysis and energy calculations.
I would like to go to full blown solo work, but I am waiting for the license to do that, diversifying and all. And then I would like to run with a small group of like minded designers. I enjoy the business end and have been vigilant in billing and contract negotiation/ enforcement. So if any of you star designers looking for a business partner are in the North Bay Area...
j

It would be unrealistic of me to dive into the ownership of my own firm. Firstly, I don't have the money to set something up: I take it one would need an initial 'float' before work gets flowing my way. Secondly, the future seems to be in very large practices in terms of who gets to do what. That said, I don't see myself as an employee in the long run. I'm not the kind of person who wishes to set up a conventional lifestyle then simply maintain it for the rest of my life. I'm much more of an explorer than that. The company I'm currently with has a lot of great opportunities for me to grow in a direction that suits me at the moment so I'd be a fool to ditch that. And I don't know what that'll eventually do for me but I do know that the only thing potentially in my way is me and that's a good place to be. But yeah, I probably fit into that 'enormous ego' cliche: 'the world will remember me' heh which sounds truly awful I know, so I try to put a gentler, civilized face on it. But it does sort of simmer in the background... so I write to get it out of my system: you can go anywhere you want in the written word, although one does tend to do things simply because it will make a good story. But what the heck, it's fun.
More back on topic, I think the architectural profession is as confused as I am at the moment. We seem to be lousy business-people. And this isn't because we lack the intelligence, information or skillsets involved. It's just that we insist on maintaining 'professional values' which sometimes fly in the face of business ones. And we seem to be hoplessly indecisive on which one of these paths to travel on. Essentially, there is something of the old-school civilised gentleman in the architect: one who values the public good and who is willing to, for example, work twice as hard to make a design as good as possible in every sense as they are in driving profits up. And yet we still muddle around at times, talking of our activities in the business sense: 'value added' is design; our clients' priorities are the same as our own. No they're not. That's a lie. It's the sort of queasy duplicity that makes us weak. I think, secretly, many in the profession still rather love the glamourous high-mindedness of the 'gentleman amateurs' who started our profession off. I certainly do. Yet we find ourselves in the conference room full of those sacry, tough-talking developers, contractor-clients and so on and start burbling in a half-assed version of their language. Are we really so omnipotent that we can continue to wear all these hats at once or are we slowly crumbling apart?

it could happen one day, but i have no clue how it will happen yet.

as for working for other people, I think that it is a matter of perception. even though you may be "employed" by someone right now, you can be either working "for" them, or working "with" them.

now as far as employers go, they can either work with their clients or for their clients.

as of now, as misguided/delusional as it may be, i'd have to say I work "with" more so than "for"

Being my own boss at some point in my life would make me really happy. I'm definately gonna try to get either my own firm or a partnership.

being 23 i think it's alittle out of my reach right now...but for good reasons. I'd eventually like to have my own office, even if it's just 1 or 2 people. I think I'm the type that really wants to work for myself and have all or as much creative freedom as possible.

After working in a few offices now, I've never thought that the projects were mine. Maybe that's how it'll always be, even after I start my own office, I feel like no matter how close I try to get to it, I can never really claim it as mine because the project is absorbing so many other "voices" other than my own. I guess that's why I keep returning back to school, and probably why I'll end up teaching, because I love the purity of the artist's/architect's touch even if it may be a bit naive.

Thanks for that great point, momentum. That's exactly what I'm feeling - I don't think I'll be ok working for someone my whole life. I could either do my own thing, or maybe be comfortable if I get to a point where I'm working with people instead of for them.

i would never hire someone like me. so no i guess not...

I suspect this will be one of those polls that will lean heavily on the "YES" side. It is the nature of our profession - to want more to have control, we fortunately or not don't teach in our schools how to be well for loss of a better word "submissive"

yes

From the time I started architecture school, I always thought I'd have my own firm. I wanted it to be my name on the buildings and in the magazines... but now that I've been working in architecture for a while, my ego doesn't seem so hungry - and dealing with all the extra stuff seems like such a hassle.

I flip flop back and forth almost every day between, "I can't wait until I can get the fuck out of here and do this on my own so I don't have to deal with this bullshit" and "Damn it's nice to have a salary. I'd much rather just work for someone else and let it be their name on the line. I don't want so much responsibility."

personally I've worked with too many people from varying scales - the only remaining is partner/design associate - the former would probably give me some piece of mind however its a difficult road to travel if its an already established practice. I do look forward to carrying certain things on my back...maybe its just a dream as said before.

But I think I'm at that age and personal flexibility where it seems like the logical next move...all I need now in a pot full of gold (ah mi lucky charms)

no.

for i long time i thought i wanted my own firm, how great it would be to work with my own clients. after working for a long time with a lot of different types of clients, i now hope to not just be my own boss, but to be my own client. that's the only way i think i'll truly be happy. well, that and world peace. and rainbow sprinkle doughnuts.

I want to control what i do and don't design. However owning one's own firm often only succeeds a small portion of that goal (you gotta do what you gotta do to make money). Which leads me to the idea of teaching and doing projects when only I deam them desirable.

goal : have my own firm

i look at some older "senior designers" @ previous places of employment, and often wondered why they weren't working for themselves instead of someone else, especially as the top designer.

i just realized i never want to be that person.

so maybe a 3-person partnership, as ninja - cowboy - bear gets really old with the same person.

Then thou must count to three. Three shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither shalt thou count two, excepting that thou then proceedeth to three. Five is right out.

My opinion is that you need to have three (two plus yourself) great partners to start a stable office; a good project manager, a good designer, and a great in-house manager who runs the daily office stuff, like preparing proposal, smoozing with client and such. Until I find those people, I have to say no.
When I worked at a small firm (2 partners plus three employees), the partners worked from 6 am to 7pm, back to work at 9pm and worked until 1 or 2 am, EVERYDAY. Although some of their works were eventually published in ArchRecord and such, they are still not making enough money. The partners sometimes told me how frustrated they were, and they would be able to make twice more money if they were just employeed as design procipals in big company. I guess only reason they run the business is, that's right, the EGO... the only thing that we've learned from school. SAD.

OR, you can marry to rich ones and just have fun at YOUR office (I know one who got married to a brain surgeon, his company has been losing money for 5+ years but still doing it).

wants to be the design partner and nobody wants to be the project manager or business manager.

That's what I thought, Steven, but as I started working with more people in this field, I've met a lot of people who just want to manage projects, or want to "hang out" with potential clients. Find people who are in same wavelength as I am is totally another story.

The idea of being my own boss, setting my own hours, and pursuing my own designs definitely appeals. The only problem is that it seems like there are a relatively limited variety of project types available to a sole proprietor or small firm and none of them particularly appeal to me at this point. High end residential, commercial interiors, very small business or nonprofit projects, and specialty consulting work seem to be in the realm of the small firm while their ability to win other project types can be hit or miss.

i think i'm in the perfect scenario now:

i work for a medium sized firm doing commercial shyte for my "bread and butter", i have my own firm on the side to keep myself amused, and i have just partnered with two colleagues in town to do some more projects, also on the side.

i look back at college and think to myself, "there always seemed to be time for everything". i worked full time and went to class full time and that schedule suited me just fine. so, i figure, i'm not dead yet, so i might as well use the time i have. and that's exactly what i'm doing. having one's own firm, or even being in a partnership isn't necessarily a matter of "can i" or "should i". we all want to be our own boss. no one really likes to be told what to do. so, day job or no, go out and do it. enter all the competitions, get your own business cards and hit your local happy hours and AIA lectures. network network network, tis the name of the game, my friends. i do have to take a small aside and agree with solidred, however. we, as a profession, do seem to be a bit confused as to where to go, how to get there, and even why we should go there. especially in the US, there seems to be a kind of stalemate when it comes to the momentum of our profession. at least from my point of view. there aren't any new and exciting projects going up, developers still call all of the shots, and clients (big and small) still really have no clue that anything different can be done. what we, as a profession, have to do is pull up our skirts, untuck our balls and push the re-education of our clients. get everyone and anyone on the sustainable high design bandwagon and ride it into the sunset.

my two cents.
Ciao.

... bryan4arch

Ok ... those of you out there who own your firms ... does this sound like the 'nirvana' we experience ?

Hmmmm, Steven why do you and I get along so well? I totally don't want to be the design partner, I totally want to manage the implementation of someone else's idea. I even really want to manage the business side of it: provided the firm is profitable, of course. That is the hard part.

Owning your own firm is not all fun. With freedom comes enormous responsibility. Make that crushing responsibility.

while i WAS indeed stating my own predilection, i was also taking cue from a lot of the comments i've heard on archinect in the past; 'i want to be the design partner and find someone smart who will run the business' is a fairly regular line here.

Indeed it is.

Hopefully my future business manager is studying for his/her MBA right now while I pump AutoCAD and surf Archinect.

Well, since I'm talking graphic design (buh-bye architecture!), I'd be fine managing print and/or environmental design and finding a good partner to handle to web-oriented work and office technology. I guess we could always just hire an accountant to take care of the rest.

After nearly nine years of running my own graphic design and production firm with my wife, I can easily say that i wouldn't have it any other way. Previously i worked as an in-house corporate designer. There is no comparison. Working for yourself is the best.

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holz.box was a Mojo JoJo impersonation??

I did the one-man shop for a spell and found it extremely difficult. You can manage your time only so much...it became hard to find the time to get all the things I needed done. Then when some of it dried up, I was motivated enough to go hunt for some more...

but that was about 7 years ago...attitude has completely changed. I don't have to seek approval with my work, but i'm forced to do far too much of the office management stuff that takes away from me being an architect damnit!

ah, negative.

that was the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

yes

After 3 years of being on my own I couldn't imagine it any other way. Its a little overwhelming at times having to do everything yourself and constantly worrying about enough money coming in... But the payoff is incredible. There's nothing that compares to watching your design get built.