I am interested in starting my own LA firm. I started this topic with the hopes of hearing some clever ways of how some of you get clients ( or would get if you had a business ).
we get work form competitions and local network of friends. we also find properties and pitch them to people we think might be interested in developing them. this latter approach was working quit well, but not so good method just now for obvious reasons...
my friends who have offices always went after projects very proactively, then after awhile people started coming to them. offices that are established, at least amongst my friends, seem to not need to search for work anymore to stay busy. they do need to hunt down work when they want to change fields, etc. latley it seem for my more successful friends the realy difficulty is finding good staff. maybe that problem will get easier from now on...
I morph into a cad monkey when I have to but it usually happens only after the Sun Goes Down. The rest of the time I run my own practice......da one, da two, da three.
Having had my own small practice off and on, I think the key is threefold:
1. Do good, thorough work, and be able to demonstrate that it's good.
2. Socialize, as was said above. But more importantly.....
3. When you socialize, develop trust. You want potential clients to have faith in you and believe you can complete the job in a responsible way.
In order to accomplish all of the above, you have to be ready when someone says "you're an architect? I'm opening a new boutique, and I need some help." You should have business cards, and a nice simple website with work samples on it—see the "Best Websites" thread.
Also, make sure you're ready with how much you'll charge. Time and materials is a good way to operate for small projects early on.
You'll establish cred if you say things like "I don't charge for the first site meeting." Don't give away your time or ideas for free. In this first site meeting, throw out a few thoughts, but don't give away the bank. Talk very specifically about things like schedule and budget—don't give your potential client unrealistic ideas about what's possible. Don't make this stuff up, because if the project works out, the client could resent you when you're 2x over budget and six months late.
Of course, I think new firms often find their first projects through established friends. So often the trust is already there, the work is done at a reduced rate or pro bono.
Builders, contractors, real estate agents, are some of the folks you may want to start talking with but bear in mind that will typically net you only a few small jobs, but don't discount that as a real place to start with. Do the competition thing if you like but I just don't see that as a great way to generate real work my self. Next is a round of promotion to anybody and everybody who might need work done, municipalities, city governments, developers, school boards etc.
I went to a great seminar once where the lecturer from out side the city had someone hand him a newspaper, he went through it very quickly and then noticed a couple business articles and then made about five cold calls to various offices and got to speak with someone in charge of a particular department and basically set up an interview for himself. This was all done in about 15 minutes while we all watched. I thought It was very aggressive in the day but his mannerism was very casual and not pushy and I think about how open he was to both the opportunity and pitfalls, nobody was negative toward him and generally everybody found him to be very supportive ie one company was an animal shelter and they were looking for funds for a new facility, he arranged a meeting to do a basic schematic design that would help in there fund raising and thereby got the job. They had some funds and he realized that he could do some work to start with with a chance to do further work later on, just by getting through to the right person in a cold call.
Stuff like that is very inspiring and should be looked on as testament to persistence, perhaps for not all your work but gets you thinking out of the box.
i second the website,, dont go crazy, simple stuff for small business owners to understand perhaps?
word of mouth usually works well, one thing u should never do is take a project and not deliver on time or deliver with quality,, because, if youre lucky, the same client might come back with more work,, good luck anyway
jump, you're in japan,, plane ticket atleast? and a couch?
Young firms historically have a LOT of trouble with new clients taking advantage of their eagerness ... they'll use up lots of your time, and have you do lots of free work, and never hire you to do the project -- they do this because they know they can.
I recommend that you be very professional about this sort of thing from the very beginning ... read this link carefully: Design Consultations -- a highly useful approach posted some time ago by one of our brethren here on Archinect -- this sort of approach is a very good way to get started.
Also, here are a few books you probably ought to purchase:
I will add -- my post immediately above is related to "How to Get Clients" in the following way -- "clients" are people who pay your invoices -- everybody else is either a stranger, a family member or a dead-beat.
I know the post above was tongue-in-cheek, but in all seriousness, you don't really have to play the black sweater role. Unless you're teaching at an Ivy league school, or starting a conceptual firm.
All great advice. As far as a website goes, how does one make a website without any work of their 'own' (Past employers probably are not going to be willing to let you use work you did under their name).
if u worked on a specific part of the project u can say (i.e.) "design of canopy for JohnDoe Architects"
or u can also can fool people with a lot of concept and blah blah blah, and in the images of projects u can just say "coming soon" or "in construction"
Have you done no projects of your own that you're proud of, even theoretical ones, that could be included on a website?
It's not so much about the work shown as that you have a web presence, which legitimizes you. Even if it's a splash page with a single photo and your contact info, that's something. Don't even bother with the "under construction"—makes it look like you don't finish what you started.
well, gehry doesn't need a website. if you don't know him you probably won't be looking at his work...
we also hand out fliers when we start construction on a site. it is considered standard practice in japan, part of the process of informing everyone about construction noise and so on...in fact if a project is large enough it is legally required that we do that. if of sufficient size there are also public hearings necessary. we add to this by going to immediate neighbours of project site and introducing ourselves and the contractor and giving out cards etc, so that if there are any problems with noise, cars, whatever we can solve them quickly. this too is pretty much just what good manners expected of anyone in japan.
what quiz says is true. we have learned the hard way to always ask for a retainer, and we have a chart ready for clients that explains very easily and simply how and when and HOW MUCH we get paid and what benchmarks are used for each payment. this is all pretty standard though i should think, and has little to do with finding clients.
best thing by far for starting out is socialising and joining community groups. apart from that i couldn't say where work might come from. nobody just pics up a phone and calls without some kind of word out there, as far as i know....
Most of the people who use small, new firms aren't likely to be all that sophisticated about the design and construction process. They tend to take a lot of handholding and tend to have unrealistic expectations about you and about the process. For those reasons, they're expensive to serve and support.
It's important to remember that people who are about to spend a lot of money on a project want to entrust those funds to people they trust and respect. Ask yourself how "trust and respect" come about. For some, it's enough to know the individual being hired is licensed -- that's often where the unrealistic expectations come from, because we all know that all licensed professionals are not created equal -- the public's not as well equipped to make those distinctions as we might be.
So, if being licensed isn't enough to make for a good business relationship, then you have to rely on something higher -- meaning "familiarity" -- prospective clients need to have spent some time around you -- they need to understand how you think, how you operate, how you interact with them.
That's why networking and socializing is so important -- this gives clients a low-risk way to become accustomed to you and your style. This goes a long way to helping them know they can entrust their precious project to you and it all won't go to hell. The truth is, most members of the public really can't (or don't know how to) make a well informed decision about who to use as their architect -- an awful lot of the decision is superficial and about chemistry.
that's a good point quizzical. it puts things in perspective actually.
in our case we are just not, as foreigners, able to even try for public projects. we have tried some in partnership with japanese offices, but even then i think we might have a better chance if our names weren't visible anywhere...so we are really reliant on who we know and otherwise making our own work from thin air (or so it feels, anyway). and looking back yeah it really is true that most clients don't immediately understand what the choices they are making really mean. sometimes it is really astounding the kinds of misconceptions people can have about architecture.
not that architects know much outside our own field either. in which case the same chemistry and trust thing is also true. who do i give my money to invest to? someone i trust of course.
I've also noticed—for what it's worth—that people will tend to take someone with grey hair over someone young.
Case in point: I was recently passed over for a residential job in favor of a guy of about sixty (I'm 35) who isn't licensed, and works as a "designer" rather than an architect. He hand-drafts everything.
I ran into that client the other day, and asked why they hadn't chosen me. They said it came down to experience. I asked if they had seen the other guy's work in person. "Well, no, but he just seemed a bit more experienced. We wanted to use you, but we worried about your experience." I took that to mean mainly that they worried about my relative youth.
Nine months have gone by, and the guy still hasn't produced their drawings. They've seen no renderings, no rendered elevations. They don't know what the house looks like. They contacted me to ask if I'd be willing to "help out" with the design—needless to say, I refused.
My point: perceived experience does count, though maybe only superficially. Do what you can to make yourself seem older and capable. Wear suits, or at least nice clothes. Make your work or meeting space feel more formal. Scrub your portfolio of anything that seems amateurish. Act professional, cool, and collected. Have specific answers to questions regarding schedule, contracts, buildability, etc.
Of course some of this you only gain with actual experience. But I also think that a really capable younger designer can often do a much better job than an older "experienced" person. (And you can take this as a reference to the presidential race, if you want.)
I think we need to get past the election ... then, I believe things will start to settle down in the economy and we'll start getting back on track, slowly. Projects that depend on private financing will remain difficult to finance ... so new private work is likely to remain quite slow through the 3rd quarter of 2009. Unless the ability to sell public bonds improves quickly, some public sector work may slow or halt.
New jobs in our profession already are scarce and, I believe, will become more scarce over the next 6 months. Compared to this time last year, few firms are doing much hiring -- many firms are considering ways to reduce their payroll costs as their revenues decline. There will be more jobs lost in the coming months. IMO, wages for those who retain their jobs generally will be flat for at least the next year -- wages for those being offered new jobs will be lower (maybe substantially lower) than they were this time last year for comparable skills and responsibilities.
If you're at all worried about your job, get your resume and portfolio in order and start networking so you'll know where the opportunities may lie. Curtail all but the most essential spending until the picture clears. Save every dime that you can.
But, having been through this many times over the course of my career, I also realize that we will come out of this and there is light at the end of the tunnel. However, the journey through the tunnel may be difficult. Those who are well prepared (financially and professionally) will find the journey the easiest.
Those are just my personal views and I make no claim to having a crystal ball. But, by any measure, it's not a pretty picture ...
A new practice in LA? now? you better be licensed. "designers" are a dime a dozen here. and be careful not to be taken advantage of, lots of good advice above. in LA, there are a lot of sharks and people who will take advantage of you and your enthusiasm. what part of town are you in? there are many different niches and cultures here and it all varies.
I am not from CA I am from the East. I am licensed. Now may just be the best time. I do not have the overhead or any of the fixed expenses yet that many of the existing firms have that are now slowing down due to obvious reasons. I need to be that shark dcozb.
I admire your persevereance, and would never discourage. One factor; licensed in CA?or licensed in your country? Big difference. In addition, we now have new codes here re: CBC07 (california building code) and this has an effect on Engineering and liabilities. The majority of my experience is in residential design and residential design/build. This would be, in my opinion, the faster market for incoming projects and turn over, but not the cash cow of other building typologies. I would also recommend being able to diversify and offer services like; 3d modeling/renderings, project management, industrial design, etc.
I have been a freelance designer, and worked in offices off and on, got my B. Arch. here in LA, and worked in construction, for about 18 yrs. I have a good network of friends for a work force. As we all know, the real money is in the actual construction. So in summary, if I could do it, I would start a design/build firm speciallizing in residential projects. I would diversify as much as possible, and I would take advantage of; obtaining an LEED cert., getting a contractor's license, a solar contractor's license, and having all of my ducks in order by getting all bonds and insurances required.
In fact, I have a very concise business model I would follow, but I would rather not share it in this forum.
1. Never burn bridges. I continue to receive a lot of work referred to me by my former employer.
2. Respect Contractors. This is a huge source of possible referrals.
3. Lower your Expectations. When starting out, you probably will not get work as good as you were doing at your former employer (I didn't). You probably will have to start small until you build your client referral base and show that you can perform.
4. Let people know what you do. In my experience, I am most successful when I don't try to sell myslef/firm, but when I let people know what I do and through the way I talk about what we do and our work, demonstrate that you are competent. People love to talk about architecture because it is an accessible subject that everyone lives with, so talk about it. But, leave the academic, pseudo-intellectual babble at home - nobody cares accept other pseudo-intellectuals and with them it is easy enough to switch gears.
5. Although Past Clients, Past Employers, and GC's make up a bulk of our referrals, you never know where you might get work. I once got a project through the guy that sold me my car.
Good luck.
Oct 27, 08 1:34 pm ·
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I put a past employer's project on my website. http://neffarchitecture.com , click on "hamptons pool house."
I asked permission of course because not doing so would be very risky and in my mind unethical. I explained my situation- that I'm trying to branch out on my own but need to flesh out my website a bit beyond the two solo projects I've done. So I picked a project on which I played a significant role and I told him that in a couple of years when I (hopefully) have more completed work, I would take down his project from my site. And of course, I credited my old firm on the webpage.
What I didn't do though is get clearance from the photographer. I used one of my own photos (I'm sure you can tell which) and my old firm offered to email me two photos which they had done professionally. I didn't even think about the photographer issue and apparently my old firm didn't either, unless their contract allowed them unrestricted use. I'm not too worried though (knock on wood) because it doesn't feel unethical to me since my firm paid the photographer and then gave me permission. Maybe it's technically illegal but I kind of doubt that photographers go after everyone who posts their photos online. They'd be constantly sue design bloggers, etc.
I would suggest getting the license from the photographer to show his/her images. The fact that your old firm said it was okay, is of no relevance. The images belong to the photographer and your old firm only holds a limited, non-trasferable license from them (typically).
It's not that big of a deal to call the photograher and get permission. You will have to pay them for it, but if you ever want to use that photographer for work in the future and they happen to check out your website (or if they are looking for work and checking out websites of potential clients) and see their images, they may pursue you. And the time it takes for you to deal with this is probably more expensive than just paying for the images.
davidaneff ,
our photographer asks only that we put his name when we use the shots, especially for magazines. so don't sweat it. let him/her know it is on your site if it bothers you. take it down if they ask. easy.
unrelated to the topic, but that is some very fine work mr. neff. i look forward to seeing more in future.
correct you are, puddles. the shingle style barn is incredibly gorgeous.
Nov 19, 08 4:29 pm ·
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wow- thanks for the compliments. After I posted my site I was worried I'd get slayed on this board for doing boring traditional work. (I happen to love the shingle style though I'd also like to have a client ask for something more modern for once.)
I wish I had more work to post in the future but unfortunately that's looking very unlikely at the moment. I will be changing the design and adding a few more pictures to my website though- probably this weekend.
Jump- I like your idea of crediting the photographer. It would be hard for him (her?) to be too upset when he/she's getting free advertising.
Architectural Photograph is a Profession just Like Architecture. Most often there are two types of licenses on is to us the Photo one time the other is to outright own the photo. There is usually a hook line which the Photographer gets a cut for every time the photo is used.
Yes Photographers do protect their work...and you would not like to come up against one who is well organized, as they usually are tied to an agency who have a number of photographers they work with and well they have Lawyers who are good at extracting payment for photos used without permission. It is bull shit to be talking only to the Architect about use of the Photo as you should be including the Photographer. If you don't it might end up being more than a slap on the hand. Most states will not allow you to practice architecture if you have a felony in your closet.
Nov 19, 08 7:52 pm ·
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Starting Your Own Firm: 1. How to get clients?
I am interested in starting my own LA firm. I started this topic with the hopes of hearing some clever ways of how some of you get clients ( or would get if you had a business ).
You should take a look at our UpStarts series of features, focusing on the establishment of successful young architecture practices:
Lyn Rice Architects
WORKac
Plasma Studio
MAD Office
NIPpaysage
Andrew Maynard
Studio Sputnik
51N4E
Don't act like an architect.
Socialize with the wealthy+creative side of LA
community meetings, community gardens?
find your own niche...houses for celebrity pets
frank lloyd wright style, steal them from your boss (lets hope he's the louis sullivan of our times)
socializing is the best way to do it i guess, be proactive,, you might want to exhibit or something, a website? good luck
do you need a partner?
hang around with contractors. they've gotten me alot of work and they tend to be funner than society types...
do u need a cad monkey with a 5 yr archtiectural degree? more important than a partner,, sorry crave
i need a cad monkey, but can't afford to pay you.
we get work form competitions and local network of friends. we also find properties and pitch them to people we think might be interested in developing them. this latter approach was working quit well, but not so good method just now for obvious reasons...
my friends who have offices always went after projects very proactively, then after awhile people started coming to them. offices that are established, at least amongst my friends, seem to not need to search for work anymore to stay busy. they do need to hunt down work when they want to change fields, etc. latley it seem for my more successful friends the realy difficulty is finding good staff. maybe that problem will get easier from now on...
I morph into a cad monkey when I have to but it usually happens only after the Sun Goes Down. The rest of the time I run my own practice......da one, da two, da three.
Having had my own small practice off and on, I think the key is threefold:
1. Do good, thorough work, and be able to demonstrate that it's good.
2. Socialize, as was said above. But more importantly.....
3. When you socialize, develop trust. You want potential clients to have faith in you and believe you can complete the job in a responsible way.
In order to accomplish all of the above, you have to be ready when someone says "you're an architect? I'm opening a new boutique, and I need some help." You should have business cards, and a nice simple website with work samples on it—see the "Best Websites" thread.
Also, make sure you're ready with how much you'll charge. Time and materials is a good way to operate for small projects early on.
You'll establish cred if you say things like "I don't charge for the first site meeting." Don't give away your time or ideas for free. In this first site meeting, throw out a few thoughts, but don't give away the bank. Talk very specifically about things like schedule and budget—don't give your potential client unrealistic ideas about what's possible. Don't make this stuff up, because if the project works out, the client could resent you when you're 2x over budget and six months late.
Of course, I think new firms often find their first projects through established friends. So often the trust is already there, the work is done at a reduced rate or pro bono.
Builders, contractors, real estate agents, are some of the folks you may want to start talking with but bear in mind that will typically net you only a few small jobs, but don't discount that as a real place to start with. Do the competition thing if you like but I just don't see that as a great way to generate real work my self. Next is a round of promotion to anybody and everybody who might need work done, municipalities, city governments, developers, school boards etc.
I went to a great seminar once where the lecturer from out side the city had someone hand him a newspaper, he went through it very quickly and then noticed a couple business articles and then made about five cold calls to various offices and got to speak with someone in charge of a particular department and basically set up an interview for himself. This was all done in about 15 minutes while we all watched. I thought It was very aggressive in the day but his mannerism was very casual and not pushy and I think about how open he was to both the opportunity and pitfalls, nobody was negative toward him and generally everybody found him to be very supportive ie one company was an animal shelter and they were looking for funds for a new facility, he arranged a meeting to do a basic schematic design that would help in there fund raising and thereby got the job. They had some funds and he realized that he could do some work to start with with a chance to do further work later on, just by getting through to the right person in a cold call.
Stuff like that is very inspiring and should be looked on as testament to persistence, perhaps for not all your work but gets you thinking out of the box.
i second the website,, dont go crazy, simple stuff for small business owners to understand perhaps?
word of mouth usually works well, one thing u should never do is take a project and not deliver on time or deliver with quality,, because, if youre lucky, the same client might come back with more work,, good luck anyway
jump, you're in japan,, plane ticket atleast? and a couch?
A few thoughts you may find useful:
Young firms historically have a LOT of trouble with new clients taking advantage of their eagerness ... they'll use up lots of your time, and have you do lots of free work, and never hire you to do the project -- they do this because they know they can.
I recommend that you be very professional about this sort of thing from the very beginning ... read this link carefully: Design Consultations -- a highly useful approach posted some time ago by one of our brethren here on Archinect -- this sort of approach is a very good way to get started.
Also, here are a few books you probably ought to purchase:
1. Architect's Essentials of Marketing
2. Architect's Essentials of Starting ... a Design Firm
3. Architect's Essentials of Contract Negotiations
4. Architect's Essentials of Presentation Skills
5. Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice
You're going to have a lot of questions as things unfold -- these books are a good place to find quick answers.
Good luck ...
I will add -- my post immediately above is related to "How to Get Clients" in the following way -- "clients" are people who pay your invoices -- everybody else is either a stranger, a family member or a dead-beat.
as Teddy R said, "Carry a big stick and speak softly."
play the role..........
black sweater
hotness glasses
carry a murse
dont comb your hair
learn a few big words
b
I know the post above was tongue-in-cheek, but in all seriousness, you don't really have to play the black sweater role. Unless you're teaching at an Ivy league school, or starting a conceptual firm.
ahhh.... maybe thats just the interview role that i described..... that makes sense now.....hmmmm
i think Maynard way of getting clients was the dope!... giving away flyers...great!
I'm starting an urban design and planning studio in San Diego - let me know if you want to team up on something.
All great advice. As far as a website goes, how does one make a website without any work of their 'own' (Past employers probably are not going to be willing to let you use work you did under their name).
Thoughts?
you can... just clear the work and credit it to the sources.....
if u worked on a specific part of the project u can say (i.e.) "design of canopy for JohnDoe Architects"
or u can also can fool people with a lot of concept and blah blah blah, and in the images of projects u can just say "coming soon" or "in construction"
as far as making a simple yet effective website to display your work check out http://www.indexhibit.org/
it's a very simple and straightforward setup which but allows for some customization through php/css editing.
Have you done no projects of your own that you're proud of, even theoretical ones, that could be included on a website?
It's not so much about the work shown as that you have a web presence, which legitimizes you. Even if it's a splash page with a single photo and your contact info, that's something. Don't even bother with the "under construction"—makes it look like you don't finish what you started.
Here's Gehry Partners Website:
http://www.gehrypartners.com/
No need for fancy images, just contact info.
Target your clients. People want to see examples of what they want. So if you are targeting sfr, don't show all commercial, etc., etc.
If you don't have the projects, consider making some, getting some good renderings made, etc.
Ha - it looks like gehry's page is made with indexhibit! You can have a webpage up in a matter of minutes - no joke.
well, gehry doesn't need a website. if you don't know him you probably won't be looking at his work...
we also hand out fliers when we start construction on a site. it is considered standard practice in japan, part of the process of informing everyone about construction noise and so on...in fact if a project is large enough it is legally required that we do that. if of sufficient size there are also public hearings necessary. we add to this by going to immediate neighbours of project site and introducing ourselves and the contractor and giving out cards etc, so that if there are any problems with noise, cars, whatever we can solve them quickly. this too is pretty much just what good manners expected of anyone in japan.
what quiz says is true. we have learned the hard way to always ask for a retainer, and we have a chart ready for clients that explains very easily and simply how and when and HOW MUCH we get paid and what benchmarks are used for each payment. this is all pretty standard though i should think, and has little to do with finding clients.
best thing by far for starting out is socialising and joining community groups. apart from that i couldn't say where work might come from. nobody just pics up a phone and calls without some kind of word out there, as far as i know....
Most of the people who use small, new firms aren't likely to be all that sophisticated about the design and construction process. They tend to take a lot of handholding and tend to have unrealistic expectations about you and about the process. For those reasons, they're expensive to serve and support.
It's important to remember that people who are about to spend a lot of money on a project want to entrust those funds to people they trust and respect. Ask yourself how "trust and respect" come about. For some, it's enough to know the individual being hired is licensed -- that's often where the unrealistic expectations come from, because we all know that all licensed professionals are not created equal -- the public's not as well equipped to make those distinctions as we might be.
So, if being licensed isn't enough to make for a good business relationship, then you have to rely on something higher -- meaning "familiarity" -- prospective clients need to have spent some time around you -- they need to understand how you think, how you operate, how you interact with them.
That's why networking and socializing is so important -- this gives clients a low-risk way to become accustomed to you and your style. This goes a long way to helping them know they can entrust their precious project to you and it all won't go to hell. The truth is, most members of the public really can't (or don't know how to) make a well informed decision about who to use as their architect -- an awful lot of the decision is superficial and about chemistry.
that's a good point quizzical. it puts things in perspective actually.
in our case we are just not, as foreigners, able to even try for public projects. we have tried some in partnership with japanese offices, but even then i think we might have a better chance if our names weren't visible anywhere...so we are really reliant on who we know and otherwise making our own work from thin air (or so it feels, anyway). and looking back yeah it really is true that most clients don't immediately understand what the choices they are making really mean. sometimes it is really astounding the kinds of misconceptions people can have about architecture.
not that architects know much outside our own field either. in which case the same chemistry and trust thing is also true. who do i give my money to invest to? someone i trust of course.
Good thread, many thanks to everyone for their great advice... Much appreciated by a lot of us, i'm sure.
Just wonderinghow the more experienced people felt about the state of the economy, on how to get by, security and general earnings/salary....
thank you for this thread!
great input
I've also noticed—for what it's worth—that people will tend to take someone with grey hair over someone young.
Case in point: I was recently passed over for a residential job in favor of a guy of about sixty (I'm 35) who isn't licensed, and works as a "designer" rather than an architect. He hand-drafts everything.
I ran into that client the other day, and asked why they hadn't chosen me. They said it came down to experience. I asked if they had seen the other guy's work in person. "Well, no, but he just seemed a bit more experienced. We wanted to use you, but we worried about your experience." I took that to mean mainly that they worried about my relative youth.
Nine months have gone by, and the guy still hasn't produced their drawings. They've seen no renderings, no rendered elevations. They don't know what the house looks like. They contacted me to ask if I'd be willing to "help out" with the design—needless to say, I refused.
My point: perceived experience does count, though maybe only superficially. Do what you can to make yourself seem older and capable. Wear suits, or at least nice clothes. Make your work or meeting space feel more formal. Scrub your portfolio of anything that seems amateurish. Act professional, cool, and collected. Have specific answers to questions regarding schedule, contracts, buildability, etc.
Of course some of this you only gain with actual experience. But I also think that a really capable younger designer can often do a much better job than an older "experienced" person. (And you can take this as a reference to the presidential race, if you want.)
: here's my personal take on your question.
I think we need to get past the election ... then, I believe things will start to settle down in the economy and we'll start getting back on track, slowly. Projects that depend on private financing will remain difficult to finance ... so new private work is likely to remain quite slow through the 3rd quarter of 2009. Unless the ability to sell public bonds improves quickly, some public sector work may slow or halt.
New jobs in our profession already are scarce and, I believe, will become more scarce over the next 6 months. Compared to this time last year, few firms are doing much hiring -- many firms are considering ways to reduce their payroll costs as their revenues decline. There will be more jobs lost in the coming months. IMO, wages for those who retain their jobs generally will be flat for at least the next year -- wages for those being offered new jobs will be lower (maybe substantially lower) than they were this time last year for comparable skills and responsibilities.
If you're at all worried about your job, get your resume and portfolio in order and start networking so you'll know where the opportunities may lie. Curtail all but the most essential spending until the picture clears. Save every dime that you can.
But, having been through this many times over the course of my career, I also realize that we will come out of this and there is light at the end of the tunnel. However, the journey through the tunnel may be difficult. Those who are well prepared (financially and professionally) will find the journey the easiest.
Those are just my personal views and I make no claim to having a crystal ball. But, by any measure, it's not a pretty picture ...
Good luck.
A new practice in LA? now? you better be licensed. "designers" are a dime a dozen here. and be careful not to be taken advantage of, lots of good advice above. in LA, there are a lot of sharks and people who will take advantage of you and your enthusiasm. what part of town are you in? there are many different niches and cultures here and it all varies.
I am not from CA I am from the East. I am licensed. Now may just be the best time. I do not have the overhead or any of the fixed expenses yet that many of the existing firms have that are now slowing down due to obvious reasons. I need to be that shark dcozb.
I admire your persevereance, and would never discourage. One factor; licensed in CA?or licensed in your country? Big difference. In addition, we now have new codes here re: CBC07 (california building code) and this has an effect on Engineering and liabilities. The majority of my experience is in residential design and residential design/build. This would be, in my opinion, the faster market for incoming projects and turn over, but not the cash cow of other building typologies. I would also recommend being able to diversify and offer services like; 3d modeling/renderings, project management, industrial design, etc.
I have been a freelance designer, and worked in offices off and on, got my B. Arch. here in LA, and worked in construction, for about 18 yrs. I have a good network of friends for a work force. As we all know, the real money is in the actual construction. So in summary, if I could do it, I would start a design/build firm speciallizing in residential projects. I would diversify as much as possible, and I would take advantage of; obtaining an LEED cert., getting a contractor's license, a solar contractor's license, and having all of my ducks in order by getting all bonds and insurances required.
In fact, I have a very concise business model I would follow, but I would rather not share it in this forum.
Partnership?
Couple of things from my experience. . .
1. Never burn bridges. I continue to receive a lot of work referred to me by my former employer.
2. Respect Contractors. This is a huge source of possible referrals.
3. Lower your Expectations. When starting out, you probably will not get work as good as you were doing at your former employer (I didn't). You probably will have to start small until you build your client referral base and show that you can perform.
4. Let people know what you do. In my experience, I am most successful when I don't try to sell myslef/firm, but when I let people know what I do and through the way I talk about what we do and our work, demonstrate that you are competent. People love to talk about architecture because it is an accessible subject that everyone lives with, so talk about it. But, leave the academic, pseudo-intellectual babble at home - nobody cares accept other pseudo-intellectuals and with them it is easy enough to switch gears.
5. Although Past Clients, Past Employers, and GC's make up a bulk of our referrals, you never know where you might get work. I once got a project through the guy that sold me my car.
Good luck.
I put a past employer's project on my website. http://neffarchitecture.com , click on "hamptons pool house."
I asked permission of course because not doing so would be very risky and in my mind unethical. I explained my situation- that I'm trying to branch out on my own but need to flesh out my website a bit beyond the two solo projects I've done. So I picked a project on which I played a significant role and I told him that in a couple of years when I (hopefully) have more completed work, I would take down his project from my site. And of course, I credited my old firm on the webpage.
What I didn't do though is get clearance from the photographer. I used one of my own photos (I'm sure you can tell which) and my old firm offered to email me two photos which they had done professionally. I didn't even think about the photographer issue and apparently my old firm didn't either, unless their contract allowed them unrestricted use. I'm not too worried though (knock on wood) because it doesn't feel unethical to me since my firm paid the photographer and then gave me permission. Maybe it's technically illegal but I kind of doubt that photographers go after everyone who posts their photos online. They'd be constantly sue design bloggers, etc.
I would suggest getting the license from the photographer to show his/her images. The fact that your old firm said it was okay, is of no relevance. The images belong to the photographer and your old firm only holds a limited, non-trasferable license from them (typically).
It's not that big of a deal to call the photograher and get permission. You will have to pay them for it, but if you ever want to use that photographer for work in the future and they happen to check out your website (or if they are looking for work and checking out websites of potential clients) and see their images, they may pursue you. And the time it takes for you to deal with this is probably more expensive than just paying for the images.
But, to all their own.
(in Europe, anyway)
davidaneff ,
our photographer asks only that we put his name when we use the shots, especially for magazines. so don't sweat it. let him/her know it is on your site if it bothers you. take it down if they ask. easy.
unrelated to the topic, but that is some very fine work mr. neff. i look forward to seeing more in future.
wow...that shingle style barn is gorgeous
correct you are, puddles. the shingle style barn is incredibly gorgeous.
wow- thanks for the compliments. After I posted my site I was worried I'd get slayed on this board for doing boring traditional work. (I happen to love the shingle style though I'd also like to have a client ask for something more modern for once.)
I wish I had more work to post in the future but unfortunately that's looking very unlikely at the moment. I will be changing the design and adding a few more pictures to my website though- probably this weekend.
Jump- I like your idea of crediting the photographer. It would be hard for him (her?) to be too upset when he/she's getting free advertising.
Architectural Photograph is a Profession just Like Architecture. Most often there are two types of licenses on is to us the Photo one time the other is to outright own the photo. There is usually a hook line which the Photographer gets a cut for every time the photo is used.
Yes Photographers do protect their work...and you would not like to come up against one who is well organized, as they usually are tied to an agency who have a number of photographers they work with and well they have Lawyers who are good at extracting payment for photos used without permission. It is bull shit to be talking only to the Architect about use of the Photo as you should be including the Photographer. If you don't it might end up being more than a slap on the hand. Most states will not allow you to practice architecture if you have a felony in your closet.
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