barry you don't want me to give away all my secrets, do you~~~

wasn't this part of the controversy with the abortive attempt of Columbia GSAPP to hire Zaha as dean a few years back?.. that she wanted to be able to freely use students on her firm projects, among other demands, and the other faculty drew the line... and the whole thing deteriorated into a giant furball.

Zaha...and furballs....yikes...run for da hills! I can only imagine her designing the device for tossing furballs!

I'm not asking about how to exploit students like zaha or peter or any other starchitect 'educator'. I want to here from snook, mason, and others who care more about their students and tenure, and have a practice on the side.

bl my practice seems like it is on the side alot lately cause I have to do alot more of fluff and snuff in this economy. My students are nothing more than a figment of my internal thoughts dancing. Just remember bl the former head of your school was a great visonary...who did both practice and teaching and running a school.
If I had a mind at the time I would have realized I would have had a crack at GSD....but instood I tossed it away for a few grand trips down the Grand Canyon and other world adventures. So now I shlog away
at reinventing New England Rambler Farm Houses...but hey I be happy! Even more than Happy if I was in New Orleans or Rio over the coming weeks..

Don't aspire to be the next McHarg. Just want a little something on the side to do projects where I can apply my research and expand my expertise.

Hi Barry,

Regarding business entity structures, I would strongly advise to stay away from sole proprietorships and partnerships. These structures expose you to UNLIMITED legal liability. And, in the case of partnerships, you are also subject to unlimited liability for anything that your partner does.

Structures such as an S Corporation (which is suitable for small firms), LLC, or LLP (limited liability partnership) would better protect you. You'll have a lot more paperwork to deal with if it's an S Corp, but it offers more protection than an LLC/LLP. Also, the LLC/LLP structure isn't necessarily available in every state, so you should double check with a local attorney about local regulations.

Hope this helps.

great questions barry... i hope to see some more answers, as my future lies along the same path... i'll definitely second panda's advice to stay away from sole proprietorships and partnerships... before starting my phd program i was starting the process of setting up an llc... check with your local aia/asla chapter to see if they have recommendations for a lawyer that you can speak with... you may also check to see if the city/county has an small business advisory office... back in florida there was one in both st. pete and tampa that were there to help guide you through the bureaucratic hoops of setting up an business and advising on the best corporate structure for your purposes... as a faculty member you may even be able to speak with someone in the law school at your university...

i've always thought that the guys at PLY (& UMichigan) have a nice practice model... i got them to talk a little bit about it in an interview that i did with them a few years ago.

I work in this type of practice. The trick seems to be to create a self-sustaining organization--you want a creative outlet, not a chore. Most of our employees over the years have been former students who demonstrate solid skills and willingness to tackle the practicalities. The advantage to having a "day job" is flexibility - shoot for great projects and if you get one, staff up or team up to do it and then start thinking about the next one and figure out the office organization based on how the experience went.

Competitions can be a vehicle for getting work, (we do one/year) but out of eight winners, we have only two buildings, each of which involved many iterations beyond the competition phase - be sure to vet the comp. carefully if it is to be a practice builder. Amore reliable route is to be out in the community as a leader/expert, so that client types think of you when a problem comes up.

One avenue to explore is teaming up with an established practice - adding your academic cred. to their practical knowledge.

Office? yes, but started in garage
Profit? in good years, only covers cost otherwise
Staff? yes, but once employed for a few years responsible for generating work, too.