THE BUSINESS OF ARCHITECTURE: Understanding the Business Side of Architecture

INTRODUCTION

There are many things we, as students, learn in college during our years of taking up the Architecture program, but business is just not one of them. Most of the students who took a professional course in Architecture in an educational institution begin their careers having little to no knowledge about the business side of the industry. It is rare to find someone pursuing Architecture to have a burning desire to do business, that it is their chosen means to that end. Rather, they find doing business as a necessity to have leverage and follow their pull toward Architecture. Payroll, HR, marketing, sales, and public relations are foreign topics. They want jobs, but they don’t know how to get them. They need employees, but lack management skills or knowledge needed to successfully build a team, recruit, or downsize during a recession. Due to this, the industry has a plethora of capable architects who know little about the practicalities of running their firms.

DISCUSSION

Why do architects need to acquaint their selves to Architecture as a business? Young professionals might view it as unimportant to know about business since they could just apply to an established firm or company. One cannot be an effective architect without a basic understanding of the business side of Architecture. The better he understands the design fee for a project, the better he can manage his time. This will improve the chance for promotion and will help prepare him for future leadership.

Starting your Architectural firm is a huge business decision. In an article written by Steff Green entitled “The Complete Guide to Starting Your Own Architecture Practice” posted on the Workflow Max website, she listed 12 steps in starting an architecture firm. They are as follows: 1. Set goals for your architecture firm – and your life, 2. Bootstrapping your way to Architectural success, 3. Learn from the wise old ones of the Architecture world, 4. The right structure helps buildings stay up… and Architecture firms, too, 5. Brand your Architecture business for success, 6. Kicking Architectural ass with awe-inspiring contracts, 7. Creative spaces for creative people: setting up your architectural firm’s office, 8. The architect’s toolbox, 9. Managing workflow as a bootstrapping architect, 10. Find the design work that excites you, 11. Network, network, network! and lastly, 12. Enter your best designs into Architecture competitions.

CONCLUSION

To be effective and competent architects in the future, we need to accustom ourselves to not only the design part of our profession but also to its business side.