AR5101_Model Types.pdf

One way to help clarify what you want your firm to be is to define goals that will help measure progress or success. In the first year, some of the goals can be pretty basic, for example: To survive. To successfully complete three or four assignments. To secure enough work for the...

One way to help clarify what you want your firm to be is to define goals that will help measure progress or success. In the first year, some of the goals can be pretty basic, for example: To survive. To successfully complete three or four assignments. To secure enough work for the next year. Even though it may seem impossible to set goals for 7 to 10 years out (the mini- mum time it takes most firms to mature from a start-up to an established firm), the exercise can help establish priorities for your efforts. If, for example, your goal is to have a practice that is considered a leader in three or four building types, this should help focus your marketing and other efforts of the early years. Or if your goal is to run a firm of choice for a wide variety of assignments in a particular community, this will focus your efforts in a different way. M OD EL TY P E S PA R T 2 : P R A C T I C E In clarifying the type of firm you want to have, and defining a path to get there, it can be very helpful to look at how other firms became successful. Success, of course, should be measured against one’s own goals, but for most professionals success includes achieving professional respect, producing interesting work, earning an adequate income, and other basic objectives. In our experience, 10 common models can be used to launch a successful firm, and there is something to be learned from each. These models are: 1. Major client as “booster rocket” 2. House for mother 3. Academic incubator 4. Better mousetrap 5. Supersalesperson 6. Sponsor 7. Golden handshake 8. Spin-off 9. Rebuild of an existing firm (the phoenix) 10. Starting small in a good market Some feel that achieving distinction as a successful new design firm is as much about public relations and salesmanship as it is about substance, but generally this is not true. Most design professionals accomplish their goals the old fashioned way: they achieve them by creating a firm with distinctive capabilities and consistent high-quality work. For young firms, achieving success without compromising on other goals (such as making payroll) requires both talent and commitment, especially since they typically must build their practices on a foundation of small projects with limited fees. Let’s review the model types one by one. Major Client as First-Stage Booster Rocket The firm is founded or taken beyond the start-up with the support of a single client will- ing to gamble on a young firm. The combination of the client and the work of the firm act as a booster rocket that lifts the firm above the crowd to where it can be seen. Most successful firms can trace their success back to one or two important early clients or proj- ects. For architects, a rare variation on this is the firm that wins a major, open competition. House for Mother For some new firms, the booster rocket comes in the form of a project for a family member or one completed using family money. Charles Gwathmey, Robert Venturi, and Philip Johnson are only a few examples of well-known architects who became vis- ible thanks to such projects. 2.1 Developing a Practice 95  Academic Incubator Many of the best-known design firm principals have relied on their teaching positions to provide them with the basic income, time, credibility, and exposure to lay the foun- dations of a practice. Only when their practice becomes too demanding do they cut their academic ties. Thom Mayne of Morphosis relied on his Southern California Institute of Architecture teaching salary until his practice finally took off. Finding a Need and Filling It (the Better Mousetrap) Some firms see an unmet need and set out to fill it. In past years, this has included firms that first focused on specialties, such as recycling historic structures, or smaller projects in communities not served by enough strong local designers, or, currently, sustainable design. Supersalesperson A few firms—Kohn Pedersen Fox being one of the best known—got off the ground due in large part to the exceptional sales skills and client relationships of one or more PA R T 2 : P R A C T I C E of the founders. All successful architects have some sales skills, but only a handful can convince clients to hire a new firm for major projects over the established competition. Sponsor A few firms—among them some of the best known—have had other established profes- sionals act as their booster rockets. This takes various forms. Well-known architects, Charles Moore being the most prolific, have lent their names and skills to young firms. In a few cases, elder statesmen, among them Philip Johnson, promote emerging stars. Philip Johnson’s role in winning Michael Graves his first major commission, the Port- landia Building competition, is a well-known example. Golden Handshake Sometimes the architect’s former employer provides the new firm’s initial work. When Dwight Perkins (my grandfather) had to leave his position as head of the drafting room of Burnham and Root in the contraction after the 1893 Columbia Exposition, Daniel Burnham helped get him his first commission. A short time after they started, Voor- sanger & Mills (later reorganized into two firms, Voorsanger & Associates and Edward I. Mills & Associates) received a major subcontract from I. M. Pei, their former employer, which sustained their start-up. Spin-off Among the most common models are the spin-offs—firms that break away from estab- lished ones where the new-firm members have built their reputations, skills, and poten- tial client base. In some cases, the spin-offs are led by senior partners of major firms. Kohn Pederson Fox, founded by the former leadership of John Carl Warnecke’s New York office; Elkus/Manfredi, founded by a former partner of The Architects Collabora- tive; and Brennan Beer Gorman, founded by the former leadership of Welton Becket’s New York office, are three major examples. More typically, the founders of a new firm spend their early years rising to senior positions below partner level in their former firms, and while there build strong personal reputations and reference lists, as well as a modest base of “moonlight” clients too small for their former employers. Then they break away. Phoenix The converse of the spin-off is the takeover. In a few cases, a new young leadership takes over a declining or moribund existing organization and revives and reshapes it into a new, vibrant firm. Johnson, Fain and Pereira Associates OFPA, now Johnson Fain) is a well-known example of this model. This model is very complex because, as 96 Starting and Organizing a Practice at JFPA, it involves assuming substantial financial liabilities, an established image, and an established senior organizational structure. Scott Johnson and Bill Fain had to deal with all these while reshaping the design direction of a large practice. Starting Small Some firms are content to begin by doing small projects and building on that base. For Tod Williams, Billie Tsien and Associates, a small dormitory at Princeton University gave them credibility at an institutional level. After several smaller projects had been published, Princeton included them on a list of alumni architects to be interviewed for what was to be a small addition. Instead, it became a new building, which won several awards and was widely published. This, in turn, brought them increasingly important design commissions that eventually led to their internationally respected practice today. T HE LA UNC H As Massachusetts architect Earl Flansburgh wrote, “There is no good time to start a new firm, only better times.” Obviously, it is usually easier to get started in a booming PA R T 2 : P R A C T I C E economy, when there is a lot of work, but many successful practices started during recessions. Perkins+Will was founded during the Great Depression. Lawrence Perkins, FAIA, considered it, on balance, a good time to start, because as the economy recov- ered, clients were willing to consider new, younger firms since so many established firms had gone out of business. Two typical triggers usually are enough to get a new firm off the drawing board and into practice: The belief that the firm can get work The assumption that the principals have the resources to survive the limited cash flow of a start-up If both these basics are in place, most new firms then must quickly implement the following steps: 1. Decide on whom, if anyone, you want to work with. 2. Decide on a start date. 3. Draw up a business plan that includes: A vision statement and a list of goals for the first year A description of the services you intend to offer A list of sources from which work will come A budget for the start-up costs and for the first 12 months An initial cash flow projection to define the initial capital requirements A list of the support you will need to provide your services at the desired level of quality 4. Obtain initial clients and identify the probable source of the next clients. 5. Verify that you have met the necessary legal (licensing, corporate registration, etc.) requirements. 6. Choose a name, design business cards and stationery, and plan other actions that will help set the right image. 7. Obtain start-up capital. 8. Decide where to locate. 9. Select advisors: legal, financial, insurance, general business. 10. Promote your practice: Send out announcements; call friends and former colleagues. 11. Set up the office: equipment, a basic accounting system, telecommunications, files, stationery, and so on. 12. Identify back-up resources: administrative and technical. 13. Begin practicing. Now let’s consider these steps more closely. 2.1 Developing a Practice 97