Been made redundant? Suddenly realised your future is to control your own destiny? Just set up on your own? What now?
Well, if you haven’t got any contacts or a secret stash of cash to see you through the next few years you are facing an uphill struggle because work will be very, very hard to find. As most of us aren’t born with a silver spoon in our mouths, the following is a crash CPD course on maximising your chances of finding work, avoiding unnecessary expenditure or going up a blind alley.
When I started up in exactly those circumstances (no contacts, no cash) I read everything I could on starting up in business, went to every course I could afford and regularly attended networking events in search of jobs. None of which worked at the time! Do an internet search for “how architects get work” and you won’t find much that is coherent. As you probably know, architects are notoriously secretive about revealing how they actually get work. I hope this helps.
Marketing: As a start-up, simply forget it! Did you know the RIBA’s code of conduct prevented architects from promoting themselves until the mid-1980’s? Old habits die hard so do not make the mistake of assuming a slick website and business card will get you work; they won’t. Nor will getting Part III and signing up with the Architects Registration Board guarantee you get work as an independent practitioner. So don’t spend precious money printing business cards or getting a fancy website done or spend it on advertising either. Marketing material is definitely not a priority for a typical start-up scenario. A website and other marketing material are one part of a package of measures that only kick in when you have got yourself established. Some claim ‘guerrilla marketing tactics’ will work; they might get you noticed but will you be respected for it? There are literally thousands of books on starting up in business all of which are virtually useless for architectural start-ups; so don’t waste your money on these either. Only a tiny number specifically focus on architecture. They offer sound practical advice but never tell you what you want to know; how to get work in the first place! They are only useful to know how to keep it when you’ve got it. So focus on getting work and forget marketing until you’ve got something to market.
Networking Events: You have a better chance of winning the lottery than hooking up with a significant client in the next year at a networking event. Running into a person who wants to build a new office for their business and they ask you to do it for them just because they met you at a networking event is not going to happen. Remember ‘networking events’ are run by businesses, so be wary. They are however, good for gathering information or intelligence which may lead indirectly to a job; someone may know someone who is thinking about extending their house type of thing. The only networking that really works is keeping up with the contacts you already know and with luck they – or someone they know – will give you some work. So if you can afford to go to these events or join the right clubs, aim simply to get to know people first, then cultivate your contacts and hope it leads you to a job over time. If money is hard to come by, the return on investment is poor and gestation period is years not months.
Competitions: The attraction of architectural competitions is they appear to deliver everything required to raise your profile and set you up with future work. But beware! They can be extremely expensive and as you start from scratch on each one it’s an all or nothing approach as you never build any contacts. The time and resources required to complete a competition need to be weighed against what you could be doing instead. With popular competitions the odds on winning can be low and remember, competitions aren’t always as fair as they claim to be. So if you do them, make sure your drawing style is as individual as your signature and you might strike gold. (Isn’t it strange how some people are luckier than others at competitions?) But they are fun to do and you get some great drawings for your first web site.
So what does work then?
The EU Journal: Definitely a potential source of work from public bodies across Europe. You are (unfairly) locked out of most of them though if you are not a registered architect. You’ll have to dig deep to find it but it is a great source of potential work.
Masonry: There is no question the architectural profession is still deeply riddled with masonic influences. If you are that way inclined, joining the brotherhood is a terrific boost to getting work (or promotion) from your fellow masons. But of course, you just can’t rock up to your local lodge and ask to join. If you’ve been approached and turned it down on principle, at least you’ll know enough to be able to have a good idea of who is (and more importantly who is not) a mason and how they tend to divide the work out between themselves. Knowing as much as possible about how masons operate in society will at least stop you chasing those jobs that never seem to materialise.
Contacts: Definitely the best and only way of finding work as a start-up. Many, many practices have started up successfully by getting to know the right people while working in a salaried position for an established architectural practice. So a great tip is that in every office you get to work in, get as close to the clients as possible and cultivate them. Some of the bigger practices even go out of their way to make sure commissions that are too small for them end up with a favoured ex-employee. They are some of the best contacts you can have if you don’t have a relative who is head of a large development company or runs the Arts Council. The ultimate contact is to know someone influential and well established with their own credibility who will introduce you to potential sources of work. Absolute gold-dust!
Self-Initiated Projects: Very, very hard work but it does seem to bear fruit and the odds on success are definitely better than doing a competition. Go looking for sites, approach the owner and together work out how to develop it and chase up anyone who you think will pay you to realise that value. (Take care not to let some unscrupulous architect who happens – unbeknown to you – to be in cahoots with the owner or developer steal it off you. And yes they do do it!) It can be a drain on limited financial resources but it’s a gamble worth taking and an investment worth making.
Promotion: There is a fundamental difference between marketing and promotion. Promotion is what you should be doing all the time at every opportunity. Promote what you do and how you do it remorselessly. But be careful to project an image that is consistent and true. Your education has no doubt taught you to be all things to all people; that you will soon find is impossible. So it is important to identify what your strengths (and weaknesses) are and promote how these can help clients resolve problems. You have to find a way to stand out from the crowd and be memorable. Work out why clients should employ you and not any of the well-established competitors already doing similar work. Oh, and if you’ve only ever worked in big practices loose that big practice mentality because the chances are you will be unknown to the world outside that bubble.
Leads: It is highly unlikely that an unknown potential client will come up to you, slap you on the back and say I’ve got just the job for you! So forget the instant job from unknown contacts, unless you’ve been introduced that is. Focus on finding and following leads that take you to a job. Leads are free and omnipresent.
Hopefully, you will now be aware of some of the secrets of how architects find work. Only a privileged few have parents who commission avant-garde masterpieces from their offspring as soon as they qualify. So if you are not from a privileged background, or are a ‘protected’ registered architect, or have worked your way to the top of an established practice you are one of those people who will have to earn your luck to get a break and this may help improve your chances. Unfortunately in architecture, hard work and ability gets you nowhere; only contacts and patronage bring success. Understand that from the outset and you have at least half a chance of getting established and getting to that critical mass of jobs and contacts. Take all the above with a pinch of salt and be sure to balance it against all the other advice out there!
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