Customer Reviews

How to Start and Operate Your Own Design Firm: A Guide for Interior Designers and Architects

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very good book on the nuts and bolts of how to launch an architect's office. It is extremely comprehensive for a small book, and it covers matters that are almost impossible to find elsewhere like how much to budget for your E&O insurance premiums. The author speaks as a well seasoned architect mentoring you through the process from start to finish. The only thing I would like to see changed in the future edition are the pesky sentences that read "Many a designer..." scattered throughout the book, just say "Many designers..." and the thought will flow more smoothly. Otherwise this book is great!

Any interior designer or architect who has dreamed of operating a design firm needs the second updated edition of this classic which covers all the basics of establishing such a business, from developing a plan and financing an office to setting fees, locating clients and marketing design services. Both general and design firm-specific tips are blended together making this an invaluable guide for any collection catering to businesspeople or designers alike.

Very good book if your looking to get started on your own. Everything you need to know. Nothing is left out!!!

I was looking for a concise, affordable, easy to read book on the nuts and bolts of starting a design business. This book fits that description accurately. It covers all the important fun and not-so-fun topics of starting and running a design business from deciding whether it's right for you, how or if to have partners, hiring lawyers and accountants, marketing, fees and much more. In short, it covers so much of the mysterious and hard won knowledge that most of us weren't privy to while working for others. I'm finding this to be a very valuable resource already. Highly recommend it! It packs a lot of info into a slim volume at a low price. Lots of info bang for the buck.

I would have given it 5 stars, but even with refreshed information from 2007, the book excludes pertinent information on creating a networked environment for your computers, specifics on website marketing/design, and the potential of using free, open source software alternatives. Besides these minor exclusions, this book is a very extensive guide of practical means for starting a design firm (and growing it).

The author is specifically targeting creative design professionals who'd rather follow their natural instinct to wake up late and get into their office around 10:00 am, and generally procrastinate while focused solely on design into the wee hours of the morning. Apparently this sort of stuff only makes for romanticism of the profession, while tending to limit one's success as a entrepreneur, I say, tongue in cheek.

The book provides practical guidance through a series of tables that are used as templates for your own business planning, whether it is a question and answer guide for potential partners (and for yourself), or a check list of items to consider in a business plan.

For the price, it packs a lot of sage advice.

I have owned several businisses and was looking for specific info regarding an interior design business. This book is good for those with no business background but if u r looking for specifics regarding this particular business forget about it.

I liked this book. A well-informed, kind, fun, and deeply smart advisor providing good advice and perspective based on a lifetime of experience. What a gift!

He also gives some of the nitty-gritty stuff that may not come naturally to those of us who have developed our creativity, but focused less on the business side of the field. What a relief to have laid out everything that should be included in a design proposal; jargon of insurance professionals, bankers, and accountants. It is a handy to have a quick reference that can define 'accrual basis' - 'nonforfeiteur options' - 'evidence of insurability' so I don't have to keep these terms in my head.

Bought this as a birthday gift for my architect bf, and he LOVED it. He was flipping through it, and said that it is a great guide...he started rattling off info about liability insurance for architects, so sounds like he learned a thing or two! As of right now - this book sounds like it is a great resource!