I know many architects wonder which career path suits them best. Most architects start out working for someone else, since years of experience working under a licensed architect are a required part of the path to becoming a licensed architect. At some point, many architects wonder, should I go out on my own? If you are pondering this question, I wrote this post to share my personal experience with both architect career paths and give my honest opinion about the differences between working as an architect solopreneur vs. in a firm.
My Journey as an Architect
Working for Others
After working on both the architect and owner side of the construction process, I decided to go back to the architect side and start taking the Architect Registration Exams (ARE’s) and become a licensed architect. My experience took me from a small satellite office of a large architecture firm, working on the owner side of a large corporation managing retail store design, and then to an architecture firm that grew from 17 people to over 100 while I worked there. Eventually, I decided to leave and try out working on my own. There are some major differences between working for a small architecture firm vs. a large firm, but in this post, I want to focus on working for a firm vs. working for yourself as a solopreneur.
Like many other architects, after many years of experience working as an architect in a firm, I started to wonder what it would be like to work for myself, and potentially by myself. I started looking for small projects that I could take on while still working for a firm. Eventually, I was able to find some small projects and decided to test out if I like working on my own by moonlighting. I worked full time for my firm while working on my side jobs mostly on the weekends and some evenings.
Working for Myself
To my surprise, I found that I liked working on my own. However, working nights and weekends after working a full-time job was wearing on me. After two years, I reached a breaking point. I was becoming busier with my side job. I had reached the point that I was going to mess up one of my jobs, and I needed to make a choice. Needless to say, I chose myself.
I have been working on my own for almost two years now. There have been many ups and downs, but I have no regrets about taking the risk to go out on my own. Here are the differences I experienced in both.
Pros and Cons of Solopreneur vs. Architecture Firm
For someone just starting out in the industry, I cannot image learning how to understand the entire cycle of a project and how a firm works without at least a few years of experience. For someone with some years of experience under their belt, it becomes natural to start to wonder, could I do this on my own? Here are some of the pros and cons of each.
Pros of Working in an Architecture Firm
- Collaboration and Mentorship – In a firm, there is always someone else there to ask questions, to check your work, to help point out drafting keyboard shortcuts.
- Access to Resources – In a firm, I often had access to a code expert, someone doing contracts, someone managing specifications, a BIM manager, and there was always someone else around that had encountered a similar issue during construction and could help find solutions.
- Ability to Work on Larger Projects – Larger projects require larger teams. By working in a firm there is the ability to take on larger projects and work as part of an internal team.
- Stability and Predicable Income – As part of a firm, it is someone else’s job to make sure new work is coming in there is a pipeline to keep the team busy. You also receive a regular paycheck and know how much money you will have each month.
Cons of Working in an Architecture Firm
- Less Creative Freedom – Depending on your role in a firm, there is often someone that already has the job of designer. Working for someone else often means you are just working on tasks assigned to you that have already been decided on.
- Office Politics – In a firm, you have to deal with the politics of the office you are in. The larger the company, the more politics there tend to be to navigate.
- Rigid Schedules – Most firms will have an in-office policy and core work hours. The bigger the firm, the less flexibility there tends to be.
- Limited Control Over Project Assignments and Client Relationships – In a firm, there is usually someone else that is deciding what projects get assigned to what team. The decisions are made based on what is best for the company, not necessarily your personal goals. You often have little control over what you are assigned to work on and what clients you work with.
Pros of Working as a Solopreneur Architect
- Full Creative Control – As a solopreneur, I get full creative control, or as much as my clients will allow. For someone that likes to make the decisions, this is a huge benefit.
- Flexibility in Schedule – This has to be my number one benefit of working for myself. Although I am still very much a schedule person and I stick to a pretty regular 9-5ish routine, I love the flexibility to decide to take my dog for a long walk on a Friday afternoon and work on a rainy Sunday instead. I love being able to work from a different place if I chose to, and the ability to change my schedule and not have to ask permission.
- Project Choice and Client Interaction – As a solopreneur, it is up to me to vet clients and ultimately decide if a project is worth pursuing or not. I also get to work directly with every client.
- Personal Branding – I like having full creative control over branding, file organization, and business structure. As a solopreneur, I am the business I am selling.
Cons of Working as a Solopreneur Architect
- Financial Uncertainty – Business income fluctuates each month, and the feast or famine cycles effect me more as a solopreneur not knowing when the next request for a new project will come in.
- Wearing Multiple Hats – As the only person in the business, I am the only one doing design, marketing, and all the administrative tasks like accounting and invoicing. I am also the IT person when anything goes wrong.
- Isolation – While I do occasionally go to site visits or meetings, most days I am working alone.
- Lack of Team Support – There are days I have questions that it would be easier to find the answers to if I had a team to turn to. As the only employee, it is up to me to solve all the problems and do all of the work.
Key Differences Between Architect Solopreneur vs. Architecture Firm
Autonomy vs. Structure
This is a personal choice depending on your level of discipline and what works best for you. For me, I have no problem creating my own structure and setting my schedule so having autonomy to create my own schedule is a huge benefit to working for myself. Some people prefer the structure to be set for them.
Risk vs. Stability
Being a solopreneur means taking on all the risk yourself, while being part of a firm there are leaders that are taking on the risk so that you have a more stable income and workflow.
Scale of Projects and Resources
As a solopreneur, there is a limit to the amount of work I can take on and the size of projects that I can complete without a team. At a firm, larger teams can be created to manage larger projects and the amount of support and resources available is significantly more.
What I Like and Don’t Like About Each Architect Career Path
Personally, my favorite part of working for myself is the flexibility in my schedule and where I work. I’ve written other posts about working on a road trip and I love the flexibility and freedom being a solopreneur gives me.
One of the big unknowns for me before I was working on my own was whether I would be self-motivated enough to keep a schedule consistently. I was surprised to find out that I have no problem showing up and committing to work every day. I have the personality where I am constantly assigning myself new tasks and working hard, I just wasn’t sure how that would translate into business working for myself over time.
I have mixed feelings about working solo. I love not having to ask permission to change my schedule. On the other hand, there are times I wish I could just ask someone a quick Revit question and not have to search on Google for the solution. I also miss having a code expert available to weigh in on tricky plan check comments.
Advice for Architects Considering Both Career Paths
Who Might Thrive as a Solopreneur
If you crave creative control, like to make decisions, and are self-motivated and disciplined to show up for yourself every day, you might like the solopreneur life. It is not for everyone, but if you have the personality for it, it can be extremely rewarding.
Who Might Prefer Firm Life
If you prefer structure to be set for you, a predictable paycheck, consistent work, and a team of support, you might be better suited for firm life. If you get lonely and need to have people around and work in a team, you will likely thrive as part of a firm.
Tips for Transitioning Between the Two
If you are new to the industry or a recent graduate, I recommend spending at least a few years working in a firm to understand the entire lifecycle of a project from design through construction. If you have some experience under your belt and are considering going out on your own, I recommend trying it. There truly is no way to know if you will like it without trying.
To find some initial jobs, I know some architects and designers that got their first jobs through friends and family. There are some freelance marketplaces where you can search for small jobs to test out working on your own. My first solo projects came through a company that no longer exists, but was hiring freelance architects. I was able to start by getting some small ADU projects.
Conclusion
It was a huge decision to leave my comfortable job to go out on my own, but I have no regrets about it. Before I quit I kept telling myself, if I don’t like it, I can always get a job at a firm again. I knew if I didn’t try it, I would regret it. And having regret felt scarier than trying and failing.
Are you thinking of going out on your own? Or have you done it and have some thoughts to share? Let me know if you want to know more about how to get started as a solopreneur, or any other questions about architect career paths you have. Let me know in the comments.
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