1st Edition
The Business of Architecture Your Guide to a Financially Successful Firm
The Business of Architecture is the essential guide to understanding the critical fundamentals to succeed as an architect. Written by successful architects for architects everywhere, this book shows the architecture industry from a corporate business perspective, refining the approach to architecture as a personal statement to one that must design and build within the confines of business and clients. The Business of Architecture will educate new and experienced architects alike with valuable insights about profit centers, the architect as developer, how to respond to requests for proposals, intellectual property, and much more.
Foreword by Rainy Hamilton, Jr., FAIA, NOMA. Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. Architecture Today: The Current State of the Profession. 2. Transitioning from Academia to Corporate Culture. 3. What Makes a Successful Business? 4. Leadership Matters: Organizational Structure in the Firm. 5. Profit Centers. 6. Process Versus Product. 7. The Architect as the Developer. 8. The Basics of Financial Management. 9. The Right Fit: Hiring People and Finding Clients. 10. The Architect’s Plan for Branding and Marketing. 11. Responding to RFPs and Building Relationships That Can Get You Ahead in the Process. 12. Intellectual Property: Who Owns What? 13. Determining How Much Your Firm is Worth. Conclusion and Resources. References. Index.
Biography
Kathy Denise Dixon, FAIA, NOMA, is CEO of WMCRP Architects, Inc. and Principal of K. Dixon Architecture, PLLC. She is a licensed architect with more than 26 years of experience involving sundry building types and facilities. She has been involved in every stage of the construction process and has experience in educational, commercial, residential, and government projects. Ms. Dixon is also currently a full-time professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC, USA.
Timothy A. Kephart has over 20 years of business experience providing audit and consulting solutions for Fortune 500 companies like Equifax, General Dynamics, KRAFT Foods, Sun Microsystems, and many others. An alumnus of the University of Rochester, USA, with degrees in Economics and Political Science, Mr. Kephart brings a long track record of entrepreneurial success as co-founder of American Sports Media, Global Technologies Group, and American Small Business Network.
Karl L. Moody completed his studies at Howard University, USA, and then started his career as associate architect with Simmons and Associates in New York City. He left afterwards to establish his own company, Airtight Data Communications, Inc., before moving to Atlanta, GA, where he formed Global Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG). GTG later acquired Assertive Industries, Inc. to expand its services and global reach. Mr. Moody has helped guide Assertive Industries, Inc. through many mergers and acquisitions which has fueled its steady growth.
