Preface
2nd Edition

Eight years on, on the other side of a deep and long-lasting recession and with a new RIBA Plan of Work, this is the first wide-ranging revision of this guide. Although the basic advice remains the same, many details have changed; references to faxes have gone and ones to social networking come in, but despite it all you will still need to plan for your new business.

The financial crash of 2007-8 resulted in redundancy for large numbers of architects, if not immediately, then shortly after. Many new architectural practices have set up as a result, finding work where they could as the economy gradually restarted and revealing a great deal of ingenuity and resourcefulness in the process. In consequence, competition is tougher than ever for new start-ups and if you are going to do it you really need to believe that it is the right thing for you and be prepared to do everything required of you to make it work. The warning given in the first sentence of the original preface still stands.

That said, some new practices are doing wonderful work, organising themselves in interesting and innovative ways in response to the changing world around them, as well as using imaginative methods to find clients and sites, realise projects and grow as practices. If you have the energy and the determination, go ahead and join them, you probably won’t regret it. But read this book first.

Simon Foxell
November 2014