Starting a New Design Firm, or Risking It All! - Hardcover

Explains how to focus on the types of design problems you would like to be solving, the client base you desire and how to build your profit and payment strategy from there. Includes numerous examples of forms and charts for self-evaluation. Samples of proposals as well as marketing and strategic plans are found in the appendices.

Wouldn’t it be great to have your own design firm?...one that would afford you the freedom to specialize in solving the kinds of design problems that you love and allow you a comfortable living to boot? But that’s just a pipe dream, right? You’d have to be nuts to give up a secure position in these "uncertain" times, right?...Wrong! In Starting a New Design Firm, or Risking It All, Frank A. Stasiowski tells you why right now is the best time ever to start the design firm of your dreams—and he shows you how to do it right. This motivational, no-nonsense guide grew out of Stasiowski’s extensive experience as an international consultant and as a teacher of design entrepreneurship at the Rhode Island School of Design. It is also based on the results of interviews he conducted over the course of two decades with clients and colleagues around the world, many of whose stories he shares with you. Writing in an electrifying style that inspires as it instructs, Stasiowski fills you in on all the crucial aspects of starting and running a successful design practice. He shows you how to manage cash flow, formulate a marketing plan, create a financial plan, develop an organizational structure, find new clients, develop a project management system, hire staff, compensate and manage personnel, get your clients to pay on time, and much more. He also coaches you on some of the less tangible aspects of running a business, such as overcoming psychological obstacles to success, keeping yourself motivated, and becoming an effective leader. And he’s even included hundreds of checklists, sample contracts, marketing and financial forms, organizational charts, sample resumes, product forms, and other "combat-tested" equipment guaranteed to get you well on your way down the road to success without wiping out on any of the usual traps and potholes. A comprehensive A-to-Z business guide written exclusively for architects and design professionals, Starting a New Design Firm, or Risking It All shows you why a life of artistic and financial freedom needn’t be just another pipe dream.