How Architects can be self-sufficient?

Architecture sounds great (in paper) but actually it is a hard life.

Architecture is one of the hardest college courses out there. You need to juggle yourself with the design and mathematics, with some minor side hustles.

After college, there is little opportunity to start a firm or an enterprise, let alone to start a design project.

The only way to earn money and to support myself is to be employed in a firm or a developer.

I paid my college loan only when I worked abroad – in Saudi Arabia and in UAE. It is a hard way to earn money, being away from your family.

As I grow older, I realized that, Architects should invest more about my live “after office”. We cannot be employee for the rest of our lives.

At certain stage of life, Architects should know the following;

1. How to start an enterprise?

An enterprise can be in a form of a business or a company, a project or undertaking. As an Architect, we should plan and start an enterprise. Those Architects who are from inadequate opportunities or threshold of poor to middle class, finds it hard to begin an enterprise due to inadequate capital and less opportunity to start with.

In my case, it takes long years before I can be able to start a meager enterprise. My late Father, was a farmer-carpenter, and does not have enough capitalization to support me. Our place is located in the province, and the opportunities are few. So I worked myself up since 2002, to support myself and to help my Father pay back our college loan. (In our case, a portion of our farm land was given as collateral in exchange for money to support me and my brother’s education). It was year 2008 when I can be able to pay our college loan.Our lease loan was settles and that leased portion of land was given back to us.

In 2016, my wife back home has started selling online. We are still doing it nowadays, and it helped us keep afloat during this pandemic.

So, it takes for me a long way to start an enterprise, while, some architects who have a better economic opportunity, can start it earlier.

If an enterprise means a project or undertaking, that means studying architecture, finishing college and passing the board exam, are considered as “enterprise” as well.

2. How to do branding and work for yourself?

- Work for yourself. There is no other way of earning more and having more time with things you love to do than working things for yourself. Of course, we are all working for others directly or indirectly, but we are happier if the things we are working with are the one we want to do in our lives. Passion; this is the nitty-gritty that will push us to do more and to endure pressure.

- Build a brand.

Most of Architects build a brand through their surnames or names. For example are the Gensler, Perkins+Will, etc, who are two of the well-known and most successful Architectural firms in the world today.

Art Gensler, along with his wife Drue Gensler and their associate James Follett, founded the firm in 1965. They originally focused on corporate interiors, pioneering interiors for newly constructed office buildings, including the Alcoa Building (1967) and the Bank of America Building (1969), both in San Francisco. Gensler now, is a global architecture, design, and planning firm with 50 locations and more than 6,000 professionals networked around the globe.

What will be my advice for “branding”?

Well, I just wanted to introduce to my reader the opportunity to build a brand name founded on a philosophy. This is about “Arcismic” Architecture.

Arcism’s dictum is that “The structures are learning machine we live on”. It is a philosophy with a twist of the data and machine learning.

If given a chance, I will focus on BIM and Machine learning.

“ism” will help humanity find solutions to the human needs through data collection, where buildings and structures become a machine serving and preserving the humanity.

3. How to make yourself expert in a certain niche?

Architects cannot be a master of all niches. In some point of time, you need to choose your niche that will be give you satisfaction, happiness and fulfillment.

If given a chance, I wanted to master the off-grid, smart homes, as it fits well to my “monastic” personality. The Pandemic teaches us to stay away from the crowd, and observe social distancing.

Smart but off-grid houses can be a good move for an affordable and safest way of living away from the effect of Covid. Those who live there will appreciate “quarantined” with the nature, yet green technology will be harnessing solar power for electricity, harvesting rain for water consumption, and wind for natural cooling.

4. How to sell services and closing?

This is the life-blood of the firm. Someone should find clients and close the deal.

5. How to build passive income streams.

- Start your own Vlog, Blogging website with affiliate marketing

- Create Online Courses in Udemy.

- Create Software Tutorial videos in Youtube, especially learning Revit.

- Write your own E-book or book and sell it on Amazon.

- Create Printable Merchandized!

- Create architectural related photographs and sell it online.

- Create your own Digital Products.

6. How to start your own (outsourcing) team and leverage yourself.

Outsourcing and crowdsourcing are one of the most powerful tools you can do to leverage yourself. You need people who will work with you so that you can be able to focus on your firms essentials; Client-relations and service development. All other processes, you can outsource, somewhere, in the Philippines ;) .

These are few points that keep me sane this time of pandemic.

Keep safe and keep building!