Mark LePage wants you to make money. His blog, Entrepreneur Architect, is aimed straight at architects, but the tips translate to anyone who runs a small business—designer/builders, he’s talking to you.
In a profession famed for secrecy, why is LePage sharing this information? “Because it needs to be shared,” he says, adding that architecture programs don’t usually see financial training as their responsibility. The irony? “We haven’t been schooled in business, yet many of us are running small businesses,” he says. The blog includes posts on management, sales, marketing, and other essentials to run a good practice. Posts such as How to Make Money As An Architect (try raising your fees); How to Get Published (hint: spring for good photography); and Retaining Documents and Records (spoiler alert: protect yourself from a potential lawsuit) offer valuable lessons.
Though architecture schools assume that an internship at a firm will provide business training for architects, “the mentors aren’t doing that,” says LePage. “They feel it’s their job to teach architects to be architects, not businesspeople.” What’s more, many mentors are reluctant to share the money lessons it has taken years to learn. As a result, “we’ve been trained to be secretive about what we do, and we’re not learning from each other,” he says.
Money, business, profit: in architecture, they’re dirty words. But “if we focus more on the business end, we can do what we love—design—because the business is taking care of itself. ‘Profit before art’ is one of LePage’s favorite maxims. “When people hear that, they go crazy,” he says. “But I want them to hear the message behind it,” he says. “Business first, and then you can feed your family—and do all the art you want.”
Architect Mark R. LePage is a principal at Fivecat Studio. His blog, Entrepreneur Architect, explores the business of architecture, and will run on occasional Fridays.
