Part time architectural practice

ComicGeek

03022242 wrote: »

So i have been looking to set up an architectural practice as a one man band, and would like some advice / comments

i have a full time job (37 hours) - vaguely related however not directly. Some weeks i will spend 10 hours and others i may do none, however lets call it an average of 5-7 hours per week over the year. This will give me an income of somewhere between 7-10k, depending on how much i charge.
My target market is domestic clients, small scale jobs, and would be willing to drive up to a couple of hours if it was worth it. I already have a desk at home so could easily use this set up.

Given the above my expenses would be:
Public / Professional indemnity Insurances
tools/equipment/PPE (much of which i have)
Laptop/phone (which i already have)
Software (which i already have)
gas/elec/wifi/mileage
Advertising
Accountancy fees (i have a friend whos willing to do this at cost)

There is also council tax to think of, (most of my work would be via email with no meeting needed here)

Would be grateful for "have you thought about this" type comments. I dont think i am in a position to make this my full time job, however having done some work, i know there is a market there that can be tapped in to.

:beer:

As another poster has commented, professional indemnity insurance is expensive. It's based on turnover but also on professional experience, so if you don't have much direct experience then it can be pricey. Best to get some quotes for this, it may significantly eat into your earnings. Don't forget that normally you would be looking at maintaining this for 12 years after finishing projects, so is a significant future cost.

What kind of company structure are you looking at? You need to work out if the take home pay from this second job is worth it used you've taken into account all expenses and taxes.

Do you have the required professional qualifications and memberships to call yourself an architect? Or are you an architectural technician or similar? Important to know what you can call yourself. Do you have continuous professional development requirements as part of your memberships? Annual membership costs?

My experience is that construction work comes in waves - some weeks I'm doing 70 hours, others 30. You might find it challenging to do it around a full time job, particularly if you've got phone calls to make during working hours to move projects along - not everything can be done by email. And are you able to make site visits during the day with your full time job?

What about website costs? Can be done at limited cost, but important for advertising.

What about large plan printing? A2/A1? Large format printers are expensive, have you got a local printer who can do these for you?

Business car insurance? Make sure you're covered for these additional visits.

Most importantly, why would someone use you rather than the many other architects/architectural technicians out there?

Nigel_Stutt

I am also going freelance as an architect/visualiser so good luck.

Sounds like you have thought of most likely expenses. But dont forget NI payments and income tax - put away 25% of everything you get for this. You dont really need an accountant if just a small firm - just get a separate account and do your self assessment. If you are working from home you dont have much in the way of expenses.

Only thing to really think about carefully though is if you are packing in your full time job how you will get clients and how you will last until your firm takes off properly. Really you should have 6mths money behind you to avoid worry.

But the other things that took me ages were website, facebook page, invoice form, job log, contract, etc you need all those ready.