Capital requirements Start-up capital is crucial for any new firm and is required to fulfill two basic needs: initial expenses the cost of funding operations until sufficient cash flow to sustain operations has been established. One of the first questions most architects ask when contemplating a start-up is how much money will be needed. No two start-ups are exactly alike, but most find it necessary to have enough cash to cover three to six months of operating costs, plus the amount needed to cover organizational expenses.One way to calculate this is to make up a budget, with an experienced very

Almost every architect has, at one time or another, contemplated starting a firm. There are an almost unlimited number of reasons why one might do so. But why would anyone start a new practice when the economy is bad? With the marketplace more competitive than usual, it would seem that a new firm wouldn’t stand a chance. Photo © Bob Rowan, Progressive Image/Corbis Contrary to this conventional wisdom, many people start firms during periods of economic recession. Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities famously begins, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” In a