Written by two leading experts in the field this essential volume offers a step-by-step guide to understanding and evaluating the goals, risks and the rewards of starting a firm.

• Covers the basics of firm organisation, personnel requirements, legal considerations, fee setting, marketing issues and the essentials of strategic and business plans
• Addresses how to get started including how to create your first business plan, evaluate initial needs and costs, create a budget and a produce a list of action items to get started
• This volume is practical, applied, concise, portable, affordable and user-friendly

Peter Piven, FAIA, is a principal consultant of The Coxe Group, Inc., Philadelphia, the oldest and largest multidisciplinary firm providing marketing and management consultation to design professionals. He is a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Bradford Perkins, FAIA, MRAIC, AICP, is the founding principal of Perkins Eastman Architects, PC, a 750-person architecture, planning, and interior design firm based in New York. He is the author of Building Type Basics for Elementary and Secondary Schools, Building Type Basics for Senior Living, and International Practice for Architects, all published by Wiley.