Gentlemen -
I have been following many posts for a while and feel it is time to add some to the KnowledgeNet.
This was posted in another area and has been moved here to be a more stand alone element.
I too have been hit pretty hard by this difficult economy but continue to push forward. In the past six years I have worked for two compaines that had gone BK and one where i was laid off due to very little work. So I have started over many times in the recent past. Not a great experience and tough to deal with but what do you do. So I started my own firm and have been fortunate to make some great contacts in the past and this has been helping through these times.
I have a very different perspective of things now that drive me forward. The processes and delivery methods that are 'emerging' today will be the only way to perform any medium to large scale projects in the future. I have done the following things in the past three or so years that I will be implementing for me and my families future.
1. Work for yourself so that you do not have to go through this again.
2. Start to build your own work. Start to do Architect | Build. i think that this creates and maintains a higher sense of design intent that can be maintained through the process as you are there to ensure it.
3. Get a General Contractor license to be able to do this. I know that this does not seem desirable to some but it will foster your future.
4. Start to become an Architect Developer so that you own your own properties that you design, build, and own that will FEED you in the future so you do not depend on FEE income.
5. Educate yourself on the financial ways of the world. Read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki to start and then read all of the other books that he has written so you can expand your way of thinking. Rich Dad wants you to become financially independent so we do not have to be dependent on anyone especially the government because there will be no Social Security for us when it comes time to retire.
6. Learn BIM software to implement BIM Processes as this will be the only way to work now and in the future. i have been doing things this way for nine years and will never look back. There have been many posts on this topic but it does change things for the better and really leverages time and effort.
7. Start to consider using Pre-fabricated technologies to implement the delivery of your projects. A great book to read that defines this and their processes is "Prefabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Technologies Are Poised to Transform Building Construction" by Stephen Kiernan and James Timberlake. This is a well written book, a great read and expands the mind. I have been deeply involved in this industry over the past 9 years and it changes your thinking dramatically. There are much better ways to deliver a project and factory fabrication is a great start.
I could go on and on about these things that I feel very passionate about. Take control over your future.
Chad Conrad, AIA