
Business of Architecture Podcast The Non-Linear Strategy for Scaling Your Architecture Practice Fast | EP663
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Dec 1, 2025 Explore why many architects resist scaling their firms and how the solo-practitioner dream often comes with hidden burdens. The hosts reveal the challenges small firms face, from inconsistent cash flow to staffing issues. Discover the 'invisible desert' between 5 and 20 employees and why larger firms can surprisingly be easier to manage. Learn about the unique opportunities in acquiring retiring firms and how to navigate fears around growth. This unconventional perspective offers a roadmap to creative freedom and stability for architects.
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Creative Work vs Hidden Admin Load
- Many small practice owners dream of spending most of their time on creative design rather than admin work.
- That dream often clashes with hidden administrative load and pipeline responsibilities that owners underestimate.
Sole Practitioner Who Reverted After Hiring
- Enoch recounts talking with a Northern California sole practitioner who proudly stayed solo but suffered inconsistent work.
- The architect had previously grown to four or five staff, then shrank back after people problems and burnout.
The 5–20 Person Desert
- Enoch frames a common growth hurdle as a desert between firms of 5–20 people where systems and leadership fail.
- The gap exists because owners lack clear systems, job rules, and leadership training to scale effectively.
