If project inquiries have dropped off, timelines are getting pushed, or clients are suddenly tightening their budgets—you’re not alone. Economic instability has a ripple effect across the architecture world (and every other industry). But while things might be slower on the surface, this season can still be an opportunity to recalibrate, rethink, and rebuild stronger.

Thinking about leaving firm life behind to go out on your own? Whether you’re daydreaming about flexible hours, better clients, or finally doing work your way, the leap into freelancing or starting your own business can be both exciting and overwhelming. In this post, I’m sharing what I wish I’d known before I made the jump—from mindset shifts to real talk about money—so you can feel more prepared, confident, and grounded as you move toward freedom.

Did you just start using Revit, or have you been using it for a while? I’m willing to bet you’ve made some of these mistakes yourself at some point. These are some of the worst Revit mistakes I’ve seen in my years of teaching Revit and working with other designers. How many of these are you guilty of?

Whether you’re looking to freelance, become a solopreneur, or start a small design business, these tips will help you start off your journey on the right foot. You may want to use this as a checklist or just a guide; either way, these are all tips…

Spend more time making money, doing what you love to do, rather than wasting time doing accounting! Here I’ll show you just how easy it is to track your hours and bill your clients using professional looking invoices.

These are my tips and tricks for doing existing conditions surveys so you can learn best practices for how to keep your drawings clean and organized and avoid forgetting to document important information.

One of the biggest issues I see in projects is duplicate information. This is something I always try to avoid whenever I can. This might mean duplicate information within a single Revit file across multiple sheets, or duplicate information between different programs. One of the best ways to avoid this issue is to link files into your projects rather than manually typing in the information into multiple places so any changes only have to be made once and will update across all of your files.

If you’re looking for a free customizable method for tracking your time and invoicing your clients then look no further! This is the system I created and used when I first began freelancing which was a huge step up from using my notebook. If you hate doing math, I’ll show you the formulas you need to make sure your hours and amounts due are calculated correctly. Best of all you can fully customize your invoices to get them to look however you envisioned!

You can do an existing conditions survey simply with a pen, paper, and measuring tape, but it would take hours longer and leave you with much less documentation than if you were to use these recommended tools.

There's so much more to being a great designer than drawing pretty pictures and building models.

Pretty pictures have to be accompanied by well designed spaces that not only comply with the code but also remain functional. The way to become a great designer is to gain as much experience as you can and know the right material to use as a guide. Having the right resources at your disposal is such an important element in your success as a designer, along with working under a seasoned and skilled professional.

So... you want to pass the ARE's?

Of course you do! And guess what, you probably don't have to spend $100's to do it.

There are so many paid resources out there, but there are so many more free resources you can take advantage of. So before you go spend hundreds on online ARE courses, books, or other paid content, here are my wallet friendly tips for passing the AREs.