How to Start a Successful CAD Business

How to Start a Successful CAD Business 

There are plenty of opportunities to make money through offering design, drafting services and  CAD services. Here are my tips to get started in the CAD business:

1. Know the market. 

What clientele are you targeting? Residential or commercial? The needs of a residential job is very different from a commercial job. Both of these fields will demand your time but in different ways. The residential market is huge.  At one point in time, a homeowner is going to need help with designing their houses. Residential jobs are: interior spatial design, exterior improvements, additions, decks, garages, new houses, basements, etc.

With commercial jobs  on the other hand, you will be dealing with construction companies or dealing direct with the building owner. Commercial jobs are: interior spatial design, exterior improvements, tenant improvements. Residential jobs tend to consume more time and the fees tend to be lower.  Commercial jobs can be a bit quicker to complete but the market might not be as huge as residential. 

There is a wide range of design and drafting services, CAD services. Best to get started by checking out the job ads posted in your area, like Indeed, Monster, etc. Check under contract or freelance work. From these job ads you can see what is current in the job market. What kind of skills are in demand and the projects that go with it. Another good resource is to check the websites of professional associations - architects and engineers for employment ads. Some of these websites also post contract work and the job or work description will indicate as well the skills that are in demand.

2. Understand the competition.

In starting a CAD business, like any other business, competition can be quite stiff. Some start-ups, in their eagerness to get started, have very low fees just to get a job. It is hard to compete with those kind of fees and I suggest not to. Once you go down that road, it does not get better. These very low fees projects in reality may not be the best of clients to work with. These are clients that are not looking for long term  relationships. These are one time jobs, best to avoid them . 

Assess your skills and play on your strengths:

• What value can you bring forward to your client? 
• Are you more knowledgeable in certain areas? 
• Do you have a specialization in the design or CAD? 
• Are you able to produce quality CAD drawings faster? 
• Are you capable of meeting deadlines? 
• Are you good in sketching? 
• Are you a good communicator?

Understanding the playing field and how you can distinguish yourself is a good way to stand out among your competitors.

3.  Portfolio.

You should have considerable experience before you can start your design and drafting, CAD business. This is the only way you can show a good and comprehensive portfolio.  Your portfolio should show the range of projects that you have done. You can show your portfolio by project basis-  show some photos, work description and the construction value. Show the most current projects that you have done.  Project client contact information on the portfolio will help validate your work. This would be proof that you have actually done the work.

What if you are just starting to build your portfolio?

For younger people, this will be difficult since you do not have the experience. You can collate your student work and showcase your best work. You can get a referral from your instructor or from a summer job employer. This will help demonstrate your capability in the design, drafting and CAD business. The strength of a younger person is that they are more adept and skilled with the CAD and other software.

There are many ways these days to showcase your portfolio- a pdf file, your own website, facebook page or a video. Projects that are 3D rendered with motion gets more attention. You can also include on the portfolio the actual drawings- floor plans, elevations. If you are the designer, remember to indicate your name or logo on the projects since you have copyright of the design.

4. Build Relationships

Building relationships and networking is very important in business. Sometimes  it is who you know that gives you a good lead for a project, gets you started in your first project. Your family, friends, previous employers, your school, people you have worked with-  these are all good points of contact. Join a professional association, a networking group, a social club or volunteer in your community. Most of these project leads are found through networking. It is always best to work with people that you get along with, that you have a good relationships with. It would not be difficult to build trust since they already know you. 

I would also try and contact individuals, employers or companies looking for contract work. Try cold calling their offices and set up a meeting. Even if there is no current requirement, it would not hurt to meet with them and introduce yourself. If you've established good contact, then you can follow up after. 

It takes time and is a lot of work to establish a new contact and earn their confidence. If you have already established a good relationship with a client, it is easier to keep them happy then go and find a new client.

The best clients that I have worked with came to me through referrals or word of mouth. These are from previous clients that have referred me to other people or colleagues that have referred me to other jobs. 

5. Advertise

In starting your CAD business, there are numerous ways to advertise  yourself on a relatively shoestring budget. You can advertise in print, but print media is a little bit more expensive and there is no data afterwards to check whether the ad was effective. 

You can try google ads and promote in your local area. The advantage of google ads is you pay when someone clicks on your ad. Google ads is quite easy to set up and you can fine tune your ad by using the proper keywords. Research on keywords like CAD design, CAD drafting and you will be able to check the number of views which will indicate the amount of interest in that topic.

Social media can also be a very effective platform to advertise, and there are free accounts that you can open - a face book page or a linked in account. Linked in is a good networking site among professionals.  You can also try email marketing.

When your project has started construction, you can ask the client if you can post a sign. That is a good way to showcase your work. Another way, in a commercial job, after project completion, is to leave your business cards on the premise.   

You can also try attending a home construction trade show or a builder's trade show. If you feel that is the right exposure for you, you can  be an exhibitor in the trade show. Participating as an exhibitor is quite expensive, but you can get good exposure to your target demographic this way. 

You have to cultivate a certain style to promote yourself and your work. You'll have to bring out the extrovert in you. I remember I used to attend the networking associations in the business chamber of commerce and after introducing myself to a few people, I seem to wind up on the latter part of the event standing beside the food table. Certainly, I am not the Jerry Maguire in these events but I can be fairly articulate.  If people asks me a question it sounds like I know what I am talking about and it helps if you have one or two jokes you can pull out of your sleeve. 

6. What to charge

When I first started out, I can never figure out what to charge. I was not sure whether I was high or low, should I charge by square footage or should I charge by hour. You know what I did? I called another company advertising for the same service and pretended I was a client. That was how I figured out in the beginning how much people charge for the work.

As you go along with these jobs, as the owner, you will have a better sense on your fees and what to charge for these jobs.  How much to charge is dependent on a several factors: your experience, your qualifications and the market. If you are competing with a lot of people  offering the same service, then your fees need to be competitive.  For you to get started in your CAD business, I would suggest to offer competitive fees. Competitive fees, not low fees. You do not want to work for free.  You do not want to be taken advantage of either. After you have established yourself, then you can update your fees. Be careful that you are not too low and you are not too high. You do not want to overprice yourself from a job. 

Should you charge hourly rate or a lump sum fee? Client usually prefer a lump sum fee so that they can control the project cost.  When submitting a quote, clearly state the scope of services- design and drafting for this project, the name of the project, the square footage and the duration of the work.
I suggest to indicate cap a number on the revisions. After so many revisions, you can put a provision in your quote for the hourly rate. 

The thing about designing, people change their mind. They change their mind all the time. It would be nice if people made a decision once, and the design never changes. That is very rare. I do not believe I ever had a project where the design did not change.

The biggest advantage of charging hourly rates is that all your hours are covered.
When you charge, be clear that these are billable hours, show a line item on the project and the description of work. You can check hourly rates through the job ads/ job offers on the website. Make sure you attach your hourly rate on your proposal, that way the client is aware and would not get any surprises after.

7. Hardware

The good thing about the CAD business is that you do not need big capital to get started.
The basic hardware to get started in your CAD business would be a computer, computer table and chair,  a printer, a phone and a good internet connection.

Your computer should have enough computing capability for CAD. If you do a lot of 3D or BIM, that would entail more intensive computing requirements. If you can afford to have a good video card, that helps make the work faster for the 3D/ BIM. Best to invest in a back up hard drive.

There are printers that are affordable. You can start with a tabloid or 11" x 17" inkjet printer with the same size scanner. The laser printers are more expensive. The same tabloid size laser printer would be at least a few thousand dollars. I have gone through 3 sets of tabloid printers in the last 5 years.  For inkjet, there are good Brother and Epson printers available where you can use a generic ink.

You would need an office software  and the latest in CAD software. The most expensive in all of these setup is the CAD software. The software now comes in a subscription basis.
The last time I checked, it is less than $ 2,000 per year or getting there, not cheap.


All in all, I hope that the information presented here helps you in getting started to a successful design and drafting CAD business. Remember, it is you that is the talent behind all those drawings and CAD. Keep it up and good luck!

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Joann Zulueta is an architect based in Calgary, Alberta and is registered across Canada.

She specializes in commercial and industrial projects.

Feel free to contact her at : info@zuluetaarchitecture.com

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