Hello All ---
Yes, this may look familiar; I've since realized I missed some of the basics, especially for some of the "young-uns" out there (in bold).
As a confirmed solo-practitioner, I've worked from home since c. 1984. After working-around since '66, including co-op jobs during Architorture School, (which I loved), my employer in '84 was leaving the area. It was the only "Design office" here, so what-to-do was one of the early big decisions my wife & I needed to make (wed., 24 Sep. '83). Like many drafters ("draftsmen") then, I did small, occasional "free-lance" jobs on-the-side, while working in an office.
Does that still happen?
As it turned out, when we married, we found that we both had substantial savings. That, and her well-paying job in Insurance, did help with the comfort level of going solo, but we never hit the savings for this.
So, "funding the Practice" directly, has been a non-issue. The only capital expense, per se, has been the portion of our (my wife & me; no kids) home used for the office. In any residence, the "office" is, to others, just another regular room (bedroom, part of the living room, whatever).
As for furniture & tools, I'd always had a drawing table at home. And, all drafters had their own tools; it actually reminds me of Medieval itinerants; your office gave you the drafting table and stool, and you brought your own tools. (You could be really cool if you had a great collection of templates!)
By the way, ALL the tools (incl. templates) are available to buy now; art stores often have fat catalogs, to hand out, full of these goodies, along w/ "consumables"; paper, pencil leads, etc.
Our new condo, our fourth (& final?) unit together (now in gut-renovation), is a 2-level unit with very high floor-to-floor heights. It will be 3-stories in its "inner half" (away from the windows). The middle level, my office, is some future Owners' man-cave / she-shed, library, bedroom, etc., or even an office!
And, as a solo, I normally go to the Clients' locations for meetings, etc, which works because often, something we're lookin'-at on paper needs a field-visit, 30-ft. away... And, loving my job, I could care less when I'm doing it (I'm a life-long night-owl). In residential work, parents w/ young kids like my "after-bedtime" option for meetings, starting at20:30 / 21:00, (8:30 / 9:00 PM) when it's nice-&-quiet, w/ the kids in bed.
The rare request to see my office is answered with; "It's a home-office, not set-up for visitors." I've never had anyone object to that.
Also, as a small-to-tiny-jobs guy, I've also known that I could never hire someone to draw for me, for several reasons:
1. Pay!, on a regular basis.
2. The work is anything but steady.
3. I love to draw and, in that process, lots of Design is occurring...
4. So- why give it away?
5. Then there're check-prints w. mark-ups etc., etc., etc...
6. And finally, of course, overhead, taxes-&-insurance, un-employment.....
So, I'd pay a fortune in time-&-money-&-worry, to not do the fun stuff myself? I don't think so...
So, as Eve said every morning in the Garden of Eden, "Up-&-Adam!"
Thanks ---
Bill