This is a misleading number. While 90% of large architecture firms (with more than 50 employees) have ownership transition plans, only 15% of small firms (with two to nine employees) have them. For sole practitioners, that number drops to 4%. Midsized firms (with 11 to 49 employees), meanwhile, sit in the middle, with 60% reporting ownership transition plans.
There is less disparity in the number of firms that have business plans: 69% of firms with more than 50 employees have them, as do 49% of firms with 11 to 49 employees; 37% of firms with two to nine employees; and 22% of firms with one employee.
Source: AIA Firm Survey, 2020