Advice Requested - Chance to leave salary and go independant 3

[ACuriousEngineer]

Hi,

I am seeking some advice as I have been made an offer that seems too hard to refuse. I am currently a salaried structural engineer on a reasonable pay level for my work. I have ~4 years of experience so I'm not a rookie but still have plenty to learn. I still have some room to grow in my current position but maybe only a couple more years. The firm doesn't leave me with too much to complain about.

Recently an independent consultant proposed a form of partnership. Essentially the person is looking towards moving away from full time work and would like somebody to look after their clients at times when they are unavailable. Medium term the opportunity is there for a handover of all clients. To go out on your own and have a good client base handed to you seems almost too good to be true. To avoid taking on past liability I'll be starting my own businesss rather than a direct partnership. I'll have to start building my own client base too, my networking on this aspect isn't extensive but it is there.

Do people here have advice regarding the choice? Pitfalls to avoid, recommendations on making the step into independant consulting? Any regrets for those who have left salaried work?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ACuriousEngineer]

I do a fair amount of work as a subcontractor. My mentor gets the projects from his client pool, and then hires me to do the work. I get exposure to the client to get to know them and they get to see my work. Sometimes the final product has his logo, sometimes mine - depends on the client and their willingness to have somebody else do the work. Once the client is satisfied with my ability and my services, my mentor informs them that he's slipping further into retirement and to call me from now on. They can still shop, but I get at least some advantage.

One thing that made this possible: I'm able to get enough of my own work to not be completely dependent upon him. Things would be tight for sure, and I probably couldn't have started when I started without him, but I don't have to pander to him to keep my livelihood.

Based on preliminary discussion this would essentially be the structure that we will operate on. A smooth handover of clients, though of course the clients can go always goelswere if they don't see the same quality of work coming from me. The risk for me is my ability to bring on more clients. I have some plans there but nothing is assured.

Only you know if you are ready (and apparently somebody thinks you are as you were approached for this). But just a note: a lot of times people will recruit/go after somebody just licensed because they want to catch them before they get too expensive.

I believe he is trying to catch me because I am young (relatively to him and his peers), he trusts me and probably most importantly I'm here now. I don't think he has the time or energy to hunt for an employee and then the energy to train him/her. He wants a partner that he can trust. (I say partner though the actual business and legal arangement won't be a partnership.)

Although he has had emploeeyees in the past, he has spent most of the last 25 years going it alone. He hasn't needed to expand his network of peers and clients and he hasn't done so. His clients and his work is nation wide.

Seriously, the above advise you're getting is very good.
I think that if you're smart and not afraid of hard work, you can do it. I'm not very smart and I did it!
I also think the "niche" market is a good thing to have. That has helped me.

Yes. I appreciate the quality advice. I think more pink stars are required. I'm smart and I mostly work hard. I think the "niche" market is what I have going for me, I think it is something I can expand upon. The other party has his specialty that he services business nation wide, it is sufficiently close to my expertise that the transition won't be difficult. My specialty would need networking and marketing to grow but it is a specialtity that most structural engineers aren't adept in.

1) Unless you've been starving for a while, you've got stuff in construction pretty much all of the time. And, if you mean to stay in business, you'll probably have a random but steady-ish stream of RFP's coming in and needing 48 HR turnarounds. So the random time off gets interrupted by the myriad demands of that stuff. About the only way to take a planned vacation and not have to work during it is to add staff.

Which is the main challenge facing the independent consultant who has approached me with this offer and the main reason he wants to bring me on. He has been quite open about this.

I have taken a few weekdays off to go skiing, do some bike touring etc. At the same time, I've not taken a vacation or attended an out of town family event since 2016 without my laptop in tow. And, worse, when I'm not on the laptop, I'm often not fully present.
That's me. You may well be able to manage the situation much better than I have.

That would probably be me. I already take my laptop on holidays and to be honest I don't feel worse for it.

When I earned my PE after 4 years there were still many, many things I didn't know. I would not have been technically competent enough after just 4 years to be out on my own, and I certainly wouldn't have been savvy enough to run a business and to be the author of my own contracts, either.

100% agreed. There are still MANY things I don't know. I am currently not technically competent in several areas, I have discussed this with the consultant and will have further discussions on this matter. I am also new to running a proper business but I have done contracting. So you are correct that I am facing some uphill challenges here. The one thing that plays a little more in my favor is that I am not 4 years out of grad school, I have a little more wisdom behind me than a fresh faced structural engineer.

 

[phamENG]

I think it's important we consider this previous contracting experience you have as we give some advice on time frames. As I said I was (and still am) 'young' in the eyes of many in the industry and I know I still have plenty to learn. But this is my second career. I had a very promising start to a Naval career before deciding it wasn't the lifestyle for me. So when I got out and enrolled in college, my experience was very different. From that of a freshman to where I am now, I've never been grouped with everyone else. So if you already have additional experience outside of your engineering education and EIT period that has given you sufficient 'real-world' experience, and you've spent that EIT period well, you should be in a pretty good place.

Just remember that you don't - and can't - always know what you don't know.

 

[NorthCivil]

And, worse, when I'm not on the laptop, I'm often not fully present.

This is a huge one, and one that can't be fully appreciated until its experienced. There is "not fully present" when you're thinking about things from your salaried job, and not fully present as a real responsible party, these are two different things.

I went solo for the money. I make a lot more money (roughly double what i used to make salaried). The money hasnt been life changing, but the constant nagging in my gut and never being present when "off-duty" certainly has.