Game plan to start my own little business out of college 12

[michaelwoodcoc]

Tell me about some small engineering jobs you can do and average pay

I'm considering opening up my own practice when I graduate. I'm not chasing the money, I want the satisfaction of doing things my own way, for the better. (More on that after my questions though) I've looked up all the requirements and I should have no problem with my degree.

Questions:

How much engineering work is there in a local market? How much entry level work?

Do houses all need a mechanical engineer to sign off on them (Georgia)?

I know some states require calculations for the ideal AC unit size.

Also, there's ductwork and such that would need to be engineered for any custom house design. I'm aware that many house plans just have this stuff engineered once, so any house built from plans has minimal engineering involved.

Is it easy to bid on state government work? I already see the federal requirements need a dun & Bradstreet number, it'd take a while to get that

do larger companies ever sub out work? I live right near some aerospace companies

My background:

I have automotive experience, making custom parts, wiring, custom ECU's, etc.

my most relevant experience is HVAC. I have lots of HVAC experience from working on design bids, etc.

CAD, lots of CAD experience. 3d scanning and reverse engineering experience

Machining, including CNC, setting up my own machines/linux cnc

My inspiration

HVAC: I see so many things done just for initial cost savings. Also I see so many things where people just didn't use their heads, and so much $$ could have been saved with just a little more experience or thinking.

Automotive: Honestly I'm not sure where this field is going. I can do custom ECU's, design parts, all that stuff, and do a good job, but the performance market is shrinking a little since the fast and furious days have fizzled. Now it's mostly about stance.

I saw a manufacturing plant of dental tools. Totally automated proccess. Making the robots that moved the bits around would be easy for me. They told me they don't often need that stuff done, but when they do, the contracts are big money, and it's hard for them to find someone who can do it. My control experience, CAD experience, and everything else makes this something I really understand.

I think I can do it on my own. I really believe in that. I know it'll be very slow to grow. I may start after I graduate with the bachelors and go for my masters in something.

 

[SuperSalad]

I realize I probably came off pretty hostile in my comment. I don't hold malice or anger toward Mensa. I just wanted to demystify it a bit as I find people don't often understand it is a group mainly focused on sharing brain teasers as far as I could tell from my brief experience with members of it.

Andrew H.

http://www.mototribology.com

 

[IRstuff]

Sure, they obviously like that sort of thing, and are good at it; fundamentally, not that different than, say, a murder mystery club.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[SuperSalad]

Exactly, and belonging to a murder mystery club is equally unlikely to aid in the starting of a consulting business.

Andrew H.

http://www.mototribology.com

 

[IRstuff]

Absolutely. If anything, I would think some sort of PE society might be a much better place, particularly if one is trying to drum up business.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[michaelwoodcoc]

^I looked them up, mensa, they offer "special member credit card offers" and "insurance discounts", both of which probably are just benefits to them. The other benefits are minuscule. 100K scholarships to the whole united states per year. Supposedly they teach social skills. I looked up my local Mensa, it sounds just like a lot of middle aged to old people who want to feel special and enjoy nights out on the town with people as snobby as they are and guzzle fine wine at fancy restaurants with extremely high prices. At least that's what their schedule showed. And there's no mention of social skills anywhere. I'd probably get more out of the murder mystery club, atleast I wouldn't drain my wallet.

OK it was my understanding from reading a little of the advice here you couldn't really do consulting in the engineering line of work without some experience, or maybe even a license, correct? I haven't given up on engineering but I am looking into computer science.

Engineering student. Electrical or mechanical, I can't decide!
Minoring in psychology

 

[IRstuff]

In some states, consultants to an exempt industry are covered by their exemption.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[Mongrel]

A few thoughts on the experience of our 19yo, who has Asperger's and sounds very similar to you.

1) I suspect you like to ask questions, but typically you prefer to stick to a limited group of people who've earned your trust/respect, correct? And when setting out to research something, you'll be as exhaustive as possible - but preferably all stuff from the Internet, library, or your trusted mentors, correct?

2) I suspect you're averse to large groups of people, and probably deal poorly with conflict, noisy/confused situation's and places, and especially with attention-seeking personalities.

Our young bloke wasn't fortunate enough for us to be able to afford tertiary education for him. So, he's started with lower expectations, which may be a good thing sometimes! You have to be realistic; you could have an IQ of 200, but without good sales skills and social skills, it's going to be difficult to set up on your own and earn enough to survive straight off the bat.

Perhaps you could look at a more middling ground.
For example, I'm currently helping our boy to start his own business, for pretty much the same reasons as you. He's starting out small, with a lawnmower and a ute, offering garden work and transport of bulky objects such as fridges or soil. I'm holding his hand for the first few months and will step back as he gets more comfortable. Dealing with customers can be a huge challenge for anyone! You have the entitled customer, the cheaparse customer, the confused one who wants a thing but isn't sure what it is... then there's the angry customer. Maybe there was a small mistake. Maybe they just don't like the finished job even though it's exactly what was agreed on. Maybe they throw a tantrum when the job's done, trying to get a discount. School doesn't and can't prepare you for dealing with this sort of thing!
With your degree, you could possibly go a step higher. What about finding a smaller local business and seeing if you can add value?
For example; a local performance mechanic may be interested in having someone on staff who can do the engineering work to legally fit larger or different engines into cars or motorbikes. Or you could gain CNC experience in a local machine shop. Smaller places with smaller teams may be a more feasible starting point.
Of course, and I need to put a big red line under this - you need to legally be able to provide the work! Laws vary just between jurisdictions over there, and I'm not even in the same country, so my advice above should be taken with that in mind.

The others are right though, really - yes, you're smart, yes, you can do the job. But you're also young, and inexperienced. That will bite you. People's perceptions alone will bite you as a lone operator. You need contacts in the field and experience, and the only practical way to gain this is through working in the field. Established shops can provide you an excellent platform to launch from. Spend some time there, watch what others do. You can learn from the people around you, just like that engineer you were talking about with the cooling system. You learnt from her not doing as much as her doing, yes?
Or to put it another way - the wise man learns from the mistakes of others.

Bottom line is this. There's millions of other people out there with the same dream as you. You need to stand out from the crowd.
And the best way to do that is to get recognised. Get your name on work.
And the best, most risk-free, stress-free, and fastest way to do that is to attach yourself to someone else and share their resources to produce something, and use their experience dealing with people as both example and shield.

 

[michaelwoodcoc]

Mongrel,

[ol 1]
[li]This is spot on, and you are correct about research. I like to see it with my own eyes to believe it sometimes. FEA for example is much better for me than just doing the math.
Sometimes when I'm told something won't work, I like to try just to see how it fails and get an idea[/li]
[li]correct[/li]
[/ol]

and when you put everything else the way you did, it makes a lot of sense. I'm going to try and find a small company before graduation so I have a plan and know what to expect.

I'm trying some basic computer programming as a hobby right now. I'm trying to get my computer to communicate over RS232 to an arduino to control led lights in a 3d printed brain and display EEG's but it's not working the best for me in comparison to other skills so I may not switch from mechanical to anything else.

Engineering student. Electrical or mechanical, I can't decide!
Minoring in psychology

 

[Mongrel]

I'm glad we were able to help. As we get older and focus on new problems, it can become easy to forget our youth. The combination of uncertainty about the future and complete confidence in yourself is something unique to your late teens/early twenties, for most people!
Regarding the control programming; if you're able to wrap your head around it, that can be an extremely useful addition to your mechanical engineering degree, and to several others since I remember you were contemplating switching?
In any case, it lends itself well to all sorts of automation control from equipment through robotics and into the more complicated engine control units. So it's definitely a useful skill to pick up.

I wish you well in the future!

 

[malikgeetika]

hello,first of all I had read your whole situation and from my experience i can say that you have to gain some more experience in your field. Their are many problem to come in the beginning but you should never loss hope in the field you are , many people come and go but should stay positive in life for what you are doing. Many people leave their carrier because they don't see any growth in the field but sometime you should try harder.

 

[glass99]

Let me put it to you this way, unfortunately I have autism

Most engineers are on the spectrum - that's why they call it engineering. But it not unfortunate, its a great gift to humanity. You don't put a lander on Mars by listening to your feelings. But yes, you do need to learn to navigate a social world as a highly rational person, including as a business owner. I strongly believe that Steve Jobs had Aspergers.

 

[michaelwoodcoc]

I should probably start off by saying I view most of my problems as extremely humorous, and I actually laugh at them at this point in my life.

Most engineers are on the spectrum - that's why they call it engineering. But it not unfortunate, its a great gift to humanity. You don't put a lander on Mars by listening to your feelings. But yes, you do need to learn to navigate a social world as a highly rational person, including as a business owner. I strongly believe that Steve Jobs had Aspergers.

I agree with all of those points there. Yy experience is this:
1. even among other engineering students, I'm not really accepted. I'm curious about this, they must know being on the spectrum is common in this line of work. There's this one guy in my classes who always invites me to join them and who I get along with, the other people I kindof get along with, but I"m not invited to anything they plan, and I don't really know what I'm doing wrong, but I'll say something and notice whatever I said produces silence.
2. probably is a gift to humanity, it's just kindof troubling to people who have it to realize one day that they don't have friends, partners, reciprocal relationships. It's hard to see it as a gift to yourself, rather than a shortcoming.
3. I agree on the feelings part, it's just so hard
4. I think you're right about Steve Jobs, and probably a few others have or had it. Bill gates? Elon Musk? it's not like they just tell us these things. But all of these people are very outgoing (except maybe bill gates) about the things they are interested in the most. I can sometimes do that concerning things I'm so interested in.

I'd really like to improve my social skills, but the only social skills groups near me are geared towards teenage girls. who in my experience, even the most quiet ones hardly need social skills training. Teenaged girls social problems seem to be created by clicks, rejection by said clicks, critizism of their looks by other girls, all things that don't usually involve social skill deficits I would imagine, but kindof mean social norms that are accepted here. I tried some social skills books, and that turned out quite humorous. I remember going to a teachers office hours, and saying one thing I learned from "emotional intelligence" as a start to the conversation, and just the reaction told me that the things I learned from the book were not a good idea for me to put into practice.

I find it puzzling that it took me (and others) so long to catch on to these problems. I should probably explain that I just found out about two problems over the summer. Bipolar & ASD.
Looking back whenever I felt depressed I normally blamed it on something like poor friendship quality, no friends, no social connections. So i seemed to have a good explanation every time.
Whenever I felt good I thought that was the way I was supposed to feel. I'd be more outgoing, but still didn't have social success. Mostly just interupted people as a result of thinking 10 miles a minute, interrupted math teachers when I found small errors in the way they taught things, did schoolwork well inadvance, performed pretty good at work, etc. Probably wrote half of these posts when feeling manic, for example, and very confident in my skills(also took IQ test when feeling manic). On the flip side, when feeling bad, I could go to a math teachers office hours, and make errors on the most basic maths and the teacher would say things like "comeon mike!" or I'd misunderstand the lesson because I'd missed one key detail or fact along the way. My note taking was so slow then, and I'd be the last one to leave class just to finish my notes.

One can imagine these patterns in the work place. Frequently hired when feeling good, told I'm an asset, whatever, then when feeling bad, I'm asked what's wrong, given poor evaulations, and fired or quit as a result. On top of dealing with the office politics which is always a weak point of mine, it just isn't such a good combination of factors. Since I just started treatment, things will probably get better, you can sort of tell these things, but I can never know for sure, until the treatment works and my next job, how I'll be able to integrate into a workplace based on my past employment history and problems.

There's a chinese saying, "may you live in interesting times", my life is quite interesting! There are a few things I wouldn't have any other way.

I make pocket money just designing and 3d printing things. I can design things pretty good when I feel good, and when I feel bad I just have to press a few buttons to get the stuff to come out, it's not labor intensive. It's also kindof a factor in my motivation to work for myself. It might be possible to work thru the ups and downs on stuff and still have income when feeling bad, rather than laid being off, fired, or quitting. Treatment will probably fix this to. probably won't be a factor in the future.

Engineering student. Electrical or mechanical, I can't decide!
Minoring in psychology

 

[glass99]

I should probably explain that I just found out about two problems over the summer. Bipolar & ASD

All I can tell you is keep pushing through this stuff and you will get there - read, get ideas, try them, adapt, repeat. People on the spectrum tend to deal with feelings in a rational way - for example, you learn to recognize when someone is upset, and you then know to not push things at that moment.

You are young so its an investment of a lifetime, and everyone on the planet has to figure this stuff out. Yeah girls are challenging, but sometimes the promise of a relationship is enough to push you to do the hard things.