Ownership vs. Economy 1

[eng4eva]

So, for anyone that has their own firm they started themselves...

If you had to start over again, would the economy we are in right now keep you from quitting your job to start your own firm?

 

[MiketheEngineer]

YES

But it also depends on what type of engineering your are doing!!

Oil, gas, chemical and even electrical seem OK

Civil, structural, etc - not so good.

 

[zdas04]

Man that is a difficult question. In 2009 I grossed 1/3 of 2007 gross. I covered the bills without getting into my reserves, but it was a close thing (never close to closing the doors because of money, but nearly shut down because of boredom). 2011 is on pace to be nearly equal to 2007 so from where I sit, the economy isn't all that bad. If I had started the business in late 2008 instead of late 2003 then I wouldn't have made it much past the end of the year.

Somebody starting today would need to honestly assess their uniquie abilities and describe the method they were going to use to differentiate themselves from the other Coastal Engineers (what is that by the way?) in their target area. My business was global so defining the competition was a challenge. For someone with a smaller target market it is more straightforward.

I think I would start a business today, but I have a really high (probably undeserved) opinion of my unique abilities.

David

 

[ajack1]

It certainly wouldn’t stop me, in automotive at least things are pretty good at the minute, in fact we look almost certain to have our best year ever, started in 2005.

You have to find opportunities, many of our customers have cut back on staff and seem reluctant or unable to find suitably qualified staff to take on again and have picked up largish orders so are looking to sub contract out. Also at least two of our competitors have gone under so things are very rosy.

The same rules apply as at any other time; you need a clear idea of where you can get work from and have the contacts in place. If you just start up and think things will sort themselves out and work will find me you probably won’t be around that long.

 

[europipe]

David, it's not what you think of your capabilities,
It's what your client think of it,
I think it's allright with you (maybe knowhow?)

 

[zdas04]

Yeah, but if you don't believe in yourself, the clients will never believe in you.

David

 

[IRstuff]

In many cases, your abilities do not have to be 6 sigma; honesty and ability to adapt and learn can be equally important to a client, sometimes more so.

Many of our customers are comfortable with me because I know the stuff that I know, and I admit mistakes and gaps immediately.

Don't be afraid to help your customers away from erroneous thoughts and assumptions. We had, a one point in time, a customer requirement that was absurdly loose, and the marketing guys want to take a freeby, but we wrote into our technical proposal why we were adhering to a much tighter spec in order to meetthe overall requirements. As it turned out, we were the only bidder that demonstrated thorough understanding of the mission requirements and willingness to sign up to the tighter requirement that was needed for mission success. Sometimes, moving away from low-side compliance is a good thing.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[Guest262653]

Well, with this economy and in the structural area, I just quit my job and I've started my own private practice. The economy sucks, but people still need houses to live in, malls to shop in, hotels to stay in and hospitals to be treated on.

It's all a matter of how many reliable contacts you have and how many doors you leave open when you leave the places you work in.

André

 

[moltenmetal]

eng4eva: are your only two options working as an employee or striking out on your own entirely?

What about a partnership, to spread the risk around a bit? To help you tackle bigger stuff than you can do by yourself? Maybe unnecessary in what you do for a living, but a larger corporate group is essential for what I do for a living. And way more rewarding than working away as a pure employee.

 

[brandonbw]

I started my company because of the economy. I took a gamble leaving a company that was still thriving and went to another that seemed like it would be able to go through a bad depression. Turns out it was the opposite and I was very wrong.

But after being bored sitting at home after a week of doing nothing, I decided time to start a company 5 years earlier than I planned all along.

It's been a rollercoaster ride. Pay has been very up and down. But slowly but surely we are gaining a good reputation with everyone we come into contact with and it feels like once we weather out the bad period people will remember us.

I wrote a guest article about my adventure so far in case you want to read more.

http://powerfulpurpose.com/starting...y-today-can-be-like-driving-into-death-valley

B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil and Structural Engineering

http://bwengr.com

 

[KENAT]

starting-an-engineering-company-today-can-be-like-driving-into-death-valley

What, you have to go through Trona?;-)

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