Should i start my own business? College student seeking advice. 1

[eatdesignsleep]

I was recently "permanatly layed off" from my job working as a custom machine designer and builder. I was working on average 50 hours a week and still attending college full time. not to mention that i just bought fix er up house and only 21. the work load became to much and i was late a few times because of studying late at night. Instead of collecting unemployment, i got the idea i should start my own drafting buisness. Just something from home and nothing to complicated. Basically my services would be dimensioning parts, creating drawing packages of assembly's, and creating 2d drawings into 3d.

I did this when i first started out and am very proficient in solidworks. the way i see it, a company could outsource this job(india, ect) or have the designer finish the drawings after the designing process and pay them full wage or they could pay me to do it. this would keep buisness in the states, and also reduce cost for the company because i would be doing the job an engineer would be doing just as good for a fraction of their wage. they would also help out a college student further his education.

The only problem i'm worried about is the demand for a buisness like this. I am from the West Michigan area and my intent would be local buisness around here. Possibly elsewhere but i feel communication would be difficult and being able to have face to face interviews would produce less misunderstanding.

I understand that a buisness takes money and i have $2000 in savings that i'm willing to use. Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[TheTick]

$10/hour? You must suck at either CAD, negotiating, and/or estimating.

 

[casseopeia]

Seriously, you need to do a lot of groundwork. $10/hour is unimaginably low, unless you are talking start-up net when businesses typically operate in the red (at a loss). I have attached a sample business cash projection spreadsheet. You need to understand what all of these things mean and be able to fill it out. A business plan requires that you do your market research including fees, operating costs, etc. Your outgoing costs will drive your pricing (incoming).

I think a 4-year projected profit statement is typical. It's about where most start-ups begin to break even.

"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge." Ivana Trump

 

[moon161]

Alibre is cheaper than SWX in all 3 flavors, $299, $999, $1999, but just as Dan Quayle is no Jack Kennedy, Alibre is no SWX. I found myself grinding my teeth with it.

 

[berkshire]

Moon161,
welcome to the club. I switched to Alibre from SWX because I did not have enough work to justify SWX and you are right , it is different.
B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor

 

[TheTick]

Alibre-using client base is how big?

 

[jmcoope3]

I do a good 90% of my 3d about 50% of my 2d work in SketchUp ($400 for a full license, HUGE internet use group, and it comes with a layout software) its cheap, accessible on almost any computer, and you can open and save files to almost any of the major modeling standards (2d and 3d CAD, solid-works, Pro-E, etc).

It does have issues with layered drawings and drawings that have a high amount of faces.

But most of my work is structural, not sure how it operates when you get to the smaller scale details.

 

[eatdesignsleep]

jmcoope3, that SketchUp program is somthing that may be perfect for me. do you know if you can create BOMs, import solid modeling parts and automatically create projected views such as solidworks can(.sldprt files)?

Also on wages, what would one expect to pay a college student with years of cad classes in high school and college and also with almost a year of experience? i was paid $7.40 for everything i did(machine building, running erands, designing small assemblies, creating drawing packages, ect) so i was basically used. would i be better to say around the $15/hr mark? or is that still cheap? i can do my job efficiently and quick with hardly any errors.

 

[patprimmer]

Generally as an employer, it costs you around twice what you pay an employee.

You have to cover paid time off, insurance and overheads like software, computers, office space, facilities and consumables, non productive or non billable but necessary time, costs of aquiring work etc etc etc.

Regards
Pat
See FAQ731-376 for tips on use of eng-tips by professional engineers &

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm

for site rules

 

[moon161]

Median wage for an experienced designer in Buffalo (2nd poorest city in the US) area is $41.6k = 20/hr + min 2wk vacation/sick time.

You should bill about 1.5-2x what the hourly wage would be in your area for comparable position.

You did get used, I worked as an intern at Motorola for $390 wk in 1996.

 

[berkshire]

The tick.
""Alibre-using client base is how big?""

These are companies that use Alibre
B.E.




Featured Customers




Abbott Laboratories
Alcoa
Allied Power Products Inc
American Airlines
ARC Technologies
ArvinMeritor
Avistar, Inc.
Battelle
Bechtel
Bombardier
Boyd Lighting Co
BWXT-Y12 Technical Services
Technical Services
Calsonic-Kansei
Carrier Corporation
Caterpillar
EG&G Defense Materials, Inc. - URS Corporation
ExxonMobile
Fabrico
Huyett
General Dynamics
General Electric Corporate Research
General Mills
Honeywell
IBM
JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Kelowna Flightcraft
Kennametal
Keystone Applied Technology
Laird Technologies
Lytron
Methode Electronics
MSI
NASA
Naval Air Warfare Center ( NAWCWD ) and Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC)
Northrop Grumman
Pfizer
Pratt & Whitney
Praxair
SAIC
Sandia National Laboratories
ShopBot Tools Inc.
Siemens
SouthWest Research Institute
Tamko
Tripar, Inc.
Whirlpool
Wyle Laboratories Inc.




The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor

 

[moon161]

Hey Berkshire, (I thought about saying BS, but reconsidered, well 1/2way.). Could I contact you in regard to Alibre? I've got the budget one, and just got frustrated w/ it, but would like it to play nicely. Drop a line to moon161 at gmail dot com.

 

[berkshire]

Moon 161
I just tried to send you a message, it bounced as an "invalid recipiant"
Did you get it?
B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor

 

[KENAT]

We have one contractor who we let use one of our SW licenses - as far as I know it's all above board but I don't know the details. Maybe you can find somewhere that needs part time drafting help, can loan you a copy of SW to use on their work only etc. However, it may be a long shot/lot to ask.

While your basic idea isn't ridiculous, you've got to consider what you really have to offer.

It doesn't sound like you're really expert level in drafting and design from what you say - so they aren't really buying that expertize.

You may or may not be a relatively expert SW user, which you might be able to leverage.

With your level of experience I'm not clear that your an expert in a particular field of engineering design etc., and you'd have to be careful about offering engineering services without PE anyway.

There are already companies that offer drafting/engineering services that you're competing with. They'll often be degreed engineers and/or experienced drafters.

So, what is your selling point? At $10 or even $15 an hour it might be price, I don't know what's typical for your area. However, can you really operate on that price scale by the time you need a decent PC, software...?

If you have some kind of personal relationship with a potential client you might be able to leverage it, otherwise in an open market it may be challenging.

I'd think carefully about the business plan aspects.

Oh, and your experience of how your previous employer documented things is not typical of all industry segments/companies. It may be standard in custom machinery design, I don't know.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[brandonbw]

It seems better to go intern somewhere for now. I remember interning in 2001 making $14/hr getting some much needed eye opening experience working for the govt.

And once you have more years of real experience see if going off on your own makes more sense. I know the exact type of people who would hire you right now, and I see what the finished product ends up looking like, and it's not good. I don't know why you were in such a rush to do all of these things at once, instead of concentrating on just finishing with your degree.

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

http://bwengr.com

 

[ports394]

A $4k loan is nothing in a small business. I work for a small tech start up. We've spent $30-50k of cash in an afternoon for our larger purchases. Most start ups have no income.

But you spend the money now, and it's an investment, against you learning and earning money.

I'd finish school first. You can be a jack of all trades, and a master of none. But they way you sound right now, you're not even going to be a face card.

 

[patdh1028]

There are many things that in my opinion don't add up.

It does not make sense to me to start a business that you are planning to do only for 2 years. You're talking about having your parents co-sign a loan for business expenses; why not have them co-sign a loan to tide you over for 2 years while you pursue your degree? The sums don't make sense; you're anticipating that you will be able to pay your bills if you make $10/hr, and even $7.40/hr was working for you before. That is not a ridiculous amount of money to take out a loan for.

I think the biggest strike against the idea is the risk. There are plenty of businesses started that fail. More fail than are successful. Even successful businesses don't make money for the first few years. At 21 with home ownership expenses I believe it would be ill-advised to make moves that have a distinct (if not good) possibility of leaving you worse off than before.

Could your plan work? I think so. But it is important to consider what will happen if it doesn't, and also important to consider that if you're only looking at making $10/hr you could make that much doing something else with no overhead (i.e. getting a regular labor job or better yet an internship) or take out a loan to help get you through school.

 

[FACS]

I agree with New Postpatdh1028 on this, and a few others.

If you are a college student, then finish being a college student.

You are only 21, and right now, it seems you are running around a bit like a chicken on acid.

Do one thing, do it well, finish it, and then move on. Get your education first, and make that your priority. Then, when you are done with that, look at your options; come back then and ask for advice.

Right now, you are just wasting valuable time and energy when you could be studying.

Charlie

http://www.facsco.com

 

[brandonbw]

I think the real eye opener will be when you get your first job after college and work a few years. You will realize that you really do not know anything. And like one of my past project managers told me, anyone who tells you they know everything, knows nothing. Get some experience first. If you are that go getter you will probably understand a lot of posts on this forum of awful hours and wanting to do an easier job that makes significantly more money.

At that point if you start your business you will know you paid your dues and are ready. I am doing this right now, and it's been tough going through the depression, but we are still chugging along. Can't say that about a lot of my competition. But you really do not want to start a an engineering business being happy starting out at $11/hr. Go work at McDonalds and have no stress.

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

http://bwengr.com