When to hang up my shingle 2

[EngrPaper]

Hey folks. This forum has been my favorite for a long time. Ever since I began reading here about 6 years ago, it has inspired me to hang up my own shingle. I really value your opinions on the business of engineering, so I wanted to lay my cards out in the open and get your thoughts on whether you think I am ready to start my own solo engineering firm or if I have more to do before I can make the leap.

I’ll try not to dox myself too hard on here, but any of y’all who may know my background will probably pick this up. For general reference, I am in Alabama.

Education - Summa Cum Laude from a local state university with a Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering.

My Experience
My work background is quite varied. I began writing it out in detail and then realized I was being too wordy. Here is the summary.

Job 1 – Textile manufacturing company – Mechanical project engineer with projects including chain drives and servos and process piping and system design for chill water, thermal oil, and natural gas. Really discovered my love of piping and process design here. 2 years there.

Job 2 – Big EPC Company – Piping engineer with short hops into the process group. Learned pipe stress around power turbines, reliefs, heavy rotating equipment, etc. Got to also learn how EPCs do heat and mass balances, equipment specs, etc. 1.5 years there and they closed the office when Covid hit.

Job 3 – Big Rocket Company – Launch Engineer, Fluid Systems at big rocket company in FL. Moved the family down there for work and absolutely loved it. Deep dived in intense process design work, piping design and fabrication, and construction. I was able to develop process and piping experience in cryogenics (LN2, LNG), high pressure (6000+ psig) gas systems, regulatory approval processes, and more. Another 1.5 years there before the location really started to take a toll on the family due to being away from our hometown and extended family. I got my initial PE while I was here.

Job 4 (Current) – Medium EPC Company – Came on as a mechanical engineer doing pipe stress and EOR-ing design detail piping jobs. I was able to leverage my cryogenics experience for some specialty work there but also branch into non-metallic piping systems (mostly FRP). After a year and a half or so, I made a lateral move into our process group so I can get back more into the system design work. I’ve been doing a variety of chemical process work in specialty chemical industries with some projects in mineral processing. This includes mass balances, PFD/P&ID development, equipment specifications, and hydraulic calcs. I am active in proposal development, getting in front of clients, and site field work. I have been here for about 3 years.

All-in-all, I am licensed in several states and have a wide background of experience in the process industries. I am also in a subgroup for an ASME standard that I enjoy working on and lets me meet a lot of folks.

As for my family situation and starting a business, I’ve been married a little over 10 years, I am about to turn 30, and I’ve got a gaggle of kids under 8 years old. We have enough saved that we could change nothing about our lifestyle and could live 6-8 months comfortably without any income. Beans and ricing could get us a year or so before I would need to find work. This includes my projected business costs (insurance, software, and all that) and replacing health insurance through a purchased plan from healthcare.gov.

I want to go out on my own so that I can take full responsibility of my own work and also get the reward of it. I don’t mind working smaller jobs so that it is possible for only me to do it. In fact, I probably prefer that. My target projects would be thermal and utility fluid systems in medium sized manufacturing and process plants in my area. New system construction, retrofits, operational analyses. I can also leverage some more specialized work with FRP pipe stress and cryogenics as those are becoming more needed for cost savings or bulk gas systems. I want to come alongside these companies to handle their small to medium projects myself and also act as an owner’s engineer on larger ones. I am in Alabama, which is heavy in pulp and paper, auto, steel, and also has easy access to adjacent markets in GA, MS, and elsewhere.

I have a few industry contacts (former coworkers and otherwise) that I plan to contact first about potential work but my only restriction from my present work is a non-solicitation agreement, which is totally fair. I am not trying to take any processes or clients with me.

So please, let me know your thoughts. From an experience background, is there anything lacking? From a client acquisition perspective, am I shooting myself in the foot to not have a client signed before I make this jump? Am I nuts to do this while I have young kids and a stay-at-home wife?

 

[AgMechEngr]

I know all sorts of engineers in my business. Guys with 25+ years of experience that are absolute clowns, and young engineers with 5 years experience that have picked up the trade very fast, and totally outclass some of the veterans. Plenty of competent engineers are ready to practice on their own after 4-5 years of practice. After all, that's why you only need 4-5 years of experience to get your P.E. and get out there and practice on your own. if you needed more, PE boards would require more.

Plenty of people get licensed and hang their own shingle the next day. hell, i was one of them. (took about 9 years to get licensed though). been 5 years in business now and loving it, making a killing too.

This is my experience. I went out on my own 2 years after licensure with 6 years of experience. While working for a consulting firm after starting in industry, I feel like I looked behind the "veil." I observed that most of the consultants didn't understand what they were doing, but were regurgitating old plan sets, details, etc. I worked to understand the why behind everything I worked on. There are tons of "Principals" that only have a surface level understanding of their work. You just have to have confidence in yourself and make the leap into self-employment. It is not always fun, but working for someone else isn't either. It is good to have a business plan but it will evolve as you go along. I thought I would be doing one thing, but fell into another specialty. If you wait until the timing is right or you have everything figured out, you will never start.

A good network, reputation, and a demand for your specialty will take you far. Always communicate with your clients. Never put off phone calls and always provide updates on the progress of work. If you are late, it is received much better if it is not a surprise at the deadline.

I have barely kept my head above water since I started, and my business has grown organically. I have done no marketing.

 

[AZPete]

AgMechEngr,
Are you practicing in mechanical, or ag, or what kind of service? What kind of clients?

 

[EngrPaper]

Thank you everyone for the helpful advice and reminders. Right now I am in tool and template development mode (wrote all my piping specifications, working on drawing and calculation templates, etc.), but when I transition to this full time, I will let everyone know how its going - for good or ill. And I think I can say fully now it is a "when" not an "if".

 

[AgMechEngr]

AZPete,

I studied at an A&M university, hence the name. However, I do practice agricultural, civil, and environmental engineering.

My clients are 50% businesses, 25% developers, and 25% homeowners. The homeowner work is all on-site wastewater management consulting.