Business Development

[ali1361]

Friends,

I know that you probably think this subject is not related to this forum. I first apologize for posing this subject. Now that we took the exam and we have some time to get the results I would like to get your opinions about how one can start developing his own business considering he is a PE.

I know the market is now good and probably the best thing is to work for other companies. But there are people who has hard time working for others and they would like to have their own small engineering firm.

So please if you are interested I would appreciate if you could participate in this discussion.

Thanks,

 

[willsee]

What exactly are you interested in or curious about?

 

[ali1361]

What exactly are you interested in or curious about?

 

[ali1361]

To be exact, I have two questions:

1- As an engineer you offer some services I.e. consultancy. How can one find a client to sell his services? For example you can say build a website and put it out there things like that.

2-As PE engineer how can one get independent jobs could be part time jobs or small jobs that could be offered by clients like city or others?

 

[eBreak]

To be exact, I have two questions:

1- As an engineer you offer some services I.e. consultancy. How can one find a client to sell his services? For example you can say build a website and put it out there things like that.

2-As PE engineer how can one get independent jobs could be part time jobs or small jobs that could be offered by clients like city or others?

ali1361,

First and foremost, I would recommend you work in an engineering firm for some years to obtain valuable experience in consulting. Perhaps, stay with a company until you are a project manager or in a low level management position to learn the ins and outs of how to build client relationships, preparing request for proposals, estimating, bidding on work, and the project awarding process.

Obtaining clients depends on the type of industry you are in. Are you interested in commercial developments (strip malls, office buildings), government infrastructure (federal buildings or military bases), consulting for utilities - (substation designs, etc)? Your question is very broad.

Running a business is difficult; it is extremely tough to compete with the large engineering firms. Your best approach is to team up with other like-minded engineers and perhaps start a MEP firm or a firm that only specializes in one discipline. Build relationships with local entities and get your name out there. If you are specifically asking how to start an engineering business, I hate to break to you but you are in over your head on this subject.

 

[willsee]

To be exact, I have two questions:

1- As an engineer you offer some services I.e. consultancy. How can one find a client to sell his services? For example you can say build a website and put it out there things like that.

2-As PE engineer how can one get independent jobs could be part time jobs or small jobs that could be offered by clients like city or others?

The same way you typically get a job as an employee. You network your ass off and get someone to trust you enough to give you your first go at it. Work for someone else to allow clients to build up some sort of trust and faith in you then go out on your own, and inform people that you are now on your own.

1. Who are your clients? Architects? Engineers? Contractors? Pandas? Go wherever they hang out at. Help them solve a problem. It isn't about you it's about them and what you can do for them, not what they can do for you. You can build a website but it won't be worth much and I doubt anyone is going to hire you based off of a website.

2. I have no clue what you are saying.

 

[EEgator PE]

Friends,

I know that you probably think this subject is not related to this forum. I first apologize for posing this subject. Now that we took the exam and we have some time to get the results I would like to get your opinions about how one can start developing his own business considering he is a PE.

I know the market is now good and probably the best thing is to work for other companies. But there are people who has hard time working for others and they would like to have their own small engineering firm.

So please if you are interested I would appreciate if you could participate in this discussion.

Thanks,

First, you will have to set up some sort of legal business entity. LLC's are normally prefered due to there protection of the business owner's assets and flow through of profits to the owner. You will also need to obtain a Tax ID/EIN number and what ever filings you need to do with your home state. In addition to this, you will also need to research what kind of insurance policy you will need. A typical policy is $1M with a $2M aggregate, but you may need more than the typical. Insurance costs are based on what you expect to make annually so be careful not to underestimate your annual cash flows. Normally, a qualified insurance business will know what is typically needed based on industry standards.

I also suggest finding 1 or 2 more PE's that are experienced project managers. Having a second set of eyes to review your projects is always a good idea and will limit mistakes that could be very costly. Plus, if you are an Electrical PE and you have a Civil PE and Mechanical PE as partners, you have a very wide range of projects you can look at.

For advertising and marketing, things such as trade shows and getting involved with standards such as ASTM, IEEE and IEC are great ways to build up networks and reputation. Getting city contracts will be difficult since most require you to have a certain number of employees and PE on staff to qualify to bid. As a result, you will have to obtain a reasonable size firm before you can expect to win these contracts.

Websites are good but are only found by the people already looking for you most of the time. The newer social media is better if you can apply it correctly.

 

[ali1361]

Thank you all.