Consulting, etc....

[EdinNO]

Anyone considering either sooner or later going out on your own consulting after you get your PE license?

I am considering it, but just not sure exactly how to get it rolling.

I am a mechanical, have been in the HVAC industry, but dealt with and deigned controls more than anything. Most controls deal with commercial building HVAC systems.

I considered approaching mechanical contractors and helping them out on an as-needed basis to enable them to delve more into the controls themselves.

Anyone else? Any thoughts?

Ed

 

[Road Guy]

I used to work with a structural guy, who started taking smaller stuff on the side while he was working for us (Large national firm) it was stuff that we were too expensive for, checking shop drawings, doing small bridges for shortline railroads and such, and he did that for about 2 years (very secretly) until he had enough cash flow to quite his "day job" he is doing pretty well, and that would seem to be the only way I would know to do it . Unless you have the cash to not have a full time job at the start up.

I dont know anything about the mechanical industry, but my wife works for herself (Healthcare) and its been a pain for her, instead of 1 boss you have 15 "clients" and they always want the most, but want to pay the least, etc, With what we pay in accounting fees and taxes sometimes its not worth the effort. But she only gross's about $45K. She is actually getting out of it all together and is going back to school part time.

Most of the work I do is for State DOT's and large Counties, and I think about working for myself all the time (Especially when I see the checks from our clients) but I just dont have the $ to hire the staff I would need to win work. We have to give 12% of our work to "Minority Firms" and there really just are not a lot of them around (suprisingly) I would love to find a female and be her 49% business partner. The few good minority firms(DBE) are in such demand because all the other firms are required to give work away to them..

 

[EdinNO]

Interesting thoughts.

What about having a wife (who is not an engineer at all and only helps with the clerical stuff) owning the company and getting minority status that way?

Ed

 

[Mike in Gastonia]

I used to work with a structural guy, who started taking smaller stuff on the side while he was working for us (Large national firm) it was stuff that we were too expensive for, checking shop drawings, doing small bridges for shortline railroads and such, and he did that for about 2 years (very secretly) until he had enough cash flow to quite his "day job" he is doing pretty well, and that would seem to be the only way I would know to do it .

Wow - how did he handle the liability? Did he incorporate and have insurance? Otherwise, in some states your company could have been liable. That's why companies crack down on moon lighting.

I went into business for myself for a few years. It was more project management than engineering, though. I didn't do any design. I had worke lined up though with several clients before I quit my job.

 

[Road Guy]

I think he got his own personal liability insurance (I dont really know, I didnt even know he was doing it until after he had quit and thats when he told me)

Not something I think I would mess with (Moonlighting)

on the DBE, most states have really cracked down on having the 51% owner simply be a manager or clerical type person. In Georgia, they actually interview the person and they have to have either a degree in the field, or equivalent experience in the industry.

I couldnt see working with my wife every day though, after 13 years of marriage, the weekends are long enough....

and on that note :Thank God Its Monday!

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I don't possess the technical or marketing skills to do any side work at this point.

I've only been out of college a few years and took the PE the first chance I was eligible.

But as I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm on my town's planning board. Hopefully once I get my PE, I can start getting into doing plan reviews for the applications they receive. I figure why pay an engineer on the outside to do the work when you can have one of your own members do it.

I've been told at the new job I'm starting shortly that they want to groom me along a PM path, which would include marketing and developing proposals and scopes. It'd be a great skill to have.

 

[Road Guy]

I got an MBA a while back, it didnt really get me any more $$ but It has been really helpful along the PM track, some of the marketing classes actually have given me a lot of help with proposals, I do most of the proposals for our office, and its nice to be able to draw on some "new ideas" since most engineering proposals are fairly ..bland..

 

[NSEARCH]

Road Guy - I've been thinking of getting my Masters in the near future and have been trying to decide if I should do the Masters in Water Resources Engineering or the MBA. What made you decide on the MBA?

 

[EdinNO]

Nsearch,

My thinking is that the bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering was actually more than technical enough to do the things I need to do. An MBA will help me out with business, marketing and management, which is where I believe the money will be. I'm not saying that I am going for an MBA or any additional degree at all. But I have considered it and that is the way I would lean.

I like your avitar (I think). Is that the guy with the bin full of emergency Heineken's?

Ed

 

[NSEARCH]

Yeah Ed.....it's Lootie :cig:

That's why I'm leaning towards the MBA over the Master's in Water Resources. I'm moving into the management side of things little by little and I think having those skills (marketing and management) will serve me better in the long run. If you look at the top dog engineers in this country, they aren't engineers (by day trade speaking), they're business people.

 

[Road Guy]

the main reason I didnt do a MCE is that the only shool in my area that offers it is Ga Tech, and well lets just say they would get a good laugh if I applied there. :true:

I know in other CE fields such as water resources, structural, and traffic engineering a masters is probably the better alternative, I am basically a "road engineer / project manager" and felt it would better suit me into one day running a transportation department or small office.

At the time I started (2001) I was kind of in a slump(didnt like engineering that much) and was also going to use it as an avenue to work in a different consulting field (like for Accenture or some other consulting gig) but when I interviewed at those places, even though the $ was nice, the travel expectations were greater than what I wanted (wife was getting pregnant every year :cig: , I was still in the national guard and that occupied a lot of time) so I decided to put my "A" game back into engineering......

 

[rleon82]

Anyone know what personal liablity insurance costs for an individual Engineer? I cannot get answer out of anyone.

 

[DVINNY]

LOOTIE ROCKS.

That guy became infamous. I saw a thread on a forum once about him that made me damn near piss myself. Good Stuff.

We need a lootie thread.

TOT. (totally off topic)

 

[EdinNO]

rleon82,

I could be dead wrong, but here is my impression:

I'm thinking in the neighborhood of $3000 per year, but this could be WAY off.

I say $3000 because a friend of mine started an engineering firm a few years back. His firm practices mostly in the industrial arena (oil refineries, Chemical plants and the like- nasty, dangerous, expensive places). He told me that, during their first year, the insurance guy made a mistake and charged them for commercial building (HVAC, etc...) engineering. This was $3000. In the following years, they were charged the proper amount pertaining to the industrial market in which they practice. This was somewhere near $20,000.

Now, I don't know if the rate is different for an individual vs a company like his. I just kept that $3000 yearly insurance rate in my mind as the amount I would likely have to pay if I start out on my own. Also, I am more in the commercial building industry, which is the lower of the two.

Now these figures may be all screwed up, but its what I had in mind.

Ed

 

[rleon82]

Thanks Edwino. I was looking to do Dock, seawall, small drainage designs (1-5 ac), and home plans. $3,000 for coverage sounds do-able.

 

[EdinNO]

rleon82,

Just don't run wild with that number. I could be totally off, but based on the conversation I had with my friend (and relying on my fading memory), that's the impression I get.

What state are you in?

Are you just getting started?

You may be a few months or so ahead of me, but maybe we can bounce a few ideas off of each other in the future.

Ed

 

[rleon82]

Florida here. 5 years Engineering exp., looking to do some Moonlighting. I hear there are tons of small jobs ($5k or less) that the big firms make no $$$ off of. Would like to pick up one of those jobs per week.

Where you located Edino?

 

[EdinNO]

"in NO" as my name states!

I'm in the New Orleans area. I need to find out what types of small jobs I can pick up. I am mostly into control and automation systems and HVAC-related stuff.

I may start off moonlighting, but then again may just jump right out there. I just need to get my ducks in a row before-hand.

Ed

 

[rleon82]

Had a friend in Junior high named Edwino, thought that was what your name stood for.

Good luck with that HVAC stuff, Mechanical Engineering is way over my head.

 

[NSEARCH]

Where in FL are you located rleon82? Lakeland here.