Get a contract first? Or hire employees first? 6

[abzpdl]

I'm seeing some exciting opportunities for working on engineering projects that will likely require more than my efforts alone. Is the trick to starting-out to simply have enough money to hire for some bridge time, like a year?

 

[nbucska]

It depends on a lot of factors:

Do the employees need special skill which is not readily available? How long time is needed to teach them?

How long may a project take? How urgent it may be?

Can you afford to hire them now? How long can you afford to
run your business without customers?

Can you "farm out" part of the work?
etc..etc..

<nbucska@pcperipherals.com>

 

[RDK]

Some other considerations


Do you need to have the qualified staff on the payroll in order to bid?

Can you bid with an accepted conditional offer of employment to key players?

Do you have anything else for them to do in the meantime?

Can you afford the bridging hiring period?

What is the local job market like for similar qualified people? Is it tight or are there a lot of qualified people available?

What kind of company do you want to run? Do you want to have a large many employee firm with the risks and rewards associated with that or are you happy to have a smaller firm with no or fewer employees?

There are no right or wrong answers to the last question, just your personal preference.




Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[abzpdl]

Thanks for giving plenty to think about. I'm thinking to ask for resumes of engineers interested in research, and selecting a project contract based on what kind of support I can get. I'd have to get agreement from the selected team that they could be available to work if we should get the contract. Would that work?

 

[jmw]

Take a look at how the big engineering consultants work. Every time they get a project, they hire. When its over, they end the contracts.
There is usually a good pool of self employed contract engineers out there so when you need a skill, you hire it. You may pay more per diem but you only need them for the duration of the contract. They look after their own tax etc.
Now it depends on what skills you need. It may be an idea to try and find out just how available and from what agencies you get these skills. If you need to impart special skills you may need to employ, train and retain.

 

[HEC]

The concept of gathering a pool of resumes sounds interesting. As jmw has said the big guys just (sub)contract the skills they need. Why not do that as a group of profesional like minded persons rather than allow a larger company dictat to us! Just musing.

Mark Hutton
hutton4eng@picknowl.com.au

 

[jkmarshall]

I started a firm in 1985 by getting a job first...
Then things snowballed.....within 6 months I had fees
amounting to 200000usd.....then I grew out of control
I took on work in excess of my ability to produce it right
the first time......I lost many hundred thousands of dollars......I paid it off by going to work over seas...
now I am back on my own........you must get the work and the people allmost at the same time.....but get the work first......unless you have 4 or 5 hundred thousand to play
with...then you can get you a salesman....and a good one
will pay off.......I once had 54 salaried people.....now
it is me......I make more money with just me....but I am
older now and the ego has quieted some.....so I am more
content to have the money than the show.....my income exceeds my expenses by a factor of 2.67.....that way I am
always building capital......it is all about cash...the more cash you have the more you can do.....but you must
spend enough in the proper way for you that the tax man is
not keeping too much of what you produce......it is what
you keep that counts......

 

[abzpdl]

I'm impressed by your perseverence! You may be right that ego may be driving my sights to the bigger projects. Thanks for sharing your experience and insight.