How to start? 18

[DacMandru]

I want to start my own business (engineering firm) HVAC and buildings mechanical

Where do I start?

Ant hints will be very apreciated

Thank you

 

[IRstuff]

On the face of it, WOM is really the only way. Given that the OP has little solo experience, what can possibly distinguish him against all the other incumbents and other new startups? Most people would be looking for a trail of successful project completions, and if you have none of your own, the going will be slow.

TTFN
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Of course I can. I can do anything. I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
There is a homework forum hosted by engineering.com:

http://www.engineering.com/AskForum/aff/32.aspx

 

[SteelPE]

While this is the similar to other posts..... I would say you need to get your name out there. To anyone you can (end users, other engineers etc). I have received referrals on projects that other engineers a) didn't want b) were too busy to do.

There are other posts in other forums about engineering consortiums. Groups of people who work out of their house and pool resources when necessary.

I do work at ever level. End users, architects, contractors, fabricators, manufacturers etc, other engineers. Most of these are either former co-workers or former clients. It has just expanded from there through WOM.

There is no one thing that you are going to do that is going to get you the work you are looking for.... it is going to be the 1,000 little things that you are going to do that will get you work.

 

[brandonbw]

It takes time. I let everyone I knew that I was starting up. I concentrated a lot on our website. At least that was another way for people to find us. Putting in a ton of time there has lead to people finding us through search engines. Eventually word of mouth gets out there and now we are too busy. My partner just brought on another structural because we were turning too much of that work away. No cold calling, no advertising, just the website and working really hard to meet our clients' demands. We just recently got business cards after 5+ years.

I am upfront about everything; deadlines, costs, what it really takes to do the job. I am surprised how many other Civil companies around here just take on work, let it sit, and ignore the clients. I also let them know we aren't the cheapest but we aren't the most expensive. No one wants expensive, and if they want the cheapest, I wish them luck.

There is a reason people say to have a few years of money when starting out. I wouldn't do this part time unless you partnered with someone who could do it full time. You need to put all your effort towards your company.

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

http://bwengr.com