Working for myself 4

[Nitram21]

I'm a young engineer currently working for a small design firm in the Oil/Gas industry. I like my work and I'm learning lots. However, I'm still not sure this is what I want to do forever.

Ultimately I'd just like to work for myself. I spent my senior year at University dug into a feasibility study for a large-scale power plant as my senior design project. I really enjoyed this work (both the power-gen stuff and the high-level nature of such a study) and I think I'd eventually like to do feasibility studies full-time.

I'm just not sure where to start. I've browsed around a few sites (like this:

http://www.tendersinfo.com/global-consultancy-engineering-tenders.php)

that have boat loads of these jobs.

Is there anyone out there that works for themselves and does this kind of stuff? Am I crazy for thinking that I could find a small-scale, low budget project, and slowly gain experience with these type of jobs before transitioning to them full time a few years down the road?

 

[berkshire]

If you want to work for yourself, you need to ask, " What happens if I am any good at this?"
Many years ago I had the same dream. Then I got more work than I could handle, so I hired a guy, then another, then a secretary, and a couple more guys. Before long I was running a business, and I was so tied up in running the business that I was no longer doing the things I loved to do.
So the question is are you ready for that?
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[Nitram21]

Thanks for the reply.

I think I'm ready for it; but at the same time I'm sure everyone says that.

I'm certainly at the point where I want to give this a shot. Ideally I'd like to find a small scale project that I can handle (I'm still not a P.Eng in Canada).

 

[Ron]

Maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds like you have little experience. Before you strike out on your own, perhaps it would be good to give it a bit of time to gain some experience that would increase your value to your clients and reduce your liability exposure.

 

[zdas04]

Two whole years. WOW. And a Senior Design Project under the guidance of some well thought of PhD. Hard to top. I mean everyone knows how much accountability and responsibility go along with a Senior Design Project. [None]

At 2 years in Oil & Gas I had been to a half dozen countries and 50 gas fields (I started with Amoco in the General Office developing software for the field so I had to see what a field looked like) and felt like I knew just about nothing about how this industry works. My apprenticeship was 6 years turning wrenches in the US Navy and 23 years with a major O&G company. At that point I had enough credentials and enough contacts to make starting my own business feasible. I must have just been a slow learner.

Best of luck to you.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

Law is the common force organized to act as an obstacle of injustice Frédéric Bastiat

 

[ztengguy]

Dont let the negative nancies get you down. Get some more experience, your PE or PEng, and then go for it.

 

[zdas04]

Yeah, live your dream. Don't let lack of experience, lack of qualifications, and lack of a business plan stand in the way of realizing your dream TODAY.

I bet that people with the resources to need a "feasibility study for large scale power plant" would be quite content with the credentials you acquired during your Senior Design Project. I know if I had a few dozen millions of dollars to apply to the feasibility of building a multi-billion dollar facility I'd accept your experience without question.

Not trying to be a "Negative Nancy" here, but come on. Picture the scale of what you are trying to accomplish. Picture the resources that you have to apply to that scale. Kind of a mis-match don't you think?

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

Law is the common force organized to act as an obstacle of injustice Frédéric Bastiat

 

[rowingengineer]

Zdas has nailed it, reminds me of a quote
"Proving he was too young and too green and rushed to the top Loughran wiped the ring with the Bulldog's career."

Most small businesses fail because of lack of planning and experience, don't let this be you.

http://www.nceng.com.au/

"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning."

 

[Nitram21]

Had you actually read my original post, you'd see that I am in no way interested in "multi-million/billion" dollar jobs as you make it out to seem like I have. It seems you've is-understood the scale I'm talking about.

I realize I'm not capable of completing a "large scale power plant" for someone that has "a few dozen millions of dollars to apply" for a "multi-billion dollar facility" and would be completely insane to be under the impression I could do such a task with my credentials.

I'm simply wondering if anyone out there has done simple *small scale* studies to get a foundation for this type of work that could be applied to larger scale items later in life.

 

[zdas04]

You've been in O&G for two years. How many "feasibility studies" have you seen? My guess is approximately zero. In 23 years with a major (10 of them in the General Office) I saw a couple of dozen and all of them had multi-million dollar price tags. Good luck cracking that door as a new firm.

Just out of curiosity, what do you do for this "small design firm" in O&G?

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

Law is the common force organized to act as an obstacle of injustice Frédéric Bastiat

 

[vonsteimel]

I think you had it right in the first place.

"Am I crazy for thinking that I could find a small-scale, low budget project, and slowly gain experience with these type of jobs before transitioning to them full time a few years down the road"

Keep your job. See if you can "find a small-scale, low budget projects" ---and then--- "slowly gain experience with these type of jobs" ---before quitting your current job and--- "transitioning to them full time"

Experiences & fortunes vary widely & greatly...

Ventures that have been poorly plan have been wildly successful before and superbly planned ventures have failed miserably before. Few things spell certain doom in business...
Someone once said "Business and money don't breed warm feelings. Ninety-five percent of what people say about you is going to be negative. And remember, that means that you are doing a good job."

Lastly, I'd recommend holding off until you have at the very least, 5 years of experience...

 

[berkshire]

Remember the guy that started FED EX wrote that business plan for his college thesis and got a FAIL on it.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[Ron]

Nitram21...I understood you clearly. My answer remains the same. You have little or no experience and even if you want only small jobs, you need to understand that there is no significant relationship between the size of the project and your liability to your client. There's also no relationship between your fee for a project and your liability. To think otherwise will get you into deep $hit.
zdas04 and I have both been there, done that. It sounds easy and has a great allure....'till you figure out what you are up against. Experience still means a lot in the engineering field (as it should). While regulators and academicians are trying desperately to change that, clients still rely on experience and performance, not smoke and mirrors.

 

[rowingengineer]

Come on Berkshire,
I think the liability/expectations/duty of care with parcel delivery compared to professional engineering is slightly different. Engineers are normally judge on experience/expertise, if you don't have these you most probably will fail to stack-up to companies that care about the quality of the work produced.

http://www.nceng.com.au/

"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning."

 

[berkshire]

rowingengineer (Structural)
You are right. From a business world it was a good example.
From an engineering point of view it was horrible.
Progressive experience and responsibility go hand in hand, and to assume the responsibility without the experience is a prescription for disaster.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[AELLC]

Along this topic, one thing that key to Bill Gate's success was the ability to produce an actual practical, working OS for the first personal computers. He promised the computer makers that he already had an OS up and running, where in fact he did not yet have it - however he then quickly acquired that DOS created by someone in Seattle, for a monetary pittance.

Again, bad engineering example, but all in all Bill Gate's meteoric rise was all due on extreme cunning and luck.

 

[KENAT]

Another point, when working for yourself you'll find the boss can be a real a$$hole.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[Ron]

KENAT...I've found that to be absolute! I pi$$ myself off routinely.

 

[brandonbw]

If you were ready you would probably be asking a different kind of question relating to starting the business. The experience of 5 years is a good guide. But you can still work for 5 years and learn nothing. I worked with plenty of drafters with 15-20 years experience and still did not know how to design. I have also worked with drafters with a few years of experience and could design. Figure out a way to take everything you can from your current job. That includes things like how much does that place run in overhead each month. How much cushion do you have for when you aren't being paid. Its amazing how many people don't understand how running a company works with a basic thing like you aren't getting a weekly paycheck. I will end with the liability of engineering plans.

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

http://bwengr.com

 

[AELLC]

Zuckerberg and Gates may have made it big, but a lot of people with great aspirations and equal or greater qualifications were not so lucky. So be realistic.