Have you ever considered starting your own engineering company?

von Neumann

So, Has anybody started / or considered starting there own company

Would be very interested to know your thoughts / experiences?

Where do you think is gripe for growth?

Shiny

I have considered and still am considering it.

It would be in the area of Renewable energy hopefully.

CathalMc

I am in the middle of starting an engineering company for a specialist product in a field with huge profit margins. My comment here is that it is hard, hard work. The great idea and engineering behind it is probably the smallest fraction of the work. It has been crucial to find talented, enthusiastic, motivated people better than myself to form a team.

My semi-informed opinion is that the credit and investment market is in some flux with the aftershocks of the housing market collapse on everyone's mind. It is, perhaps, a great time to concentrating on putting together a business plan to catch the first trickles of investment money when things return to normal. The energy crisis boom is certainly an attractive direction, but not exactly blue ocean if you don't have a solid idea.

von Neumann

Hi, good to here, that there’s still some life left in the industry

Can I ask what steps you have taken, feasibility study, business plan etc?
Is there any tips you can recommend or any pitfalls you have found?

I have recently finished a start your own business course with my local enterprise board.
It was understandable very broad in nature, and I would like to get more focused advice.
Is there anywhere you feel you got particular relevant advice from?

DublinDilbert

What sort of engineering business are you looking to start?

Are you going to offer engineering services? or research/develop products related to certain fields of engineering? They are quite different businesses and have much different startup requirements/considerations...

CathalMc

I have no allegiance to my industry of training, I saw an opportunity and I pounced. I don't think my experiences will be of much use to you except perhaps anecdotal interest.

We have a business plan, now version 2, a feasibility study, a marketing plan, a distribution model, a distribution contact, a business team, an engineering team, numerous industry and academic advisers. We are accumulating capital from several sources including venture capital.

I would advise that you should try to make your "people capital" be your core strength - we followed that model, and we have two very experienced people on board, one of whom is a serial entrepreneur, and the other who has already founded and sold 3 businesses in this specific field. Good ideas are a dime a dozen, but good people with a solid business plan will build a business.

Having said that, take what you can get - get innovative, get brave, get resourceful - there's a list of engineers at the top of this forum, a lot of whom should be well qualified by now; that's a resource right there.

von Neumann

The business would be involved in high end simulation / modelling.
There are a few companies of this type in Ireland but it is far more common in the U.K.

I have identified some key niches which could be exploited to grow the business in Ireland but it would have to be traded on an international bases to achieve critical mass / expertise.

I am convinced there is a market for such a service, but I need to get some hard facts and figures together. and some personal advise / guidance.

Cheers for the advice CathalMc,
I wish you all the best with your venture.

CathalMc

Another anecdote for this thread.

A friend started a company that was originally consultancy based - an experienced team working on contracts for X% of their time, and working on an in-house project for the other (100-X)%, where X decreased as sufficient capital and the management structure was established. It's an interesting model I think, but perhaps a bit awkward given the delicacies of NDAs. As far as I'm aware, they've fully transitioned to a traditional design house model.

Okay, you say you've identified niche areas to exploit, is there a significant barrier to entry for existing companies in the field to follow? Why are they not servicing this niche right now? If the reason is small margins, do you have an idea what exactly you need to do in order to be profitable? Is the market itself growing? What is the minimum you need to get the first contract and fulfill it - ie: you'd prefer bootstrap initially, then seek finance when the business model is proven and only working capital is the limit.
You don't need necessarily answer these to me here, but you should have hard figures to answer them to yourself before you invest your own money.

At any rate, you should post back here with infrequent updates because I think entrepreneurship something that the Irish lack initiative on, hopefully this thread would motivate others.

von Neumann

CathalMc wrote: »

Another anecdote for this thread.

A friend started a company that was originally consultancy based - an experienced team working on contracts for X% of their time, and working on an in-house project for the other (100-X)%, where X decreased as sufficient capital and the management structure was established. It's an interesting model I think, but perhaps a bit awkward given the delicacies of NDAs. As far as I'm aware, they've fully transitioned to a traditional design house model.

Okay, you say you've identified niche areas to exploit, is there a significant barrier to entry for existing companies in the field to follow?

The only barrier would be market and industry knowledge, however the technology can be eye wateringly complex and not easy transitioned into.............despite what software vendors might say.

CathalMc wrote: »

Why are they not servicing this niche right now? If the reason is small margins, do you have an idea what exactly you need to do in order to be profitable? Is the market itself growing?

The niche is growing as the technology matures, I see in time 10+ years, this sort modelling becoming a legal requirement and standard practice.

CathalMc wrote: »

What is the minimum you need to get the first contract and fulfill it - ie: you'd prefer bootstrap initially, then seek finance when the business model is proven and only working capital is the limit.

In theory very little, software and time.........But in reality, a professional business image and structure

CathalMc wrote: »

You don't need necessarily answer these to me here, but you should have hard figures to answer them to yourself before you invest your own money.

At any rate, you should post back here with infrequent updates because I think entrepreneurship something that the Irish lack initiative on, hopefully this thread would motivate others.

One of my greatest concerns is the industry as a whole is heavy relationship based with plenty of unusual business practices .
And while technically I see no issues, how good I would be at these unusual business practises is an other matter all together as I am a techy at heart.

CathalMc

Thanks for the update VN. I am by no means an expert but I would speculate that it sounds like you might have two significant avenues of identifying value in your service:

Firstly, undercutting the standard price of these services in the broader market but with the added headache keeping it profitable for you.

The second is expertise: building a resume & track record to audibly claim past-successes in marketing pitches. Again, start small and build from a core of a few very satisfied customers.

Related to both of these is improved processes. You mentioned the standard software tools, and you mentioned a niche market. Perhaps there is some optimization of the design/business cycle that can be done when you are confined to this specific area. It might be as low-bar as scripting the existing software to automate portions of the process, it might be high-bar as an online customer data exchange platform. Is there a portfolio of reusable generic code/parts/processes that you could leverage? Basically anything that simplifies and hastens engineering operations or customer interactions, lowers costs and makes you more competitive.

I think some specialized advice is called for in breaking that "heavy relationship" based market. You might be advised to try trade-shows or conferences, I really don't know.

Rickyherb

I happened to be another Engineer that is actively seeking other fellow Engineers, Chemical, Mechanical, Civil and Petroleum looking at going private or Consulting. The idea of free lancing in Engineering is going to be the future as these companies outsource much of their manufacturing leaving the creative part here. Here is my question (a) I saw one person talking about Renewable energy market, how many of you are willing to pull forces together and give this a run. (b) Most of these Consulting, contracting and doing business and providing Engineering services/ products with the public requires licensing - does any one know if its possible to start a company and perform any of the above before you are licensed i.e a P.E ?. ( I am working on my P.E as we speak). (c) Within the Renewable Energy space- which one of these sectors: (i) Solar, (ii) Wind Energy, (iii) Bio-fuels/ biodiesel/ Ethanol/syngas has the best promise and is most likely to be a major player in the Energy market as we approach 'Peak oil' ?. (d) And who of you has started, is starting, has an ongoing venture of this sorts and what are the pitfalls etc, etc.

maggiecormac

A friend of mine was at an Accelerating Campus Entrepreneursihp (ACE) conference on Entreprenurship in Farmeligh hose the other day ... alot of big wigs at it, but apparently they are startin a "Gradaute Technology Enterprise Accelerator" accredited as an Msc in Technology Entreprenurship at IT Blancharsdtown.

The idea is they give you incubation space, access to design labs and protoyping workshops, as well as courses in startup finance, marketing etc...

Souds good. I can't find ny info on it though ... anyone heard anything??