Business/Entrepreneurship

Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset

March 8, 2021 By EMI

This is a blog by Jeff Perry, MBA

“If you don’t take control of your career development, it’s highly unlikely that anyone else will!”
~ Derric Yuh Ndim

Whether you are an entrepreneur, business owner, leader, or individual contributor/employee, there are lessons you can take from how entrepreneurs successfully operate so you can build a great life and career.

Entrepreneurs are known for being visionary, risk takers, and innovators. Often they go “all-in” on an idea to try and make it happen.

Does that mean you have to put it “all on the line” and “risk it all”? No, not necessarily. But you can take smart risks that seem difficult or uncomfortable right now that will lead to personal and professional growth.

Why Mindset?

8 Tips From an Engineer Who Started a Business From Scratch

March 5, 2021 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Leanna Michniuk

“That feeling of what the heck are we doing never really leaves you. You just keep at it until you figure it out and surround yourself with really smart people to help you get there.”

The very first episode of our new series, Civil Engineering Entrepreneurs on The Civil Engineering Podcast, has recently published! We’re partnering with the Engineering Management Institute to deliver expert insight and helpful ideas for engineers.

In this first episode, host Anthony Fasano, P.E. sits down with Gordon Greene, P.E., of Patel, Greene & Associates, LLC (PGA) to learn how he successfully grew his company from a few employees to 85+. During the episode, he calls out eight sound pieces of advice for people who are starting a business from scratch or perhaps looking to improve upon their strategy.

Read on to learn his eight tips and how you can implement them into your own company.

A Sustainable Sales Platform Starts With an Organization’s Values

November 23, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Mike Burns, PE, PgMP, DBIA

As with every phase of life, beginnings and ends are times for focused reflection on our successes and failures. Individually and as a member of a team, this analysis sets the stage for subsequent growth. This reflective planning rhythm has defined the last 10 years of my life, as I’ve strived to grow from events: the Great Recession, the Arab Spring, AECOM exiting the P3 / DBFM market, and in 2020, COVID-19. With my deepest sympathies for the devastating health and socioeconomic outcomes we’ve collectively faced this year, I remain cognizant of the fact that my privilege and support system have allowed me to navigate these challenges with limited pain. I hope that this brief discussion of my migration into a sales role helps you overcome the naysayers on your path.

Whether seeking professional growth or facing the daunting task of finding a new job, there are often a series of devastating no’s before the next empowering yes. For me these included, “you are a developer, not an engineer,” “you’ve never worked overseas, in a corporate role, on a billion dollar program, etc.” Recently, “you’ve never been in a pure business development (BD) role.” Each of these no’s guided my outreach to mentors, discussions with colleagues, and educational desires. I leveraged their collective wisdom to evolve my professional approach, remaining focused on building teams, empowering individuals, and continuous learning; this approach has allowed me to remain engaged, enjoying life as a student and a teacher.

Applicability of Green Engineering Solutions

July 10, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Chris Jackson

Today, the world is facing environmental problems such as climate change, high energy costs, and pollution-related illnesses. These issues have prompted engineers and architects to develop green solutions. Designed to be more environmentally friendly, new residential and commercial buildings and renovations are now able to reduce emissions, energy consumption, and illnesses. While the use of sustainable practices is currently a hot trend in both renovation and new construction, it was actually developed more than 50 years ago, when only few builders and designers gave this idea little thought.

One of the popular sustainable solutions includes green engineering. To learn more about green engineering, this article by Best Access Doors is something that you should check out.

What Is Green Engineering?

An Engineering Growth Framework for Engineers and Engineering Managers

March 30, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Amanda Jerelyn

Without a proper career path in front of you, chances for further progress seem diluted at best. An engineering growth framework addresses such concerns expediently by providing ground rules and a wide-ranging action plan for those who wish to move ahead in their careers.

The growth framework offers tremendous insights; it focuses on how current jobs and operations can be improved, opens new doors for future opportunities, and accomplishes organizational goals, missions, and objectives.

An all-inclusive engineering growth framework also makes the entire process extremely fair and transparent so that there aren’t any blind corners or discrepancies for those who wish to evaluate their own performance. Both employees and employers can be on the same page, as well as know precisely what the next step should be.

It also acts as a definite tool to keep engineers aware of where they stand and what they need to do in order to move up the ladder. It therefore becomes quite a dominant motivational factor for those who identify themselves as a “go-getter”!

How to Utilize an Engineering Growth Framework

Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset: Risk Is Opportunity

March 23, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Michael Burns, PE, PgMP, DBIA

In previous EMI blogs, we discussed Thinking Big and Being Mindful as We Set Goals and Building Confidence Through Empathetic Stakeholder Engagement. I fully respect that managing these objectives with a myriad of associated voices can be distracting as we attempt to sustain growth. Sustaining growth, for our businesses and talent, is particularly difficult in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Industry, as we constantly regroup to provide service on projects that marry significant technical challenges with dynamic client expectations. So, the intent of this month’s discussion is to explore a Risk Intelligent approach, creating a consistent basis for our teams to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and explore entrepreneurial solutions.

Creating Recurring Revenue for Increased Stability of a Small Firm

March 16, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Sam Lytle, PE

In the world of engineering, owning a business or even being self-employed often requires stepping outside of technical design and into new territories of bookkeeping, marketing, web design, payroll, invoicing, and a bevy of other tasks not normally taken on by engineers.

In 2011, I realized I belonged to the former — the drive to leave the engineering design path hit hard and fast. This drive was the motivating force that helped me make the jump in 2014 to start Civil FX, and it is still with me today. With that career change has also come those many other tasks that a business owner inevitably faces, including financial duties, hiring decisions and — my personal favorite — marketing and branding. As I’m not incredibly technically minded and engineering was never a satisfying fit, this transition has been mostly comfortable for me. The constant barrage of challenges has been steadied by the freedom of being on my own and the feeling of knowing I’m where I need to be in my career.

Building A(n) (Un)Sustainable Business

How to Start Your Own Engineering Practice

September 9, 2019 By EMI

How to Start Your Own Engineering Practice is a guest blog by Allison Hail

So you want to start your own engineering practice? Becoming an independent engineering consultant can be very lucrative. It also gives you freedom over the work you do. But it is a very different lifestyle than working for an engineering firm. There are several important items to consider before taking the plunge.

Find Your Niche

As any engineer will tell you, engineering is an enormous field of work. Even within your specialization, there is a huge variance in the kinds of projects you might take on as an engineering consultant. With innovations occurring every day in the tech sector, this variety is only set to increase.

This presents a wide array of possibilities to specialize your practice. While it may not be wise to be picky about the type of projects you take on at first, aim to be carving out a niche for yourself over time. Building a profile as the go-to person for certain kinds of projects will reduce the time you need to spend finding new clients. As word of mouth spreads, clients should start coming to you off the back of your reputation.

Stay on Top of the Admin

Things You Need to Worry About When Running Your Own Engineering Business

February 7, 2019 By EMI

***Things You Need to Worry About When Running Your Own Engineering Business* *is a guest blog by Scott Matthews***

Starting and running your own engineering business is always challenging. As many consultancies are small businesses, they face the same problems as similar ventures. 54% of SMB leaders have stated that acquiring talent is a problem.

In the world of engineering businesses, this is just the first step in a myriad of things you need to worry about. To help your business grow, we’ve analyzed the biggest concerns.

How to Think Like an Entrepreneur with this One Simple Step

March 13, 2018 By EMI

How to Think Like an Entrepreneur is a guest blog post by Daniel Hayes, PE, PMP

When I started my engineering career, I worked hard to understand and apply engineering principles and processes required to prepare deliverables in a technically correct and efficient manner.

I consider myself a good engineer. There was a time I believed the work should speak for itself. Being an introvert by nature, I don’t like to sell and don’t want to come off as salesy. I spoke of what I could do for the client. Yet, clients and prospects always wanted something more.

Why does this happen? Because as engineers, we are not selling construction plans. We are not selling the latest in engineering technology. We are not selling deliverables. Instead, we are selling solutions to problems. Real world problems that our clients need to be solved.

If a real estate developer retains a civil engineering firm to prepare a set of construction documents or to acquire the necessary permits and approvals for development, what the client wants is neither the construction documents nor the permit. What he wants is a completed development, ready for resale or rent. Engineering is just one of many means to this end and that is why you should start to think like an entrepreneur.