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Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset

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This is a guest post by Tiffani Teachey

Entrepreneurial MindsetToo often, engineers get caught up in the details of their work and lose sight of the bigger picture. While it’s important to focus on the task at hand, it’s also crucial to have an entrepreneurial mindset and be proactive in your thinking. By doing so, you can come up with new ideas and solutions that can benefit both yourself and your company. Here are just a few of the benefits of engineers thinking like an entrepreneur.

  1. Increased creativity
  2. Improved problem-solving skills
  3. More efficient time management
  4. Enhanced communication abilities
  5. Greater business knowledge and acumen

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Want to Start Your Own Business? Pay Attention to These 3 Tips!

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This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

Own Business

Tip 1: Do Not Jump on the Bandwagon 

The number of American small business applications has been increasing each year since 2016, according to PR Newswire.  

Heck, you might know a buddy who has started a lucrative side gig as a YouTuber or a TikTok creator. And the temptations might swirl around in your mind: “I should do that … look how much fun they’re having … I want my own business too!“ 

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5 Pieces of Advice Every Engineering Professional Should Know

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This is a guest blog by Leanna Michniuk from BigTime Software

Advice

Advice from people who’ve walked in your shoes is invaluable. This year, we set out with a goal to help build a community for industry leaders on how to successfully scale their business. We were fortunate to partner with EMI, and specifically its The Civil Engineering Podcast, to bring listeners a new series — The Civil Engineering Entrepreneurs. The host and founder of EMI, Anthony Fasano, sat down with experienced and skillful engineering leaders to have compelling conversations about what it takes to build and grow a firm.

As the series comes to a close, we’ve gathered five of our favorite tidbits of advice straight from guests of the podcast. Keep reading to learn more about growing a successful engineering business from pros who have been there, done that.

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The Truth About Selling

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This is a guest blog by Pamela A. Scott


“I hate sales!” “I could never sell anything!” I wish I had a dime—maybe a dollar—for every time I uttered phrases like that.  

My first business coach helped me break that thought pattern. Here is how the thinking goes:  

  1. You are an engineer who excels at (fill in the blank). 
  2. You happen to meet Chris, whose company does (fill in the blank). 
  3. Chris mentions that he/she really needs help filling a client’s request for (what you provide). 
  4. Upon hearing that, you say, “I/we can help you with that.” 
  5. Chris says, “I’d like to learn more. Call me.” 

Did you sell anything? No. 

Did you tell Chris you could help with the problem? Yes.  

Did you have to take Chris down some long sales conversation to get his/her interest? No. 

Will you close the deal? The likelihood is high.  

Change Your Thinking 

Selling isn’t about selling in that icky, slimy way that you have perceived it. Selling is about you providing a friend/client/stranger with a solution to the problem they’re trying to address. In return for your help, you get paid.  

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Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset

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This is a blog by Jeff Perry, MBA

Entrepreneurs

“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?

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8 Tips From an Engineer Who Started a Business From Scratch

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This is a guest blog by Leanna Michniuk

starting a business

“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.

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A Sustainable Sales Platform Starts With an Organization’s Values

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

Sales PlatformAs 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.

sales platform

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.

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Applicability of Green Engineering Solutions

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This is a guest blog by Chris Jackson

Green EngineeringToday, 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?

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An Engineering Growth Framework for Engineers and Engineering Managers

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This is a guest blog by Amanda Jerelyn

Engineering Growth Framework

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.

Engineering Growth Framework

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

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Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset: Risk Is Opportunity

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

An Entrepreneurial Mindset

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. 

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