I made 800k(before taxes) this year running an engineering firm

What do you and your firm do exactly?

>>1003210

Are you a patsy?

>>1003212
Surveying and construction.

>>1003213
When I need to be.

>>1003210

What would you say your biggest keys to success are?

Also, I have a home service company that does a good job and is profitable, but I'm having a hard time getting customers in the door lately. Tips?

>>1003216
Does your company oversee ordering of materials an labour?

>>1003210

Is the 800k your income or the business' gross revenue?

What is your bread and butter service, if you could only do one specialty?

>>1003225
No that's just the salary I paid myself. Gross this year will be around 2mil depending on how many invoices arrive before 2016 (600k in unpaid invoices currently).
>>1003221
No that's construction management. We only do the engineering (I meant civil engineering related to construction when I said construction)

>>1003219
I've found that most small businesses tend to undervalue their work and compromise too much out of desperation for securing a project. Knowing when to lower your cost to preserve good business relations and when not to out of respect for the service you provide makes the difference.
If you do a good enough job then your older clients should be attracting business via word of mouth. It could just be your area is going through a downtime or maybe you gotta do some legwork to advertise your service better. Really can't tell exactly what your issue might be from just that.

>>1003219
I wanted to expand on the "success" point a bit more.
Continuing on the point I made, right now I just finished dealing with this architect that was juggling 9 other jobs by himself on top of the one he has with me. The reason he has to do that is because he works for so cheap that in order to make a decent profit, he needs to work as many projects as possible. The problem is that the quality of his work suffers and he ends up causing a lot of frustration for everyone that has to work with him. If he charged more and took on less work, not only would he keep his clients happy by doing a better job, but those happy clients would end up recommending him to their partners when the time comes. I actually had a friend who was looking for an architect and I couldn't recommend this guy in good faith because his work sucks.
If you don't value your own work then how can you expect others to do so?

>>1003210
What are your goals in life? If I was making that sort of money, I'd work for 3-4 years, invest almost all of it, and retire early.

>>1003210

1) How old are you, what school did you go to and what are your quals
2) How did you start the business
3) When did you start the business
4) How did you secure a client base and expand into other territories

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>>1003246

>2 mil gross
>takes 800k salary

>>1003309
yeah you're right he should take all the profits and buy a bunch of cars and houses. /biz/ should have a minimum intelligence quota.

>>1003328

No im saying the opposite you fucking moron, taking such a gigantic salary when it's almost half your business's gross revenue is insane.

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>>1003288
1) Late 20's. Went to queen's for life science(wanted to be a doctor, hated it, switched), then went to ryerson for civil and geomatics. Now I'm finishing up my MBA at u of toronto.
2) Dad had established the surveying portion as I was growing up since his background was only in surveying. When I told him I didn't want to go into medicine anymore we came up with the plan of having me spearheading the civil engineering branch of the company, since many surveying jobs have civil components to them which we had to turn down since we lacked the resources.
3) 2 years ago
4) I was fortunate enough to be able piggyback onto the surveying jobs my dad received since he was already well established, and that was enough to build a solid portfolio and get me going. How my dad got his client base was by using his old employer (a very large construction company) as a year round client to start off. If he charged a regular fee of $120/hr, he charged this company $90/hr in order to guarantee their business and secure a constant cash flow. From there he just provided consistently excellent service, never made any mistakes and his old clients would recommend him to their partners. He just kept growing his client base primarily on word of mouth from how good his service was.

>>1003270
To keep growing the business to the point where it becomes mostly self sustaining (ie I have secretaries, party chiefs and assistants that handle most of the care taking and I primarily do quality control and business dealings).
Sure I could sell my portion of the business for 6-8mil depending on the buyer and my dads for even more once he hands it down to me. But that would be a waste of the decades worth of effort we've put in. I could definitely live comfortably off the interest if I did that money but I would forfeit not only my own potential, but my children's as well. I want to pass this onto my kids so that they can keep growing it farther and farther. This is how empires are built.

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>>1003330
I took less the years before that but I just bought a cottage this year and wanted to put at least 40% down. I'm also not trying to grow the business right now so my overhead has remained the same while my gross income grew significantly. Generally I try to put as much back into the business as I can for tax reasons but this year was an exception. Might by a couple of drones next year that do topography from the air but they cost 80k each and we don't really need them right now.

Careful there OP. My dad ran an engineering company in the UK back in the 80s. You can see a lot of there work around London. He made a killing like you, but then when a bunch of suppliers and customers went bump during a crash, and his father ripped him off, he lost it all.

Keep looking over your shoulder.

>>1003330
To clarify I only have 7 full time staff right now. Their wages range from 70-90k.

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>>1003353
Legally the company is in my name so he can't really touch it, nor would he want to since he wants to retire in the next few years. Also we're too close for that to happen.
Although the CEO of that construction company my dad used to work for (worth somewhere close to 1bil) just forced out 3 of his shareholders which were also his nephews, and their mom (his sister) had just passed away a few months prior. Money can really change you if you're not careful. Just gotta stay humble and remember where you came from. My dad's first job when he came to Canada was a pizza chef.

Whats the most important lesson in business you've learnt so far?

>>1003363
Op I'm going to become an engineering student soon most likely at Ryerson :p any advice on how I could start up a consulting firm on my own for Electrical engineering

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>>1003336
>Dad

Yeah that's all you needed to say.

/thread

>>1003397
This desu

>>1003408

Pretty much desu

>>1003397
>>1003408
>>1003432
If that's the only thing you took away from my reply then you will never be in the same realm of success as me. You have the absolute worst mentality for it.

>>1003384
First if it's an option, I recommend Queen's for engineering. The campus life and eng program is a lot more fun.
Wherever you go, make sure to do as much eng related work as possible in your downtime. Make sure that every summer you have something eng related lined up. Do the Co-op your program offers. Accumulate as much on the job exp as possible because ultimately that will serve you more professionally than what you learn in school and that's what employers really care about. Then after you graduate, look for work in a consulting firm. I would go to a small to mid sized one, even at the cost of significantly reduced pay. In the big firms you'll just become a cog in the system and progress very slowly, but you'll at least have job security. In the smaller firms you'll be more prone to being laid off and probably won't get paid as much but if you can work directly under somebody with lots of experience that can provide you their insight into your work and the business as a whole, you'll learn much more about the business and what it's like to run a firm which will ultimately serve you better when you decide to become self employed. And when you do become self employed, make sure you know everything about everything that has to do with your field. When you want manage a business and have people work under you, you need to be able to coordinate everything, answer all the questions your employees will have and handle every problem that's thrown at you personally. For that, you need lots and lots of work experience so don't be too eager to start your own firm too soon. Good luck :)

>>1003465
Thanks that's some really good advice. I'll try getting into somewhere where I can have fun and more involved and lead from smaller firms.

>>1003210
I made another thread about a double degree in engineering and commerce

How useful would this be in getting a high end job, preferably in finance and what is the best major for engineering.

I'm looking at software for future job opportunities

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>>1003465
>You have the absolute worst mentality for it.

...earlier...

>>1003336
>Late 20's
>the decades worth of effort we've put in
>decades
>we've

If the mentality required is an almost satirically grandiose ego and extremely generous amount of self-fellatio, then you're right, I won't ever make it to your heady heights, friendo.

>>1003485
btw, i'm from Australia if that makes a difference to ur answer and im going to a "good" university. Not the equivalent of an ivy league, but, it's 8th in australia im pretty sure.

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>>1003383
1) Always prepare for the worst case scenario for every situation, and make your business decisions based on that. As a new business owner, ESPECIALLY as a contractor, your greatest challenge will be securing cash flow. You could go months after completing a job before getting paid for it, all the while you still have employees and bills you need to pay. So make sure you account for the absolute worst situation before making a final decision. This can really apply to all aspects of life and can save you a lot of headaches.

2) Don't trust anyone. Even your best employees will make mistakes, make sure you have a way to catch it. Invest in quality control. We pay this kid to just go over every point of data we generate and make sure there wasn't a typo or a miscalculation. That's why as far as employers know we've never made a mistake, and hence have never gotten sued. This sort of reputation is priceless in terms of securing clients and it only costs one person's part time salary.

3) Make sure to cover your ass. Record EVERYTHING. Every Email, every reciept, every time sheet. Everything. If something goes wrong in a job then every project manager is out for blood, looking to pin the blame on someone. Make sure it can't be you. All it takes is one bad lawsuit to throw you under water and kill your reputation along with your company. This is especially true when you're a smaller firm.

>>1003486
I've worked in my dad's office since I was 13. He started surveying when he was 20. Collectively it's taken us years to get to where we are but ok anon, whatever makes you feel better about yourself. I'm just doling out my experience :)

>>1003478
Np bud.

>>1003487

Depends where you are. The main reason we've been so successful as surveyors here is because Ontario has the most amount of ongoing construction projects in all of North America. Even in winter when a lot of firms have to lay off employees, we never do because we're still so busy.

The tricky thing about software is that what you learn in school will be outdated in a few years so you constantly need to be updating yourself. The software guys I know say this can become exhausting. So make sure you're really into it or you'll come to resent it. On the bright side, you can work most anywhere as a good software engineer.
Not sure how commerce could be applied to an engineering position unless it serves you in your own personal endeavors. Employers just care about your work output and as a fresh graduate you need to be able to demonstrate on paper that you can handle the jobs they want to give you. Understand that it's a hassle and a risk for employers to take fresh graduates as employees because they need to learn a lot of things that were never touched on in their program. So the more you can do to put this concern at ease, whether it's outside work exp, a co-op, a raving recommendation from a past employer (preferably in the same field), the more likely an employer will be to give you a shot.
Whatever you decide to study, make sure theres a market demand for it. I know I said make sure you like it, but you have to balance that with the market demands as well otherwise you're just wasting your time.

Chem eng probably has the highest starting salary but only where there's oil, which is usually in the middle of buttfuck nowhere.
Civil will pretty much be able to land you a job anywhere you go. Mech and elec i'm not too sure, you have to do the research on job prospects in your area for them.

>>1003529
I'm not exactly look for an engineering job.

My brother is an investment banker and he says that they always hire double degree eng/commerce people so I kinda just need to figure out what major would be best for that.
I will have a year to decide anyway after I do my core subjects, I'm just trying to sus out now.

>>1003529
>not sure how commerce could be applied to an engineering position

It's the other way around for me. It's how can my engineering degree help my commerce. I understand that engineering is the harder and better for jobs and basically wins out over commerce anyday, I am just more attracted to a career in the business world, specifically investment banking.

I know it's a meme here on /biz/, however, I actually have an opportunity in the real world cuz im getting a valid degree at a 'good' uni.

>>1003561
>>1003561
Op here, If you're going anywhere near banking then do applied mathmatics. At my school it was under engineerng, not sure how it works in australia. But math will serve you well anywhere you go in the economic/banking sector. A lot of people getting a math phd plan to go into banking. I hear it pays nicely.

>>1003593
I'm not sure how the math works here but I didn't do the good math in high school (the assumed knowledge for engineering degrees)

Thanks for the info, I'll try maximise my math. I am good at math, I was just lazy and knee I could get 90+ with minimal study in the easy one.

Thanks for your help

Any other random advice?

>>1003643
I'm the engo/comm guy, I just got on my phone

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>>1003465
>it was all my hard work and superior moral character
There truly is no demographic more deluded than rich people. Thanks for the laugh.

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>>1003643
hmm
>good accountants pay for themselves
>if your boss needs somebody to work a weekend for overtime, do it. If you do it consistantly enough he will remember it when it's time to decide who gets a christmas bonus and who doesnt. >Unless you have something to show for it, don't ask for a raise. "It's been x amount of years since my last raise" isn't a valid reason.
>get a prenup

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>>1003657
Nope, my parents contribution provided the foundation for my economic future. But by the time i'm his age, I will be exponentially wealthier than he was because of it. That's how inheritances work dumbass. If we all had to start from scratch everytime then nothing would get done. Are you gonna cry because your daddy was a nothing? Or will you work to set up your children's future?

Also, just cracked a gideon and sunken hollow from my zendikar box,if anyone here is into mtg and can appreciate this :)

>>1003685
absolutely savage.

that's no steam vent but still a nice pull, send it to me you rich fuck

>>1003685
And without that foundation you would have been a nobody.

You didn't make your dad something more than that guy made his dad nothing.

Your grasping and thrashing to dodge the fact your success is based on something you had zero contribution in is more than a little craven.

>>1003210
Proof?

>>1003672
>the best way to get a a raise is to work at a different company
>employer loyalty to an employee is dead. Therefore employee loyalty to an employer is also dead
>live below your means
>have 6 months of expenses in a savings account

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>>1003685
Cancer.

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>>1003725
Just stated and embraced in the same post you're referencing, and also here >>1003336
how my current and future success is based on how hard my dad worked. I wasn't even planning to take over his business until I finished my life science undergraduate degree and dropped out of med. Your thinly veiled contempt for my family's success is really just pathetic, but I hope it drives you to do better in life :)

>>1003745
Dude, you're a failure whose only saving grace is having daddy there to watch out for you. You fucked up in school and would be living in a tiny apartment, pushing shopping carts by day if it weren't for your parents. I'm not sure how you make the mental leaps to attribute their hard work to yourself.

Of course, this being 4chan, none of this actually happened and you're just another a kissless virgin shitposting on a tibetan thumb twiddling forum. You can easily spot the failures because they all try to be internet tough guys. Post proof or GTFO.

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>>1003762
>>1003731
Oh jeez, well im not at my office to show you invoices but here in my garage, just bought this m4 coupe.

>>1003778
Nice, I'm assuming you are America.

How much is it in the US?

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>>1003778
And here's my jetski, since every rich guy owns a jetski. But cmon guys ask serious questions, I was actually enjoying myself until some kids got their ego's bruised.

>>1003780
If he is American, he's confirmed for retarded since not only did he drop out of school but he also can't write the date properly.

>>1003782
That was my first post. I'm a trust but verify guy. I appreciate the proof.

>>1003733
for every 10,000 you earn while employed, expect to wait 1.5 months to find another job.
if you earn 100k, it will take 15 months to find a new job.

if you are over 50 years old, it will take 4 months for every 10,000 you earn annually.

good luck.

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>>1003783
Canadian, and why so much passive aggresiveness /biz/, be cool. Just copied it from my desktop

>>1003788
Also if you're finishing a degree "just because" then you're an idiot. If you don't like it and have better options switch out like I did.

>>1003782
We all thought you'd be a knowledgeable and skillfull person who'd share some useful insights. But it turns out all you know is just have rich parents.

>>1003780
80kfor the coup but i lied mine is a convertible, dunno why I said coupe. Those are 88k.
>>1003784
It's cool man, I know how it goes here.

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>>1003790
Gotten good feedback on the insights I have shared so far, why not try your luck instead of being so bitter? I even went through the effort of a time stamp :( cmon how often does op actually deliver

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>>1003783
Oh wow, didn't realize you guys in the states went mm/dd/yy instead of dd/mm/yy like normal human beings. Jesus as if imperial units weren't bad enough, bunch of savages.

>>1003785
It depends more on your skillset and location than how much you make.

Programmers and IT specialists in urban areas can easily move to another job while making 75k+ Food service in the middle of nowhere is a different story.

I started a new job this month. The plan is to move on in 2.5-3 years. They pay well, have a good work environment, and offer excellent benefits. The average tenure of a person in my position is 10 years. I don't want to do the same thing for 10 years while hitting the skill peak for the job 2 years in. Management is entrenched so moving up is going to be hard when I am up against people with 15 years in the company.

I would move on sooner, but I plan on buying a house before then. 2 years of employment with the same company gives you a much better chance of getting a mortgage.

Keep a resume out there and stay up to date on linkedin for ez job searching in the meantime.

>90% of /biz/ is NEET
>5% are inherited wealth
>the other 5% are poorfag bitcoin shills
How dull.

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>>1003837
You know it's people who act like they're above it all that are truly the dull ones.
Its just like they said, the reason I am where I am is because of what my dad is passing onto me. However it's not his client base that's the most valuable thing he's passing down to me, it's the knowledge he shares with me on how to be better than everyone else at this business. Knowledge I want to share with you since it's something you will never learn in school and only understand once you've experienced it. Once he's gone, I'm on my own and if I can't be as good as he was then I'll lose everything he created in no time flat. This is the real value in an inheritance from a successful businessman, not some capital that you invest so you can live off the interest. I understand that most of you are too young to appreciate it, so keep doing you if it makes you feel smart in this meme machine, that's good too. Someday you'll grow out of it, but it's not today. Meanwhile I'll still pop in here and there to see if there's any real questions to answer.

>>1003868
You aren't getting it.
I know you think it's your "knowledge and experience" you're trying to pass down, but re-read what you just posted.
>if I can't be as good as he was then I'll lose everything he created in no time flat.

You've just inherited your parent's success. Congratulations, you have a good family. (Honestly, I mean that. It's great to hear people being successful for once on /biz/.) However, you have yet to prove to yourself and us that you're worthy of providing us this advice you want to share.

Right now, the only thing you can provide is "hey guys if you have successful parents you can get a great start! just don't fuck up lol."
You don't have mentor-level years of experience to give us real advice. You're only going to repeat your backstory. This is why it's dull.

>>1003868
I don't have any questions to ask. However, thanks for making the thread. Interesting point about the knowledge being more important than that dollars; I've read that a lot in auto-bio's of rich people.

>>1003884
No bud, you're the one not getting it and I don't know if it's because you're just skimming the thread and even the post you just replied to or what, but go back and reread my replies. It's not my experience and knowledge I'm trying to pass down, it's my dad's; I'm still just finishing my MBA ffs. Most of the things I've shared so far are lessons he's taught me personally. If you can't find the value in that then I don't know what else to tell you.

>>1003884
And I'm thinking now that something may have been miscommunicated. My company which does civil engineering and his company which does surveying are legally two separate companies. This wasn't just for the tax benefits, as it also keeps my employees, problems and responsibilities separate from his. The extent of our relationship is that we essentially share clients, and certain resources, and he can offer me general business advice and how to handle certain clients. Once he retires, I will merge the two companies into one but for now I operate independently. My dad doesn't know shit about civil engineering, that's why he has me doing it. And before I started my company I worked in another civil firm to do my p.eng hours but also to learn basic management techniques specific to a civil firm. Hope that clears things up.

>>1003529
>Ontario has the most amount of ongoing construction projects
If you count perpetual renovations of dilapidated catholic high schools, sure.

>>1003908
You should, also include any kind of road work. We just signed onto a project that's replacing 6-7km worth of water mains spread throughout toronto. The whole projects worth roughly 16mil (pays us 300k). As far as the economy is concerned, any construction is good construction,

>>1003928
Y'all hiring intermediate construction estimators mate?

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>>1003933
Nah sorry bud you want a construction group or consulting firm for that. We just do the grunt work.

>>1003928
And I guess this counts as more proof. Pays to be in ontario working construction right now.

>>1003949
I got a B.Eng in civil too if that a requirement. Ontario P.Eng designation doesn't look to fond on foreign credentials, especially for civil.

Granted looking for a job on 4chan is make believe job searching, but I'll take my chances.

>>1003958
Where are you from? New to canada or been working here a while? Was your last job an estimator.

>>1003966
Been here for over 10 something years now. Turns out firm doesn't like hiring civil drafter or surveyors when they can hire interns when I first got here. Sure the situation changes, but gotta feed the family somehow.

>>1003210

One of my largest clients (I'm in IT) is a civil engineering firm. I manage their computer network/servers/backups/etc.. Someone else takes care of the autoCAD related BS. Been doing IT for 20+ years, and have quite the pedigree.....

If you're anywhere near me in SoCal, I'd love to chat!

>>1003262
If he sucks then why are you working with him?

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>>1003973
No man it's not that, you can't just jump into an engineering position when you come here from another country, nobody will hire a foreigner with no local experience. And Canada in general doesn't take to kindly to most foreign credits when it comes to local certification, be it engineering or medicine. The system here is way different than how they work overseas, ask any immagrant. You needed to start at some shit position, learn everything from scratch and work your way up until your employers know you can handle their standards of practice. Think about it from our perspective. If you've never worked as an engineer in canada, and havent gone to a canadian school then I have no way of knowing what level of application your foreign work experience will have in my job environment. I at least know with a canadian graduate that they have met some bare minimum standard set to our field but there's no way of telling with foreigners. And your mistakes would become a liability for your bosses since you don't know any better and they're the ones that put you to work, it would be there asses getting sued. You need to prove it over time. It was the same for my dad, his first engineering job wasn't even a surveyor, he just carried around the real surveyors equipment. And this was a guy who had his own firm back in his own country, having to start over again. But there was no other way , and he realized if they made him a surveyor from his first day he would've had no idea what to do. He would've made a ton of mistakes and just created problems for everyone else. It's a necessary sacrifice and its not for nothing bud :(

>>1003984
We didn't hire him, the guys who contracted us did. So we have no choice but to deal with his shit since he designed the whole thing.

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>>1003978
Haha yeah pretty sure every firm has an autocad related bs guy. Sounds way beyond our scope, we're small enough to self manage that stuff for now but somewhere down the line when we expand we'll need that IT guy too

>>1003999
I came to terms with the credential problems a long time ago. Your reply is, interesting. Good on you with the company. I wish you the best of luck, and I will not inquire about potential positions further.

OP you're probably the most successful guy on /biz that I know. Really inspirational. Probably going to start a small firm with my friends one day.

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>>1004026
Go for it buddy, self employment is the only real way to make it. Even doctors are wage slaves to the governement. At least in canada. Just make sure you know what you're doing when you finally decide to branch out on your own, you don't wanna rush into it.

>>1004093
Whoops, meant to direct that at you. But also to that guy good luck, keep searching and you'll find work in this city. Especially when its still so damn warm. Snow kills construction but luckily we're gonna have a green christmas

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..
>>1004044
See
>>1004100
>>1004093

It's late I'm off to bed, will check back tmrw

Well how do i git gud?

>>1004109
Damn, seems like I just missed you.

Canadian Engineer-In-Training reporting in (graduated from UBC), I have a few questions I'd love to have answered if you've got the time.

I'm currently working as a Civil EIT at a small civil firm in small-town BC (2 drafters, 1 P. Eng who owns the place, 1 secretary, a part-time drafter, a part-time structural engineer, and me). Our firm focuses primarily on small-scale structural engineering (ie houses), public works, and septic field design.

While the business has been surviving, we haven't exactly been thriving. This is due in part to inefficiencies in how the company runs, and in part to poor marketing - virtually all of our clients come to us via word-of-mouth. While our principal engineer is a fantastic engineer and a great instructor, he doesn't really know how to make the company more successful.

It sounds like you've been incredibly successful in running your company. What have you done to ensure its success? Are there any guiding principles that you follow that have contributed to your accomplishment? For example focusing on perfecting the bread-and-butter projects that keep you in business vs fighting to win long-term contracts that keep you in business. How have you marketed your company?

I don't see myself working at the firm I'm at in the long term, but I'd like to guide it in the right direction while I'm here if I can. Any advice or resources you can recommend would be much appreciated.

Side-note, but also a question: was pursuing your MBA worth it?

>>1003499
Think you're George Michael Bluth or something?

Thank you for this, OP!

I have only two questions:

1. Can I start a business like this in the Philippines?

2. If yes, how do I get started?

>>1003210
>before taxes

How much did they take?

>>1003529
>Understand that it's a hassle and a risk for employers to take fresh graduates as employees because they need to learn a lot of things that were never touched on in their program. So the more you can do to put this concern at ease, whether it's outside work exp, a co-op, a raving recommendation from a past employer (preferably in the same field), the more likely an employer will be to give you a shot.

This is really good advice

Thanks for the thread OP. You seem a lot more insightful than most AMA's that take place here.

My question: What hobbies do you have outside of work and MtG? I feel like hobbies correlate with financial success quite often and it's interesting to hear what wealthy people enjoy doing in their off time.

>>1004312
Just move to Canada and get a job at Tim Hortons. You don't need to know a word of English!

OP is back

>>1004126
watch someone else guder than you and learn from them. It's fine to use your employer as a stepping stone, I never try to hold my employees back. Just don't slam the door on your way out. A few years back one of our employees set up a job offer at one of our biggest clients firm behind our back, where he was going to become their head surveyor and take all our methods and practices with him, essentially stealing our client from us. The due diligence didn't follow through, he didn't get the job and my dad absolutely ruined him so that he could never find work in the city again. Last I heard he moved to Calgary, poor bastard.

>>1004165
Seems like you already have some idea of what's wrong. Not sure how much work you guys process but
>2 drafters, 1 P. Eng who owns the place, 1 secretary, a part-time drafter, a part-time structural engineer, and me

I grossed 2mil in invoices and I still don't find myself needing a secretary. Why does he? I can't imagine he gets that many calls and emails, and when he does it's obviously going to be for him, so why even deploy a middleman to relay the call? Seems redundant and unnecessary, at least at his scale. If he has a landline, just tell your phone company to redirect every landline call to his cell, they can do that easy. And between you and the 2 drafters, why employ another part time drafter? Seems excessive but i really don't know your workload so he might really need that many drafters. If he really is so busy that he needs a secretary and 4 drafters, then it's probably his invoices that are bad. My dad showed me that the biggest pitfall for those seeking self employment is undervaluing their work. Say you're making 80k/year in a nice, busy firm. One day you sit and run some numbers and think to yourself "If I start my own firm and manage my own projects I could be making 100k/year!" To the guy making 80k a year this sounds amazing, and there's the trap.

Cont>>

>>1004488

Cont>>
If you're going to start your own business you can't think like that anymore. Using that as your base when you price a job, you might charge your client $50/hr and think that’s good but that’s completely backwards. If I send 1 guy to the field I’m charging $130/hr at least. When I discuss this with smaller firms they think it’s insane, “how can you charge so much”. It’s really not and since engineering is such a small expense relative to the projects budget, most companies are willing to pay for the quality assurance, as long as you really do deliver a quality service. As the boss I’ve taken on all the risk, I’m paying for the office, covering all the expenses, bought all the best equipment (each costs 100k+), paid the insurance, licensed all the expensive software (Microstation pls) put in the extra time and effort to make this all work. So the client needs to pay me for all of that, not just a little bit extra to bump up my salary.
Like I explained with the architect, if you work for cheap, you’ll have to increase quantity to make up for your losses which brings down the quality of work and client satisfaction, feeding into a negative feedback loop. Sacrifice quantity for quality and charge more, because the better your performance, the happier your clients and the more business they will bring in. And if you believe in the quality of your work, then make sure you’re getting paid accordingly. Something else that holds a lot of small firms back is allowing themselves to get bullied into lump sum deals. This can kill your bottom line, especially when working smaller jobs. Work by the hour. If the client doesn’t want that then move on if you can. If you allow the client to push you once, then they know they can always push you around and you’ll just accept it.
Cont>>

>>1004489

Cont>>
With regards to marketing, we only have a website and we never ran ads. Letters of recommendation from some big pilot projects we completed earlier on also helped us a lot in securing future contracts when clients were interested in working with us. But in order to get the big clients interested in the first place you need to network with the managers and supervisors in the firms (so many of our client acquisitions were from old project managers that switched companies and referred us to their new bosses), go to events, build a reputation for your firm and deliver consistently good services. I don’t know where you’re from but here, all the big name contractors here are Italian and have a very clan-like mentality where they look out for each other before anyone else, so breaking through can be a little difficult but once you’re in their network a lot of doors become open to you.
Finally, an MBA just teaches you how to manage a business and the people attached to it. So if you see yourself taking on a manger/supervisor type position sometime in the future, then an MBA can be really great as it teaches you a lot of practical managing ideas and techniques. I can’t say when the best time to take one is, as it really depends on your circumstance. Sometimes your firm will tell you to go complete an MBA and they’ll cover the cost so you could wait for that. An MBA does not really make you anymore appealing for a standard ENG position though, as I’m not hiring you for your business ideas but rather your practical skills.

Gotta go run some errands, be back to answer more in a bit.

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>>1004306
I always saw myself as more of a Gob.

>>1004312
Don't see why not, pinoy economy and construction jobs lookin strong
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/philippines-construction-industry-experiencing-boom-gray-mba-ma
As for how to get started; first get your eng related credentials, then pretty much this >>1003465
Good luck!

>>1004320
Aboot 300k.

Pic related, mfw Trudeau said we need to tax the wealthiest more.

>>1004355

I'm really into DOTA right now, I try to squeeze in at least one game a night, haven't checked out the new patch yet but I'm hyped. I'll play other games with my gf too, lots of co-op like don't starve together, left for dead, risk of rain. Might buy a ps3 when better games come out.
Last year my friend got me this sweet recurve bow for my birthday, so I've been really into archery for a while. Reading through song of ice and fire right now, on the second book but caught up on the show. I got a collection of paintings I've bought from every place that I travel to, it's kind of become a ritual that every time I go oversees I bring back one painting, usually from those artists you see sitting on a stool in the middle of a city center but I've got a few gallery pieces too. Planning to get a chowchow puppy soon, really excited about that. I've been getting into gardening too, mostly indoor. I'm turning my office at home into this really nice green space. I do a lot of athletics too, normal skiing and water skiing, play in a rugby house league in the summer, interested in body building because of my friends but keeping it natty. I plan on taking golf lessons next season too, mostly because I deal with these old Italian contractors that love to golf and this is a way to get close to them. Yeah that pretty much covers it, just normal stuff anon. We are not so different, you and I.

>>1003343
>they cost 80k each
could you please provide some info about them? it has to be some serious equipment for 80k.

>>1004779
>I'm really into DOTA right now
I play DOTA as well. It's probably good you haven't played since the new patch came out since everyone just spams the new hero and revamped heroes and it gets boring really fast.

You definitely sound like someone who's trying to get the most out of life and I respect that.

Good luck with your business dude!

>>1003397
Based desu has spoken

>>1004779
Can't you hire a tax attorney to lessen your tax burden?
500k is a lot.

>>1004876
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYotEDFOcdI
Can't remember the model I was looking at off the top of my head, but it's function would be pretty much the same as this but this one has pretty crappy accuracy and costs around 25k. The one I was looking at was a multi-rotar heli type drone. It's not the drone you're paying for, but the high tech instrument that it carries on board, which pretty much shoots a laser to scan the entire surrounding area and generates a 3d map with a bunch of data points, kind of like echo location. You can then calibrate that data with benchmarks from the ground based on GPS coordinates which will give you you're nothing, easting and elevation. Pretty cool stuff, 10 years ago it would've taken 2 guys a few days to finish a large topo, now it takes 1 guy a few hours. No industry is safe from automation really, especially not engineering.

>>1005132
Thanks Bud :)

>>1005715
maybe if you're a larger corporation and have a lot more tax systems and loop holes available to yourself for exploitation, but at our level you don't want to mess with the CRA and their tax collection. They will seriously fuck you up. 300k IS a lot but it's nothing compared to what I should TECHNICALLY be paying.
http://www.creditfinanceplus.com/calculators/calculate-corporate-income-tax-canada.php
http://www.ey.com/CA/en/Services/Tax/Tax-Calculators-2015-Personal-Tax

On paper, I pay myself a salary of 80k that gets deducted as a business expense. That's the financial sweet spot for me to maximize tax benefits. Any more and I would be paying more taxes than I have to. So after all is said and done, I have 800k left in my business account. That 800k gets hit with the corporate income tax only, no personal income tax. However, that money is essentially an extension of my income as the CEO that is cited as the companies profit, which I can use as I see fit.

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>>1005715
>> Cont
The difference in paying 800k of personal income as tax and 800k of corporate income as tax is roughly 100k (300kvs200k) but in terms of how I can spend it there is no difference. Some would call this a “loophole” but it’s just a part of the tax system meant to encourage business owners to generate more profits. Ultimately if I could’ve written off that 800k as some sort of business expense then yeah tax wise that would be great but that cottage isn’t going to pay for itself you know :P. Once you own a company, the line between your income and expenses becomes a little fuzzy. Like I’m leasing 10 cars right now (3 personal, 7 bussiness) and a bunch of engineering tech. Officially paying for the lease is an “expense” but since I plan to buyout at the end of the lease, I’m essentially paying off a personal asset bit by bit and counting it as an expense. Now at the end of the business cars leas’ (Pic related, in assorted colours), there’s a 15k buyout that is counted as a personal expense, but the rest of the cost was tax deductible even though the car now counts as an asset. The interesting thing about engineering equipment is that the buyout at the end of the lease is only 1 dollar. The government allows for this in order to assist businesses in paying off the massive costs they entail. So really I’m spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment that become my personal assets, and it is all tax deductible.

>>1006150 (You)
>>1006148 (You)

Just to be clear, this is a really big oversimplification of my finances. My accountant moves a lot of things around and and works through numerous systems that I have no Idea about but it manages to keep my taxes as low as possible which is all I really need. in the end.

Are you married? Do you have any kids? If not do you plan to in the future?

>>1003336
>daddy built my business from the ground up
>>1003465
>Same realm of success as ME

This is what deluded 1 percenters actually believe.


Get your dad on here. He'd probably have some solid financial advice. Yours seems to stop at "be handed a business, contacts, and money"

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>>1006207

Nope, just a girlfriend and no kids. I see my mid 30's as a good time for kids once I've done most of the things you can't do anymore when you bring kids into your life. I don't plan to sell off the business in my lifetime, I want to pass it on but I leave that choice to my kids when it's their time to control the business.

>>1006303

You have a very simple way of thinking if you believe my success isn't an extension of my dad's success or his dad's success, or that my children's success won't be an extension of mine. People often see a successful individual and think it just kind of happened. You never see or appreciate the history behind that success and create whatever narrative in your own mind that makes you feel the best about yourself. The sum of my advice has really just been to watch someone else doing what you want to do, learn from them and then copy it. It's what I did, it's what my father did and it's what most successful businessmen have been doing since time immemorial. Again, I'm just here to dole my experiences, many of which went through my dad and his lessons. If you give the whole thread an actual read, there's a lot you could learn if you ever plan to be self employed.

>>1006303

cus if tomorrow somebody handed you a multimillion dollar business to manage, you'd be filthy rich too right?

>>1006421
op what's a typical work day like for you?

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>>1006526
Construction goes from monday to friday 7-5, so those are my guys hour's as well. I wake up at 5:30, get dressed by 6, finish breakfast by 6:30 and I'm in the office by 7. There's always one guy minimum on desk duty, so I start by prepping him on what he needs to do that day (prints, spread sheets, equipment checks, specific errands). Then I spend the next hour or two going through e-mails, replying and making calls as needed. After that I skim through various jobs for quality control, looking for errors, drafting and editing anything that needs fixing or at least forwarding it to someone else if I'm too busy. That usually takes me to lunch. After lunch I'll check emails again and go through my invoices. Then I'll do some more quality control on priority jobs as needed. I'll rarely go to site unless it's an emergency or there's a problem with a client. I save the last 2-3 hours of the day for planning out and delegating everyone's work for the next day (Who goes to what job site, who stays in the office, explaining the details of a new job). Throughout this I'll be consistently answering phone calls from client's and employees as well. I'm generally out of the office by 6:30-7, but I make a point of being out by 3 on Fridays so I can pack and head off for the cottage.

And if anyone is wondering how or why I reply to this ama in the middle of the work day , it's because a few days ago my dear old mum got bunion surgery on both her feet. Now I'm working from her place mostly, at least until she can move around the house by herself.

Man, fuck all these sourgraping NEETs. OP was ahead of other people thanks to his dad but you basement-dwellers think someone always has to start out an orphan before you get your fix of inspiration to supplant daydreams that you've never worked on.

At the least, everybody who knew there was good advice took it. And everybody else who shouted down what didn't fit their romanticized rags-to-riches narrative of hard work got nothing.

OP's responses were well-versed without even any frustration-venting vitriol and actually managed to educate. I hope you frogposting NEETs and wageslaves never see a cent to your name.

>>1003210
can I have a job?

Hey op suck a nigger cock famm

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>>1006963
Thanks bud, your comment put a smile on my face. Give me your email and i'll send you this $20 steam card i had lying around as an early christmas present.
>>1007042
You cannot.
>>1007053
That's racist.

>>1007402
>gets $20 steam card as gift
>supposed to be rich
>is a gaymer and most likely a NEET with a semi-well off dad
Abandon thread. Nothin to see here.

>>1003397
Yep. Most prevalent indicator for somebody's success is what their parent/s did. OP is a scrublord supreme.

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>>1003790
This.

>>1007416

Or it was 1st prize from a DOTA lan. But whatever makes you feel better bud :)

>>1007444
>LAN dota
I kekked hard.

>>1003782
>time to prove myself on 4chan

One and only bump to find this guy >>1006963

>OP gets everything from daddy's money
>THIS WAS BECAUSE OF ME! ME ME ME! ALL YOU IDIOTS JUST DON'T WORK HARD ENOUGH!

Why are rich people such assholes who think taking over daddy's business is an example of their tireless hard work and virtue?