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Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon
|
www.plso.orgA Young Surveyor’s Testimonial
someone’s property corners, you can find yourself a
bit unprepared, even though you’re qualified. If you’re
on the field crew side of things, for example, it’s just
upload this file onto the data controller and off you go.
Then, when you get back download it and never see
it again. There is some trial and error in putting all the
pieces together, and you will get better, and therefore,
faster at it. You will need to have at least one person
to call and ask questions for each type of project you
decide to take on.
One thing no one warned me about was how difficult
it was going to be to get a business loan. I paid for my
office supplies out of pocket, but I don’t have 40 grand
burning a hole in my pocket for the field equipment.
For one to get a business loan, you need to have been
in business for at least two years. It reminded me a lot
of being an adult, newly on my own, and needing credit
history, but having no method of getting approved
to build it. I don’t believe anyone withheld this
information from me on purpose. I think
•
those that I know who did start a business started it
so long ago they either don’t recall the details or the
standards were different, and
•
those taking over existing businesses when
someone retires weren’t faced with the same
challenges.
They are taking the helm of an established business
with clientele, hopefully, healthy finances, and
surveying field equipment. For those just starting out,
the equipment rental/ dealers typically have a financial
company they work with who will approve you even
with your limited business credit history.
You absolutely must prioritize your expenses and
take advantage of any friends with skills. The largest
expenses for me are the business and professional
liability insurance. Having friends with different skillsets
and interests to help is huge when it comes to getting
set up. Most of my marketing is word of mouth and
networking. Designing websites and business cards are
much easier now with the advent of places like Wix and
Vistaprint. I am lucky to have a friend who has built a
few websites, even though it is not her trade. I came up
with the basic concept of what I wanted for a logo and
color scheme, basic text, and some photos and she did
the rest. It’s easy enough for me to jump in and make
any changes.
One thing anyone starting a business needs to
consider is a business plan. For me, it is in flux because
I haven’t necessarily decided what type of projects
I’d like to take on. What I mean is, there are a lot of
options: government, private, IDIQ, boundary, aerial,
construction, etc. Do you want to work with other
companies? Do you want to stay solo or eventually
hire people? Right now, it’s just me and that’s how I
intend to keep it for a while. I do work with other firms
to help with their overload work, provide surveying
services to engineering firms, and training on software
programs and processes/workflows. I work with Hood
River Consulting Engineers, and they mostly work on
government projects. The advantage is that I can work
in other states because these projects don’t require
you to be licensed in a particular state. However, I find
taking on government projects on my own intimidating
even if they are small business set-asides. There are
other advantages and disadvantages to government
versus private work, but I won’t get into that here. You
can cast a wide net as far as the services you offer, or
you can find a niche and stick to it.
If I could change two things about this adventure, it
would be that
•
I would have started the process sooner, and
•
I wouldn’t waste so much energy worrying. I
hesitated and dragged my feet on the initial steps.
The most fun part of starting a business was choosing
what to call it. I was really stumped, that step alone
took about a month. I didn’t have any work lined up
(and had no equipment), so there wasn’t much I could
do to start bringing in income without establishing an
online presence, contacting people, deciding on rates,
getting the equipment basics, etc. These were all tasks I
could have been working on while I was still looking for
other work during the first half of the year.
I think it’s natural to find the process of stepping out
on your own stressful. There are a lot of emotions,
logistics, and doubts that creep in. I have wished
so many times that I was one of those very relaxed
people, comfortable winging everything and didn’t
get attached to the outcomes of their projects, but
that is just not me. I care about doing a great job, not
a good job; and I want my clients to be more than
satisfied with their results and experience with me.
While it’s important to care about doing an excellent
job, if you are identifying with the result then you’re too
distracted by your expectations to deal with issues as
they arise effectively. If you’re going to be heading up a
company and working with clients, it’s very important
to stay calm and relaxed. No one wants to work
with someone who is angry, stressed, exhausted, or
narrow-minded. You need to have an outlet you turn
to regularly. This is where I relied on running, yoga,
and meditation practice to calm my nerves and get
clutter out of my head. It should come as no surprise
that nearly everything I obsessively worried about did
not manifest itself, whether it was something I had
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