Re: going independent, any tips?
- From: Tim Wescott <tim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 09:56:58 -0700
Armada Spain wrote:
Hi,
I am thinking of becoming an independent consultant/engineer in electronics. I have over ten years professional experience in electronics development and engineering, mainly microcontroller and dsp applications but I can do analog as well if it remains basic (not too many transistors ;). Furthermore I have a lot of programming experience (C, C++, assembler, embedded and DOS/Windows), pcb layout, industrialising and repair. I was thinking of specialising in embedded/industrial internet applications, but I have some other ideas as well.
The problem is that I've always worked for companies that do their own development and I do not have a network of potential clients.
I would like your advice on how to find and approach potential customers. At first I thought mainly of companies that do electronics but then I realised that it would probably better to approach non-electronics production companies (factories or something) that may have small needs for electronics engineering.
How do you independent engineers get your jobs? Who are your clients? Do you do any active acquisition or do people simply come straight to you because they heard your name somewhere? Would it be worth the money to make and send out brochures?
Also, do you have some products of your own to garantee some basic cash flow?
Any ideas, hints and tips will be greatly appreciated.
Adam
Going through a 3rd party has already been suggested -- that's not a bad idea, but remember that they'll want to take a cut, and they'll put contractual barriers in place to keep you from going direct with their clients. Having said that if all you want to do is what you do now just with a bunch of different people then that's a good way to go.
Unless you've burned your bridges with them you do already have a pool of potential customers -- it's rare for a company to do _all_ of it's own development, so anyone you've worked for is a potential client. I have two former employers who are now customers from whom I get ongoing work.
I have an easier hook than most to develop new customers, because I can do embedded control systems and DSP to a degree that makes me uncommon. Here's what I am doing to market myself, you can sort them out into things that you can and can't do:
* I have a website, so folks know I'm serious and so they can investigate me without feeling like I'm going to be calling them and pestering. Some folks that I know have pretty pictures of projects they've completed on their websites to help establish credibility. What I do is pretty esoteric so it's hard to make a picture that's pretty, understandable, and representative.
* I've told every professional contact I know what I'm doing and how to contact me. This includes friends, colleagues, managers I've worked for, applications engineers at distributors and semiconductor companies, folks who's feet I've stepped on while finding a seat at the Symphony, etc. I hand out business cards like candy -- and I get the occasional call as a result.
* I give talks on my specialty. This is fun and gives me an excuse to go to conferences. It doesn't seem to get me leads directly but I like to think that it gives potential customers something to think about when I tell them my rates.
* I write the occasional article. I have seven overall on my website, two of which are published (in Embedded Systems Programming, because so far it's the only magazine that seems to be directly applicable to what I do). This activity _has_ generated leads, and I think it gives me quite a bit of credence when someone wants to see if I'm solid or not.
* I'm writing a book. I'm hoping this'll generate leads once it's published, but I'm hoping more that it'll let me raise my rates to an absurd degree (how's that work for you, Win?).
* What seems to have generated the most business overall is to answer questions here, in sci.engr.control, and in comp.dsp. People get to see that I know what I'm talking about (or not, as the case may be) and that I (usually) get respect from the other denizens of the groups. Most of the really interesting business that I've gotten recently has come from someone looking to solve a specific problem going to a newsgroup and either seeing my related posts or having me contribute a solution to some small problem that they see as similar to a larger problem.
Ultimately you'll find that you're getting most of your business from return customers and people who've heard of you from old customers or from people who've worked with you at an old customer then changed jobs. I've been at this for just two years and I'm still waiting for it to happen, but for now I'm having fun.
--
Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com .
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