Are you about starting an engineering consulting company? If YES, here is a complete sample engineering consulting business plan template & feasibility report you can use for FREE.
Okay, so we have considered all the requirements for starting an engineering consulting company. We also took it further by analyzing and drafting a sample engineering consulting marketing plan template backed up by actionable guerrilla marketing ideas for engineering consulting companies. So let’s proceed to the business planning section.
If you have ample experience in any of the engineering fields and you want to become your own boss, one of the businesses that you should consider starting is to open an engineering consulting firm.
One good thing about this business is that if you are grounded in the engineering industry and you have been able to provide some solutions to some engineering challenges, then you are likely going to get referrals from top clients even government agencies.
The truth is that as an engineering consultant, there are loads of industries that you can consult for. You can work for the construction industry, water resources, oil and gas, production, engineering and a host of other industries as long as it involves machines, or engines or any technology.
If you are looking to go into engineering consulting business, the good news is that you can’t get it wrong. It is important to state that starting an engineering consulting firm comes with its own fair share of challenges, but that does not rule out the fact that it is indeed a profitable business.
An aspiring entrepreneur can either choose to start by choosing a niche or offering general engineering consulting services.
So, if you have decided to start an engineering consulting firm, then you should ensure that you carry out thorough feasibility studies and market survey. Business plan is yet another very important business document that you should not take for granted when launching your own business.
Below is a sample engineering consulting firm business plan template that can help you to successfully write your own with little or no difficulty.
Engineering consulting firms are part of the engineering consulting services industry and firms in this industry provide engineering consulting services, which characteristically relate to the design, development and utilization of infrastructure projects, machinery, processes and systems.
Engineering consulting firms offer advisory services, feasibility studies, preparation of preliminary and final plans and design, technical services during project construction, and inspection and evaluation of construction and engineering projects. It is important to state that the industry does not manage or organize construction projects.
A close study of the engineering consulting firm industry shows that industry revenue has continued to decline due to weak public spending on large infrastructure projects, as well as relatively weak private investment in new facilities.
Going forward, the industry is expected to grow as increasing corporate profit allows businesses to commit to long-term engineering cum construction projects. Growth is expected to be driven by demand from private non – residential construction.
Statistics has it that in the united states of America alone, there are about 152,646 registered and licensed engineering consulting firms responsible for employing about 1.1 million people and the industry rakes in a whooping sum of $242 billion annually.
The industry is projected to grow at 1.0 percent within 2012 and 2017. It is important to state that no players in this industry have a lion market share in the industry.
A recent report published by IBISWORLD shows that the Engineering Services industry is characterized by many small companies that typically confine operations to a regional market or to specialized niche activities. The report also shows that the industry displays a low concentration of ownership, with the five largest companies generating close to 12.0 percent of industry revenue in 2017.
Despite its low concentration, a significant proportion of revenue is derived from midsize and large firms; the 50 largest enterprises generate close to 40.0 percent of revenue in an industry with more than 130,000 firms. The report further reveals that over the past five years, industry concentration has increased.
As price-based competition increases among major players within the industry, smaller players have been increasingly pushed out of the industry or acquired by their larger competitors.
One good thing about the engineering consulting business is that there are readily available markets for their services, because in most cases, organizations that are looking towards achieving excellence and good results in any of their projects that has to do with engineering would naturally want some professional counsel and input hence the need to hire the services of engineering consulting firms.
Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. is a licensed engineering consulting firm that will operate in the United States and other parts of the world. We have been able to secure a standard office facility in a busy business district in Little Rock – Arkansas where we intend coordinating all our business activities from all over the world.
We are an engineering consulting firm that is set to compete in the highly competitive Engineering Consulting Services industry not only in the United States market, but also in the global market.
Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. will offer a wide range of services as it involves general engineering consulting such as:
Chemical engineering consulting, civil engineering consulting, electrical engineering consulting, marine engineering consulting, mechanical engineering consulting, mining engineering consulting, pipeline engineering consulting, product design and plans for fittings, machinery or equipment and inspection and evaluation of projects for players in various industries and government agencies.
We are aware that to run a standard firm can be demanding which is why we are well trained, licensed and equipped to perform well.
Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. is a client-focused and result driven engineering consulting firm that provides broad-based experience at an affordable fee that won’t in any way put a hole in the pocket of our clients. We will offer a complete range of engineering consulting services to our local, state, national, and multi-national clients and we will ensure that we work hard to provide the required consulting services needed by our clients.
At Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc., our client’s best interest comes first, and everything we do will be guided by our values and professional ethics. We will ensure that we hire certify engineering consultants who specialize in various niche areas in the engineering industry.
We will ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards by meeting our client’s needs precisely and completely. We will at all times demonstrate our commitment to sustainability, both individually and as a firm, by actively participating in our communities and integrating sustainable business practices wherever possible.
Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. is a family business that is owned and managed by Engr. McCarthy O’Neal. Engr. McCarthy O’Neal is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (both first and second degree).
He is a Certified Engineering Management Professional with over 15 years’ experience working as a senior engineering consultant with one of the leaders in the engineering consulting industry prior to starting Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc.
Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. is going to offer varieties of related engineering consulting services within the scope of the engineering consulting industry in the United States of America. Our intention of starting our engineering consulting business is to make profits from the industry and we will do all that is permitted by the law in the US to achieve our aim and objective.
Our business offerings are listed below;
Our Business Structure
Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc., is an engineering consulting firm that will be launched in Little Rock – Arkansas, but we hope to grow big and secure engineering consulting contract from big corporations from all over the world.
We are aware of the importance of building a solid business structure that can support the picture of the kind of world class business we want to own, which is why we are committed to only hire the best hands within our area of operation.
At Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc., we will ensure that we hire people that are qualified, hardworking, creative, customer centric and are ready to work to help us build a prosperous business that will benefit all our stakeholders.
As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our senior management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of five years or more as agreed by the board of trustees of the company. In view of the above, we have decided to hire qualified and competent hands to occupy the following positions;
Chief Executive Office/Lead Consultant:
Legal Secretary
Engineering Consultant
Admin and HR Manager
Business Developer
Accountant
Client Service Executive
Because of our overall vision of competing at the peak in the engineering consulting services industry, Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. engaged the services of a professional in the area of business consulting and structuring to assist the firm in building a reputable and result oriented engineering consulting firm that can favorably compete in the highly competitive environmental consulting industry.
We know that if a proper SWOT analysis is conducted for our business, we will be able to position our business to maximize our strength, leverage on the opportunities that will be available to us, mitigate our risks and be equipped to confront our threats.
This is the summary of the SWOT analysis that was conducted for Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc.;
Our core strength lies in the power of our workforce. We have a team that are considered experts in the industry, a team with excellent qualifications and experience in engineering consulting line of business.
Aside from the synergy that exists in our carefully selected workforce and our strong online presence, we have access to multi-skilled and flexible workforce, and also Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. is well positioned in a business district with the right demography and we know we will attract loads of corporate clients from the first day we open our doors for business.
As a new engineering consulting firm, it might take some time for our organization to break into the market and work for some high profile and high paying clients; that is perhaps our major weakness.
The opportunities available to engineering consulting firms are indeed massive and we are ready to take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way.
Some of the threats that we are likely going to face as an engineering consulting firm operating in the United States are unfavorable government policies, the arrival of a competitor within our location of operations and global economic downturn which usually affects spending/purchasing power.
There is hardly anything we could do as regards these threats other than to be optimistic that things will continue to work for our good.
One of the notable trends in the engineering consulting services industry is that most firms that are operating as niche players in the industry are beginning to form alliance or partner with other engineering consulting firms who are offering services different from what they are offering.
With that, it is easier for them to get a good chunk of the available market. So also, the advancement of technology has greatly influenced the engineering consulting industry. With new technology, it is easier to conceptualize a project from start to finish with 3D and 4D pictures.
Lastly, engineering consulting firms are not settling for consulting contracts within their country of operations, but rather, they are getting well – equipped to compete at the global market. This is why it is now common to find engineering consulting firms in the United States, bidding and executing contracts in Africa.
As a new engineering consulting firm, Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. will initially serve small to medium sized business, from new ventures to well established businesses, but that does not in any way stop us from growing to compete with leading engineering consulting firms in the United States and on the global stage.
We hope to someday merge or acquire other smaller engineering consulting firms and expand our services beyond the shores of the United States of America.
As a full service engineering consulting firm, Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. has a variety of practice areas to help businesses grow especially as it relates to carrying out engineering related project consulting and advisory services.
While we work with a variety of organizations and industries, Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. will also specialize in working with startups, real estate investors and contractors, construction engineers, miners and government agencies at the local level.
Our target market cuts across government agencies, local and international organizations as well. We are coming into the industry with a business concept that will enable us work with a wide range of clients. In other words, our target market is the whole of the United States of America and subsequently other parts of the world.
Below is a list of the people and organizations that we have specifically designed our products and services for;
Our Competitive Advantage
The level of competition in the engineering consulting industry depends largely on the location of the business and of course the niche of your engineering consulting business. If you can successfully create a unique niche for your engineering consultancy business, you are likely going to experience little or no competition.
For instance; if you are the only engineering consultancy firm that offers commercial, public and institutional projects, municipal utility projects, engineering design consulting, testing and analysis, process and systems engineering consulting services in your location, you are sure of monopolizing that aspect of business for a long time.
Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. might be a new entrant into the engineering consulting industry in the United States of America, but our management and board members are highly qualified engineering consultants who specialize in different niche areas in the engineering consulting industry in the United States. These are part of what will count as a competitive advantage for us.
So also, the fact that we are a general engineering consulting services firm that operates in various niche areas in the engineering consulting industry puts us ahead of engineering consulting firms that operate only within a niche market.
Lastly, our employees will be well taken care of and their welfare package will be among the best within our category in the industry meaning that they will be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and achieve all our aims and objectives.
Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. is established with the aim of maximizing profits in the engineering consulting industry and we are going to go all the way to ensure that we do all it takes to attract clients on a regular basis.
Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. will generate income by offering the following engineering consulting services for individuals and for organizations;
We are well positioned to take on the available market in the U.S. and we are quite optimistic that we will meet our set target of generating enough income from our first six months of operation and grow the business and our clientele base beyond Little Rock – Arkansas to other states in the U.S. and even the global market.
We have been able to critically examine the engineering consultancy market, we have analyzed our chances in the industry and we have been able to come up with the following sales forecast. The sales projection is based on information gathered on the field and some assumptions that are peculiar to startups in Little Rock – Arkansas.
Below is the sales projection for Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc.
N.B: This projection was done based on what is obtainable in the industry and with the assumption that there won’t be any major economic meltdown and there won’t be any major competitor offering same services as we do within same location. Please note that the above projection might be lower and at the same time it might be higher.
We are mindful of the fact that there are stiff competitions amongst players in the engineering consulting industry in the United States of America, hence we have been able to hire some of the best business developers to handle our sales and marketing department.
Our sales and marketing team will be recruited base on their vast experience in the industry and they will be trained on a regular basis so as to meet their targets and the overall goal of the organization.
We will also ensure that our excellent job deliveries speak for us in the market place; we want to build a standard engineering consulting business that will leverage on word of mouth advertisement from satisfied clients.
Our business goal is to grow our engineering consulting business to become one of the top 5 engineering consulting firms in the United States of America which is why we have mapped out strategies that will help us take advantage of the available market and grow to become a major force to reckon with not only in the U.S but in the world stage as well.
Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. is set to make use of the following marketing and sales strategies to attract clients;
We have been able to work with our in-house consultants and other brand and publicity specialist to help us map out publicity and advertising strategies that will help us walk our way into the heart of our target market. We are set to take the environmental consulting industry by storm which is why we have made provisions for effective publicity and advertisement of our engineering consulting firm.
Below are the platforms we intend to leverage on to promote and advertise our engineering consulting business;
We are aware that hourly billing for consulting services is a longtime tradition in the industry. However, for some types of consultancy services especially engineering services, flat fees or per hour billings make more sense because they allow clients to better predict consultancy costs.
As a result of this, Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. will charge our clients a flat fee or per head for many basic services such as one-off engineering consultancy services et al.
At Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. we will keep our fees below the average market rate by keeping our overhead low and by collecting payment in advance. In addition, we will also offer special discounted rates to startups, nonprofits, cooperatives, and small social enterprises.
We are aware that there are some clients that would need regular access to engineering consultancy and advisory services, we will offer flat rate for such services that will be tailored to take care of such clients’ needs.
The payment policy adopted by Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. is all inclusive because we are quite aware that different customers prefer different payment options as it suits them but at the same time, we will ensure that we abide by the financial rules and regulations of the United States of America.
Here are the payment options that Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. will make available to her clients;
In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will enable our client make payment for our services without any stress on their part. Our bank account numbers will be made available on our website and promotional materials to clients who may want to deposit cash or make online transfer for our services
Starting an engineering consulting firm is cost effective because on the average, you are not expected to acquire expensive machines and equipment.
Basically, what you should be concerned about is the amount needed to secure a standard office facility in a good and busy business district, the amount needed to furnish and equip the office, the amount needed to pay bills, purchase relevant software apps, promote the business and obtain the appropriate business license and certifications.
These are the areas we are looking towards spending our startup capital on;
Going by the report from the research and feasibility studies, we will need about one hundred and fifty thousand Dollars ($150,000) to set up a small scale but standard engineering consulting business in the United States of America.
Generating Startup Capital for Arthur LeBlanc & Co® Environmental Consulting, LLP
Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. will be owned and managed by McCarthy O’Neal and his immediate family members. They are the financiers of the firm, but may likely welcome partners later which is why they decided to restrict the sourcing of the startup capital for the business to just three major sources.
These are the areas we intend generating our startup capital;
N.B: We have been able to generate about $50,000 (Personal savings $40,000 and soft loan from family members $10,000) and we are at the final stages of obtaining a loan facility of $100,000 from our bank. All the papers and documents have been duly signed and submitted, the loan has been approved and any moment from now our account will be credited.
The future of a business lies in the number of loyal customers that they have, the capacity and competence of their employees, their investment strategy and the business structure. If all of these factors are missing from a business, then it won’t be too long before the business close shop.
One of our major goals of starting Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc. is to build a business that will survive off its own cash flow without injecting finance from external sources once the business is officially running. We know that one of the ways of gaining approval and winning customers over is to offer nothing short of excellent and result oriented engineering consulting and advisory services at pocket friendly rates to all our clients.
At Green Belt® Engineering Consulting, Inc., we will make sure that the right foundation, structures and processes are put in place to ensure that our staff welfare are well taken of. Our company’s corporate culture is designed to drive our business to greater heights and training and retraining of our workforce is at the top burner.
As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of ten years or more. We know that if that is put in place, we will be able to successfully hire and retain the best hands we can get in the industry; they will be more committed to help us build the business of our dreams.
Check List/Milestone
