Finger Art by Engineers & Architects II

Cathedral and Abbey Church - St Albans, UK

Kingsgate Bridge - Durham, UK

The Ironbridge - Shropshire, UK

  

The Millau Viaduct - Millau-Creissels, France

Our second lot of #doodleengineer entries. It's all a bit of fun, so please keep them coming in! Only 11 days left!!

Previous Posts: Doodle Engineering Competition, Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle

Engine[er]

Dipping in your Toes [the journey begins here]

Good morning. Last post I spoke of marketing [in 60seconds] for an Engineer.

Well, to that end I have recently been frequenting a newfangled [networking] get together in St Albans, my home town. A completely dressed down and informal way to meet local business owners, and a rare opportunity to chat about marketing, SEO and social media with the experts - without being the subject of a sales pitch.

I managed to glean many golden nuggets of information from the afternoons socialising [special thanks to a kindred snowboarder Gabriel Homer]

The group call themselves An Afternoon in the Pub. I warmly suggest that if you are in the area of Hertfordshire when one of their meets is scheduled, come over and have a chat with them.

So, without further ado... please follow this [link] to my guest post for them.

As usual, let me know what you think and watch out for my Friday blog post later!!




Engine[er]

BNI The Givers Gain

Huge post today. "givers gain" this is the motto of the Business Network International group, the BNI.

I have flirted with joining a breakfast networking group before, and was fortunate enough to be invited as a guest to BNI Chariots (St Albans) on two occasions before I decided that my aversion to early morning meetings was to be finally trumped by my natural curiosity... trust me that's a BIG amount of curiosity-full-ness.

First things first, I accepted the 2nd invite and then decided to turn up without any preparation apart from a 60sec elevator speech tucked away in my notebook, and a quick delegate search to reveal who I'd like to be introduced to. Apart from that I wanted to experience this event raw. Grrrrr.

My hosting member was very welcoming, as quickly as I could store in my memory some new names i was pushed towards a member who was deemed to have an overlapping field of interest to my business. He did, he was a building repair specialist. Nice chat [cap doffing].

Once the majority of the delegates had arrived the rather pricey buffet brekkie was unveiled (£10). I have to say this as even though the fry up buffet was absolutely lovely... the price was more expensive than dining at my favourite Sunday morning haunt - which is THE BEST FRY UP EVER! Carluccios, St Albans.

With a plate full of delicious early morning nosh I was ushered into the meeting area and given a predetermined seat at a table. A chance to very quickly network with my neighbours whilst eating and before the main event got underway. Very civilised.

A large portion of almost ceremonially announced BNI stats and figures were then presented to the congregation, before each and every delegate was asked to in-turn, to stand up and pitch their businesses. Included were their hopes for the week ahead and a sprinkling of commentary describing their past weeks trials and tribulations - all in a rather stingy 60 second window. Having said that, the system works! You can get really creative in 60 secs, as some of the more entertaining members proved. Lots of laughter ensued and then it was the turn of the invited guests [me included] to introduce ourselves to the networkers. Unfortunately for me though, I decided at the very last moment to go with an unprepared pitch, and shook uncontrollably during it's entirety. Like a flappy bird i was. I got a laugh though, which was welcomed by my fragile ego. Cheers guys!

Next up was the opportunity for the members to personally announce and hand over their weeks worth of gathered referrals, to each of their network team members. It was great to see such a gratifying response from everyone as the referrals were gifted to their intended recipients. As a bonus, anyone who was able to muster up atleast 3 referrals during the week was subject to congratulations from the entire congregation by way of a round of applause... and 5 or more got a standing ovation! Very very American, was what I thought! Almost a kind of 'we are in it together' attitude. Made me smile. Not a criticism at all.

After this we were asked to listen to a special 10 min weekly pitch by one of the longer standing members about their business. Congratulations to them. A nerve wrecking chance to pitch yourself to the others, expertly taken.

After another round of BNI stats, figures and philosophies, the guests were asked to leave to endure the sales pitch which was aimed at filling the guests in with as much info about the process of joining as possible, in a very small amount of time. I had already written a few pages of questions during the meeting to entertain the members given the task of pitching to us. They must have loved me.

OK, so far you have heard about the mechanics of the meetings from a guests point of view. I spent the next week researching the BNI and seeing if it integrated well with my business plan AND PHILOSOPHY. Matching up my needs with those of the networking group, I found a common interest.

I wanted more customers and a higher local profile. They wanted another member to add to their sales team who would work just as hard for their members as they would do for their very own business. That's me. Fairs fair.

During my experience, and for your interest, I managed to note the following points for anyone thinking about joining or visiting as a guest;

1. Do you 'guest it' for a week or two? YES! This is a no brainer. Do it. If you get invited, look into it further and treat it like a cool morning chatting to more local business people like youself. THIS IS NOT A WASTE OF YOURS OR ANYONE'S TIME.
2. There is an underlying religious connotation to the whole proceedings. Speak to the individual members and this feeling evaporates. Speak to the guys and girls doing the membership organisation and the feeling returns. GET OVER IT. We have been trained by our parents to resist this kind of recruitment drive from a very early age, and we will have the immediate feeling of repulsion to it. Please bear in mind that this is an American founded system. With the very best intentions, they are all over these kinds of groups... It's in their genes. Not us Brits though. Treat this like a business deal. You invest your time, you get the reward, and so do your sales buddies. If you like the thought of socialising too - then that's cool aswell. Don't fall into the trap of mistrust.
3. You reap what you sow. Or to put in in the words if BNI, "givers gain". Again this has a very religious flavour to it. The only reason this works is through the commitment of it's members to one another. End. If you are not prepared to work for others as hard as you would work for yourself , then don't get involved. It makes a mockery of the system. Jog on.
4. To learn is to grow. You will learn a huge amount.. Presentation skills, networking, marketing, relationships... the list goes on. This is worth the initial investment alone.

You may be getting the idea from my post here today that I am sold on the idea of the BNI, and you would be wrong for thinking that. I am sold on the IDEAL. Now let's see if it matches up to real life.

Engine[er]


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:The Peahen, St Albans

Business Planter

I worked hard today. When you work for yourself though there seems to be bottomless well of energy to tap into, AND everything you do for your business is fun! Hmmm maybe that's a minor stretch of the imagination. Let's just say you can see the benefits of your labours in full technicolor, and leave it at that for now.

In amongst my blogs of recent days i forgot to mention a few things about me. I know that I should have done this earlier, but here goes. Firstly, I am human and fallible. Not fallible and therefore a risk taking professional! Good God no. I mean fallible in the way that I may spend a little bit too much time researching or that i have a tough time remembering names. Secondly, even though I like to think that I can conjure up an answer to most questions... in reality; outside of engineering and raw problem solving ability... I tend to need more help than I can give. For now. Thirdly, you have my complete attention. Yes you. You there reading my blog. [no I'm not going to ask you to christen a child-like princess - like in 'The Never Ending Story'] the reason why I write is to show you that I am here doing this so that you can exercise your option to glean a thing or two from my mistakes, and victories. Please don't forget to tell me ALL about your gleaning.

During my stroll through Veralum Park in St Albans on Thursday evening, on my way to a evening chat with members of our local Chamber of Commerce, I was very lucky to brew a brief brain storm. I concentrated on management of my business expansion into the future. The way I saw it was as follows, either I could;
1. Continue to grow a client base. Squirrel away funds and use this to establish an office and begin employing other Engineers. Traditional, tried and tested. Pluses? Lots of advice out there, and as straight forward as you can get. Potentially a comfortable life style. Minuses? Recruitment, and management of staff is not everyone's cup of tea. I can't see myself doing that until I retire. And this is exactly what I will have to do to afford retirement... as selling businesses of this nature is notoriously personal, and good will, will only get you so much in financial return. Bit of a cul-de-sac that one.
or
2. Partner-up with other Engineers. Find one or two like minded business owners of a similar size, merge and share work and responsibilities. You get stability, when your neck of the woods are quiet... and conversely you will be expected to prop up you partners when the situation has been reversed. I am not overly enamoured by this model. There is still too much competition internally for business, and ultimately this may lead to one partner growing weary and separating. Growth is made easier by virtue of a less risky field of play, higher number of opportunities AND by organic growth. Big advantage, you will already have 1 or 2 ready made buyers for when you feel the need to sell up your part of the business.
Or
3. Collaborate with complimentary business streams to offer a broader service. For example, find a builder or Architect or both and launch a separate company, sharing profits. This could be an unfair model and would tend to focus growth down a particular route. Collaboration should be aimed at leveraging resources so that larger contracts can be attained. Problem, no natural buyer for business unless the collaborators have gained some long term framework agreement with a major service provider and therefore have built in long term value...
Or
4. Collaborate with a completely non-complimentary business. Strange one this. You are seeking different revenue streams by thinking laterally and using the experience to learn more about a different business altogether. Those of you who know me will definitely think that this is the route most attractive to me. If only to take on the challenge. Pluses? Lots to learn and more chance of falling upon an idea which is entirely original for both your business. Downs. Sounds hard work, expensive to integrate and stupid. I can discount hardwork as this is something which you HAVE to partake in anyway. Expensive? Could cause a problem. Stupid? I like the sound of that... original ideas always seem stupid at first - there is no precedence to compare it to and you are embarking upon the unknown. Stupid is as stupid does.








Of course there are lots more to think about but this is a good start. What do you think?

NOTE. most options involve some kind of collaboration. Interesting?


Engine[er]

Location:St Albans,United Kingdom

A SLOW week in the life of a SMALL business owner

[Checks his calender] (that's me checking my calender by the way - in case you couldn't tell).

I needed to check my where-a-bouts, as last week was akin to an almighty explosion of nothing... Pffffizzzzzz POOF! Here, for your enjoyment is a rare glimpse into what a slow week may look like, should you decide to take up the NEW START-UP CHALLENGE... and begin working for yourself. I'm quite proud and puzzled at the same time. Enjoy.

Monday. Early to rise, seriously. Speak to free business listing website for 25minutes and discuss how my free listing is not as good for my business exposure as the £[insert random price] sponsored deal is. Go figure. Arranged to meet with my local hair dresser during lunch to sell him the FREE professional services of my friend who has agreed to build Facebook pages for small businesses to earn himself some pocket money, but needs a couple of portfolio jobs to get started first. Then spent 2 hours setting up the business page on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare so that my mate could hit the ground running. Do a little bit of work for an Architect on a local project. Meet Steve Brown of Browns Barber Shop at lunch, snap a bunch of photos for his Facebook page. I leave a very happy man behind me, with promises of a sparkling brand new way of marketing his business - FREE of charges of course. Get home, email business friend regarding a personal project I am doing for him. He is very very happy. Call Paul and email to him the reel of photos from the afternoons photo shoot. Everyone knows what they are doing... and relax.
Tuesday. Late up. Social media morning. Continue design for local Architect. Receive a phone call from gentleman who found me on LinkedIn. He loved my company profile and hoped that I could help him with his structural problems. We hit it off well and I agreed to visit his home next week. Spoke with an ex-work colleague and Architect regarding a meet-up for tomorrow. Finished off my application to apply for next years Chartership Examination - Institute of Structural Engineers.
Wednesday: Chase member signatures for my Chartership review interview then drive to meet old work colleague to speak about business and how we can help each other. Had an awesome discussion about new-starters, marketing, branding, pricing and of course buildings and work-work. During the conversation, my Architect friend gave me a huge compliment - I'm sure that it was meant as a compliment, but I don't think she realised how important it was for me to hear it. She said to me that reading my blog, and company profile and how I presented myself in the electronic world is a complete echo of who I am in the real world. Obviously she has had the opportunity to work with me in the past and reaffirmed that I am marketing myself in the way that I intended - being true to my personality and future plans . I was 'made up' that afternoon. Was called up by a contact who wished to push some work my way. I agreed to meet the client on site the very next day.
Thursday: On site after braving horrendous traffic. Agreed to silly deadlines [mentally shifting work around] and left site brimming with happiness and hope - interesting new job and 2 rather encouraging new contacts for the future. Time to pop back to the home office and chase signatures for my Chartership application... squeeze in a small amount of work too ;-) Mid afternoon - met with young developer who is trying to do good things in and around Herts and North London. Quality contact and a very focussed customer. Polished looks, business man like, and obviously design orientated. Score! - I could see him becoming more and more interested in what I had to say about my business and we hit it off well. Promises were made to send some work my way and again I left a happy and re-charged man. Final stop was a visit to my friend and past mentor to talk about my application to next years Chartership Exam, and sign a form for me. Good to catch up - even if it was only for 30minutes. Worked until 11pm on Architects project. Yawn.
Friday: Posted all information that was required to IStructE (Structural Engineers Institute) and then flew down the motorway to an already active job - to discuss plans with builder. Chatted through the plans for the third time - and wondered why I bothered creating drawings if they weren't being read.

First meeting with possible new Architect colleague in St Albans. Awesome chat. More promises made with regard to giving me a chance to estimate for some of their current projects and indeed one did arrive later that day. A cool extension on a GradeII listed cottage, on a side of a hill (nay cliff?) in Devon. More drawing work and finally issued structural input for a local project. The end of the day saw me sat at my computer working away on social media input (like this blog) and waiting for someone to make use of my FREE Weekly Structural Surgery offer... no takers again. This could take a while to find it's audience I think....

Engine[er]