When I kicked off the small father/son survey side gig, I got a few jobs and things went well.?ÿ But things dried up ... even before COVID.?ÿ I'm mainly after lot surveys.?ÿ Or is there something else I should be looking into??ÿ What's the best way to market a small shop and where should I spend my energy to get the best bang for my buck/time?
Relying on homeowners for work is a loser. It is always going to be a race to the bottom. As soon as you try charging anything above rock bottom the work will dry up. At the least you need a developer to send you a steady flow of work.?ÿ ?ÿ
It depends greatly where you are and how many others are trying to work the same market as you.?ÿ Boundary work can be a real money maker, especially if you only want to do it part time but only if you are in the right areas.?ÿ Tackling big commercial jobs may pay well but you must be committed to being there whenever it is they think they need you there and drop your other projects to take care of them.
Are there one or two other surveyors working your area or are there fifty??ÿ How well known are you by people who tend to need survey help somewhat frequently??ÿ Can you bend your schedule to do inside work only on days when outside work is not a good option?
Get there asap and get your deliveries out quickly.
Word will get around from the Title Companies and Attorneys and Realtors that you are a fast closer.
Most of all, never cut any corners to get r done.
That has been my niche for the last 40+ years.
Where in coastal NC are you??ÿ?ÿ
There's a ton of municipal work all around Wilmington and throughout the state in general. Most contractors don't even try to do there own layout and asbuilts are supposed to be performed by a PLS.?ÿ Water and sewer lines are fairly simple to stake in rural areas.?ÿ I would recommend stopping by a few construction sites or offices and offering your services.?ÿ
Nobody knows what Covid and the upcoming election will do to residential and private development, but municipalities still will need to manage their utilities.
When I was solo, 90% of my work came from teaming with solo PE's on land development projects.?ÿ The clients liked that we were more responsive than the bigger multi-disciplinary, firms.
I was recently approached by Mortenson who asked if we did work in NC because they "...are looking at 3 projects that total around $800,000,000 with multiple sites in North Carolina related to Hurricane Florence Recovery"
Off Topic - When is your Governor reopening restaurants and bars with outdoor seating??ÿ Oak Island is reopening for short term rentals on the 22nd, and I'll be down there for a week starting the 24th.?ÿ Virus, schirus...I haven't had a week's vacation in over a year.?ÿ
These comments are based solely on the seven County area of NC that I am familiar with, although I believe it will apply to other areas as well.
It takes about 10 to 15 years minimum to really get established. By established, I don't mean staying busy, I mean making money.
Unless your really lucky, your first ten years will be be primarily working for bottom feeders to get your name out.
Hopefully along the way you will create relationships with valuable clients that will in turn create a solid client base with steady work.
Work not solely based on price but rather based on your expertise and performance. The big problem is that you are competing with horrible
business people who take work for pennies the dollar just to keep crews busy while complaining of making no money. I had to turn to other?ÿ
endeavors utilizing my surveying knowledge to gain partial financial freedom. Your target client should be anyone that will provide a constant
stream of work but it will take time.
All I can say is utility work has been very kind to me, but it's taken years to build trust and confidence with my clients. When times get tough people still need power and broadband. Fiber optics have been my bread and butter for a decade and if I do a lot survey it's because I want to and not need to. You want clients that will budget for your services, know the value and will be a steady source of new work.?ÿ
All I can say is utility work has been very kind to me
My boss and I were talking about this today. ?ÿHis firm has a 25 year history primarily in vertical markets, but I want to pivot over the next few years to 1/3 vertical 2/3 horizontal - transportation and utilities.?ÿ
30 min from Wilmington. My background has been in Geodetic, Airfield, and Control for targeting (Marines) so not much experience in stake out and civil. I've done some boundary work ... which is why I'm gravitating to lot/boundary surveys. Asbuilts would be fairly straight forward. Just not sure how to break in or who to talk to.
Not sure when the restaurants are opening for outdoor seating. I'm pretty much a home body. What kind of work would Mortenson need? Would any drone work be needed? (I also have a part 107 remote pilot certificate)
Interesting take.?ÿ But I appreciate your candidness.?ÿ .... Oh, and which 7 counties?
This is exactly what I'm talking about ... or am interested in. What does surveying for utilities even entail, are you talking easements? (Forgive my green-ness, but like I said, my background is surveying for military needs)
The term "side gig" is throwing me. Are you doing this along with your "real job" or is this a way to supplement your income until you are in it full time?
"I'm mainly after lot surveys"?ÿDress up and visit every title company you can within your working area and ask them for a chance at obtaining their work. Title Companies are only interested turnaround time. So if you can perform quickly you will have a shot. ?????ÿ
This was one of the packages they were inquiring about. If you want to partner with big companies like that, the first step is to work your way though the (usually) odious prequalification process https://www.mortenson.com/contact/partner-pre-qual
My background has been in Geodetic, Airfield, and Control for targeting (Marines) so not much experience in stake out and civil.
Geodetic control is often a weak spot for bigger civil/survey design firms; have you tried partnering with them??ÿ I suspect there should be decent sized transportation projects in the works down there because a friend of mine at O.R. Colan who specializes in highway ROW & easement acquisition was just temporarily transferred from the DC area to New Bern to manage a couple of big projects.?ÿ?ÿ
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Edit - another market idea for your skill set.?ÿ
I don't know about NC, but right now VA has an RFP out for statewide base mapping. A lot of counties up here supplement statewide mapping with county mapping projects as well.?ÿ There are only a handful of national/international companies that can handle those types of projects, and they usually don't have "boots on the ground" for control and ground truth QA/QC work.?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
Firestix....?ÿ From what I can gather, it seems you might be focusing on the wrong markets.?ÿ Given your background and skills, why would you want?ÿ to compete with low dollar boundary work??ÿ ?ÿ Why?ÿ not look into drones or other techno items, given that you have your son involved??ÿ ?ÿAssuming most younger peeps are more into tech these days....?ÿ?ÿ
You said this was a "side?ÿ gig"?ÿ (not sure what that even means)?ÿ ?ÿso you could pick and choose a market that suits your skills.?ÿ ?ÿTBH, it doesn't look like boundary work should be at the top of your list.?ÿ ?ÿ
I loved being a solo boundary surveyor and made great money doing it, but was in a very specialized market area.?ÿ ?ÿThat's even tougher these days now that contract labor is allowed in Florida.?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
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edit...?ÿ I see from an earlier post that you are in a resort/coastal area.?ÿ I didn't see too many surveyors on the map in that area.?ÿ ?ÿThat's where my biz thrived, as there are always people with money looking to invest.?ÿ ?ÿJust a thought.?ÿ?ÿ
@flga
Thanks for the reply. "Side Gig" meaning that I want to be able to grow my father/son survey business so that when I retire from my "real job" in 6 years, I have enough clients and clout that I can transition seamlessly.
I really like the idea of marketing myself to Title Companies.
When you say "state wide base mapping" are you referring aerial orthophotgraphy? I have doexperience in running control for such projects.
Thank you for your insight. I guess boundary work seems like it would fit my schedule. By "side gig" I mean I have full time job working for a municipality and I'd like to up my income and sharpen/hone my survey skills as well as teaching my, very interested, 17 year old son how to survey.
