Important factors while setting up CAD or Engineering Business
Running a successful
business involves employing your skills along with strategy of innovation,
creativity, persistence, determination and confidence. The need arises for you
to match up with the current trends and to figure out creative solutions to
market your company and services. Good Results follow automatically if right
people, right amount of money and right approach towards clients are combined
in equilibrium.
Running a CAD Business
successfully requires collective efforts in every area. Marketing strategies,
employee selection, excellent client service, awareness of market and future
trends of market. We have tried to high light some areas which are very crucial
in running CAD Business efficiently. Hopefully these suggestions are useful to
you and help you look at this business from a different standpoint
Planning:
Planning and forecasting are
most important phases of any business. It can either break or make a company.
This becomes all the more crucial when the business is Engineering or CAD.
Since construction is an important segment where government and funds are
involved predictability of this business is zero. It is essential that we
conduct proper feasibility study, make a steady plan for financial
investments. Client base, target market, revenue flow, budgeting and
marketing strategies. Due to constant market fluctuation and monetary
instability, proper analysis or anticipation of future trends is not very
accurate. Keeping these factors and market conditions in mind, a company should
do best possible monetary planning and keep funds in reserve to face money
crunch or sudden downslides.
Finance:
Finance is the most important
aspect and has to be thought of first before starting a business, especially
when the business is related to Construction or Engineering. With recession and
unpredictability winds blowing across, one has to be extremely guarded with
finances. Finance is as important for business as oxygen is for body. Funds
have to be generated keeping in mind a lot of factors. In business like
Engineering Outsourcing or CAD, infrastructure, technology and manpower is much
more than starting any normal business enterprise. High End machines with
latest software, licenses work on these software plus talent to work on
projects are niche. All these aspect require capital. Marketing expenditure to
fetch clients also needs to be considered. Returns are not very fast here.
Growth rate is not very fast like IT or BPO sector. Project size or project
amount are calculated in millions opposite to any normal back office or IT
project. Owing to fluctuating market conditions, reserve funds also needs to be
kept for critical situations in business.
Marketing Strategies:
Client Acquisition and marketing
of services is another important part of business. Branding, performing
internet marketing, Search Engine Optimization of website is necessary to
ensure proper flow of inquiries and business leads. Deputing Staff to handle
client inquiries, project co-ordination with CAD or Engineering team, SEO team
to work on appropriate marketing strategies and branding are very important. In
some parts of the country finding English speaking talent or staff is
difficult. Command on English language is a must in industries catering to
foreign clients. Thinking innovatively and out of the box, constantly working
on new skills to reach out to a large market is important to thrive in this
kind of competition.
Technical Expertise and
Constant up gradation of skills:
Technical Expertise in
different Engineering Domains and having staff with experience of different
standards and construction codes is a major challenge. Apart from domain,
software expertise needs to be checked and tested before hiring a candidate for
a long term employment. With constant changing trends and up gradation of
software, every company needs to invest on training and development of a
particular employee to prevent stagnancy. Clients want companies who are ready
to work on latest technology and prefer not to chase companies who have not
upgraded themselves.
Effective Project Management:
Effective Project and People’s
management is one of the key elements contributing to the success of any
business. Especially, in a business like CAD and Engineering Service Outsourcing where completing and delivering projects on time is the crux
project management takes lion share of management of business.
Efficient meetings, proper
strategic planning and eloquent communication flow of these strategies
downwards is very important. Implementing policies, hourly charges or project
plans has to be very firm and has to aid effective project execution. .
Managing Productivity:
Managing productivity and
measuring productivity is again crucial in running Cad business. Management has
to be cautious and take extra steps to ensure project productivity and employee
productivity. Ratio of hours quoted to client vs. hours consumed for project
completion should be equal or less but not more than 10%. Giving appropriate
quotation or bids to clients is very crucial too.
Overall, a CAD Company can be
termed successful if it fares well in all criteria’s as mentioned in this write
up. We hope this write up has been able to give some insight on aspects that
needs to be taken care of before setting up a business in field of Engineering.
In : Engineering Outsourcing Services
Tags: cad engineering outsourcing services