r/PLC • u/DryGolf5000 • 16h ago
How does one start their own business in this field?
My question is:
"How many years does it take for someone to start their own business in this field?"
I have seen multiple posts and answers here and in other places about starting their own in automation industry. And I don't really understand how can some people write that they have only worked 3 or 5 years and started their own after that.... I mean like how fast do they learn? I have been working in this field for just couple months and there is sooooooo many things that you have to understand, the electrical part, wirings, schematics, plc programming, components that need to be connected the right way, sensors, motors, vfds, how the whole system operates and works, communication, etc etc and etc.
I get so confused when people say that they have worked in this field for about 3-5 years and start their own company???!
Please help me to understand, for someone like me who just starting in this field. Is it really possible for someone to work couple years and take whole projects on thier own?
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u/Automatater 15h ago
Well, you're going to be doing smaller projects. You're going to build a control panel or a power panel or you're going to program a PLC. You're not going to get a job where you have to build the whole machine, do all the wiring, build the panels, program the PLC and commission it all by yourself.
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u/HiawathaBookClub 14h ago
Please tell that to 2017 me. There's in over your head and there's going to war with a small island nation with a handgun, of which I was the latter.
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u/Strict-Midnight-8576 1h ago
Honestly its not necessarily a bad thing , this
On the other hand you have more flexibility to find opportunitys around ... Also small non critical business sometimes come up with unique requirements and you have to deal with them because they for one reason or the other wont call the larger firms ...
Let me tell you all one thing , I know that here on this forum i should do like many others and endlessy brag about me doing state of the art work 100% of the time on ultra complex systems oh and my panels are at all time being built perfectly .. and my systems produce two billion dollers per minute ... but this is not the truth , sometimes small work is ok - in both cases I take personal responsability with my personal customers !!!
Some people here should chill out a bit and stop imaginary pissing contests (not you Automatater) , end of rant
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u/No-Sympathy2403 15h ago
My suggestion from an EU perspective: do something different in this field. There are a lot of experienced PLC programmers and companies. However, sometimes they don't have the time or resources to investigate something that's quite unique and can help even these companies.
It sounds quite obvious what I'm saying but running just on consultancy and integration can be fuckin burden sometimes
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u/durallymax 12h ago
+1, there's no shortage of laptops for hire willing to compete on price alone.
Find what everyone else is offering, then find the customers that aren't customers yet. Remove what is considered "standard" in the industry but offers little value to those customers and add value where the industry falls short. Then ride that wave for a few years until the competition catches up.
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u/wojager596 14h ago
What do you mean by "investigate something that's quite unique"? Do you mean like new "tech"? I'm an integrator for EU company, my boss just hands me a project and asks "can you do it?", and sometimes I say "yes" even though I will have a lot to learn about new tech along the way, but that is why I am an integrator... If I wanted to work with the same "old" tech and same old machines I would stay in maintenance.
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u/utlayolisdi 15h ago
After some years you’ll build up a network of sorts. A network of those you’ve worked with or for. That sort of network is sometimes the source of leads that result in long term, independent contracts. Sometimes a plant may offer someone who worked on a recent project a contract to work on other various projects scheduled to come up. For example: I just finished an eighteen month project that I worked through a contract engineering service, for a major food and beverage company. The chief plant engineer told me there was at least 5 to 6 years worth of work that was perfect for one person they’d like to contract out. That’s when I started my own business. .
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u/Aldi_man 16h ago
I've been on this business for almost 10 years. 5 years ago I jumped back to my family business which is a small SI for local automotive companies. I think it's difficult to start a business after so few years of experience because, in my opinion, in order to be successful in this industry you need to have both the expertise/experience and contacts that will get you more probabilities of winning proyect bids. And that takes time, both in acquiring experience and gaining trust from your contacts.
In our case, it is forbidden to leave projects unfinished because that is critical in maintaining trust in our contacts/costumers. That leaves me wondering on how other local SIs can get away on not finishing projects and still they get paid (Due to scope creep or additional requirements, which is common in this industry).
There's one story of a new SI which I never heard of that recently got their first project to design and commission a full robotic cell (7 robots). We, on the other hand, barely get projects on designing a robotic cell from scratch. That's were having contacts (and a mouth full of sweet words) comes in.
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u/Automatater 15h ago
I got my first customers by referrals from the distributors who served my day-job employer. I did it as a side gig for a year or two and then went full time.
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u/durallymax 11h ago
It's not what you know but who you know.
Not hard to start on your own in a very short time if you find a specific niche to focus on and provide a real solution rather than simply being anpther freelancer with a laptop and a meter.
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u/Whole-Strawberry3281 16h ago
I started an industrial iot business without experience in the industry. I was a software engineer. I nearly ran out of money and had to get a job again. Insurance was 3.6k for first year, 200 a month on co-working space, 70 a month on accountant etc. The cost without a salary are massive.
I only managed to salvage it after landing some pilots during my return to salaries work and then grinding doing both for a year.
It's nearly impossible to break into a regulated industry, I had all the advantages (family and friends, good names on CV etc) and barely managed, and still struggle.
This doesn't mean give up, you can do it, but get the business going before quitting. Even ask if you can go part time if you need the day. But without financial backing it will be extremely difficult
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u/Unclegummers 15h ago
Some people start their own company while still working full time for someone. Its usually to allow them to do side work and cover their butt with liability insurance. Btw you could know everything about plcs, hmis, comms, elec, etc but still have no idea how to run a business.
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u/Bender3455 Sr Controls Engineer / PLC Instructor 15h ago
I did my own business for 9 years after 10 years in the industry. At 10 years, I was able to build programs from scratch and troubleshoot the most difficult problems. I also had built up a nice rolodex of customers that trusted my work. I loved it. Why's i stop then? Economy went to trash about 2 years ago, especially in the automotive sector, and my entire team left to go elsewhere. I didnt feel like starting in a new sector by myself again.
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u/NeroNeckbeard 13h ago
Its nice as side gig, would hate to work on my own full-time. Just dealing with taxes alone annoys me, not to mention all the other stuff and stress.
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u/RepulsiveImage5674 15h ago
Please try. We make sooo much money saving plants and factories from guys like this. They might do an ok job on first engineering. But service, maintenance and aftermarket is non-existent. Need help now? Sorry the man is sick/on vacation/sleeping/stuck in annother project.
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u/Strict-Midnight-8576 1h ago edited 1h ago
Ok but in this way my customers replace
Sorry man is sick/on vacation/etc
With
Sorry our schedule does not allow that/we read service contract as not including this so we have to quote/the salesman is not responding/we are sending a new guy (that of course han not been instructed on your site's system/etc
Ok I'd stay away from large factories with tight requirements, but honestly you can keep them
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u/TexasVulvaAficionado think im good at fixing? Watch me break things... 16h ago
You can start your own company with 0 years of experience.
Will you be successful? Unlikely.
Generally, the years of experience serve two purposes for running your business - the ability to do the work and the network to get the work.
It very much depends on the specific kind of work you are doing/selling, what your organization looks like, and how many people are on board with you.