I understand the frustration of chasing payment; but this is not
necessarily any different in any other business. Contractor's routinely
chase payment and worse, retainage. If it's not chasing payment, it's
chasing business. Even if you own a doughnut shop you need to get
customers to make the whole thing viable.
I won't pretend that my clients necessarily pay any faster than the
balance, or that we have weeded out the slow pay (though we do on some).
I just learned to accept slow pay a long time ago and have built my
business around their normal time frame so I no longer need to stress
over it. One thing is I don't believe we are one of the cheaper firms,
I charge full value for our services, including additional money for
carrying costs for slow paying customers. I don't need to argue about
finance charges and all the evil connotations that accompany the
concept, I just tack it on up front as part of the fee. If they don't
want to pay our fee, fine; they are welcome to go somewhere else.
An associate of mine used to jack up the fee for certain clients by a
few percent, and then offer a 1.5% discount for payments received within
thirty days. I have not implemented this practice, but from what I
understand it seemed to work fairly well.
I let my business manager chase after the money, and it does not have
that great an impact on my everyday life.
Paul Feather PE, SE
pfeather@SE-Solutions.net
www.SE-Solutions.net
-----Original Message-----
From: dfisher@fpse.com [mailto:dfisher@fpse.com]
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 7:33 AM
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: RE: You might be a structural engineer, if .
Paul:
I don't think its disatisfaction with the career, life or income, its
that
I spend FAR TOO MUCH time chasing money i.e., clients that won't pay.
My engineers (I think) are pretty happy. They are paid about 25% above
market, have great benefits, flexible work hours and pretty cool (again,
I
think) projects to work on.
They have all the fun while I have all the worry.
dlf
> Hello Stan,
>
>
>
> Great to hear from you, you restore my faith.
>
>
>
> From one of the other apparently isolated engineers who is happy with
> the career, life, and income....
>
>
>
> Paul Feather PE, SE
>
> pfeather@SE-Solutions.net
>
> www.SE-Solutions.net
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Stan Caldwell [mailto:stancaldwell@gmail.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 12:52 PM
> To: SEAINT Listserv
> Subject: You might be a structural engineer, if ...
>
>
>
> In recent weeks, I have been somewhat troubled by several posts and
> threads that I believe have been overly critical of the profession of
> structural engineering. What follows is my alternate perspective,
with
> apologies to Jeff Foxworthy.
>
>
>
> You might be a (happy/productive/successful) structural engineer, if
...
>
>
>
> 1. You take considerable pride in being a structural engineer.
In
> fact, you view structural engineering as one of the "highest callings"
> imaginable.
>
> 2. You understand that a typical structural engineer plays a
larger
> role in public safety than nearly anyone else, and you strive to
> practice accordingly.
>
> 3. You view structural engineering as a career, not as a job.
> Moreover, you view structural engineering as a profession, not simply
as
> an occupation.
>
> 4. You consistently place ethics, integrity, and quality above
any
> and all business pressures.
>
> 5. You strive to team effectively with those in other professions
> and treat them as respected peers, but you make all structural
> engineering decisions independently.
>
> 6. You take considerable pride in the tangible, constructed
results
> of your efforts.
>
> 7. For the most part, you truly love your work and genuinely wake
> up each day looking forward to going to your place of employment.
>
> 8. You typically work somewhat in excess of 40 hours/week because
> you want to, and you couldn't care less about "the clock".
>
> 9. You expect to be fairly compensated with a salary and bonus
> based on the value of what you accomplish, not with a wage based on
the
> hours that you spend.
>
> 10. You understand and accept the obligation to eventually give
> something back to the profession of structural engineering through
> financial contributions, active participation in professional
> organizations, or some other means.
>
> I created this list in an hour or so and made no attempt to massage
it.
> Some of the words could undoubtedly be improved, and other
> attributes/attitudes might very well be worthy of inclusion.
> Nevertheless, based on my experience as a happy, productive, and
> successful structural engineer, I firmly believe in the validity and
> importance of the ten points above.
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
>
>
> Stan R. Caldwell, P.E.
>
> Richardson, Texas
>
>
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