Engineer-A-Business

It doesn’t take an engineering degree for a clever inventor to create an innovative product that can successfully grow their business. Unfortunately, many great inventors have also created products that were not successful because their exceptional ideas were not executed properly or important design details were not handled correctly.

Every business or inventor has to make the decision whether or not to hire a professional engineer to utilize their new product or technology in the most successful way possible, although they may not be aware that they are making this decision. There are several considerations that businesses must make when determining if hiring an independent engineer will be necessary or a waste of precious capital.

1. Engineers will help make sure the product doesn’t break or fail. This is the most common reason why businesses feel they need an engineer to consult with. If a product fails under normal working conditions, it will lead to customer dissatisfaction and possible lawsuits that could cripple the business. Engineers understand how to determine a factor of safety and conduct stress analysis that will help ensure the product will work as expected.
2. Engineers reduce the costs and burdens associated with “over-designing” a product. A common mistake that amateur inventors make is being overly conservative with their designs. They do not understand how much stress a product can withstand before failing and make the product too big just to be safe. The most obvious problem with this is that it results a more costly design. However, there are other drawbacks associated with overdesigning a product that they may not be considering at all. One example would be with aerospace applications. Amateur inventors or experimenters may develop an aerospace product that they consider safer, but do not take into consideration that it will be too bulky for them to realistically generate enough lift to take flight. Competent engineers will know how to work within the different design constraints to make this technology work in the most successful way possible.
3. Professional engineers can protect the business from potential lawsuits. If a business can show that it took customer safety seriously and performed due diligence by hiring an engineer to come up with a good design, they can lessen the likelihood and impact of a potential lawsuit resulting from a product malfunction.
4. Engineering firms can be great networking contacts. Engineers will know other businesses that can use the products they are helping design and can be great references for those companies.
5. Improves band image. Hiring an outside engineering firm can help build a more professional image for the product. Clients that know that the product was designed with the aid of a well-respected engineering firm will view the product as being of higher quality.

Many businesses have successfully developed new technology for their customers without hiring an outside engineer. However, technology is becoming increasingly complex and it is sometimes inevitable that they must hire an engineering firm to make their technology successful. Shrewd business teams know when it is necessary and will plan their design initiatives accordingly.

Last Updated (07 August 2010)