Starting an Engineering Business - Lesson Learnt 1

Part of starting a business is networking, making connections and explaining why and how you can help clients. When I say that I’m a civil engineer with over 25 years’ experience, and that I’ve created MinARva Consulting to bring clarity to the early stages of infrastructure projects, I usually get two reactions: some people nod and smile… or some are brave enough to ask: “What exactly is civil engineering?” or “What do you mean by early stages of infrastructure projects?”

We forget sometimes that engineering is a very broad field. It covers dozens of disciplines, and that’s before we even get into the misuse of the word “engineer” by many trades… So when someone outside the industry hears “civil engineering”, it’s perfectly normal that they don’t immediately know what that means.

And because most people never see how a project actually starts, I often compare engineering projects to planning a holiday. First, you decide you want to go somewhere. Then you choose the destination, plan the dates, look at places to visit, buy the tickets, make reservations… and eventually, you go on holiday. Projects follow the same logic, just with “slightly” more planning, more constraints, and more consequences if something is missed. But the idea is the same: you start with an intention, you plan it, and eventually something gets built.

I am not trying to compete with Wikipedia here, but in very simple terms:

• Civil engineering: the branch of engineering that deals with ground conditions, earthworks, drainage, roads, utilities… all the key parts of a project that you don’t normally see or pay attention to, but that form the backbone of any development.

• Infrastructure project: any development that includes civil engineering aspects.

• Early stages of an infrastructure project: the beginning of a project, when you define what needs to be built and prepare the studies required to demonstrate that it’s feasible, so authorities can grant permission.

My lesson learnt: when you speak to people who know nothing about engineering, anything they don’t understand gets filled with their own assumptions. They fill the gaps, and the picture they build is rarely the one you intended. If I want people to understand what I do, why I do it, and what differentiates me from other professionals, I need to make sure I’m explaining it in a way that leaves no room for g