your structural niche
 

your structural niche
my small structural engineering office has been doing a variety of types of projects over the last year. commercial, industrial, a couple small school additions, and some residential work.
i have some broad questions for all you experienced guys out there. have you specialized in one area? is it wise for an office to pick a specialty?
it has become apparent that certain types of projects (spec offices for architects in a hurry, for example) are not very lucrative, or fun to work on for that matter. i am having a hard time to come up with some kind of coherent strategy for how to position my engineering office and market its services. not to complain, we are busy. i get offered a fair number of propjects just through word of mouth.
but, i am just wondering how others approach this issue. i hate to turn work away, but it doesn't make sense to try and be an expert in everything either. what types of projects have you folks found to be best for your office?
how do you choose what jobs to take?
any feedback greatly appreciated.

samdamon,
you are already running your office successfully with sufficient number of projects in hand. to my mind each structure is a differnt though design similarities may exist. as a structural engineers we shoud be able to tackle with diverse projects involving different materials and design practices. if you stick on to the particular area and say i will do only this and that which is no good. also if you go to the other extet and accept a project beyond the capacity of the office is also will be a problem. we need to balance between these two extreems while accepting jobs.
if you have couple of guys who has a bs/ms degree with good structural knowledge would be enough to tackle the small to medium projects like residential and industrial buildings with normal design and detailing requirements.
you need to be careful, if you are looking into some specialised areas such as seismic isolation where sufficient structural judgement and prior experience necessay for successful complesion of the project.
these are few of my ramblings. hope it helps.
in terms of marketing, it would seem unwise to neglect your staple income in order to branch out into more "interesting" areas in which you have less experience. if you are picking up work by word of mouth then you must be doing something well because third party endorsement is the best form of marketing there is. you don't have the costs of marketing, or tendering and you have implied credibility before you even pick up your pen.
however, if the level of work coming in is insufficient to grow your business, then you may need to begin to branch out into other fields. your insurers may need to be aware of this and if you do follow that route then the first few contracts you pick up will probably require much of your time in order that you do not foul up and lose that hard earned status you have aquired.
you cannot be an expert in everything and the breadth of new technologies which are rapidly being developed will soon outpace you if you are attempting to cover too many fields. this could lead to those who do specialise in one area taking your business away as you try to spread yourself too thinly. where once we used to produce 5 year business plans, we are doing well these days to look more than 1.5 years ahead (and that is only because the contracts we take on are 1-2 years in duration).
this is of course all very simplistic and you have the best handle on your own market.
regards
andy machon