<p>I can answer #4. My husband and I are civil engineers (structural). We worked for other companies as design engineers for about 12 years. We opened up our home consulting business June 25, 1999. Ten years ago this week! We get our work through word-of-mouth (Maine is a small place). We work for architects, contractors, and owners. We do everything from small houses to large commercial and industrial projects. We’ve tried to cast a wide net so that when one sector slows down, we can find work of a different type.</p>
<p>We prepared for at least two years before we opened. Got advice from an accountant, a business lawyer, and lots of engineers. We bought equipment gradually. We started with no debt except for our house mortgage. Occasionally we have to use a little of our line of credit when customers are slow to pay (that’s the biggest pain of owning our own firm), but things have gone pretty smoothly. Our biggest expense is insurance - health, professional liability, and general business.</p>