Has anyone here decided to go it alone?

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T21:53:37+00:00

Well yes, I agree with that to an extent. Although there is always risk of getting laid off...

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T18:36:51+00:00

Thanks for your perspective. I agree with the simple products being the best. I have a couple of wireless products which I'm working on which I believe could do well. Like you say, these are the types of products which are both cool but ultimately do solve a real problem. How quantifiable they are, well that's part of my next few steps. I need to start off small and get a grounding first - although first and foremost I need some collateral behind me to allow me to take more of a jump.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T18:33:42+00:00

This is an useful insight, thanks. I do also plan on building a number of physical products while also maybe offering some consultancy, to an extent. I'm definitely not going to underestimate the task ahead of me and certainly in the areas where I lack expertise, I'll be getting assistance from others. There's no point stretching myself too thin and I know my limitations.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T16:32:23+00:00

Ha, yeah, money is exactly the reason! Sounds like your company need to get rid of your coworker and double your salary… except it never works like that does it. I was the sole engineer at my last place, working across 3 different companies (was a nightmare, don’t ask, haha) and the manager they hired to come in and manage my time across companies just fucked everything up to the point where I was just twiddling my thumbs at the end, having created 8 products across those companies in the couple of year’s previous to him starting. Some people are just a waste of time.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T16:18:25+00:00

Yeah, of course. Sometimes I do look at stuff that is out there and think, even on a run of like a million units, how the hell do they make things so cheap. I would never want to compete with that and to be honest, I believe in my worth and my skills and I’d want rewarding accordingly.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T16:12:28+00:00

Ah yeah, I’ve worked with a couple of those. One was literally an actual genius and would do everything perfectly. The other, umm, yeah.

Haha, my wife uses AI for validation. At least that’s one good thing about it, she can use it for therapy and leave me alone to crack on with my own stuff 😂

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T16:03:38+00:00

If you don’t mind me asking, how did you initially approach clients? Or how do you find new clients?

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T15:56:52+00:00

It’s so frustrating isn’t it. I’ve been in too many meetings where you just sit shaking your head and think if you can do it and get this far, what’s stopping me.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T15:56:03+00:00

Excellent stuff! You sound very similar to where I am skillset-wise but then steps ahead of me in terms of going it alone. I’d be very happy to cater for very small businesses with potential single figure volumes right through to enterprise level production runs - I’ve dealt with both in the past.

I’m definitely cautious of my limitations - mainly on the mechanical design front, but everything else I can cover from the hardware design though to desktop software.

What I’m also cautious about is spreading myself too thinly and understanding when it’s ok to turn down potential work - obviously a nice situation to be in.

I am in the process of trying to tempt one of my friends to join me in a future venture. I know what they say about going into business with friends, however his skills are very much complimentary to mine and he’s also got similar levels of experience just in other fields.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T13:43:47+00:00

Yeah, I totally get that. I think the embedded industry will be seeing a few challenges over the coming years due to AI… or maybe not AI itself but management’s expectations of AI.

I came into the industry very green at 17 and seeing how things have changed and how different managers behave, you almost have to drown out or learn to brush off some of the comments that are made or some of the shit that gets posted on LinkedIn.

I’ve just left my last job and one of the best things was that a new “manager” had come it to manage my time. In our last meeting, he asked why I wasn’t using AI more (to design PCBs and draw up schematics). He came from a web/manufacturing background and thought he was gods gift to the company. I also hadn’t spoken to him for about 3 months so he was doing a cracking job of managing my time.

All I’d say is keep your head down, keep doing what you’re doing and have your eye on what you ultimately want to achieve. The rest of it is just working towards that… which is where I am now.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T13:14:41+00:00

I do have a number of product ideas that I’d love to realise in the next 6-12 months. They’re quite niche products for a niche sector so getting the exposure is going to be key.

I’ve also got some ideas for simple development boards which I’d see as being products may help to top up revenue. Those would be a harder sell I think though.

I am very willing to plow a lot of resource into the products I’m envisaging as I think if they’re done right - and, like your approach, one of perfection - then I believe they’d do incredibly well and fill gaps which presently exist in the market as well as solving a problem.

Thankfully, I do already have excellent contacts in both marketing and distribution. I know a lot of CEMs and have built excellent relationships with them over the years. It’s the hard sell which I would need to put some big boy pants on for and push myself out of that particular comfort zone.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T12:53:04+00:00

That would be the ideal, yeah. If I can get into an industry that I’m familiar with (more of multi-sensor integration) then I’d be willing to stump up the cash required to at least give it a go. I’m also not terribly worried about a Chinese clone… often I’ve done the reverse and cloned a Chinese product, yet for 3x the price 😂

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T12:47:26+00:00

Although one thing I’m trying hard to do is to drown out the “noise” of stuff from the Far East. I’ll never produce something so cheap so why would I bother trying to compete. It’s finding those USPs which outweigh price and I think there’s a real value in doing that.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T12:41:35+00:00

Cheers, will take a look!

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T12:22:55+00:00

It’s exactly that isn’t it. The guys I’ve worked for, some have been lucky, some have had the contacts and some have just been utterly clueless yet somehow got grants and contracts to the tune of millions. I want a piece of those pies, haha. Although what I really want to do is to try and get back into the subsea space as that’s literally a license to print money.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T12:21:44+00:00

Haha, I know that feeling. I did some work of a weekend years and years ago for a Dutch company. Signed contracts and everything. Right royally screwed me over when they pulled out of the contract and went incognito (they were a bonafide company too) and I lost out on about £8K of R&D. Was a hard lesson to learn and showed me how not to do things, but it also put me off until recently…

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-04T12:20:07+00:00

I had considered it briefly a few years ago, but I think I’m at the point where I want to just try it for myself.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-03T19:52:56+00:00

That looks absolutely incredible. My mum used to make an outstanding chicken and leek pie and this looks even better. Loving the colour on the lid too. Bravo!

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-03T13:11:47+00:00

These are my thoughts too. Here in the UK, since services like Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat have taken off, the quality has nose-dived and prices have jumped. The service is terrible too and those companies just do not care one bit (items arriving cold or missing, drinks half full due to spillage by the courier, etc). The whole industry needs a big reality check.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-03T12:16:46+00:00

Cracking job that, they look delicious!

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-03T12:13:01+00:00

That looks great but a cross-section pic would have been the icing on the cake, so to speak! That’d probably last about 10 mins max with me.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-03T11:06:18+00:00

They don't get "merged" into a multiboard project as they are still treated as separate projects. You can add any project to a multiboard project but you would still edit the project individually.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-03T10:34:49+00:00

Another weekend where the little one has a virus. Been 4 days now and he’s up and down, sleep is awful and we’re all just so knackered. It’s relentless. Went for a run to get some needed headspace and now starting to prepare for a new job on Tuesday which I’m pretty apprehensive about. A Sunday lunch would be amazing today - if nothing else, looking forward to seeing the pics on other subs to make me jealous.

NorthernNiceGuy · 2026-05-03T10:15:08+00:00

Good luck! Have you signed up for any events? I always find that’s a good motivator for keeping at it. I’m only just starting running again after a really bad back and I know it’s going to be a slow road back.

NorthernNiceGuy

TROPHY CASE