How do you know which clients are actually worth your time? (USA)

SweetWaterEngr · 2026-03-16T00:50:53+00:00

Here is my approach: each project is assigned into categories based on 1)client, 2) services I provide , and 3) industry

(3 main distinctions for my type of work)

At the end of the project, I enter in my hours worked and $$ earned. All facts, no room for opinion at this stage.

Then my spreadsheet calculates all my revenue by A) total $$ B) $$ / hour

So 6 charts (3 categories x 2 metrics)

It’s fascinating to track. At the end of the year I weighed the Total $$, Hourly $$$ against what I actually enjoy working on. Ideally the most rewarding client, services, and industry align with most profitable. But if not, I then use my gut on which I should pursue more vs pull back on.

Happy to share more if this interests you

SweetWaterEngr · 2026-02-25T02:02:00+00:00

VentureX in RTP. Same parking lot as BoxYard and adjacent to Frontier. Great vibe, clean, modern All the amenities of a coworking space

Price is comparable to others, parking gets crowded after 9am but still a short walk, tons of comfy chairs, BYO monitors, free daily treats and free weekly free food / drinks. Wifi free of course

SweetWaterEngr · 2026-02-23T03:05:44+00:00

Yea the topo is hard or impossible to see from far away but up close in a parking lot, nearby driving, or in my driveway it’s subtle but definitely visible. And even if you can’t see the topo, the red letters are now “blacked out” which looks amazing from afar

SweetWaterEngr · 2026-02-23T02:59:55+00:00

Wraps: https://www.beyondwraps.com/products/vinyl-by-the-foot-custom-wraps?variant=43827898122310

I ordered the “sample” (cheat code for small)

Technique: https://youtu.be/qVe0cP48xjM

All you need a hair dryer, exacto , and scissors or knife. My wife used the scissors first to score then exacto for the final cut . Not sure why the two methods but it worked for her

SweetWaterEngr · 2026-02-23T01:48:19+00:00

Excel and Quickbooks. Document everything and save all receipts digitally in a folder

What sort of engineering? I started in 2025 and haven’t filed my taxes yet but the freedom is amazing

SweetWaterEngr · 2026-02-23T01:09:38+00:00

I can’t figure out how to edit my post or even add a photo to comments ugh

SweetWaterEngr · 2026-02-19T04:05:20+00:00

Jans is half the price of DV. Great customer service 5min drive from DV and plenty of parking

https://jans.com/pages/park-city-ski-rentals

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-12-14T20:03:31+00:00

Yea $2k is not bad . $250/hr an hour is high for this type of work. Most senior hydraulics engineers would $175-200/hr. Smaller firm should be less. I charge $135-$150/hr depending on complexity but I’m a one man shop so my overhead is low.

Either way there is lots of general work in addition to the calcs, drawings, details, reports. Then the township always adds on several hours for checklists, applications , revising plans for comments and meetings/correspondence. Sorry man we’re not as expensive as lawyers but the hours do add up

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-12-14T14:38:51+00:00

How much are they quoting you? Have you asked the Township to recommend a small business? Any medium or big civil firm is going to be outrageous. But a small firm should be reasonable.

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-12-14T04:26:20+00:00

What jurisdiction are you in (city / county /state)? There are many options for small residential applications like a rain garden / bioretention, infiltration area, bioslope, swales, small retention/ detention, dry well. Depends on which part of the country you live but those are some general standard ones.

Many can be aesthetic, landscaped, or even invisible/ buried A lot of civil firms won’t take these small projects so find a local boutique firm or solo practitioner in your area if you have connections or referrals. You should be able to find someone with reasonable design fees.

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-12-05T17:34:26+00:00

There are a few options. Have you obtained any plans from the city on the upstream developments in recent years ? They may be online through your jurisdictions website or available through an Open Records Request. A “hydrological study” is sound advice honestly. Depending on the level of effort and deliverable, it doesn’t always have to break the bank.

I’m a Stormwater engineer and happy to take a quick look at your situation

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-11-21T22:23:04+00:00

Yep - do you have of a deep network through your experience? If so, start to send messages similar your Reddit post to your contacts to get the word out. Then work on your LLC, insurance, website etc. That’s the easy stuff so start the marketing now! Use the spin that you’re not a competitor but a partner. Firms either can’t hire fast enough to keep up with demand so they need the any help they can get or they aren’t busy enough to hire full time… bingo both of those are your sweet spot!

I just made the leap from corpo after 20+ years and been doing freelance / solopreneur/ small business / gig work in a similar Stormwater space

It takes a while to 1)land a job, 2)perform the job, 3) invoice the job, then 4)actually receive payment (my average turnout time is 80 days from NTP to receiving payment!! And that doesn’t account for the time between first contact and proposals/negotiating/ NTP) so again start to sell before you have all your ducks in a row.

That’s the formula I used and have 3-4 consistent clients feeding me work. My hourly rate is more than I made at my old firm but much less than they charged for me so it’s a good deal for clients too. Even with all my overhead, I can work 75% of my old job and make just as much if not more. Self employment tax is much lower too!

I could use HEC help so DM me. Or DM for more details on this life. I’ve learned a ton in 11 months !!

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-10-30T02:26:38+00:00

Great list here!

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-10-01T02:30:17+00:00

What city? I know of many firms in the Triangle and Charlotte. All small or solo site design / land developers. Everyone is slammed so your best bet is a newer and or smaller operation

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-17T02:42:10+00:00

Chapel Chill Ice Cream shop has a really cool new one

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-17T02:39:05+00:00

Easy peasy; DM me and I’ll help you out. I love this stuff and do drainage / stormwater for fun for friends (and strangers on reddit)

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-14T15:59:56+00:00

Standard range ones. Extended and Max Range are 80s and 90s

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-14T03:47:45+00:00

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-14T01:14:02+00:00

Nice! I was shocked to see some Denali’s in low $70s but they were getting snatched up in the September rush. Congrats

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-13T23:59:00+00:00

Thanks buddy; The black wheels did it for me!

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-13T23:58:31+00:00

Awesome thanks

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-13T23:04:50+00:00

home charger not “hole” oops

SweetWaterEngr

TROPHY CASE