Becoming Contractor/Self Employed in Industrial Automation

[tom91_uk]

Hi everyone,

Now the crisis has put myself out of job in short period of time I'm thinking of going Self-employed in Industrial Automation.

The salary I could make while being employed would be around £35-50k in UK (even though I had limited experience on Mits and Siemens) which is quite a good salary in UK in this sector, depending on the job as well.

I'm more of a hand on guy and I like working on site while prototyping in the lab, and I believe if I was a self-employed Industrial Automation Engineer I would thrive better for a few reason:

- Limited schedules means I push myself to 100% of my abilities to help me develop and grow

- Hands on, commissioning and prototyping

- Higher risk and higher reward as prices are for projects not hours

- After few years a possible income of around £70-120k

- Possibility of developing my own solutions/programs/scripts/devices for customers in automated facility

- Using python for Data science/analytics which is currently my hobby

- Automated online diagnostics and maintenance improvments

 

I've never had a chance to cover all of the above previously and I believe there would be a huge demand for a person who can provide and prove a benefit to the businesses of all of the above subjects. I'm a great problem solver, regardless if it's an electrical or software issue however when I'm hired I don't feel the satisfaction from finishing job and I would rather move on the next project rather than stay still for a long period of time.

 

Are you guys self-employed/contractors?

How did you start?

 

Thanks,

Tom

 

[BobLfoot]

Tom - I urge you to establish a chat with TWControls if he'll have the time.  He went through exactly what you're discussing about 15-18 years ago.  He's now an established Self/Contractor.  His insights would prove valuable as you weigh this decision.  I will give you the same advice I gave him years ago, "BE sure you have the full support of those significant others in your life".

[BigGuy45]

I’ve actually began considering doing the same thing in the southern US. I have 25 years of electrical experience and several years dealing with the basics in automation but never got to learn the programming side. I would love to hear some wisdom from some established owners in this industry