Company#
N.B you are not expected to create a ‘real’ company, but part of the course is to give you a realistic experience of starting and managing your own consultancy. So we help you to simulate it.
Code of conduct#
Your ‘company’ has the following responsibilities:
Don’t go bankrupt
Hold insurance appropriate to the service your offer
Pay all employees / partners and sub contractors on time
Be responsible and independent
Provide sound consultancy and guidance
Understand the needs of the client
Provide information in a timely manner
Be prepared to ‘stick your neck out’ to help others in your team.
Write invoices to the PMs (except PMs who write to the client).
Produce work on time.
Document hours weekly.
Act professionally at all times
Speak up when you are not sure.
Engage in continuous professional development and life long learning practices.
Put the needs of the project first.
Accept change as part of the process.
Company Creation#
In [week 1], once you have chosen your subject. You can create a company within the project.
Start up funds#
All companies start with an operating budget of 100.000 DKK provided by the client with the aim to promote young innovative design and engineering consultancies.
Consultancy rate#
You must declare when you start your project if you will charge 700, 900 or 1.100 DKK per person per hour. You will be expected to fill in your hours each week and provide these to your PM so they can calculate the design cost of the project starting in week 2. Although from a 10 year maintenance view this is not a significant cost for the project.
Auditing#
You will be audited at the end of the project as part of the assessment of your performance. It is therefore important to carefully log your hours and invoice the project manager in a timely manner.
Insurance#
There are three levels of insurance:
1% Insurance#
This is the most basic cover. It does not allow you to present different options or work on different options. This therefore restricts the number of hours you could bill the client before they start to question the value you offer. This does not allow you to propose anything that has not been done before.
4% Insurance#
Additionally this insurance covers you to recommend 2 options to the client per stage.
8% Insurance#
Provides additional cover to enable you to be paid if the client does not pay on time for any reason. This enables you to suggest 3 different options to the client and bill more hours. This enables you to:
Work with materials and components with a low TRL.
Work with biobased structural materials.