This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
Point of Begining Logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Point of Begining Logo
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Digital Edition
    • Classifieds
    • Subscribe
    • POB eNewsletter
  • Columns
    • GeoDataPoint Blog
    • Kline: Unmistakable Marks
    • Lucas: Traversing the Law
    • Solo Notes
    • Editor's Points
    • Turner: Surveyor's Footsteps
    • The Business Side
  • News
  • Products
  • Tech
    • GeoDataPoint
    • LiDAR/Laser Scanning/3D
    • Photogrammetry
    • GIS
    • GPS/GNSS
    • Hardware
    • UAS/UAV
    • Data Collection
    • Remote Sensing
    • Software
    • Total Stations
  • Industry
    • Aerial
    • BIM
    • Boundary & Topo
    • Construction
    • Energy & Utilities
    • Environmental
    • Forensics
    • Government
    • Marine/Hydrography
    • Mining
    • Transportation
  • Reports
    • Laser Scanning & 3D
    • Salary & Benefits
    • Surveying & Mapping Industry Software
    • Archives & Additional Reports
  • Education
    • Professional Knowledge
    • Continuing Education
    • GeoLearn
  • Online
    • Events
    • Webinars
    • Classifieds
    • POB Store
    • POB Point and Shoot
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos
    • Polls
    • FARO Webinars
    • Industry Links
  • Directory
    • GeoLocator
  • Contact
    • Editorial Staff
    • Advertise
    • Clear Seas Research
    • Custom Content Marketing Services
    • List Rental
    • Store
  • POB Premium
Home » Editor's Points: Can you see the opportunities?
Columns

Editor's Points: Can you see the opportunities?

October 1, 2009
Christine L. Grahl
Reprints
No Comments
In a recent POB poll, 69 percent of respondents said that the most challenging issue facing their firms is a lack of available work.[1]



In the RPLS.com community for geospatial professionals, common themes have included the continued downsizing of large and midsized firms and the seemingly bleak prospects for surveyors in the future.

But take a closer look, and you might see something else. Some surveying firms are still doing well. Not as well as several years ago, perhaps, but they’re getting business. And it’s not just the large and midsized firms with substantial resources at their disposal, although these are often the most visible examples. Many small firms and solo practitioners are also staying profitable. So what’s their secret?

According to Bill Crumb, president and CEO of Machine Control Technology Inc., a GPS training facility in Meeker, Okla., the surveyors with the most potential to succeed in the future have a proactive, forward-thinking Yes, I can! mentality. “We are on an automation road, and it’s best to master the task at hand and keep the cash flow rolling,” he commented in response to a recent POB blog.[2] “My advice is: Advance you and your team to a level not heard of; offer new services in your geographical area; grow your opportunities, manage your time wisely, and grab another gear.”

Ted Madson, director of the Land Surveyor’s Council in Douglas, Ga., and founder and director of the exam-prep training firm LSS Seminars, offered similar advice in a series of posts on RPLS.com.[3] “We traditionally define the boundaries and shape of the land, [but] we need to rethink our role as surveying licensees as [now] being the lead professionals for issues dealing with the other uses of the land,” he said, adding that this might mean hiring or partnering with engineers or other specialists.

New services? Grab another gear? Lead professionals? These might be foreign or even distasteful concepts for anyone who got into this profession expecting to practice the same way and produce the same product indefinitely. But as Mark Meade, PE, PLS, CP, vice president of Photo Science, notes in “From the Ground Up” on pages 40-42, the only constant is change. “There are days that I would love to do one of my tasks just like I did it yesterday,” he says. “But in the end, the changes in technology and processes--and the challenges that come with them--are one of the reasons that I enjoy my profession as much as I do.”

According to Harry Ward, PE, president of the training and services firm Harken-Reidar Inc., numerous opportunities for surveyors exist--often in less-traditional fields. “BIM [building information modeling], GIS, machine control data prep--these are all areas where the expertise of surveyors is needed,” he says. “Technology and training can enable surveyors to expand their services and provide a better product, which can help them gain new business.”

It’s like an optical illusion. Look at it one way, and you’ll see a specific image. But step back a few feet, squint your eyes, or read the hints, and suddenly the other image becomes visible.

The opportunities are there. You just have to know what you’re looking for.


References

1. August Quick Poll. See the Web TOC on p. 6.

2. Comments in response to Technology Benchmark: Business 101, online at
www.pobonline.com/Articles/ blog_Tech_Benchmark.

3. The Future of Surveying - Point #1, Point #2, Point #3 and Point #4,
www.rpls.com.


Share your thoughts on this column at www.pobonline.com. To contact the editor, send an e-mail to pobeditor@bnpmedia.com.

Subscribe to POB

Recent Articles by Christine Grahl

Editor's Points: More Questions Than Answers

Editor's Points: Hidden Opportunities

Editor's Points: The Path Ahead

3D Interchange

Editor's Points: Technology in Perspective

Pob_christine_grahl_200px
Christine Grahl was the editor of POB and GeoDataPoint from August 2008-May 2013. She is now content marketing manager at Leica Geosystems. She can be reached at Christine.Grahl@leicaus.com.

Related Articles

Editor's Points: Hidden Opportunities

Editor's Points: What's holding you back?

Editor's Points: What business are you in?

Editor's Points: Where do you fit in?

Related Products

V12B - Great Surveyors and Their Surveys: Understanding the Men, Equipment and Accuracy of Their Surveys Will Make You a Better Surveyor (CD)

Point of Beginning February 2019 Issue

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Subscription Center
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Renew
  • Create Account
  • Change Address
  • Pay My Bill
  • Free eNewsletters
  • Customer Care

More Videos

Popular Stories

FAAlogo21Aug19News

Iris Automation and Kansas DOT BVLOS Drone Flight

LeicaZenoPOBnews20Nov19

Leica Geosystems Enables GIS Data Capture

Stonexnews4Dec19

Stonex Announces Camera Add-on

LeicaBLK3Dnewsletter27Nov19

Leica Geosystems Launches “BLK3D Web”

IQGeonewsletter27Nov19

IQGeo to Enable Digital Transformation for Stadtwerke Sindelfingen

Poll

Surveyor Outreach Opportunities

What kind of community outreach do you perform on behalf of the survey/geospatial profession?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

POB Top 100 Report

POB Top 100 Report

We began by creating a survey as a cooperative effort between several high level geospatial leaders, POB staff, and Clear Seas Research market research experts. The survey was sent out to more than 25,000 geospatial professionals who subscribe to POB and/or are members of MAPPS.
See More Products

FARO webinar series

POB

POB December 2019 cover

2019 December

In the December 2019 issue of POB, learn how GNSS field mapping played a crucial role in creating the Port of New Orleans first enterprise GIS. Also in this issue, find out how a recent regulatory proposal could restrict UAV flights.
View More Subscribe
  • Resources
    • Construction Group
    • List rental
    • Survey And Sample
    • Associations & Industry Links
    • Subscribe
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Editorial Guidelines
    • Order Reprints
    • Want More
    • Connect
    • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise With Us
    • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
    • Subscribe
    • My Account
    • Renew
    • Create Account
    • Change Address
    • Pay My Bill
    • Free eNewsletters
    • Customer Care

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing