The Personal Business in a Flat World How the Individual can Succeed on a Global Playing Field

By: Michael Hall

ENE 554

Summer 2015

Personal Business in a Flat World Page 1

Table of Contents Introduction: ................................................................................................................................................. 2

Creating the Product: .................................................................................................................................... 3

Software Prototyping ................................................................................................................................ 3

Physical Prototyping ................................................................................................................................. 3

Manufacturing: ............................................................................................................................................. 5

Software .................................................................................................................................................... 5

Physical ..................................................................................................................................................... 5

Design for Manufacturability .................................................................................................................... 5

Design for Assembly .................................................................................................................................. 7

Logistics: ........................................................................................................................................................ 8

“Glocalizing” .............................................................................................................................................. 8

Supply chain .............................................................................................................................................. 8

Business Management .............................................................................................................................. 9

Marketing: ................................................................................................................................................... 10

Design ...................................................................................................................................................... 10

Markets ................................................................................................................................................... 10

Applications of Google ............................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Banking, Legal and Capital: ......................................................................................................................... 12

Banking .................................................................................................................................................... 12

Legal ........................................................................................................................................................ 12

Capital Investment .................................................................................................................................. 12

Conclusion: .................................................................................................................................................. 14

References: ................................................................................................................................................. 15

Appendix: .................................................................................................................................................... 18

Personal Business in a Flat World Page 2

Introduction:

The world is flat. It’s the title of a book by Thomas Friedman and a fact about today’s global market.

Now, more than ever, an individual can compete at the global level. From prototype design, workflow

and banking software to offshore manufacturing and marketing – it is all available to the individual. This

paper will focus on the engineering entrepreneur and what they need to make it in the global playing

field. The paper is broken down into the major focal points of an emerging business. Each section will

describe a focal point and how it applies to engineering in a global market. The goal of this paper is to

lay the foundation of the knowledge needed to start a global business for today’s engineer.

Personal Business in a Flat World Page 3

Creating the Product: A prototype to fit the market

This section will focus on two areas, Software and Physical based prototyping with a short introduction

on prototyping in general. The Software prototyping section will explore how an engineer can use free

software to develop their own code as well as outsourcing to international markets to have the code

developed. The hardware section will focus on available modeling tools and rapid prototyping

possibilities.

What is prototyping? A prototype is a model of a potential product. It can be a model of potential

hardware, software or even a business concept. Prototypes are used to cement or prove ideas before

heavily investing in creating the final product. With today’s technology, prototyping has become easier

than ever.

Software Prototyping With the rise in computer processing power and the reduction in cost, software has become integral in

almost every facet of engineering. Mechanical devices are driven via electronic devices which are driven

by software coding. Developing this code has become a huge market and because of this there are many

different tools to accomplish Software Prototyping [1].

For the individual engineer trying to develop a software package, the most obvious choice for

prototyping would be a balance of low cost with the most features. Just In Mind Prototyper Pro covers

almost every software development area for a cost of $19 a month [2]. It can design phone Apps, web

development and app for hardware like google glasses. An engineer could easily leverage their technical

expertise and combine it with this software to start an at home software consulting company. For

engineers without coding skills, refer to the Software subsection of “Manufacturing”.

Physical Prototyping If the choice of development is hardware, there are a plethora of options. From old methods of carving

Figure 1: Wooden Prototype [3]

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to advanced 3D modeling using Solidworks [4] or a number of other Computer Aided Drafting (CAD)

tools. With today’s global user base, digital modeling has become the norm. It is now possible to share a

design with someone across the world instantly instead of waiting for a component to be mailed.

Solidworks [4] is an excellent product that allows complex 3D modeling and integrates with Abaqus [5],

one of the most advanced Finite Element Analysis tools in the world. Civil and Mechanical Engineers

should already have experience with these tools and be able to leverage their personal knowledge into

developing a product and business.

3D models can be transformed into physical prototypes via many rapid prototyping methods. Some

common methods are listed below:

Polyjet – “a 3D printing process which jets and cures thin layers of liquid photopolymer with UV energy.

It is capable of printing in 16 micron layers and in dual durometers for multi-material parts. PolyJet is an

excellent option for high resolution presentation models, small prototypes and master patterns for

urethane casting.” [6]

Stereolithography – “(also known as SL or SLA) builds parts layer-by-layer using a UV laser to solidify

liquid photopolymer resins. It is commonly used to produce concept models, master patterns, large

prototypes and investment casting patterns.” [6]

Urethane Casting – “is an economical alternative to hard tooling using a soft platinum reinforced

silicone tool.” [6] This process makes a cast of the component needing to be manufactured and then

uses this cast to create a limited number of replicas of the model.

Laser Sintering – “(also known as Selective Laser Sintering, SLS or LS) uses a CO2 laser to heat and fuse

durable thermoplastic powder to build versatile parts with high elongation at break. LS production parts

and prototypes provide lightweight, heat and chemical resistant solutions.” [6]

Phillips [7] offers a great table comparison of a large amount of methods. These tables can be seen in

the Appendix.

Whether an engineer would like to create a piece of software or a mechanical device, the flattening of

the world has made it possible. The internet is full of companies located globally and locally that can be

accessed via a web browser. It use to take months to build a prototype; now with a click of a few

buttons, a prototype can be made and delivered to the front step of any house in the world.

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Manufacturing: Oddly enough, farther can mean cheaper

Manufacturing has evolved significantly since December 1913, when Henry Ford started using assembly

lines in his factories [7]. American workers have been replaced by offshoring of production to other

countries such as Taiwan and China. In many cases, manufacturing isn’t even done by hand anymore but

rather by robotics [8]. The advancements in manufacturing have made it possible for the individual to

create a product and have it manufactured, sometimes on the other side of the globe, without leaving

their home computer.

Software The idea of manufacturing software is relatively new. It used to be that if an individual had an idea for

software, he or she would have to learn how to code to be able to produce the software. This approach

works for many engineers with a computer science background and can be accomplished using software

outlined on Page 3 of this report, but for those who don’t know how to code – globalization has come to

the rescue.

It is now possible to have computer scientists in India develop software for an individual without that

person needing to learn how to code at all. Companies like Ishir [9] and Tatvasoft [10] can provide

complete software solutions for individuals who would like to develop software but do not know how.

These companies are globally based with Ishir being headquartered in Dallas, Texas and having

development centers in Noida, India.

Physical Manufacturing physical items has become easier with every year. People had to visit manufacturer’s

facilities in order to work out the details of producing a product. Now, people can log on to reference

[11] and have their products manufactured from across the globe. This site lists hundreds of

manufacturers from consumer electronics, furniture and sporting goods to agricultural products and

food! That is just one example of a site giving access to almost any manufacturer, another one even

allows access to get scientific and raw materials manufactured [12].

Getting a physical item manufactured use to be difficult and time consuming. Today, it is as simple as

logging onto one of the listed references, clicking a couple buttons and filling out some forms. It is

amazing to think that the engineer of the modern day can sit in their home office, design a product,

prototype it and have it manufactured without leaving his or her office.

Design for Manufacturability Now that the knowledge for where and how to get a product completed has been detailed, it is time to

cover some basic design criteria. Designing for manufacturability (DFM) is a concept of creating products

that are developed with manufacturing principles in mind. The best way to explain and cover this topic is

to look at an example. A simple example would be the design of a spear gun spear. Figure 2 has an

example of one.

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Figure 2: Spear Gun Spear [13]

There would be any number of ways to design the spear shown above. One might make a mold of the

picture above and cast or forge the shaft with the spear tip included. This would work but wouldn’t be a

good use of design for manufacturability. It would be hard to get the small details correct.

A much better idea would be to simply have some blank cylindrical shafts made. These shafts could then

be cut to the exact length and have the notches machined into them. The tip could be manufactured

separately and threaded, along with the shaft, so that the final product is actually a two piece assembly.

By simply forging a cylindrical shaft and machining the grooves and notches, production costs can be cut

and the overall price of development reduced. This is the basis of design for manufacturability and an

idea that should be regarded during any product development.

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Design for Assembly Design for Assembly (DFA) is the process of creating a design while keeping the assembly portion in

mind [14]. Pretend to be the assembler when doing design for assembly for products. If a part is

symmetrical, think about adding a notch or marking so that the part can only be installed in one way.

The other option is to design the components of the product so that they can be installed in any

orientation and still function effectively.

Since most manufactured products are still assembled by hand [14], design for assembly plays a huge

role in designing a product. Ford motor company is credited with bringing DFA methodology into the

modern era. Their software was able to save approximately $1 Billion [15]. Whether the design is going

to be a new type of shoe, or a new form of transportation, design for assembly should be a critical step

within the design phase of any project.

There are a plethora of other design methodologies such as design for sustainability and waste and top-

down or bottom-up design methods. DFM and DFA were covered as they are the most common the

design methodologies and are still applicable when using other design methods.

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Logistics: Moving a product from market to market

“Glocalizing” Glocalizing is something discussed in “From Global to Metanational” by Santos, Williamson and Doz.

Glocalizing is the idea of adapting international products to a local culture [16]. As a single engineer,

trying to start a global business, this may seem daunting but is essential. To demonstrate the

importance of glocalizing, look at the case study of Disney World in Europe.

This location, known as Euro Disney, has been a constant disaster for the Disney Corporation. Euro

Disney tried to take their existing product, Disney World, and apply it to the European market. The

problem was that they had almost no knowledge of French culture [17]. The French were not thrilled

with the blatant “American Imperialism” that was shown via the massive size of the park and the

overdone Hollywood design. It was so bad that over 1,000 employees vacated their jobs in the first four

months of opening [17]. One of the main problems for the park was the application of the American

handbook in France. Some of the aspects of this handbook were the dress code for employees and social

demeanor of employees. American employees were required to smile at their guests within 60 seconds

of entering the park [17], which in America made sense. However, in France, people are much more

standoffish and the smiling was actually causing them to feel uncomfortable. The Euro Disney example

shows how even a massive corporation needs to take into account glocalization to understand their

target market. For the individual engineer, glocalizing is just as important.

A company with a single employee doesn’t need expensive analytics to find their target audience. With

the amount of personal data shared online and through purchasing, all of the data needed is right in

front of the company’s fingertips. For example, an online business can capture data about customer’s

zip codes and then map the locations of the purchasers. This could result in a pattern showing where the

product is being purchased the most. The product can then be refined to better suit the new found

target market or expanded to attract other markets [18].

Supply chain A supply chain is a “system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in

moving a product or service from supplier to customer.” [19]. Supply chaining can involve sourcing the

right people and components to build and design the right products that then need to be shipped and

distributed properly. Large business have a plethora of people handling the supply chain tasks but that

amount of employees isn’t needed for a small business. Today, it is possible to have UPS handle the

entirety of a small business’ supply chain. UPS can handle everything from synchronizing the movement

of goods to handling small business finances. Once again, the advancement of technology has allowed

another portion of the small business to be outsourced so that a single person can behave like a full-

fledged company.

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Business Management Managing an entire business sounds like a lot to handle for a business run by an individual, but once

again, technology is here to save the day. Now, simply having a cell phone is enough to run a business.

From the palm of the hand a person is able to take control of their business.

There are apps for [20]:

Credit Card Processing:

iTerminal

MerchantWARE Mobile

Flagship ROAM Pay Merchant Services

Square

Expense Report Management:

Abukai

Expensify

iXpenseIt

Shoeboxed Receipt Tracker

Information Management and Sharing:

Primadesk

Air Sharing

PocketCloud Explore

The globalizing of the economy has done another thing to help manage a small business. It is possible to

outsource an employee and have “virtual” employees [21]. This is made possible by the fiber optic

networks connecting the world and the exponential improvement of computer’s processing power

combined with the increase in software abilities. Having a virtual employee to help manage business

needs is as easy as putting in some contact information and picking the right employee.

Starting and managing a business is easier than ever and with the combination of “glocalized”

knowledge, a secure supply chain, pocket sized business management and virtual employees, anyone

can run their own small business from the palm of their hand!

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Marketing: The interesting title part goes here

Doing business globally is not as difficult as many small businesses may perceive it to be. Marketing use

to be handled by “ad men” which were popularized through TV shows such as Mad Men. They had art

departments and studios full of individuals trying to sell a product. This practice still exists today,

however, it definitely is not needed. Plenty of tools exist that allow the individual to produce their own

marketing material. This section will cover design via computer software and how to choose which

markets to focus on.

Design Prototyping and manufacturing a product are just half the battle. The other half is getting people to

purchase the product. This is where design comes in. Making a functional product fashionable and

appealing requires knowing the target audience and trends. For example, knowing that kitchen

appliances are being purchased with stainless steel finishes versus white would be good to know if

someone was in the business of designing appliances. Since product design for appeal depends so much

on what the product being designed is, it will not be focused on here. Rather the design being discussed

in this section will cover developing appealing ads or brochures.

The development of ads and brochures can be handled entirely through free software. The most widely

used would be Gimp [22] and Paint.Net [23]. Both of these programs allow for layer based design

creation. What this means is that the end result is a combination of multiple layers combined to make

the final image. This allows individual layers to be adjusted without effecting the images in the other

layers. The best example would be a house sitting on a landscape. The landscape could be drawn on

layer A and the house could be drawn on layer B. Then, if it is decided that the location of the house

needs to be moved, layer B can be adjusted without effecting layer A. These free image editing

software’s are extremely powerful and should be easy to learn with very little effort.

Markets Choosing a target market can make or break a business. Identifying who the target audience is, is a key

component to having a successful business. There are many ways to choose a target market and this

section will highlight a few examples that are easy for an individual to pursue.

If the purpose of a new small business is to target a market that already exists (most will) then looking at

competitors is a great way to develop a target audience. Look at the audience that is being targeted and

try and see if within that audience there exists a subset of the market that isn’t being fulfilled

completely. Further reading on this subject can be done by following reference [24].

If the idea for a product already exists but the market is not solidified, try analyzing the product and/or

service. An easy way to do this is by breaking the product or service down into components and listing

the benefit that is being provided. The best way to illustrate this is through an example and it will be the

Skylock [25]. The Skylock is a bike lock with heavily integrated electronics allowing for ride sharing, solar

powered recharging and remote locking/unlocking capabilities. Breaking the product down into its

Personal Business in a Flat World Page 11

components would show a standard lock, GPS location services and remote unlocking. The benefits from

these components would be the ability to lock a bike like normal, but also the ability to track where the

bike is and to allow other people to use the bike with the click of a button. This lock’s target market is

bicyclists, but more specifically, bicyclists that are tech savvy. The next step would be finding markets

with tech savvy bicyclists. This can be done via data mining on the internet. Some common choices

might be areas around Googleplex or apple’s headquarters as they have tech savvy employees and a

large amount of bike traffic. Breaking down a product into its components is a great way to see what is

differentiating the product which will then help identify what market to target.

Personal Business in a Flat World Page 12

Legal and Capital: The business side of business

Legal and Capital Investment are the two areas of business that keep a business alive. Without capital, a

business cannot exist. Without the proper legal setting, a company with capital could lose their capital

quickly to litigation or intellectual property theft. This section will cover the very basics of the legal side

of a small business. It will also cover where to look for capital investment, AKA seed funding, to get a

product off the ground.

Legal Handling legal concerns as a small business can be a daunting task. Luckily, there are hundreds of

resources online to guide a business owner through the complexities of a new business. Starting a

personal LLC can be as easy as going to LegalZoom [26] and filling out the necessary information. A

couple weeks after that and a small business can be legally recognized in whichever state it is operating

in.

If a small company is in legal trouble and needs to find legal help fast, a great resource is the American

Bar Association [27]. This website allows a user to filter by state and then by areas such as lawyer

referral, free legal help, foreclosure information, legal information, court information and self-help. The

amount of information provided by looking through the website is staggering and is sure to have the

necessary information for a small business. If that still isn’t satisfying enough, going to the small business

administration website hosted by the US government gives even more information on handling legal

concerns [28].

A very specific case to engineers starting their own small business in the global playing field is the idea of

intellectual property and patents. Patents in the USA last for 17 years from the issue date or 20 years

from the filing date of the earliest application [29]. A patent protects an engineer’s invention so that a

large company cannot simply see the idea and copy it. The US government also provides resources for

engineers looking to patent their ideas abroad in the form of toolkits based on which country the

engineer is looking to file in [30].

Capital Investment Capital investment is a daunting task. Luckily, there are a number of organizations dedicated to

launching ideas from concept to completion. One of the best known would be Kickstarter [31], which

allows users to try and receive crowd funding for their product in exchange for items based on the

donation size. This method has various degrees of success with consumer products generally being the

most successful.

Another form of capital investment comes through business competitions. Business competitions

generally apply to college students and have payouts of a few thousand up to $125,000 for the Rice

University business plan competition [32]. As the name suggests, these competitions require business

plans to be generated, which is a definite for any up and coming business.

Personal Business in a Flat World Page 13

A third form of capital comes through angel funds or seed investors. These are individuals or groups with

large amounts of money trying to make high returns by investing in a company. There are a huge

amount of angel funds available and a list with most can be found through reference [33].

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Conclusion:

This paper covers a lot of ground in a small amount of words. It has discussed every aspect of a company

from designing a product to marketing the product and all the business development that needs to go

along with it. It was tailored towards engineers entering the global market and did so by focusing on the

technical aspect of business and product development while explaining the basics that any business

major would already know. It covered the aspects of globalization by pointing out opportunities that

would not have been possible in a non-globalized economy.

Personal Business in a Flat World Page 15

References:

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_software_prototyping_tools

[2] - http://www.justinmind.com/

[3] – Wooden Car

[4] - http://www.solidworks.com/

[5] - http://www.3ds.com/products-services/simulia/products/abaqus/

[6] - https://www.solidconcepts.com/applications/rapid-prototyping/

[7] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_line

[8] - http://money.cnn.com/gallery/technology/2015/04/29/ford-factory-assembly-line-robots/

[9] - http://www.ishir.com/

[10] - http://www.tatvasoft.com/

[11] - http://www.made-in-china.com/

[12] - http://www.hktdc.com/suppliers/china-wholesale-suppliers/en

[13] – spear picture

[14] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_for_assembly

[15] - Henchy, L.W., “American Manufacturing Fights Back”, Business Solutions, Feb. 22, 1988, p.10.

[16] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glocalization

[17] - Global Business Management: A Cross-Cultural Perspective By Professor Bruno S Sergi, Professor Abel

Adekola Pg. 158

[18] - http://yfsmagazine.com/2011/10/11/5-steps-to-reverse-engineer-your-business-strategy-in-24-

hours-and-go-glocal/

[19] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_chain

[20] - http://buildmybiz.com/material/small-business-mobile-technology/

[21] - http://www.virtualemployee.com/?gclid=CjwKEAjwla2tBRDY7YK9uKXe8R8SJAAhG6LGtQ-

kCefauwALNRK79M8KomUlyezt2JdeyvHsqnrnNRoClfPw_wcB

[22] - http://www.gimp.org/

Personal Business in a Flat World Page 16

[23] - www.getpaint.net/

[24] - http://www.inc.com/resources/marketing/articles/20040501/nichemktg.html

[25] - https://www.skylock.cc/

[26] - http://www.legalzoom.com/

[27] - http://apps.americanbar.org/legalservices/findlegalhelp/home.cfm

[28] - https://www.sba.gov/content/handling-legal-concerns

[29] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_of_patent_in_the_United_States

[30] - http://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/international-protection/protecting-intellectual-

property-rights-ipr

[31] - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/

[32] - http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/26/small-business-competition-entrepreneurs-finance-

university.html

[33] - http://www.angelcapitalassociation.org/directory/

Further Reading This section contains links to sources discussing the topics in this paper that were not cited in its

creation. They may prove useful to someone trying to further develop the ability to start a small

business on their own.

[X] - http://smallbusiness.chron.com/can-small-business-enterprises-compete-global-market-

60118.html

[X] - What is Global Marketing for Small Business? By John Weisenberger

[X] - https://globalmarketingtoday.wordpress.com/about/my-top-5-reasons-for-global-marketing/

[X] - http://buildmybiz.com/3-ways-small-businesses-can-improve-supply-chain-management/

[X] - http://www.businessbee.com/resources/operations/supplier-management/5-techniques-to-

improve-supply-chain-management/

[X] - http://www.apics.org/apics-news/2014/09/26/supply-chains-for-small-business

[X] - http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-supply-chain-management-small-companies-

20595.html

Personal Business in a Flat World Page 17

[X] -

http://www.bloomberg.com/sponsor/ing/globalization/?mvi=e847e25e365a41339fd907cc4dee5b02

[X] - http://www.slideshare.net/AdityaBhelande/glocalization-20541330

[X] – www.sba.gov

[X] – www.doingbusiness.org

[x] – http://www.marthastewart.com/264329/how-to-get-your-product-made-finding-and (This link

gives a fantastic summary on making a product and getting it produced)

[X] - http://business-law.freeadvice.com/business-law/

[X] - https://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/starting-

business/loans-grants-funding/venture-capital

[X] - http://www.forbes.com/sites/dileeprao/2013/07/22/why-99-95-of-entrepreneurs-should-stop-

wasting-time-seeking-venture-capital/

Personal Business in a Flat World Page 18

Appendix: