Survey Business Management

Abstract

Surveying is a profession that may be practiced as part of a company or as an individual. When the surveyor practices as part of a company, the management of resources is according to company policies. Managers, accountants, and other specialists bear the responsibility for keeping the office running smoothly and profitably, with the professional supposedly left free to practice. When the surveyor decides to set up his or her own practice, it is usually as a sole proprietor or perhaps in association with another surveyor. The motivation is to do survey work, not be a businessperson or manager. Seldom does the surveyor have any training in the routine business practices needed to survive and perhaps grow from the smallest of beginnings as a sole proprietor of a small business. It is for this person that this chapter has been written. The objective is to introduce the surveyor to the subject matter needed to be successful in a business so small that hiring business specialists is not economically feasible.