A Proposal by Mark Sikand

November 8, 2018
Table of Contents

PROPOSAL
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

STATEMENT OF NEED 4

PROJECT DESCRIPTION 5-6

COST ANALYSIS 7

ASSESSMENT STRATEGY 8

CONCLUSION 8

APPENDIX 9

WORKS CITED 10

2
Executive Summary

As a company, Sikand Engineering Associates, has a high correlation with the volatility of
market fluctuations. This volatility is due to developers not having enough capital or demand in
the private sector for new developments to be created during a recession. Private building
development and housing developments suffer dramatically during a recession, which in turn
cause civil engineering companies to lose millions of dollars in work. It is a problem that
imperatively needs to be solved before the next recession hits, or as company we will face
another drastic drop in sales that may cost us our company.
Therefore, I am proposing to enter the other sector of engineering, which is the public
sector, and working with the public works office of Los Angeles. The government during a
recession continues to issue work, and at times will even offer more work as a way to stimulate
the economy when times get hard. By creating well-constructed bids or by hiring a high-level
employee from the public works office (to create relations and knowledge about how the public
side of civil engineering works,) we can create a more balanced and profitable company. In
addition, to helping our city thrive by creating better roads and structures for all citizens of Los
Angeles.

3
Statement of Need
In the following chart, I track Sikand Engineering’s revenue from 2005 up through 2018.
It is visible that there is an extreme drop in revenue when the recession hit starting in 2007.
While there has been improvement in the most recent years, the revenue is still not back up to
what it used to be. This is primarily because of how many people as a company Sikand
Engineering was forced to let go during the major recession, which has created a barrier for
potential growth for over a decade after the recession hit.

Total Revenue for Sikand Engineering

14

12

10
Revenue in Millions

0
2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Years

This is not a problem that can be solved by seeking higher qualified employees or by
increased efficiency. The problem is not the fault of the company, but it is a direct result of the
economy. No matter how successful Sikand Engineering is compared to other civil engineering
firms, Sikand Engineering will struggle when a recession hits and will boom when the economy
is growing, and projects are developed. The key is to find a solution that will allow Sikand
Engineering to stay afloat during the economic hardships, without having to lay off staff from
their office, as that is a solution that does not benefit anybody.

4
Project Description
The goal of this proposal is to solve the problem of a lack of demand and work during
recessions by bidding for work in the public sector. As of now, Sikand Engineering works strictly
for private contractors primarily from word of mouth by attaining a strong reputation. This has
been a proven method of success for years, as Sikand Engineering has been able to take
advantage of numerous large development projects. However, I believe that as a company
Sikand Engineering is missing out on a great deal of work from the public sector that will greatly
reduce the volatility that comes with our business. After talking to several members of the
upper level staff, I have narrowed down reasons as to why we are not currently in the private
sector to not having a comprehensive knowledge of what it takes to obtain the public jobs that
the government offers, as well as not knowing the correct people to receive the jobs.

To obtain a government job, an engineering company must create a bid that is then
given to the public works for the city of Los Angeles. The bids of any company that chooses to
submit one, are then reviewed and picked by the city based on several different aspects of the
proposal. Below is a sample of what a “table of contents” for a proposal would look like and
what would be included on an official proposal.

Table of Contents

1. Statements of Qualifications and Experience

2. Plan Check Services Plan
3. Service Delivery Timeframe
4. Key Résumés
5. Requested Municipality References
6. Cost Proposal and Alternative Bid
7. Minority Business Enterprise Certification
8. Scope of Services

Clearly there is a lot of information that is required in the bids, which end up being
roughly fifty pages long. This leads to the two options for Sikand Engineering to decide upon.
The first being - to have one of your employees who is qualified in writing, draft the bids up for
your company. However, the bid writing will most likely take up a significant amount of time for
the employee, depending on how many bids you would like to submit. In addition, not knowing
exactly what the public works office is looking for, would put Sikand Engineering at a
disadvantage. In comparison to similar companies that have years of experiences working for
the Public Works of Los Angeles. These other companies, know exactly what they are looking
for and also have a political advantage.

5
 This leads to the second option, which is to hire an upper level employee from the
Public Works office of Los Angeles County by offering them a higher salary than the typical
$140,000, that upper level employees receive at the public works office. While this is costlier
than giving the work to another employee, it will be more beneficial for the following reasons.
Foremost, hiring someone who has connections into the office that chooses who receives the
jobs will put us at an advantage righto out of the gate. According to the research I have
compiled, the public jobs are just as political as the private sector, which I am certain Sikand
Engineering knows by now. In addition to this potential hire, knowing the people that will be
looking into the bids, will also distinguish exactly what the public works employees will be
looking for and will allows us to create bids that have the best chance of being chosen.
Consequently, this would bring in the highest potential of work for our company.

STICKY INCLUSION
In the book, Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath, they outline elements in which to
create a presentation or proposal that makes it sticky and relatable to the intended audience.
Given the fact that your company will want acceptance from your employees for the addition of
the public sector work. It is important that they are outlined in this proposal. Two “sticky
elements” that will allow Sikand Engineering to gain acceptance of many employees are
emotion and story.

EMOTION & STORY

While working at Sikand Engineering for two years, the office was noticeably empty.
This is the outcome of the great recession that severely impacted the business. Sikand
Engineering was forced to lay off over fifty employees (more than half of the office) due to the
extreme lack of work that was given to the company by private developers. There were barely
any contractors to develop projects, and as a company that relies solely on the private work
from these developers, Sikand Engineering was left with almost zero work and zero way to pay
employees.
This proposal will give your office a chance to avoid the disaster that happened in 2007
by continuing to generate revenue, even when the public sector has very little to offer. This is
an opportunity not to burden employees with work, but instead provide a backup option. This
entails an alternative source of revenue, when inevitably the next recession hits and people will
not be complaining about too much work, but instead fearing that their jobs may be lost.

6
COST ANALYSIS
The maximum potential revenue that can be created by adding in public sector work is
shown by the total of the revenue column. The revenue is divided into two sections because as
mentioned earlier there is a political factor present in creating bids, and by hiring an employee
from the County of Los Angeles you will give yourself an opportunity to receive more work from
them as opposed to the other two public works offices in your region, being the City of Los
Angeles and City of Santa Clarita. Choosing an employee from the County of Los Angeles is the
best decision because its project budget is more than the other two combined.

* Total contract amount in the County of Los Angeles for a full year beginning on November 1,
2018 is approximately 1.2 billion (based on adding the budget for all projects that will begin in
the year). The percent of the 1.2 billion that is given to civil engineers is on average 2%
equating to 24 million. Then because of our potential new employee’s relation to this public
works office I estimated that Sikand Engineering could receive 7% of that revenue which led to
$1,680,000.

** The same calculations were done for the second box combining the City of Santa Clarita and
the City of Los Angeles which have a total of 900 million worth of projects for the next 365 days.
Using the same 2% civil engineering rate, but this time changing the number down to 4% as our
office has no direct connection to these offices I was able to calculate a potential max revenue
of $720,000

COSTS REVENUE
$170,000^ $1,680,000*

$720,000**

TOTAL TOTAL
$170,000 $2,400,000

^ The total cost inputted is the approximate salary that it will take to hire a high level employee
from the County of Los Angeles. The average high level civil engineering employee at the
county makes approximately $140,000. The increase of $30,000 is to convince them to leave
their job. Costs not included are the potential costs of having to add more employees if the
projects added on during times when demand was already high in the private sector. These
costs would be roughly $95,000 per employee. I chose not to add them due to the fact that the
proposal is primarily set to add the majority of the work during a recession when the office is
not busy with private sector work.

7
ASSESSMENT STRATEGY
The success of our entrance into the public sector will be easily recognized. As we can
see how many jobs we are able to acquire while also attaining input from employees on what
they think of the public work versus the private work. A possible concern with adding public
sector projects is a reduction to the quality of work for our existing clients. However, we can
mitigate this potential risk by bidding for fewer jobs when we have private sector work
compared to during a recession.

The real assessment for this proposal will be when the next recession hits. Then we will
be able to determine if the public sector will be able to keep our company afloat independently.
To test our success beforehand, we will be able to measure the percentage of projects bid on
that we are able to receive. We will also be able to establish how much revenue the average
project generates. The calculations that I have included in my cost analysis are strictly estimates
based on what I believe the percentage of jobs we will be able to achieve is. However, we will
not become certain until we send several bids in and closely observe our results.

CONCLUSION
Our company while successful in the times that the market is growing, has far too much
volatility. This proposal will significantly help in reducing the devastatingly low revenues that
Sikand Engineering has received during recessions. If your company were to implement this
proposal and hire a Los Angeles county employee, you would instantly gain access to the public
works department, which is an extremely significant market for civil engineering that of which
is currently untapped.
Most importantly, implementing this proposal will, if successful, remove the devastating
need to lay off employees during a recession. Major layoffs are hard for all parties involved and
can significantly impact the way of life for the employees’ families that are forced to be put out
of work. It is an unfortunate part of life, but doing all that our company can do to prevent the
possibility of a major layoff is something that we owe to all members of our staff, as they have
given us their time and commitment by becoming members of our community here at Sikand
Engineering Associates.

8
Appendix
To: Employees of Sikand Engineering
From: Mark Sikand
Date: November 8, 2018
Subject: Entering into the Public Sector

As a company, Sikand Engineering will now work in the public sector. This is in addition
to our projects and clients that we have in the private sector. While I am aware that there may
be some initial concerns of increased workloads and the lack of knowledge about projects in
the public sector, we are pleased to announce the hiring of a top-level employee from the
public works office for the County of Los Angeles to help with this transition process.

This transition into the public sector will be beneficial to our company as a whole as, we
will have a more balanced workload when the economy inevitably starts to slow down again.
Getting our foot in the door with the public sector, will allow us to maintain our revenue stream
and hopefully avoid another near collapse of our entire company. If there are any questions or
concerns about this transition, feel free to reach out to me. I hope you are all motivated about
the opportunity to have a more balanced and consistent workflow.

Works cited
http://boe.lacity.org/uprs/report/AnticipatedToBid.cfm

https://dpw.lacounty.gov/contracts/Opportunities.aspx?project_type=CONS,AEDBID,AEDRFP,A
SDRFP,RFB&phase=PENDING%20AWARD

https://calteccorp.com/difference-between-commercial-residential-and-public-works-
government-projects/

https://dpw.lacounty.gov/contracts/AsNeeded.aspx