Founding a Fiber-Optic Component and Sensor Business

Baumann, Ingolf

doi:10.1117/3.786604.ch15

Book: Engineering a High-Tech Business: Entrepreneurial Experiences and Insights

Editor(s): José Miguel López-Higuera; Brian Culshaw

Author(s): Ingolf Baumann

Published: 2008

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.786604.ch15

Abstract

When an engineer is going to start his own business, only a few people are able to give some competent advice based on their own experiences; most entrepreneurs might face this actuality. Since the primary business idea is related to the high-tech business sector, it may even become a real challenge to gather all necessary information that enables the founder to realize his ideas. However, the founder has to overcome this first barrier, being much more on his own compared to a business creation in a more traditional field. The basic reasons for this are the extremely high customization effort for most innovations, serving the market’s demands, and a lack of established distribution channels for the product. Thus, in this state it is quite difficult to prove that the company is making progress and that the business plan is a realistic scenario. As a matter of fact, no other person is as deeply involved in the young company’s technology and/or services as the founder—only this competence might be able to dispel the investors’ doubts. The following lines may give an overview about my way of creating a successful business.