Starting a Consulting Business?
The Tools You Need for Starting A Consulting Business
Starting a Consulting Business? Here's Why You MUST Focus on Small Business Support
Lots of my readers started their consulting career as the neighborhood computer guy... You know, going to folks' houses and fix their computer problems.
This, of course, is pretty common. When most techs think about starting a consulting business of their own, they aim for what seems like low-hanging fruit, consumers in their local community.
This might seem like a fine way to get started part-time. After all, you can send out the word to friends and family and quickly get some initial, easy work.
However, if you're looking to build a sustainable, long-term business as a computer consultant, I absolutely do not recommend relying on residential customers as you grow your business.
Just some of the many drawbacks include:
* They're one-time customers. This is because consumers typically don't call you, until something goes wrong. Real wrong. Otherwise, it's rare when one takes time out out of his or her day to take preventive measures. Then, when the job is done, you're likely to never hear from him or her again.
* Intense competition from well-known brands. You're not just competing with the Geek Squad, but consumers' Internet service providers, as well as, service companies who have contracts with computer manufacturers like Dell or Lenovo. In other words, finding regular clients isn't always easy when you're up against companies will multi-million dollar ad budgets and built-in audiences.
* They're reluctant to invest on technology. The consumer with an out-dated computer and who really needs your services likely does not place a high-value on his or her computing needs. Thus, getting paid for what your time is worth becomes much more difficult. Moreover, the consumer may not understand why he or she shouldn't simply go with the lowest price provider, which leaves you to justify your prices.
* Do the math: If you're starting a consulting business and want to make an average consultant's salary of about $60K per year, and you bill an average hourly rate of about $60/hr (the competitive, average rate for residential support), you would need to bill over 83 HOURS PER MONTH... EVERY MONTH to ensure a steady salary. Considering that the average residential customer wouldn't be very happy if you had to spend more than a few hours on a single problem... and certainly wouldn't want to see you on a regular basis... then you're going to need an awfully large client base to keep the money coming in.
So, who should you target instead?
The answer is small business owners. Folks where your work directly makes and saves a fortune... as well as... staves off disaster.
Savvy small business owners invest rather heavily in their technology because they know when they use technology properly it can give them the competitive advantage they need to stay ahead of their competition and thrive as a growing company. And they know that to get the most out of their systems, it requires regular maintenance and upkeep... and therefore they are more than willing to pay for a qualified IT Support Provider to keep their systems running right.
What's more, new technology makes it easy to offer managed services. Rather than rushing in every time there's a problem... you can monitor everything from your personal computer. For most issues, you can resolve them remotely.
If you set yourself up on the correct managed service model, you'll be able to bill flat-rates where you'll collect a steady, reliable income month after month... instead of dealing with the feast-or-famine situation you'll have to deal with when billing hourly rates and waiting for computers to break so you can generate some income.
Starting a consulting business that serves small companies will provide you with customers that are happy to pay you regularly to keep their systems running smoothly, your computer consultant income will remain steady and reliable regardless of how "slow" the month is (and the slower the better for both you and your customer), you'll get to work on more interesting, up-to-date technologies, you'll work with more standardized (and therefore easier to support) systems and because each new customer can potentially increase your monthly revenue significantly - and permanently - it will be much easier for you to expand and grow.
How's that for a dream business?
If you are considering starting a consulting business, in my opinion there is no better IT Employment opportunity than to make a living from your information technology skills by becoming an IT support provider to small businesses.
Lots of my readers started their consulting career as the neighborhood computer guy... You know, going to folks' houses and fix their computer problems.
This, of course, is pretty common. When most techs think about starting a consulting business of their own, they aim for what seems like low-hanging fruit, consumers in their local community.
This might seem like a fine way to get started part-time. After all, you can send out the word to friends and family and quickly get some initial, easy work.
However, if you're looking to build a sustainable, long-term business as a computer consultant, I absolutely do not recommend relying on residential customers as you grow your business.
Just some of the many drawbacks include:
* They're one-time customers. This is because consumers typically don't call you, until something goes wrong. Real wrong. Otherwise, it's rare when one takes time out out of his or her day to take preventive measures. Then, when the job is done, you're likely to never hear from him or her again.
* Intense competition from well-known brands. You're not just competing with the Geek Squad, but consumers' Internet service providers, as well as, service companies who have contracts with computer manufacturers like Dell or Lenovo. In other words, finding regular clients isn't always easy when you're up against companies will multi-million dollar ad budgets and built-in audiences.
* They're reluctant to invest on technology. The consumer with an out-dated computer and who really needs your services likely does not place a high-value on his or her computing needs. Thus, getting paid for what your time is worth becomes much more difficult. Moreover, the consumer may not understand why he or she shouldn't simply go with the lowest price provider, which leaves you to justify your prices.
* Do the math: If you're starting a consulting business and want to make an average consultant's salary of about $60K per year, and you bill an average hourly rate of about $60/hr (the competitive, average rate for residential support), you would need to bill over 83 HOURS PER MONTH... EVERY MONTH to ensure a steady salary. Considering that the average residential customer wouldn't be very happy if you had to spend more than a few hours on a single problem... and certainly wouldn't want to see you on a regular basis... then you're going to need an awfully large client base to keep the money coming in.
So, who should you target instead?
The answer is small business owners. Folks where your work directly makes and saves a fortune... as well as... staves off disaster.
Savvy small business owners invest rather heavily in their technology because they know when they use technology properly it can give them the competitive advantage they need to stay ahead of their competition and thrive as a growing company. And they know that to get the most out of their systems, it requires regular maintenance and upkeep... and therefore they are more than willing to pay for a qualified IT Support Provider to keep their systems running right.
What's more, new technology makes it easy to offer managed services. Rather than rushing in every time there's a problem... you can monitor everything from your personal computer. For most issues, you can resolve them remotely.
If you set yourself up on the correct managed service model, you'll be able to bill flat-rates where you'll collect a steady, reliable income month after month... instead of dealing with the feast-or-famine situation you'll have to deal with when billing hourly rates and waiting for computers to break so you can generate some income.
Starting a consulting business that serves small companies will provide you with customers that are happy to pay you regularly to keep their systems running smoothly, your computer consultant income will remain steady and reliable regardless of how "slow" the month is (and the slower the better for both you and your customer), you'll get to work on more interesting, up-to-date technologies, you'll work with more standardized (and therefore easier to support) systems and because each new customer can potentially increase your monthly revenue significantly - and permanently - it will be much easier for you to expand and grow.
How's that for a dream business?
If you are considering starting a consulting business, in my opinion there is no better IT Employment opportunity than to make a living from your information technology skills by becoming an IT support provider to small businesses.
