Start an IT Business with 5 Helpful Tips

Before you start an IT business, you need to make sure you’re organized and know where you are going. Which steps do you need to accomplish your goal of getting started?

Tip 1: Print Your Business Cards

In order to start an IT business, you need to get business cards printed, even if you don’t think your company name or any other details will stick. If you decide to change your contact information or business name in six months, you can just get them reprinted. But you HAVE to get momentum going by handing out business cards to friends and family members.

Tip 2: Get the Word Out

When you are in networking situations as you start an IT business, you need to talk about your venture and hand out business cards. People at your church, synagogue, at the movies, at your kids’ soccer games, anywhere can become a part of your extended sales force, so you need to seize the opportunity.

Tip 3: Get Active in Your Business Community

You need to start getting involved in local organizations for business owners to give yourself organized networking opportunities when you start an IT business. Look for three or four fitting local trade groups such as your chamber of commerce or a related user group or industry-specific trade group.

Tip 4: What Do You Know?

When you are starting your IT business, you should start where you know and branch out from there. If you start with a niche you already know, you’ll have some credibility and an easier time creating a strong marketing message that really hits home. You will have an easier time being remembered because you won’t look like every other generalist and will offer something unique.

Tip 5: Think about Your Prospects

As you choose your niche, you need to make sure there are enough prospects in it to sustain you. For example, if you decide to focus on doctors’ offices in your local area, you need to research to make sure you have at least 500-1,000 prospects that fit into that category within an hour radius of your location. Another way to find-tune your niche and specialty and communicate it to prospects is to put an industry focus in your name, in this case, “health care systems,” “medical office systems” or “medical office technology.”

Today we talked about 5 tips to help you as you start an IT business. To learn more about this topic, visit the attached link.

Blogged By: Computer Consulting Kit

Balance Your Computer Services Business Portfolio

In order to have a strong computer services business, you need to balance your portfolio. What does this mean? Basically, you need to keep 70% (or more!) of your business sweet spot small businesses with 10-50 computers. You can keep a very small amount of your business geared towards home networks and consumers and a few larger small business clients, but you will achieve the best balance if you focus on the sweet spot small business side.

No Matter What, DIVERSIFY

No matter what you do with your computer services business portfolio, you need to DIVERSIFY. This means that no single one of your clients can account for more than ten percent of your computer consulting revenue.

What’s the theory? If you’re getting most of your money from one source and then lose that client for any reason, you could potentially lose a LOT of revenue and have a hard time bouncing back!

Fire Your Bad Computer Services Business Clients

While you may not think firing a client is a good idea, sometimes you just have to do it. There are some problem clients of your computer services business that will just not be worth the trouble. They will drive you and your staff crazy and you might even LOSE staff over the ordeal. These types of clients eventually need to be cut loose. But if you make problem clients too big a part of your roster, you will end up having a really hard time firing them.

Your Ideal Clients Are Your Focus with Your Computer Services Business

You need to make room for ideal clients and just say “No” to those that are verbally abusive, harass you, cause you too much stress and generally are impossible. If you have enough really good, long-term, steady, HIGH-PAYING clients you will be able to replace the bad ones much more easily and will not waste time “reforming” anyone.

Today we talked about how to diversify and balance your computer services business portfolio. To learn more about this subject, visit the attached link!

Added By: Joshua Feinberg

Create a Good Computer Technician Job Description by Asking Key Questions

If you are looking for a technology professional to help your small business, you may feel overwhelmed at the prospect of creating a solid computer technician job description that will get you the best candidates. Many small business owners don’t have a lot of technical knowledge and don’t know where to start when it comes to figuring out how to handle their own IT needs OR how to find a qualified consultant that can!

Skills in a Typical Computer Technician Job Description

Here are just some of the duties a good technician will probably need to perform for your small business:

1. Installs, configurations and upgrades of operating systems and software (typically using Microsoft products);

2. Installs, assembly and configurations for computers, monitors, network infrastructure and peripherals like printers, scanners and other hardware;

3. Troubleshooting for computer system problems and problems with hardware and software, e-mail, network and peripheral equipment and making necessary repairs and corrections;

4. Acting as a technical resource to help users resolve equipment problems and data and performing some help desk functions;

5. Recommending hardware and software solutions that fit your small business needs.

6. Helping with planning, designing, researching and acquiring new or upgraded hardware and software and implementing them into total business solutions.

Ask Key Questions to Create a Computer Technician Job Description

If you want to get just the right candidates for the job of maintaining your IT assets and helping you create an efficient small business environment, you need to ask important questions. Here are just some examples:

1. “Are you a part-time or full-time computer technician?”

2. “Are you a solo computer technician or do you have other employees and contractors?”

3. “Are you a generalist or a specialist? Which software specialties do you have and in which markets have you worked?”

There are many more questions you will have to consider as you are interviewing candidates and also creating your computer technician job description. To find out what these important questions are … and much more … visit the attached link!

Added By: Computer Consulting Kit

A Computer Repair Class: How Can You Find One?

While technical skills often are, surprisingly often not as important to starting a computer consulting business or computer repair business as business skills and people skills, they still are necessary in order to best serve your clients … but where do you find a computer repair class when you need one?

Many computer repair technicians serving small businesses mistakenly think they need to spend hours of time and a lot of money on expensive certifications and very formal classes. However, this is not often the case, as most small business owners will actually look down on extensive certifications and lofty qualifications; it means they will think they need to pay you more for your services or that you are overly qualified to handle simple problems.

Look at the Skills of Your Competitors before Seeking out a Computer Repair Class

Computer skills are important for you and the staff of your small business computer repair company, and when you are deciding which computer class to take in the time you have allotted for training and skills development, you have to look at which skills your competitors have.

What will a small business computer repair company need to know?

1. Some necessary networking platforms: Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS); Novell Small Business Suite or Novell NetWare; Linux (usually RedHat); Mac OS.

2. Advanced expertise in the following areas: Network Attached Storage (NAS); Storage Attached Networks (SANs); complex security solutions; CheckPoint firewalls; Citrix Terminal solutions; high-end Wi-Fi solutions; managed hardware.

Keep in mind that VERY advanced computer skills are only necessary once you start selling computer repair services to a real IT manager, which usually happens only the case of large small businesses. For the “sweet spot” of small business computer consulting (10-50 PCs), you really only need one or two entry-level certifications and to be working towards an MCSE or its equivalent.

Look for a Computer Repair Class

Once you decide what it is your clients need for their businesses and how your current skills fit into the picture, you can search for a computer repair class that suits you. Thankfully, there are many viable options that don’t involve going to a real “classroom,” such as on-line classes and seminars, tele-seminars and study courses that you can complete, even while sitting in your pajamas at home or between appointments with your customers and clients!

Today we talked about which skills you need and how to find a computer repair class that suits your needs. To learn more about this subject and many others related to business development, visit the attached link!

Added By: Computer Consulting Kit

Tips to Get Your Computer Contract Air Tight

Each computer contract you have that details the terms of on-going support for your clients is important to the health of your business. A computer contract requires advance planning to inspire confidence in your customers.

You need to know which benefits and prices you are going to offer ahead of time and do careful planning to create a compelling case for why each of your customers should be a client on a computer contract or on-going support contract.

Here are several steps you can take to ensure you have an air-tight computer contract with every client.

Tip 1: Make a Rate Card

A rate card is a simple, one-page document that shows typical prices vs. computer contract prices. It is basically a marketing summary of the benefits you provide to clients. You should brainstorm a list of at least a half a dozen compelling benefits for why someone should sign a long-term service contract with you instead of paying by the hour. You need to have your rate card ready before you go out on a sales call.

Tip 2: Carefully Consider Travel Time

When you think about developing on-going support contracts, you might have to re-think your service area. Competitors will be willing to travel 45 minutes or an hour for a good client on a computer contract, so you should figure out a way to do this affordably too. Usually you can enforce a minimum of an hour or a half day, depending on the situation.

Tip 3: Know When to Offer a Computer Contract

When can you offer a computer contract to clients?

1. Right after emergency service calls (when you’ve just saved the day and are at a high point!). This is a time when prospects and customers are very receptive to talking about how to prevent panic in the future, which is a HUGE benefit of an on-going support contract.

2. Once clients know, like and trust you. This means you need to give your relationships time to evolve!

3. After conducting IT audits. A computer contract is a logical next step once you’ve analyzed a customer’s systems.

4. When a customer expresses frustration with their other technology provider.


Today we talked about how to set up a strong computer contract. To learn more about this subject, visit the attached link!

Important Note: The blog post is not legal advice. This blog post is being provided for education purposes only. You are STRONGLY advised to consult a qualified local attorney to have your computer contract reviewed for appropriate to your personal financial situation, your business financial situation, your business entity type, your target client base and enforceability in your own local jurisdiction.

Added By: Computer Consulting Kit