It’s the cream of the crop, the dreamy queen of all self employment, and the golden ring on the merry-go-round of computer services companies. Running a computer consulting business is the ultimate goal of nearly 50% of all IT professionals. Computer consulting businesses, especially those which can be cultivated around your schedule, your time, and your pace, are the white puffs on the puffy clouds of dreams. So how do you get there and what do you need to know?

Rule number one is all about the cash. There will be times when business is very lean. While most new consultants expect this to happen in the beginning, the majority of new businesses go under after they’ve been around for a few years, created a reasonable name for themselves, and then hit a dry period. It’s a painful lesson to learn, but no matter how good you are or how experienced you’ve become, dry seasons are bound to happen. This means that you need to be a professional and handle your money with confidence and extreme frugal caution, even after you got your feet up off of the ground.

Rule number two is learn to be flexible. When the dry seasons are over, there will most likely be multiple clients banging on your door for multiple services. That means that your skills need to be honed as sharply as your ability to switch gears as often as necessary in order to perform the jobs presented to you and to do it well. If you find yourself overwhelmed, and unable to perform, it’s going to hurt your business not only immediately with the loss of income but overall, as word of mouth can be a powerful advertising statement, especially when the word is negative.

Consulting is a business of opinion. You are there to offer your expertise and to complete a job as it has been specified by the client. This means that rule number three, know what you’re talking about before you open your mouth, and rule number four, back up your opinion with proven facts, can each be combined into rule number six, learn to delegate, negotiate, and mediate. These three skills will come in handy more often than your computer network skills. Whether you have employees or are a one man or woman show, your ability to come through for your own business is in part about understanding the clients’ needs as well as know when the client needs a lot more direction in order to accomplish their goals.

Computer knowledge is obviously the strong basis of any consulting business that you are considering, however, business skills are vital regardless of whether you are running a hot dog stand or a computer consulting business. The skills you can develop that enable you to deal more effectively with clients and potential clients are about the relational aspects of business than the technical aspects of business. You can’t have a consulting business without the technical skill. You can’t have a consulting business without the personable skills.

-Zachary M. Morvik

The title says it all on this one.  If you are going to be in this business, product and license sourcing is involved.  Among others, you want and need an Ingram Micro account.

They will charge a credit card $100 during signup and if you purchased $1,500 worth of product in the first 60 days, you will be refunded the $100.

Go signup today.

www.ingrammicro.com

-Zachary M. Morvik

If you have never heard of GrandCentral, you definitely need to go check it out.

www.grancentral.com

They were great before Google bought them.  In time they will be as unstoppable as many other Google services.

You basically get a phone number and they will forward that number to multiple other numbers or take voicemail…FREE of charge.  In addition some of the features include screening callers, listen to them leaving a message and jump in if desired, save calll recordings with the push of a button, block callers, ringtones, personal greetings, CallSwitch (very cool), and more.

With CallSwitch, you can change phones without dropping the call. Let’s say you take a call on your cell phone, but you would really rather use your office or home office phone.  No problem, CallSwitch will make the change and your caller will never even know it.

-Zachary M. Morvik

Computer services are the next wave of small business. From technical support to IT security, the computer services industry is loaded with possibilities and exciting new trends. Many people on the fast track are looking to start up their own one or two person computer services business rather than go through the steps that lead to the higher paying computer services jobs.

Is it possible to step out into the world as your own computer technician, security expert, or helpdesk specialist? Yes, it is. It is a bit risky, but for those who weather the risk well, the pay off is definitely worth it.

Stepping out on your own should be a process, unless you have the capital on hand to build up clientele and survive for about a year without much work. It takes time to get a good business going, and without a lot of capital, it can take even longer. Your marketing and sales techniques are going to determine how well you do, as will your skill set, your demographic region, and your ability to perform various functions (or learn them) in a reasonable time frame.

Not enough new business owners pay enough attention to the geographic demographics before trying to launch a new small computer services business. However, there are some areas of the United States that the demand for these services is very low if not non-existent. Then there are places that are so oversaturated that the likelihood of stepping in front of the big guy is relatively slim. The Lancaster-Reading area of Pennsylvania for example, is nearly devoid of computer technology and services openings and demand. Security specialists from this area have been forced to move at least as far as Philadelphia if not farther. Norfolk, Virginia is oversaturated with technology, as well as a high number of computer specialists coming out of the Armed Forces with a pre-existing security clearance. Again, a tough thing to step in front of when building a business.

Alternatively, places like Columbus, Ohio are just now starting to bloom into the advanced technological age, requiring specialists in all sorts of arenas. Just a little side note, security experts find numerous roadblocks unless they are dealing with governmental facilities. A vast majority of the companies that should have heightened security don’t put the money into it until after an incident has occurred.

Placing your plaque out into the business world is a developing process. Anyone with the appropriate education, skill set, and determination can build up a nice computer services company for themselves, they just can’t expect overnight success. These things take a lot of market research and a lot of sheer determination. This is why that great many are more successful when they take a few years to build up their computer services business on the side and then leap in with both feet after they have established a clientele.

-Zachary M. Morvik

What’s in your computer kit?

This will be an ongoing entry that will be updated with more of my input as well as the feedback received from the readers of this blog.

The Ultimate Computer Kit consists of hardware, software, and documents used by computer service professionals to run their businesses or sole proprietorships.

Here is a base list of requirements:

Computer Service Hardware

USB Key (4GB+ Recommended)
External USB/Firewire/eSATA Hard Drive
Spare Network Card (NIC)
Spare Video Card
Spare Cables (CAT6, power, ide, sata, etc)
Crimper tool and RJ45 connectors
Multi-Screwdriver (Klein 10-1 for me)
PC Repair kit with screwdrivers, cases,
Cable tester
Cable tracer
Multimeter
Pocket knife (Leatherman for me)
Black CDs/DVDs
Cell phone
Laptop

Computer Service Software

AVG Antivirus
Symantec Antivirus
Hijack This!
Spybot
Adaware
OPHCRACK
UBCD
Knoppix
Windows, Linux, and Mac OS Discs
Service packs for windows, exchange, sql, etc.
Winzip or 7-ZIP
Acrobat Reader
Firefox
Thunderbird
.NET framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0
Zonealarm
UltraVNC
Gencontrol

Computer Service Documents

Business cards
Contracts
Thank You cards
Marketing documents
Brochures
Marketing propaganda (pens, cups, etc)

In addition to the above, I carry my Microsoft Action Pack.  I have mentioned this in the past and where you can get this pack.  It has powerful sales and marketing materials for Microsoft products and carrying this pack with me allows me to demonstrate some applications for my clients.

This is the majority of my kit.  I’ll add to this list as I receive feedback and use additional tools myself.   What’s in your kit?

-Zachary M. Morvik