Starting a consulting business 1

[jonlake]

I had emailed Glen Johnson with a few questions, and he felt it would benefit everyone if I were to post it here. The following is the email I sent him. He will reply with his answers when he has time.

Glen,

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jon Lake and I have been reading on tek-tips some of your posts about starting your consulting business. I am thinking of doing the same in a little while here. I have a good backgroud in Cisco, Microsoft, and Linux as far as networking goes. I also have a good background in desktop support (I am currently in a help desk position). I also have a few certs to go with my experience, but they are meaningless if you can't do the work. I just have a few questions to ask you. If you have time, and don't mind answering them, I would appreciate it. I am currently located in Grand Rapids, MI.

First off, how has it been going so far? I hope well.

How did you establish your clients?
I am fairly new to my area and don't know a whole lot of people, I will be asking the few people I know, to ask people they know.

I am also thinking of doing cold calling, asking them if they have in house IT staff. If so, ask them if they feel they could benefit in an area by outsourcing, and if they don't have in house staff, ask them how they get their IT work done.


How many clients would be sufficient to keep you busy but not overloaded?

My main concern is I'll get their server (or whatever) setup, but then not have a whole lot more work from them. I'll find more work from others, then something will happen, and I'll have too much on my hands.

Woould it be more cost efficient in the customers eyes if you charge one flat rate, or does it vary depending on what you do? (less for computer repair and more for networking/server setup).


I saw on your site you are a member of ICCA. Does that bring good benefits for you?



Those questions are a few uncertainties I have about doing it. I am hoping to slowly transition from my full time job to working for myself full time, if I get enough clients. Thanks for your time and I will be looking forward to hearing from you.

I am kind of uneasy to up and quit my job, for fear of failure, debt, and being homeless, however, I am confident in my abilities.

What were some of your concerns when you first started out? I don't have any backup income (wife, family, etc).

Thanks,


Jon Lake

 

[GlenJohnson]

First off, how has it been going so far? I hope well
Yes, it is going well, but the market in Rockford IL, (Just north of Chicago) isn't the greatest.

How did you establish your clients?
1)Word of mouth
2)Get your name out anyway you can. (I'll call into the local talk radio program and let people know about new viruses and such. Several times I've managed to notify people before it ever hit the news programs.
3)Inexpensive newspaper advertising.
4)Donate your time and expertise to not for profit orginizations.

I am also thinking of doing cold calling, asking them if they have in house IT staff
I've tried this, and haven't had much luck. Others I know have, so I'm not sure.

How many clients would be sufficient to keep you busy but not overloaded?
This is a hard call. At $50 an hour, money wise it wouldn't take a lot of clients. (This is a plus as the big guys here in town charge $110 per hour plus travel time.) You will always need time to keep up with the field and stay on your toes.

Would it be more cost efficient in the customers eyes if you charge one flat rate, or does it vary depending on what you do?
I charge a flat rate, but offer discounts for veterans, police and fire personell. I have been known to take less pay when the solution was simple. One customer could not get on the internet. I drove 20 minutes to the site, and after a couple of minutes found her cable had gone bad. She had an extra, I plugged it in, and she was back on the internet.

I saw on your site you are a member of ICCA. Does that bring good benefits for you?
Any networking you can do offers help. I've been a member for almost a year and I'm going to change my chapter to the Chicago chapter. Tek-Tips has a lot more activity, however, and I think that I've managed to learn more from TT, plus the fact that it's free membership. ICCA is close to $200 membership per year if I remember correctly.

I am kind of uneasy to up and quit my job, for fear of failure, debt, and being homeless, however, I am confident in my abilities.

What were some of your concerns when you first started out? I don't have any backup income (wife, family, etc).

Don't quit your job. There are some things you will always need, like insurance and a nice 401K. I'm a veteran, so my insurance is covered. Since Rockford is a manufacturing town, and the country is losing manufacturing, I recently got laid off. Managed to pick up a COBRA insurance for my wife, and have enough in savings to keep us going for a year or so. Starting to really push the business, but I think I'll be going into the Chicago area for the good jobs. (Comuting, not moving.) I hope this helps.

Glen A. Johnson
If you're from Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin check out Tek-Tips in Chicago, Illinois Forum.

TTinChicago

http://www.johnsoncomputers.us

 

[onpnt]

Don't quit your job.

I completely agree! I've been a contract system analyst for a while now that started off in web development. Initially I was in that mode to be working full-time on that by 2 years worth. It just sin't going to happen the more I learned of the field and the current state it is in.

There could be modifications I've seen to that in going into a group business with multiple people. But even at that, you're looking at years of worth being put down on the table for your clients before you can have security in not having a full-time income.

___________________________________________________________________

http://www.onpnt.com

The answer to your ??'s may be closer then you think.
Check out Tek-Tips knowledge bank by clicking the FAQ link at the top of the page faq333-3811

 

[robertmathews]

What?

I don't buy that for a minute. If you market your business and truely desire success you can quit your job and do fine. In fact I think you are much more prone to failure if you DO NOT quit your job. You need to devote your energy and effort into this or it will not work.

Robert

 

[GlenJohnson]

Robert, we are still in the midst of a recession, especially in certain parts of the country. Giving up a steady income at this point would be foolish, unless you have at least one years worth of income stashed away in savings that you can get at without hurting. Most of us don't. I agree, you need to put yourself into this wholeheartedly, but you have to be realistic also. Good luck to all.

Glen A. Johnson
If you're from Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin feel free to join the Tek-Tips in Chicago, Illinois Forum.
TTinChicago
Johnson Computers

 

[Terpsfan]

I am in the beginning stages of creating my own company and I think the best approach I can think of is to start small with a small client base, then progress from there. I don't think it's a good idea to just quit your job because nothing is guaranteed in this life. Just like in football, you never take points off the board.

I'm going to do the business part time until it expands to the point where I can do it full time. If it never expands I can still do it part time and continue with my present job. I always like to have something to fall back on.

I'm giving myself about a year to get myself ready because there are a lot of things to prepare for. One needs to develop a good business plan as well as a good marketing plan. The services I will offer are web development and hosting, database development, application development and training. I can always upgrade PC's if I have to.

 

[jonlake]

Well, I just got let go from the account i was on (contracted out to another company), I may still have a job at my employer. Either way, I am going to start trying to get some clients. I have no idea how I'm going to get started. Still kind of shocked by the whole event. I've been following the threads on this forum and have read some good ideas, so I will try those.

Jon

 

[JRBeltman]

Coming from a small town in Holland (45.000) I started my own computer business about 8 or 9 years ago. Simply selling PC hardware and software.

Simple advertising in local newspapers and word of mouth brought us a huge client base.

I was unfortunate to go into business with my then best friend who ended up $#@!$ me over and the company went out of business (hence my advice that if you ever think about setting up a business with anyone else; BE FULLY COVERED and don't take their word for it... sad, I know)

Anyway I started doing repairs (7-8 years ago now) and found that many people in our small community had computers and problems. Most of my business was again from the local newspaper and more over word of mouth!

Now after having moved to London 5 years ago there are still people asking me to fix their computer. How did they hear of me after all this time? Word of Mouth!

MY friend (different and much better friend has now taken over in our small town and once again word of mouth and simple advertising works.

PS We have established that a rhyming add is best remembered by people. Short but powerful. This may obvously differ with your public.

JR
As a wise man once said: To build the house you need the stone.
Back to the Basics!