Going out on my own.

[Nightingale]

I'm in the process of starting my own business. I'm looking at providing IT related services for SMB's. I'm just curious if anyone else has done this and had a few questions.

What types of services did you offer?
Did you have contracts are strictly per incident/visit.
What approach did you use for getting customers? offline/online.

And if you don't mind me asking in what range was your pricing?

[JeffreyHamby]

I'm actually in the process of doing the same. I've been a contract enterprise developer for some time now, and have a couple of contracts waiting on me to have W-2 status on my own. What I plan on doing, other than these contracts, is register for municipal/state contractor status.

Other than that, I live in a town outside of Houston that has a 2-3 computer stores (all prepackaged, I don't think the technical skill level is terribly high at these places) but offer no service whatsoever. I'm giving thought to offering in-home tech support and maybe some low level computer training. If I do, it will be at really low rates, in hopes of drumming up other business.

Does any of this help?

Regards,
Jeff

[datums]

Going out on your own is a huge step. I suggest doing alot of planning before you actually do it. Sometimes the planning alone will give you a better view of what you will actually need to do, then you can decide if it's still in line with what you though it would be like.

As far as finding clients, start locally visit businesses and introduce yourself as a local. Small Companies rather deal with local help.




Good Luck to you both.
determination, motivation, planning, and skills

[JeffreyHamby]

I had the thought from your post in my head as I was heading home from registering my DBA locally when I saw a small computer repair place. I stopped in to make a contact, and offered to throw some hardware repair business his way (I don't want to be in that business) and he's got a couple of clients that want some software.. a business he's not in.

Within the first 15 minutes of (technically) starting my company, I already have a mutual relationship with a local hardware vendor.

Thanks for the advice. Having been a contract software developer as long as I have, I knew networking was a viable part of business, but following your advice proved it was also vital.

Regards,
Jeffrey Hamby
Conroe Technology

[datums]

So, should I see commission coming my way?
That's what you have to do, what the majority of your local competition won't do.


Good Luck.

Design Services here.


Cheers

[JeffreyHamby]

Actually, if your company is interested in web design, I'm more of a web developer and back end person, and I can see needing strictly design consulting help. Of course, this is all down the road, as the two contracts I currently hold are Oracle performance tuning and a VB.Net application.

Jeff

[johnsje]

I have been on my own for about 2 years and things are going pretty good. The hardest part is marketing. Seems every small business has someone already doing there computer work for them, so you need to be able to show them how you can do it better and cheaper.

Now understand, cheaper is not always better. A lot of small to medium sized companies shop around a lot. So I would suggest that you keep your rates competitive. If you are to low you my be really hurting yourself. Many companies believe in the "you get what you pay for theory” So just make sure that if everyone is in the range of 60 to 100 an hour you are to. Undercutting rarely works in this business


Jeff Johnson
www.apexxconsulting.com

[jpolishuk]

Yes, marketing will always be an ongoing challenge. You really need to spend time building up a good group of complimentary businesses or people that will recommend you or give out your name.... for instance, if you are in networking you should get a contact at the local telecom companies, phone system vendors, moving companies, commercial real estate... all of these people can help you identify potential clients that may be in the position to buy or make a change.
But, do not ignore the business aspect like insurance, taxes...... it is easy to avoid but can sink you in a heartbeat if something happens.