Target businesses will sustain your business into the future.  Before starting your computer consulting company, you should know what to look for in terms of target businesses.  Here is a brief summary.

Target Business Criteria

  • A target business in one that is close to you:  generally within a 30 to 60 minute drive from where you’re located.  
  • Your target business should have 10 to 50 PC’s. It should be big enough that it needs a real server, which most of the time translates to 10 to 100 employees.
  • The average annual sales of your target business is between $1 million to $10 million.  You can get this revenue information directly from them, through Google, Dun & Bradstreet, etc…
  • These target businesses will have their own email domain.
  • In almost all cases, a target business is going to have a dedicated server or dedicated Internet access.  
  • A business that meets your target profile will require working online and it will use IT to communicate with some of their vendors, key customers, partners or even regulators. Essentially that means that IT is mission-critical for them.  
  • In most cases your target business accounts are going to have at least one branch office. They’re going to have some remote staff, and with that comes the need for more sophisticated telecommunications and someone that can help them design and implement it the right way.
  • Generally your target business client will have a website. You can Google towns in your area, ZIP and postal codes, area code and telephone prefixes to find some companies in your area.
  • More often than not, a business that meets your target profile will have a pretty sophisticated phone system or PBX.
  • These companies will almost always belong to a local or regional chamber of commerce or similar organization. To meet some of these people you can join the organizations or attend as a guest.
  • Your target business client will also typically have a presence at business to business events, so you can attend these events to network.
  • This kind of company will get media coverage in the business section of the local newspaper or in the business journal. You’ll probably want to subscribe to that or read them at the library.

Bottom Line on Target Businesses
When you are networking and marketing yourself to potential businesses you need to have a clear idea of the kind of businesses to target.  You want to be able to tune out some “business fatal attractions” and narrow down your focus to the best small businesses in the area.  Use the criteria given above to develop a profile of your target business client and learn to recognize them quickly and efficiently.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to Target Businesses. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about Target Businesses, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.