Small Business Computer Consulting

Computer service business goals should include the implementation of an orientation program for new hires.  An employee who feels welcomed into the computer service business has a better chance of experiencing success on the job.  This will translate to retention of the employee and lower recruiting costs for the computer service business.

Elements of an Orientation Program

The orientation package should include many elements to ensure success.  The first step is to develop a job description.  Next, a new hire should be assigned jobs that will conclude in a successful product.  Finally, a mentor should be appointed to guide the employee for the first few months.   

Develop a Job Description

Providing a clear and concise job description will allow the new employee to adjust to his new position with the computer service business.  Explain expected outcomes and how performance will be measured.  A new hire who is uncertain of expectations is only being set up for failure.

Assign Projects That Focus on the Employee’s Strengths

Employees are always anxious when beginning a new job.  A computer service business can ease the transition by assigning early projects that will ensure success.  Find tasks that will focus on his or her strengths and abilities.  A successfully completed task builds the new employee’s confidence.  Other team members are more likely to accept the new hire, as well.

Select a Mentor

A mentor may help a new employee adjust to the computer service business environment.  The job of a mentor is to introduce the new hire to key people in the organization.  He will also advise on company protocol or procedures.  A mentor’s support and encouragement will influence a new employee’s first impression of the computer service business.

A new employee will benefit from a clear and well-developed orientation program.  The computer service business will benefit from a well-adjusted and successful employee.  Hopefully, it is the start of a long-term relationship.

The Bottom Line about Computer Service Business
     
In this article, you’ve been introduced to computer service business. To learn more about computer service business, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Computer networking business is in demand and part of a competitive industry.  It is important to focus on three characteristics to achieve success in a computer networking business.

Computer networking business employers should be aware of the identifying characteristics of a successful business.  These factors apply especially to a computer networking business that includes employees.  Focusing on the three factors is imperative for a computer networking business.

Identifying Characteristics of a Successful Computer Networking Business

A successful computer networking business will include three identifying characteristics.  These are flexibility, accountability, and follow-up.  These characteristics deal with a business’ employees.  After all, a business is made up of its people.

Flexibility

When dealing with people, flexibility is key.  Employees who are dealing with a sick relative may need extra time off.  Give them the time they need.  Perhaps a loyal customer needs an extra thirty days to pay for a large invoice.  Give them the extra thirty days.  This flexibility will help your computer networking business meet the demands of employees and customers.  This will result in a positive outcome in the long run.

Accountability

Computer networking business employees should be held accountable for their jobs.  An employee who is unable to complete a task should be analyzed.  Determine the reason the job was not finished.  Perhaps the employee is incapable of the job, maybe he is not trained properly, or the job may not have been clearly explained.  Employees who complete tasks responsibly should be rewarded and praised.  This motivates them to work hard on the next task.

Follow-Up

Follow-up is a part of accountability.  There is less need for follow-up when the computer networking business has a firm accountability process in order.  To establish this, remember to follow up on all tasks, whether large or small.  Employees will come to expect it.

A computer networking business should be flexible, hold employees accountable, and follow up on all tasks or jobs.  These characteristics are a true mark of a successful business.  Hiring quality employees also reduces the need for follow-up, allowing a manager to devote more time to other important aspects of the business.

The Bottom Line about Computer Consulting Business

In this article, you’ve been introduced to computer networking business. To learn more about computer networking business, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.             

Encourage your technical staff to learn about higher-end networking solutions. Remember, higher-end solutions are generally worth more per hour. Most of your technical staff will have the skills to set up small LANs, do troubleshooting, cleanup jobs and desktop rollouts. But in this article you’ll learn why you should also start booking up some of their time to work on higher margin projects that have more long-term potential.

Professional Gratification Keeps Your Technical Staff Happy

By moving your staff into more advanced networking projects, your technical staff is going to get a lot more professional gratification. “Techies” really like to work on things that tax their knowledge. Your technical staff members find it very frustrating to come back from studying for a certification exam and feel like all they’re doing all day is rescuing the lost Microsoft Office toolbar, or telling people to reboot, or to disconnect and reconnect.

Challenges Lead to Retention

Your technical staff will get a lot more gratification out working at their true technical peak and being exposed to greater and greater challenges. So, in many ways, training becomes a great retention tool. The flip side: if your technical staff is constantly working on projects that they feel are “beneath” them, you may start losing staff to competitors.

Complex Networking Projects Lead to Longer-term Client Relationships

Developing long-term client relationships is also a lot more gratifying for your technical staff. They get to work with clients over an extended period of time. Your technical staff gets to know clients real well. They get to build relationships. Your technical staff gets very attached, and that’s generally a good thing (as long as your technical staff remains even more loyal to your firm).

The Bottom Line about Technical Staff

In this article, you’ve been introduced to the importance of challenging your technical staff. To learn more about IT technical staff, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.  

Sweet spot small businesses have distinct support needs… strong desktop support skills and light LAN skills. In this article, you’ll learn what skills and certifications are most important to your sweet spot business clients.

What Specific Tasks Will Your Clients Need Help With?

These sweet spot clients are looking for help with popular desktop applications like Microsoft Office, Intuit QuickBooks, and Interact ACT! and help doing hardware upgrades. They need help setting up shared folder backup software and keeping their antivirus and firewall software up-to-date. These small businesses need help synching up their PDAs with ACT! and Microsoft Outlook. And they definitely need help with their networks.

Micro Small Businesses Have Different Needs

Micro small business space with fewer than 10 PCs, the peer-to-peer end, don’t bother spending a lot of money on certification. In fact, IT certifications are often perceived as a negative. Small business owners feel like they’re paying for someone who’s overqualified for the job.

IT Certifications Are More Important to “Real” IT Managers

When you start selling to a real IT manager, in a much larger small business (50+ systems) you’ll find a more sophisticated IT buyer. At this point, IT certifications start to become extremely important. At this level, a “real” seasoned IT manager knows exactly what the different levels of IT certifications are.

At this level, there’s a very good chance the buyers you’re selling to are certified and they’ll typically look for deeply niched experts… as opposed to virtual IT generalists. An in-house IT manager often handles the generalist work in-house. So this kind of larger small business doesn’t need a virtual IT department—they are looking for someone to fill in their own skill gaps.

For example, if this client has a Microsoft Exchange Server installation, the IT manager may bring in a consulting firm skilled in doing forms development or hooking up a Java-based application to something that’s based in a Microsoft Exchange Server Message Store. Or the IT manager may be looking for a Microsoft SQL Server developer or someone with strong Microsoft Visual Basic development skills.

The Bottom Line about IT Certifications

The sweet spot clients are a very different type of opportunity than where most small business computer consulting firms focus. At least at the outset, put most of your energy into the 10 to 50 PC space… which is just big enough to need fairly sophisticated solutions, but not nearly large enough to justify putting a “real” highly-skilled IT person on payroll.

In this article we’ve learned about what different size small businesses are looking for in computer support and IT certifications. To learn more about IT certifications, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

In the early stages of developing an IT support business, the owners typically wear all the hats: the sales hats, the technical hats, and the administrative hats, until the company has established enough of a client base that it can justify delegating certain things to a salesperson or a couple of different technical people. In this article, you’ll learn why you need to wear so many hats in the beginning and when to start handing the hats to someone else.

Why So Many Hats are Important in the Beginning 

Many people come to me and say, “Well, I’m just the owner.  I’m an entrepreneur. I’m good at pulling it all together, but I’m not really a techie. And I’m not really the sales guy. What should I do?” I’m going to be very blunt.  You’re behind the 8 ball already because a lot of your local competitors are wearing all of these hats, especially during the startup phase of their IT support business. 

In a lot of cases, your firm is going to be competing for these sweet spot clients against one-person consultants who may be working out of their homes with extremely low overhead. These are the rare folks that are pretty good technically and happen to have pretty good sales-oriented kinds of personalities.

When to Start Passing Out Hats

That’s not to say that you couldn’t have a good technical person and keep him or her very busy and a good full-time salesperson. Typically, however, your IT support business evolves over time. The owner starts out by being both the salesperson, and the technical person. As the company gets busier, your firm starts subcontracting out some of the overflow work or work that is not up your alley (specialist tasks). This frees you up to go out a little more on sales calls. 

Then, when you get to the point where you have a couple different subcontractors that you consistently are sending this work to, your light bulb will start to go off. You realize for the money your firm is spending on subcontractors, you could put someone on payroll.

The Bottom Line about IT Support

Keep in the back of your mind that some of your competitors are going to be skilled at sales and technical issues right off the bat. And they may give you a run for the money. You will want to think about this issue carefully as you start to position your business. 

In this article, you’ve been introduced to the importance of being good at sales and being a “techie” when starting up an IT support business. For more information on improving your IT support business, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.