Small Business Computer Consulting

Computer repair franchises require large investments of time and money.  Purchasing computer repair franchises will offer a prospective owner many benefits that are not available to other new business owners.  Be familiar with the start-up costs in computer repair franchises.  A well-informed owner can determine if the business is a possibility.

The Costs of Computer Repair Franchises

The Right Location

Some computer repair franchises offer assistance in finding a location.  Others do not.  Consider costs for travel, market data, competitive analysis, and other real estate needs.

Deposits

Landlords will expect security deposits for leases and property.  Include expenses such as business licenses, utility deposits, and phone deposits, as well.

Architects and Contractors

Some computer repair franchises seek locations that have not even been built yet.  Fees will need to be paid to architects and contractors.  Consider many hidden costs.  For instance, it costs money to prepare initial drawings and make equipment lists.  These are things a contractor needs before he is even hired. 

Construction and Landscaping

The big-ticket items begin. Construction of new buildings will start.  Landscaping for the new building will be required as will an underground sprinkler system.  For computer repair franchises that are leasing a building, costs incur for improvements or changes to the space.  Landscaping fees are either assessed annually or added on to a lease payment.

Fixtures and Equipment

Anything needed to do business must be purchased or leased.  This will include desks, chairs, computers, and telephone systems.  Computer repair franchises will also be responsible for signs, lights and any decorations for the new office.

Insurance

Hopefully, only a deposit for insurance premiums will be required.   However, some companies will insist on the first year’s premium in advance.  Consider all aspects of insurance – auto, worker’s compensation, property, and casualty.

Working Capital

Working capital will cover costs for the computer repair franchises at the start.  It may be a few months before a profit is turned.  Seek advice from an accountant to determine the amount of capital that will be needed.

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

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.             

IT audits are really where you’re going with the sales call to a new prospect.  Unless they have an emergency that needs urgent attention and they’re really specific about it, you need to “push” IT audits. That will get the ball rolling with IT services.

Now, if they say, “We think our tape drive hasn’t been running in six months and we’re terrified that we’re one blue screen or a server crash away from losing everything.” In that case, you have something to go on and should start there.

In most cases, though, selling half-day technology assessments or IT audits makes the most sense. There are a couple different ways to approach it. 

Quick Should Be Free

You could do a real stripped-down free version where you go in for a half hour and provide them with a basic list. Keep in mind, however, that spending more than a half hour, where you’re starting to actually look at hubs, at switches, at how the Cat 5 stuff is laid out, where you’re looking at some sample configurations, opening up some control panels, unlocking server consoles, is beyond the scope of a free assessment.

Charge for Longer Assessments

That definitely should be billable and that should definitely be in the context of IT audits or tech assessments and not be given away for free. Come up with a set rate for IT audits of this type.

The Bottom Line about IT Audits

In this article, you learned about IT audits. To learn more about IT audits, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

When you conduct IT audits, you will want to see what you can solve for your clients. You will want to see what problems they have and what you can do about them. In this article, you’ll learn the kinds of questions that they will want answered during IT audits

Questions Lead to the Needs Analysis

What are potential new clients looking for? This hasn’t changed in a long time. During IT audits, they’re going to ask you what they should buy. "What’s the best product and platform for us?" "What’s the best value?" All of these questions can be answered with a simple needs analysis with your IT audit. You go in and assess their situation, spending a couple of hours looking at what they have. 

What will work together? Anyone can just go down to the store and buy a shopping cart full of stuff, but to make it work together – plug and play versus plug and pray. Integration and customization are huge needs, along with project management. Being able to coordinate things is enormous. 

Other Services Your Clients May Want

• Training, both formal and informal, is something your customers may want. This includes both end user training and administrator training.
• Handling routine and scheduled upgrades.
• Coordinating with outside vendors for an industry specific package installation
• Network installation and maintenance

Customers Want One-Stop Shopping

The big picture here is that they’re looking for a single point of contact.  They want to trust the technology advisor the same way they have a trusted accounting advisor or a legal advisor, or a managing consulting firm or marketing consultant. IT audits can help you both determine what your customers need your role to be. 

The Bottom Line about IT Audits

In this article, you learned about IT audits. To learn more about IT audits, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

During an initial IT sales consultations, you want to take your clients to the next step, like a site survey. Sometimes prospects will jump right on that. But, what if they say, "I’ll let you know; I’ll get back to you," and that’s as far as you get? You shouldn’t even get to this reaction. In this article you’ll learn how you need to find out how important the project is to your prospects in order to get IT sales.

Get Specifics

If the prospects tell you that they want to migrate from DOS-based fax software to 32-bit fax software, that they want to be able to fax to PDAs out in the field or they want to set up VPNs between offices, you need to figure out if this is a distant wish, a possible project, or something they have really committed to. It’s important to get a sense of how important this project is to them to get the IT sales.

You can ask them things like:

• Ideally if everything looks good, when would you like to get started?
• How important is the project?
• When would you like to get started?
• What’s holding you back from getting started now?
• Why haven’t you done this in the past? 

This will help give you an idea of where they are in the process of IT sales. 

Their Needs May Have Changed
 
Maybe they’ve looked into this in the past and they’ve thought it was prohibitively expensive. Or maybe they’ve looked into it in the past and they’ve determined it’s impossible. It may be a bigger solution challenge or needs analysis challenge than they anticipated.

If All Else Fails, Ask Direct Questions

If, however, even after figuring out the urgency level, you still are getting the blow off about IT sales, you can ask direct questions without being pushy, like:

• When do you think is a good time for me to follow up with you?
• When do you think you’ll be in a better position for us to talk about this again? 

The Bottom Line about IT Sales

Always keep in a mind that not all no’s today are no’s tomorrow. The key to understanding which are comes from learning as much as you can about your prospect, their problem, and their urgency.

In this article, you learned about IT sales. To learn more about IT sales, 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 Franchises are available all over the country. In this article, you’ll learn to consider many factors before choosing computer franchises.

Computer franchises are widely available throughout the country. Like investments, purchasing computer franchises also involves risks. You will want to consider many factors before buying computer franchises. Then you can feel assured that you have the commitment it takes to operate your new business.

Factors To Consider When Choosing Computer Franchises

Many people will assume that buying computer franchises ensures a successful business. This is not the case. You should consider the demand for your product or service, the competition, your ability to run the business, the company’s name recognition, and the growth of the company. All of these factors will determine whether the computer franchises are the right match for you.

Demand and Competition

The most important factor to consider is whether there is a demand for your product or service in your area. Obviously, the demand for computer experts is very high. It is also a business that can run year round and will have repeat business. This is very important. Find a location that is not saturated with computer businesses and look for computer franchises that do not already exist in your city.

Operating Computer Franchises

Purchasing computer franchises does not alleviate all risks. Sometimes, a franchise will fail. That is why it is vital that you are able to take over if you need to cut personnel. Will you be able to manage marketing or advertising if the company is unable to offer support? Weigh the pros and cons and decide if this is the right decision for you.

Name Recognition

Name recognition is the primary reason for buying computer franchises. Consider the company’s reputation and how long they have been in operation. Compare training programs and support systems. Often the franchise fee is very high and you want to be sure that you are getting your money’s worth.

Computer Franchises Growth

Name recognition is increased when a franchise is growing quickly. This will attract more customers to you. This is all great unless you suddenly become understaffed and over worked. Make certain that the company is well equipped to support you as your business grows.

The Bottom Line about Computer Franchises

Computer franchises make good business sense. They reduce the risk to you as a business owner. Do your homework. Research the franchises that are available to you and consider all of the factors. You’ll be on your way to success!

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

IT Sales aren’t automatic–you have to put in the time and effort to make the sale. In this article you will learn that showing your clients the benefit of your services and developing a relationship with them will help your IT sales.

What Benefit Can You Give Them?

If your prospect has an IT problem you can’t solve, then to get IT sales you need to focus more on the problems that you know you can solve and the things that you can do that are really going to cause them to say, "Wow, that sounds really good!"
 
Know Your Pitch for IT Sales

If you can talk about things that you’ve done in the past with other customers, and the benefits that your clients have achieved from the type of solutions that you’ve recommended, designed, set up, supported and serviced for them, the more your pitch will resonate with them.

Let the Relationship Evolve

Sometimes it takes a couple weeks or months to be able to get a commitment from your prospect. Be patient and persistent. Send email, faxes, postcards, and make phone calls.

Don’t be obnoxious. You don’t want to get to the point that you’re calling them every day, but if they told you it’s something they want to do over the next couple of months, it’s perfectly appropriate for you to call them once or twice a month just to see where they are.

Answer Any Additional Questions

See if they had any other questions or issues that have come up. Ask if they need anything revised in the initial quote or bid that you sent them. The key thing to remember is, if they’re saying great idea, I’ll get back to you, that’s not the end of this discussion. The only way it’s the end of the discussion is if you let it be.

You haven’t given them a good enough reason that they need to do it today, or no matter what you say to them, they’re not going to agree to IT sales today. You need to be able to get to the bottom of that by asking the basic questions like:

• How important is this?
• When do you want to get started?
• Is there a sense of urgency to this?
• Where are you in the decision process?
• Where are you in the research process?
• Is this a good time of year for this kind of project?
• Have you budgeted for it yet? 

There’s a lot of different ways that you can ask those questions. For IT sales, don’t let “later” turn into “no” by inaction on your part!

The Bottom Line about IT Sales

In this article, you learned about IT sales. To learn more about IT sales, 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 service agreements are a sure fire way to ensure that your machines are monitored and maintained once they have been networked  It can often seems like a miracle when multiple machines successfully talk to one another, which is why there is so much value in using a professional computer networking consultant who can offer you computer service agreements.

Rely On A Professional

You need to use someone with real expertise and experience who understands the sundry languages and protocols that PCs, servers, routers, and printers all obey. You can’t afford to gamble when it comes to one of your most important tasks: networking your office.  Using a professional computer networking consultant who works under the umbrella of computer service agreements is your best bet here.

Don’t Think It Won’t Happen To You

It’s more a question of when and not if your network will experience problems. When they do arise, you need the assurance that your professional computer networking consultant who works under the umbrella of computer service agreements can come out immediately and fix whatever ailments your network is suffering. When employees can’t share files and exchange e-mails, office communication can grind to a halt.

Don’t Be a Cheapskate

If you’re going to skimp, make it on your coffee maker or water cooler – definitely not your networking equipment. You may need to make your computers communicate from across the globe or just across the room. Extra care at the outset in designing your network can save you huge headaches later.

A Connected Office is a Productive One

Imagine the added benefit to you when your employees can e-mail, text-message, file-share, and print from and to centralized machines on any continent, at any time of day and do it in real time without hassles and delays.  Only your professional computer networking consultant who works under the umbrella of computer service agreements can help you ensure this ongoing reliability.

The Bottom Line about Computer Service Agreements

In this article, you learned about computer service agreements. To continue learning about computer service agreements, click here now to get access to free tips and an audio training excerpt on computer service agreements.

IT sales calls can be handled with ease if you prepare adequately ahead of time. First, do your background research and get a sense of the urgency of the situation. Then you will be able to increase your odds of closing IT sales by finding out what your clients’ biggest needs are. In this article, you’ll learn why you need to be the solution to the problem.

IT Sales Requires Clients to Be in Pain

Pin them down and get them to identify what their three biggest computer problems are. There’s a good chance they’re not going to be able to narrow it down to just three, but at least you get them thinking and talking. The more information you get on what they perceive to be their computer problems, the more effectively you can craft your pitch as the solution. 

Do Some Sleuthing

Now that sounds easier said than done.  How do you become the solution to their biggest problem?  You need to know what that problem is. Ask the questions to get a more logical, reasonable answer out of them and find out what their real problem is. Then you have to think about a way that you can become the best and most cost-effective solution to that problem via IT sales 

Computer Problems Drive People Crazy

A lot of times people are very, very emotional when it comes to their computers. When they talk about their computer problems, they get very frustrated.  Sometimes they start using a lot of four-letter words.  This can be intimidating, but at the same time, you really have to be able to cut to the heart of the problem. This way, you can recommend a solution and have a shot at being able to close your IT sales.

The Bottom Line about IT Sales

Once you’re able to figure out exactly what that huge problem is and how your business fits into that, it’s a lot easier to close the sale. 

In this article, you learned about IT Sales Calls. To learn more about IT sales calls, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

IT Service contracts provide small business with an ongoing sense of security that they have regular support in the event of computer problems. Many retailers and other businesses look to their computer consultant to provide their online solutions under the umbrella of ongoing IT service contracts.

Something as simple as one piece of badly written code or even a virus can bring down an entire office by clogging up e-mail accounts, shutting printers down and jamming up servers. Your time is too important to waste waiting for your system to come back up. This is why it’s necessary to have the right help in your corner.  In this article, you’ll learn that Engaging the services of professional computer consultants under IT service contracts is the best way to ensure this on an ongoing basis.

Streamline Your Systems

A computer consultant offering service contracts can walk you through every step in setting up a smart office place. From platform integrations and Ethernet wirings to file-permissions setups and authentication keys, a professional IT consultant offering service contracts can ensure the safest, most efficient infrastructure for your network. Even if you’re working alone on a desktop with a single printer, there are steps you can take to keep our machine running cleanly through virus scares, outside attackers, or just everyday glitches.

If you’re just setting up your office, now is the time to make the important decisions on how your business will run. Do you have the right software to track your sales? Are your clients able to find your site and fulfill their e-commerce needs with minimal hassle? If not, your business could benefit from a simple assessment of productivity bottlenecks.  A professional consultant that offers security contracts is the perfect expert to garner advice from.

Ensure Response Times Are Documented

Once your appointed IT consultant has identified those bottlenecks under the umbrella of IT service contracts, it’s usually only a matter of time before they’re freed up and you’re running at peak performance. The most important thing is that the firm is responsive to your needs if there’s an emergency and suggested timeframes for responses can often be documented in the IT service contracts.

In this article, you learned about IT service contracts. To continue learning about IT service contracts, click here now to get access to free tips and an audio training excerpt on IT service contracts.