Small Business Computer Consulting

Networking events provide an effective way to meet and connect with potential clients.  What you need to do when you attend these networking events, though, is quickly determine if the person you are talking to is a "sweet spot" client.  

1. Is this person part of your small business target market?  
2. Is he or she a decision maker or influencer?
3. Does this business have the potential to become a regular, long-term client?  

To get these answers you need to work the room at a networking event efficiently and productively.

"Working" A Networking Event
At networking events you want to talk to people that own or manage a small business.  These are the people who have potential to become your sweet spot clients.  At the very least, the people you talk to at these networking events should work in, or for, a small business

You DON’T want to waste time at networking events talking to people who work for:

• Big banks
• Fortune 1000 companies
• Organizations with large in-house IT departments
• Government or non-profits

When you connect with a person who fits the small business criteria, ask some subtle questions to determine if he or she meets the sweet – spot profile.  Questions to ask people at networking events include:

• What kind of systems do you have?
• Do folks use a lot of computers at your office?
• Do you have a network?
• What kind of network do you have?
• How many people are on the network?

The answers to these questions will help you lead the discussion and give you a lot of great insight as to where to go next.  

The next step is to determine if you are talking with the appropriate person in the organization.  A good question to ask for this purpose is, What kind of systems do you use?"  If they can answer the question then you can be fairly certain they are a decision maker or are close enough to the decision maker to be an influencer.  Asking these types of questions at networking events helps you determine if you should push further or walk away.   

The Bottom Line on Networking Events
Networking events offer a short window to connect with as many potential clients as possible.  You want to use your time at these networking events wisely.  By asking direct and specific questions you can quickly determine the sweet – spot potential of the people attending the networking event.  If there is potential, then follow-up questions to determine if the person you are talking to is a decision maker or influencer are in order.  If not, then you can be confident in your decision to say good bye and move on.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to networking events. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about networking events, 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.

Niche markets offer a great way to target specific clients and build a marketing strategy.  The problem is that when we think about niche markets, we typically think about specializing in one particular product or service.  It is important to remember that niche markets also mean targeting one particular industry or type of client.

Being a Generalist in a Niche Market
Niche market and generalist are not mutually exclusive terms.  While you shouldn’t try to be all things to all people, you can provide general services to one type of client.  This is where the two strategies intersect particularly well for the computer consultant first starting out. Develop your niche market by marketing yourself as the general point of contact for just a select group of clients.   

When you’re just starting out it’s really important that you don’t invest dozens and dozens of hours and thousands of dollars in classes, certifications, tests and prep work.  You need to be developing  contacts to get paying contacts rather than contriving a niche market. Use the skills you have right now to get those clients. And if you already have a specialized skill set, you don’t want to commit to a very narrow niche market before you have a good handle on how profitable that niche is.  

Once you see that your paying clients have some common threads and you can anticipate a common set of needs, that is when you should think about further developing a niche market.  Get the clients first, then look for trends and opportunities for niche markets.  

The Bottom Line on Niche Markets
Creating a highly specialized niche market is not necessarily the way to build a computer consulting business.  You can’t be all things to all people but you should start off with a niche market that is defined by the client not by your services.  By doing this you have a larger opportunity to build a strong client base and often times niche markets will naturally evolve from there.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to niche markets. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about niche markets, 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.

Legal issues at start-up are often confusing.  Mary times this will be your first foray into the business world.  There are two main places where legal issues should be explored with an attorney.

Legal Issues With Business Type
Before starting you business it is wise to discuss all of the legal issues surrounding the type of business you decide to open.  Sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations all have different legals issues that will have a bearing on your final decision.  Talking to a lawyer about your options is time and money well spent.

Legal Issues With Agreements and Contracts
The second area where legal advice is recommended is with putting together your contracts and agreements.  You should have your attorney review these documents, ensure they are binding, and discuss any legal issues that might arise from them.  

You want these agreements to be enforceable and you want to avoid costly legal issues down the road. Have your attorney help you with legal issues regarding disclaimers, data loss and liability.  

The Bottom Line on Legal Issues
Legal issues require a proactive approach.  Business start-up is the time to explore your legal options and work out the potential legal issues that you might face.  Decide what type of business you want to operate and then draw-up solid agreements and contracts. The time you spend early on will help you avoid costly legal issues down the road.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to legal issues.  To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about legal issues, 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.

Work scheduling is one of the most time consuming aspects of a consulting business.  First you have the issue of work scheduling that goes into your evenings and weekends and then you have to juggle which clients to schedule when and for how long.   

When you first start out, work scheduling for evenings and weekends may be a necessity.  You have to pay the bills and if that means supplementing 9-5 clients with the occasional evening or weekend job that’s ok.  When you find most of your work is scheduled for evenings and weekends, then you have a problem.

Look to start phasing out some of these nights and weekend jobs as much as possible.  Reserve work scheduling for nights and weekends for major emergencies and prescheduled major upgrades.  These are not regular occurrences and they might only happen once or twice a year per client. Other tips to try include:

Charge Premiums For Off Hour Work
A useful strategy for discouraging work scheduling on your "off" time is to charge a premium for off hour work. Then, as a marketing tool you can offer service agreements where some or all of these premiums are waived.

Implement Service Minimums
A very important tool for efficient work scheduling is setting a 2 or 3 hour minimum for service calls.  This makes your work scheduling much easier and you don’t have to run around to more than 2 or 3 clients a day.  If you want to bill 4 hours per day and you work with one hour minimums, you have to see at least 4 different clients per day. Unless they happen to be around the corner or down the street from each other you’re going to drive yourself nuts:  Parking, tolls, spending your whole day in the car, it’s not a lot of fun.  

Do Work Scheduling in Advance
By scheduling your client visits ahead of time you can maximize your time.  Start work scheduling for efficiency – if you will be in the neighborhood 3 weeks from now, book a nearby client for that day as well.   

The Bottom Line on Work Scheduling
Work scheduling can give you an edge if you do it correctly.  Be smart with your work scheduling and maximize your billable hours and efficiency.  With some proactive planning you can make the task of work scheduling work for you, rather than against you.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to work scheduling. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about work scheduling, 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.

Vertical markets are a great way to develop your business.  The question is though, "Should you pursue vertical markets from the start or let them evolve naturally?"

The answer is highly dependent on your business plan and how you have positioned yourself in the market.  However, with computer consulting, vertical markets tend to come about naturally. Start with getting a good base of customers.  That’s how you will resonate as a real expert.

Aggressively pursuing vertical markets doesn’t make sense when you are trying to build customers and a reputation. When you have a good reputation then you can think about how vertical markets might expand your business.

Focus on finding the sweet-spot clients that have a need for your services on a consistent basis and are willing to pay premium rates for them. From that point, vertical markets may open up for you.  You might end up with 10 clients who are attorneys. Suddenly you have a vertical market in the legal profession.  You then concentrate on serving the needs in the vertical market whatever they may be.  
Natural Vertical Markets
There are times when vertical markets will make sense from the start.  If you have experience in a particular industry like the medical or banking fields, you’ll probably concentrate there.  The best place to start your business is always with what you know, so you will create a vertical market within an industry due to your expertise.  

The Bottom Line on Vertical Markets
Vertical markets are a great way to grow your business.  Your primary concern as you start your business however, is on gaining a steady client base.  Whether these clients come from a vertical market from the start or your business evolves into a vertical market over time – the bottom line is the same.  Build your clients and your reputation first and worry about a vertical market second.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to vertical markets. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about vertical markets, 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.

Information overload is a serious problem in computer consulting.  As a computer consultant you likely have information about new technology coming at you from all directions.  This barrage of information overload is enough to render you unable to figure out what is important and what is not.

Luckily, your clients will mostly be small businesses and they are behind the curve.  Much of the information overload you are receiving does not apply to them.  Once you realize this, you can feel comfortable putting your business development needs ahead of your inherent feeling that you need to keep up.

Information Overload Culprits
The source of much of the information overload you are experiencing is print magazine subscriptions. If you ignore 90 percent of your print magazine subscriptions for the next three to six months your information overload will decrease significantly.

You only have so many hours in a day. The difference between reading a half a dozen magazines versus going out to two more networking events could be the difference between finding two $1000 a month clients. Don’t spend your valuable time dealing with things that only create information overload and exasperation.

Information Overload Solution
Limit your subscriptions to two. To stay on top of what’s important to small business consulting in the small, midsize and large markets, subscribe to CRN and VAR Business. CRN is a weekly, online subscription that is free in the US but has other subsidiaries.  VAR Business is bi weekly.  

If you skim these two publications and limit yourself to no more than a half an hour per week, you’ll eliminate much of your information overload.  These publications will act as your filter and they will spin the information you need and apply it to business development.

The Bottom Line on Information Overload
Information comes at us from all directions at an amazing rate.  Information overload is easy to encounter and hard to counteract.  By limiting the amount of material that comes to you, you will eliminate much of the source of information overload.  Once you do that, you will have more time to spend doing the things you need to do to grow and develop your business.  

In this article, you’ve been introduced to information overload. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about information overload, 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.

Benchmarking and best practice is a way for you to measure your success against others who have made the leap into computer consulting before you. By measuring your own performance against industry benchmarks you get an idea of what you need to work on to be successful.
    
A key element in your benchmarking and best practice is to look at utilization rates. Your utilization rate is the ratio of how many hours you bill clients compared to how many hours you work in a given period.

The typical benchmarking and best practice comparison is based on a 40 hour work week.  If you work 40 hours in a week but only work with clients for 10 billable hours, your utilization rate is 25%.

Utilization Rate Benchmarks
Benchmarking and best practice in the computer consulting industry suggests using a utilization rate of 50% as a minimum tolerance level.  This may not be realistic for the first few months of start-up though.  What you want to monitor is whether your utilization rate is showing an upward trend toward the benchmarking and best practice standard.  

A 50% utilization rate is a good place to be within six to nine months of launching your business. By the time your business matures, a utilization rate of 75% (30 billable hours per week) is a benchmarking and best practice ideal.  Once you get higher than that your quality of life begins to suffer.  The huge invoice payments coming in are great but the resulting burnout and stress are not worth it.

The Bottom Line on Benchmarking and Best Practice Utilization Rates
It is important to measure your performance against others in the industry. A benchmarking and best practice comparison, particularly with utilization rates, is a great place to start.  Your ideal rate will vary depending on the phase your business is in, but remaining within the benchmarking and best practices range is a good indicator of sustainable business operations.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to benchmarking and best practices. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about benchmarking and best practices, 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.

Securing moonlighting jobs as a computer consultant for small businesses is difficult because you’re typically working when the small businesses are closed.  You need the flexibility to carry out your moonlighting jobs during the evening and on weekends and many small businesses are not going to be comfortable with that arrangement.  These business owners want to interact with their consultants on their time and prefer you to work around their schedule rather than vice versa.  
    
A straightforward solution for securing small business moonlighting jobs as a computer consultant is to target businesses where there is a natural fit between your time frame and their schedule.  Businesses that are open in the evenings like restaurants, health clubs and call centers are one source of moonlighting jobs.  Others include businesses that run second or third shifts and even those that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  
    
The problem with this method is that these clients are not necessarily ideal, full-time customers, unless, of course, you enjoy getting beeped at 2:00 in the morning.  If this type of moonlighting job does not fit with the type of client you want to have fill up 90% of your client roster, then you need to work on your flexibility and make yourself available to small businesses on their terms.
    
Moonlighting Jobs and Job Flexibility
    
You want to build a solid base of 9-5 clients because once your moonlighting job phase is over, it is unlikely you will want to continue sacrificing your nights and weekends.  This creates a bit of a Catch-22 as you are primarily available on evenings and weekends yet the clients you want to attract, want you to be available 9-5.  This is where having job flexibility is absolutely critical.  
    
You need to be able to use vacation days, personal days, and sick days to work with clients.  Being able to take long lunches, go in late, and leave early are crucial to your ability to secure small business, 9-5 moonlighting jobs.  You can accommodate a networking breakfast if you come in late to work and if you can get off work early then you can get started working with a client before the end of their business day and stay on into the early evening.  To pull this off, your day-job has to have a significant amount of flexibility built in.  If it doesn’t, your ability to secure the type of moonlighting jobs you seek will be severely limited.  
    
The Bottom Line on Moonlighting Jobs
    
Getting moonlighting jobs as a computer consultant for small businesses requires persistence and flexibility but the sacrifices you make now will pay-off later in terms of an excellent client base that you want to  sustain as you transition to full-time computer consulting.  This means a bit of a juggling act on your part but just until you are able to give yourself the 9-5 hours your clients are enjoying.  
    
In this article, you’ve been introduced to securing moonlighting jobs as a computer consultant. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about moonlighting jobs as a computer consultant, 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.