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Small Business Computer Consulting: the Sweet Spot
By Joshua Feinberg
Small Business Computer Consulting: the Sweet Spot
If you've previously delivered your service B2C (Business to Consumer) and now want to switch to B2B (Business to Business), you may think that you're ready to run out there and just get some small clients. It's not that simple. In this article, you'll learn how to define the “small” in small computer consulting.
If you focus too much on home-based businesses and micro small businesses, you'll have a tough time selling a lot of services. While “micro” small businesses (under 5-10 employees) are technically small businesses, micro small businesses may not be a good fit for your small computer consulting company. Why not?
The Five Reasons to Avoid Targeting Micro and Home Businesses
1. Lots of consumer grade PC's
2. Pirated software
3. Reluctance for paying for services. A lot of micro small businesses want to look for volunteers to help them with their computer problems like someone's niece, brother or friend. You can't compete against free! You'll also have a tough time competing against moonlighters; these people are on someone else's payroll during the day and don't have to fund their own certifications and benefits. They can undercut your price tremendously.
4. IT isn't that important to their company, so they don't
need a great response time.
5. Too small to afford a “real” dedicated server and “real” network.
These five reasons are why most computer consulting firms doing really well with services are looking at prospect companies that have at least eight or ten PCs. At that point, it becomes really difficult for these companies to continue running a peer-to-peer setup, or wait for the sometimes glacier-like response time of volunteers and moonlighters.
When a small is “big” enough
Usually small businesses with more than 8-10 PC's start to get serious about putting in a real client server network, putting in a real tight back up solution, putting in a real UPS, and a real firewall. In order to do these things correctly, small decision makers typically understand that the systems need to be designed by a more sophisticated IT services or network integrator firm.
In other words, as a small goes through growth spurts, the stakes go up. And these businesses generally recognize the need to use IT more strategically. Also, typically the small businesses have made the decision that IT is actually important to the company, and that they can't afford a lot of downtime. So they need someone to coordinate everything computer-related. These small businesses want someone to take ownership of the whole problem, and that's where your small computer consulting comes in.
The Bottom Line about Small Business Computer Consulting
In this article, you've learned which size you should target for small computer consulting. To learn more about small computer consulting, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.
Joshua Feinberg gets computer consultants more steady, high-paying clients. Learn how you can too. Sign-up now for Joshua's free Computer Consultants Secrets
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