Any Computer Consultant Can Start a Small Business of His or Her Own

12:00 am

There has never been a better time than now for a talented Computer Consultant to start a small business of his or her own. Operating as an Independent Computer Consultant can provide a level of job security, growth opportunities and income potential that simply aren’t very easy to come by in any other available IT Jobs.

When a small business is looking for a an efficient way to maintain their computer systems, they have several options to choose from. They can have a technically proficient employee pull double-duty as their in-house support technician. They can employ a dedicated in-house IT administrator. Or they can outsource their support needs to an IT Support Provider, a Managed Service Provider or to an Independent Computer Consultant. In today’s market, the Independent Computer Consultant represents the best available support model for serving the needs of the small business client. And I firmly believe that any computer professional with the skill set to maintain a small business network should strongly consider starting a small business of his or her own. In the early days of Computer Consulting, (and still to this day for many consultants) the break/fix, hourly rate support model was the standard way of doing business.

Wait for the computer to break, call the computer guy to come out and fix it, he sends an invoice… repeat. It’s obvious how this design puts the needs of the computer consultant directly at odds with the needs of the customer.

The customer typically sees the computer consultant as an undesired expense. If the consultant is required to make an office visit to the client’s site, it’s probably because a system has failed, which is costing the client money – both in lost productivity and for the service fees. Under the hourly support model, it’s natural for the customer to want to see the consultant as little as possible. This unfortunately works directly against the needs of the computer consultant, who’s simply trying to bill enough hours each day to meet expenses. If the hourly support model is a lose-win proposition (the more pain the customer experiences, the more money the consultant makes), how can we create a business model where everybody wins? For us to do this, let’s take a look at what each party wants.The Computer Consultant Wants:

The Customer Wants:

When looking at the list of what the customer wants, it’s clear to see what the consultant needs to provide:System Monitoring