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Thread: Thinking of starting a small business IT consulting

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tekboy View Post
    Absolutely. Conversely, have some common sense. Do NOT let someone talk your rate down because you are new. Just. Don't.

    One of the advantages I had in my business in Alaska was the fact that I play well with humans, which is more rare in our business than in most. I have found that most people who spend lots of time with computers tend to lack people skills. Customer service is a must.

    1) If you don't take good care of the customer, someone else will.

    2) The customer is always right, unless he/she is about to screw themselves, at which time you tactfully inform them of such.

    3) Remember attention to detail. If you do a good job, they will tell both of their friends. If you don't do a good job, they will tell everyone until they get tired of talking about it.

    4) You are a small business, which means you are broke. Even if your account looks phat for a while, you are broke. However, for this reason, as soon as possible, get liability insurance.

    There is more. Make people pay when they insult your intelligence, but make them like it.
    5) If a Teen boy using the computer there is PORN.. EVERYTIME

  2. #22
    Senior Member CeeBee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Overdrv View Post
    5) If a Teen boy using the computer there is PORN.. EVERYTIME
    Why is that a bad thing???

  3. #23
    Senior Member slgrieb's Avatar
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    OK, you fix problems with your largest accounts. Hooray! If you continue to do your job right, you can work yourself out of a job. There's always some maintenance to be done, but mostly, if you have done right by your clients, they require your services less and less over time. So, you need a constant revenue stream, and malware removals are, unfortunately, one of the best. There's an unlimited supply of basic stuff for small business and residential accounts.
    Yes, Mr. Death... I'll play you a game! But not CHESS !!! BAH... FOOEY! My game is...
    WIFFLEBALL!

  4. #24
    Senior Member Mobile PC's Avatar
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    Back in the day, companies used to pay us monthly, for the ability to get to them within 2 hours, and for a certain number of hours doing mundane maintenance tasks. That has almost all but dried up. I'm down to three companies still paying. And they have dropped the number of monthly hours down also.

  5. #25
    Senior Member slgrieb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mobile PC View Post
    Back in the day, companies used to pay us monthly, for the ability to get to them within 2 hours, and for a certain number of hours doing mundane maintenance tasks. That has almost all but dried up. I'm down to three companies still paying. And they have dropped the number of monthly hours down also.
    There are always clients that need on-going support, it just seems to me that law firms, medical offices, and dental offices are increasingly hiring Tech savvy personal. Financial services and realtors remain strong sources of revenue because most of these folks are independent contractors, and while you may provide support services for the parent corporation, it's the contractors that provide a decent revenue stream.
    Yes, Mr. Death... I'll play you a game! But not CHESS !!! BAH... FOOEY! My game is...
    WIFFLEBALL!

  6. #26
    Senior Member Mobile PC's Avatar
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    Agreed. I do not have one realtor that I do work for. But I will try some targeted advertising. I have a ton of small law firms and attorneys that call on a fairly regular basis. My base of doctors is dwindling, due to Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals expanding like crazy in this area. The little hometown doctor is getting squeezed out.

    I also have a fairly good income stream from small manufacturing business in the area. Working on dos boxes that are 20+ years old.
    Last edited by Mobile PC; 03-19-2017 at 06:59 PM.

  7. #27
    Senior Member slgrieb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mobile PC View Post
    Agreed. I do not have one realtor that I do work for. But I will try some targeted advertising. I have a ton of small law firms and attorneys that call on a fairly regular basis. My base of doctors is dwindling, due to Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals expanding like crazy in this area. The little hometown doctor is getting squeezed out.

    I also have a fairly good income stream from small manufacturing business in the area. Working on dos boxes that are 20+ years old.
    Holy Crud! And I thought that supporting some XP machines was pretty prehistoric! I do have a couple of clients running DOS software, but it is on newer machines, and is virtualized. The Navy sent EC to school to learn Linux a while back, and they also sent her to classes for older versions of Windows, going back to Windows 98. While she took these classes, the phrase WTF!! was heard extensively.
    Yes, Mr. Death... I'll play you a game! But not CHESS !!! BAH... FOOEY! My game is...
    WIFFLEBALL!

  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by slgrieb View Post
    Holy Crud! And I thought that supporting some XP machines was pretty prehistoric! I do have a couple of clients running DOS software, but it is on newer machines, and is virtualized. The Navy sent EC to school to learn Linux a while back, and they also sent her to classes for older versions of Windows, going back to Windows 98. While she took these classes, the phrase WTF!! was heard extensively.
    My sons has been doing installs on 98 and ME for fun. He is 7 and he has been having problems installing drivers. Kids today with not having to hunt down drivers win Windows10 !!

  9. #29
    Senior Member slgrieb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Overdrv View Post
    My sons has been doing installs on 98 and ME for fun. He is 7 and he has been having problems installing drivers. Kids today with not having to hunt down drivers win Windows10 !!
    Trying to find drivers for modern hardware that work with older operating systems really is a serious pain in the ass. I'm continually amazed how much antiquated, ancient, and generally useless software some customers continue to run. There was a period before simple and easy virtualization when I was pulling out my short hairs trying to keep some client's computers running their critical apps.

    I kept telling some of these folks that they needed to upgrade and migrate to newer hardware, but on the other hand keeping their stuff running was pretty profitable. Even if it was frustrating as shit.
    Yes, Mr. Death... I'll play you a game! But not CHESS !!! BAH... FOOEY! My game is...
    WIFFLEBALL!

  10. #30
    Senior Member Webhead's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Larommi View Post
    Best of luck to you. Starting my own company is something I have never had the sack to try. It sounds like you have given this the research.
    Thanks! Yeah, just figured if I was ever going to do this then now would be the best time. Although I'm totally walking into uncharted territory. I just would rather work for myself than someone else in the future if I can help it.

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