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Doing IT on my own

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by jellimonsta

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Greetings,
A coworker and myself, are looking at an attempt to generate extra income by starting a company of our own to offer PC and network support to home users, non- profits and small businesses.
The only problem I am having is devising legitimate titles for myself/us as both the technical personnel and owners/founders of this venture.
We will offering PC service/support, network support/implementation/design, network security design and web site design. As we would like to offer support to both home users and corporate locations, I did not want to pigeon hole myself with a title that would turn off potential clientele from either end of the spectrum.
Any of you guys have insight?
T.I.A.
Mike <><

22 replies

by oz_media

Network/PC Technician ? (no MAC coverage)
Computer/Server Technician?
IT Specialist?
Mondo geek?

What I have done is simply used my na,e (titles are for the insecure) and list services.

Oz Media
-PC support
-Network administration/monitoring
-Telecommunications Consulting/Configuration
-Messaging integration

Etc.
Titles don't do anything except make the owner of the title feel important. They don't describe your abilities, specialties, services etc. They are for lawyers and doctors to segregate thier experience and specialties.

IT has a tendency of trying to make itself sound like a career instead of a job. People think they are of higher status than other if they are in IT, it's all a bunch of crap really. Really, IT is a field for the stuck up as it allows a sense of a false elitist attitude, when really we are just dudes with jobs.

Now I'm not saying YOU'RE stuck up but that the general attitude of IT staff is "holier than thou" because they can pass a test.

I would refrain from titles and certs, if someone wants to know more about you, they can visit your website or simply ask if you are certified.

List services ! List objectives ! Not a title.

by av .

Define exactly what services you are going to offer for how much and to whom. Home users are a lot different than small businesses. They have different needs. If I did it, I would focus on small business (home users don't pay).

There are all kinds of small businesses. Doctors, lawyers, service companies, etc. Each type of company needs special software. Specialize in a type of business that you have some expertise. That will enhance any technical skills you can add.

Excellent service and referrals go a long way, much more than any titles.

Good luck!

by oz_media

I think he was just wondering what to slap on his business cards?

To just jump into some private IT work it doesn't take much of a business plan unless you are looking to make investments up front. Just put out an ad and fix some boxes, you'll get known in due time.

I was just saying a title can be replaced with a list of services.

by av .

and any certifications if he has them. John Doe, CCNA with a list of services carries more weight than just John Doe.

Occasional IT work might not need a business plan, but anything more than that should have some kind of plan to help them focus their efforts.

by hal 9000

The main one is knowing exactly what the Legal Obligations are in the different companies. Like a Doctors Surgery has to be as secure as possible to avoid the loss of patient data while this may not be an issue with a company who sharpens saws.

You will also have to arrange insurance for any on site work performed as if you manage to break something there you are responsible and it can very quickly exceed the cost of the job you are there on.

But over all you will find small to medium business the best to deal with as they tend to pay faster and are willing to put out forward payments to cover the cost of any hardware that you may have to get in. While this isn't much of an issue if you are just replacing a floppy it can become a large issue if you're replacing a workstation or fitting a new one as you will be unable to carry that cost for the standard 30 day account period.

Just as a side issue while I don't as a rule do any "Home" work I do on occasion do work for the workers of the business who I work for and to date I've never had a late payment or nonpayment, but I do consider this as promo work just to keep the company happy with my services and quite often the people concerned are unwilling to accept my charges for these small repairs as they consider them too cheap.

By the way forget any titles as they only get in the way use your name and if that isn't good enough then you do not want the work in the first place. From my experience those who are impressed with titles aren't worth impressing in the first place so just keep your name and if you do good work it is you who will develop the reputation and not a non-person.

Col

by lordinfidel

Concern myself with titles, I would concern myself more with generating clients.

If your doing this legally, ie incorporating, then you will need to state that you are the primary officers of the company.

But for business cards, etc; it's just you and him so titles basically mean nothing at this point.

Most of your business will probably come from referrals, not from people dazzled by your title.

by dc_guy

They are all right on the money.

1. Your potential customers won't care at all about your titles.
2. Residential customers are not a big source of revenue.
3. Most of your business will come from referrals.

When you talk with prospects, focus the discussion on the unique attributes of you and your company that differentiate it from your competitors. If there aren't any, then you're just an interchangeable commodity. About all you have to negotiate with are:

- Price discounts. But the competition has probably already lowered that bar all the way to the floor. There was someone right here on TR a few days ago who was billing people at $25 per hour and paying them $20. Neither you nor your employees will be solvent within six months at those rates.
- Rapid response. If you can get started on a job, particularly troubleshooting, faster than the competition, that's a plus. Perhaps your geographical location is an asset, or your willingness to hang up the phone and jump in your car even though you were asleep, preparing dinner, or reading your kid a bedtime story.

This is a very tough time to be starting a business. There are millions of desperate, unemployed IT people out there doing the same thing, and many of them have more experience.

by lordinfidel

I can't take on any more private clients.
I am at my maximum load.

--Anyone who charges $25 is probably entry level anyways. I would not lower your hourly rate just because the competition does.

I have found that when doing private consulting, all you have to do is ask for the cash.

I dropped my price once for all my clients from 120 to 80, only because the economy sucks and I have a ton of large projects to do for them.

But once kerry get's elected and the babbling idiot is removed from office, allowing our economy to grow stronger, I will start to raise them back up.

by jeff

You will get business and you can sign up only for the hours you work. also the discussion forums will help with putting together business plan and forms.

by generalist

You could always set up two businesses.

The 'Formal' business would have very prim and proper titles and everything else a three piece 'suit' looks for in high quality services. And they would be charged accordingly.

The 'Geeks R Us' business would be the funky yet experienced group that might appear in jeans and tee-shirt but would be able to solve the unsolvable and not have to wear a coat and tie.

A lot would depend upon the demographic profile of your area.

by jellimonsta

I too did not really consider the title a valuable portion on the card.... I do not feel the need to blow smoke up my own 4$$.
Both my partner and myself are actually employed full time for the same company in their IT department. We have both done work on the side for home users on a referral basis and also some small businesses.
This venture is going to start out slow, partly due to the economy sucking, and partly because we are both employed full time and do have other obligations.
I appreciate all of your insight!
Thanks,
Mike <><

by chip4

Hi Mike,

Have you looked into joining one of the franchises that does this sort of thing? There's several out there, Expetec, Rescuecom, Geeks On Call, and of course my personal favorite Computer Troubleshooters. I actually run CT here in the US and we're always looking for guys like you to join our network.

There's pros and cons of course, there's a franchise fee to pay (relatively small in our case) and some restrictions on advertising, but on the bright side you won't waste money trying advertising that may not work, and you get tons of marketing and technical support from the group.

Of course I'm *slightly* biased here. :)
Chip

by jardinier

When I started doing computer work on my own, the first thing I did was to register the business name "Killara Computers." Apart from a large retailer, there are two other computer businesses in the area, neither of which has a name relating in any way to the location.

I then purchased the domain killaracomputers.com and set up a website. Firstly this just had articles about all things to do with computers, but I OWNED the name and I OWNED the domain. I have no formal training in computers, and some of the most brilliant people I have met have no formal training either. If you do a good job, you will pick up work through word of mouth.

Recently I added a "For Sale" page, listing the various items which I have for sale (mostly refurbished computers).

My website -- which is not registered with a search engine -- came up Number 1 in a search from one young woman who telephoned me, and shortly after I had an enquiry from Nigeria.

Thus I am recommending that the most important thing to do first is to select a name for your company, for which the domain is still available.

Advertise WHAT services you provide and forget the certificates -- they count for nothing -- just list the services which you can provide.

Best wishes in your venture.

by jardinier

Out of curiosity, I checked to see which appropriate domains might be available. The results were as follows:

allcomputerwork [all extensions available except .com and .net]

bestcomputerservices [all extensions available except .com and .net]

"your city" (insert your city) bestcomputerservices [for the few cities I tried, all extensions were available except .com and .net]

by oz_media

When a .com is gone, you can usually find a variation.

Without looking first:
allcomputerwork.com is gone, try allcomputersfixed.com, computerrepairs.com, allcomputer'Z'.com etc. For example, Snake Eyes, one of my fav up and coming bands in London tried to get snakeeyes.com (the movie got that one of course) so instead of using a .net, .org etc. they registered snakeeyesmusic.com

Now as a rule, URL's should be short, but with the amount of URL's used and lack of domains available, they are getting MUCH longer as time passes and people are not trying to remember http or www anymore, longer URL's as unfavorable as they are have now become commonplace. Another way is to use acronyms. ComputerAssociates.com is now CAI.com etc.

You're right though Jules, your company name and 'appearance' is the big thing. You could be a one man operation and appear to be a corporation. Then again, I've seen corporations appear to be one man operations and not even offer a support phone number online, yet they are a VERY large company!

The internet hides and masks the truth, those who can take advantage of the larger than life appearance they can achieve online will generally succeed faster than those that don't.

I have made small (yet very talented) garage bands APPEAR to be Canada's leading artists, they get gobbled up in Europe. you don't have to lie, you don't have to deceive, with the internet ANYONE can be larger than life. I am a self employed yet far from wealthy independant IT consultant, commmunications consultant (and several other 'consultants'), I manage several relatively successful bands, but I am no Bruce Alan by any means, yet within the industry, I am treated as if I am.

Who you appear to be will help you become who you WANT to be.

by hal 9000

Appearances are 9/10 of the battle and once you have these down pat you will appear to be something that you are not but provided that you act like a professional no one will even bother looking you up to see what you really what they think you are.

To the person who started this off unless you have quite a bit of experience in Web Site Design I would recommend that you find a very good designer and get then to design a web site for you and possible host it as well. OZ was quite correct when he said that there are numerous big companies out there who lack even the most basic things on their web sites like phone numbers or self addressing e-mail where you just click on an icon or whatever and the e-mail is opened up for you to send in a questions or whatever you require. I know it sounds very basic but you would be surprised just how many companies don't consider this as important. When I run across sites like this I will not deal with that company as they are at best incompetent and do not deserve my business.

Col

by oz_media

Why pigeonhole yourself. If you put a cert down it narrows your filed of experience rather than broadening your market. A simple, certified technicians in the list of services is much more effective. People HATE certs after names, unless you are the holder I suppose. I've NEVER put MCNE on any of my correspondence, I get a broader field of work too.

If you say you are a certified tech, people will call and ask "Do you work with...?"

In some professsions, it is a law that you must accompany your name with your fields of certification. If your card says you are a doctor, you must say what fileds you are a doctor of, same for lawyers. It staff just do it to look cool, it doesn't really do anything other than shut doors though.

by hal 9000

If there is not one present it is a sure sign that the company will not survive the first 2 years.

Currently there are a lot of well meaning people who think that they can start a business and once started there will be no more problems and that is exactly why they go broke within the first 2 years.

As for any Certs that the person/people may have these mean nothing to the "Home User" and only apply to the business user. Since both of these people are already employed in the Business community these are an unimportant addition as they will not attract any more business of the type required.

After all I very much doubt they either of these guys will be willing to throw in their existing jobs for one contract to install a new network for a different business with no solid work to follow after that. It is in situations like this where the business plan becomes vital.

Col

by av .

looking for technical work and didn't know the company and didn't have a referral, I would want to know that the people working on my system were certified in the area of expertise that I need. I would be less likely to choose a company that was vague about their services and certifications.

You might say that would pigeonhole me, but I look at it as focusing on a certain area of expertise. A specialist, just like a doctor or lawyer. An added benefit would also be to charge specialist prices.

by hal 9000

Firstly the adding of Certs may prove just as damaging as useful as there are quite a few small companies who are unwilling to pay the extra prices for the work that they require. It's a bit of being between a rock and a hard place.

I know from bitter experience that if I ever mentioned my PHD's at an interview I didn't stand a chance of getting the job because 1 I was over qualified, 2 because of my qualifications they expected that I would cost them more money than what they could pay, 3 The person doing the interview was of the opinion that I would get sick and tired of the job and leave from boredom.

I now run a small IT consultancy business with 10 technical staff and I have never been asked what Certs that I or any of my staff hold even though we design, manufacture, install and maintain computer networks for business and these can be some very expensive installations.

The only time that I've ever needed to mention my qualifications is for any legal work like Insurance Investigations that will end up in Court {Like I'm tied up with now} but otherwise they are unimportant in the general scheme of things. Also because the original poster was mainly aiming at "after hours" work this would mainly be home users who are unwilling to pay the premium prices.

Anyway if you where running any business who would you chose to do your IT work some one with the Certs or some one who came highly recommended from other business people that you associate with?

I think it would be the latter!

Col

by guruofdos

And have three different titles depending on the context of the clientelle!

For small business and charity work, my card reads 'Independent Consultant', which covers supply, service, sales, repairs and advice.

For domestic users my card reads 'Computer Engineer', because thats what people want if you turn up at their house.

When I'm dealing with suppliers or services, my title reads 'Proprietor'.

The three options above seem to cover most of the angles, certainly here in the UK and Europe.

What I have found, is that most of my regular customers really don't care much for titles...they know what I do and know my name, and that is enough for them.

For

by willg

Don't worry about your title, be concerned about your e-mail address, fun addresses are a real turn off for potential customers

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