Providing IT Services to small companies

corrot

Hello!

I'm trying to figure out how to find small businesses which require IT services. My husband has been out of work for some time now and is currently working on a project which isn't bringing in any revenue so he is going to have to look at other avenues. He is a very talented IT guy and in his previous job was responsible for all IT related areas- networking, website, hardware/software, telephones, creating CRM, day to day desktop support etc etc. He is very reluctant to get a 'normal' job with a company but needs to start earning an income. Essentially I would like to try locate small businesses which need IT support in whichever areas without it being full-time employment. If I present him with potential leads then I know he will go speak to them, he just won't go and find them himself. I just don't know how you find these companies! Is it all through networking or could anyone provide any tips?
Many thanks
C

Edited to add I know about websites such as Freelancer.com etc but they're not really an option as competition is fierce from people who are willing to do the work for virtually nothing.

pedronomix

Most one man band IT services guys who do support for small business essentially provide a "breakdown" service rather than a managed services package. They are generally called in after the client/staff have exhausted their own efforts. From my experience these guys find their clients through existing relationships, former employer customers, recommendations etc etc. When it goes wrong, they need someone they know and trust.....
Larger SMEs with bespoke software would tend to rely on their accounting software provider for much of their needs.

cob1

its a very tough game, as said before small businesses will only call in someone after they've exhausted every in house option, the bosses teenage kids, some random person who's "good at IT". then they'll even baulk at paying a couple of hundred euro for a professional job. even after all that try to sell them a managed service or preventative maintenance to prevent another IT meltdown and it's a battle. I tried it and had one company that lost all their customer data (twice!) but still wouldn't budget anything to prevent it happening again. good luck to you if you can make it work. anyone who's truly good at IT is really in demand in Ireland, easier to get a normal job.

BnB

cob1 wrote: »

its a very tough game, as said before small businesses will only call in someone after they've exhausted every in house option, the bosses teenage kids, some random person who's "good at IT". then they'll even baulk at paying a couple of hundred euro for a professional job. even after all that try to sell them a managed service or preventative maintenance to prevent another IT meltdown and it's a battle. I tried it and had one company that lost all their customer data (twice!) but still wouldn't budget anything to prevent it happening again. good luck to you if you can make it work. anyone who's truly good at IT is really in demand in Ireland, easier to get a normal job.

I'd have to agree with that.

Trying to provide IT to very small business is very tough. They will only call you when they are in dire straits and will expect you to drop everything for them. And they won't want to pay for it. Nothing against small business (I'm in one myself) but it is just the nature of things when money is tight.

If he doesn't want to commit to a full time job, maybe look for a 6 or 12 month contract to bring in money in while he figures out what his next move is.

westcoast66

I run a small IT company with myself and 4 other employees.

Am seriously thinking of jacking it in and getting a normal job. What with chasing customers to pay small invoices and employers PRSI and no holidays in 5 years, I am worn out. A shame, 4 people will be left redundant.

corrot

Thanks very much for all your replies and for taking the time to respond. Really appreciate your input. I think it's back to the drawing board! Definitely agree that there is a lot to be said for a 'normal' job and the relative security of a steady income, paid holidays, sick leave etc. Thanks again.

ifah

I wouldn't give up just yet - where does his expertise lie ? there are different ways to approach this - he could do support for home users - set a minimum call out & then an hourly rate afterwards. I know 2 college students that were turning over about 500 each per week between home fixes and new installs etc. - they only worked evening /weekends.

Alternatively he could take short terms contracts with breaks in between to allow him to continue on other project.

Buttercake

Can he take a normal job to keep the cash flowing and operate a sideline/nixer business? with small to medium businesses as mentioned already, its generally dealing with crisis management/firefighting when no one else knows what to do (server goes down, no backup, harddrives gone etc etc), nightmare situations or else on the flip side dealing with Mary and Bob who dont have a clue to install a printer or setup an email account.

beauf

Low end it support makes too little money and takes up too much time to be worthwhile There's people doing it on a loss leading basis so you can't compete with that and it drives down what people will pay. People will not pay 30-60% the cost of a new machine to fix an old one. You'd make more and have better satisfaction doing diy jobs for people.

There's a reason there's almost no one doing this. It's probably too much hassle even as a hobby. I say that as someone who loves fixing computers.

mneylon

I know people who work in this space and it's incredibly tough. Others have mentioned some of the challenges.

Getting a "normal" job might not be as "exciting" but it would be a lot less of a headache.

There are a lot of companies out there that could probably benefit from having someone of his skillset "in house".

Though the range of opportunities will vary a lot - maybe doing some networking might help to see what people are doing and who is hiring?

pedronomix

I fear it is the wife who has the ambition/get up and go in that household, does not bode well!

pedroeibar1

pedronomix wrote: »

I fear it is the wife who has the ambition/get up and go in that household, does not bode well!

I’ve seen that situation Pedro and TBH it’s a very difficult one, so while your comment has merit I’d be reluctant to add to any possible divisiveness. Full marks to the OH for trying to help out

The OP does not give an age of her OH, their family situation or the level of role he previously held. I’ve seen senior people shafted, then dumped and the outcome has been brutally savage on their mental outlook, confidence, health and life. They really need support (and sometimes a kick in the a$$!) as there can be an inclination to crawl into a shell and ‘hibernate’ rather than face reality.

OP, the biggest issue for anyone ‘going out on their own’ is IT. When I split from an almost lifetime of employment to doing my own thing, the first time I felt really alone was not dealing with leases, accountants, banks, cash shortages, it was when I had an IT meltdown and had nobody at the end of a phone to call and tell “The system is down, get the ####thing working again, NOW!” The big issue is how to build up a bank of people like that and the time it takes to achieve it.

I cannot see how a ‘firefighter’ type role for the husband can be sustained without a huge network of contacts. The business challenge the husband has is to start getting ‘installation’ type jobs, where he advises on systems etc., sets up the IT facilities and as part of that obtains an annual ‘service contract’ where he provides technical back-up when s#it happens. By that I mean he is on an annual retainer (small) and then gets paid (big, but it’s justified) for his time/expertise when problems occur. Think professional firms like insurance brokes, estate agents, accountants , lawyers, etc.

In one company in which I’m involved (midsize) we have outsourced all IT management – tech assistance, back-up, cloud, disaster recovery plans, etc. We had three quotes, the guy who had done work for us before (and was favoured) was the most expensive but I’d ‘guess’ that he was told he was too dear and dropped his price to get the contract. He’s not losing money, but he needs several more like us to make a living.

OP, too many factors are missing for me to give more precise advice, but in your position I’d put targets of time limits/clients/achievements on the existing plan, if they are not met he’d have to find a role as an employee.

pedronomix

Pedro, The point was not about being devisive but rather working with the info as given in the OP, and often all we have. With an attitude where he would deign to speak with punters that were lined up for him and that he would not go out a bang the doors, the notion of making a business out of his skills is very unlikely to succeed.
As usual we only seem to disagree on smaller detail!

rubberdiddies

Would it be worth creating a Facebook business page and spending a few euro (can be as little as €2 to €3) testing the waters with a targeted Facebook ad. Maybe one directed at SMEs and one directed at home users.

beauf

I think you are missing the point, getting the work isn't the problem.

The problem is getting paid enough so it not loss making after all costs are considered.

Kinet1c

• IT Support is generally a thankless job, more so when you're dealing with the penny pinching company's you're thinking of targeting.
• You'll spend time doing up quotes which are seen as "extortionate" or else just used as leverage against their existing providers or because they need 3 quotes. The quotes for 1 hours work are also awesome.
• As mentioned, smaller companies place zero value on their data and will balk at suggestions of backups, online or offline... god forbid you suggest they should have both.
• Unless you've laid out your payment terms in writing, you'll get burned. There was no way I was getting burned by investing my own money so I made sure clients paid up front for software/hardware, if I was to lose money it would've been my time. I called to collect cheques from time to time and thankfully avoided getting burned by doing so once as the client was out of business within a month.
• "Oh would I go about..."... Most of these "clients" are time wasters, ditch them. You're in business to put a roof over your head and food on the table. Try give them a call and do the same and see how far you get. Waiting around for that added value you're providing to them in the form of free advice to bear rewards will leave you hungry and homeless.
• "Oh but you were working on this last week..." ... If you as the tech touched it last, you broke it. Fact according to most people.
• I'm all in favour in squeezing every ounce out of tech but some clients need to let go of those P4 XP machines... The only way to make it go faster is by replacing it and yes, that's how much PC's cost... yes, you can buy the PC in PC world... no, it won't connect to your domain.
• "Can you make <**** PC/laptop> go faster?" ... "sure you'd need an upgrade of memory/hdd/cpu/all of the above, here's the quote".. "oh it'll cost money?".... ...........................
• If you're supplying a business, then they get mandatory on site support from HP/Dell with all their PC/laptops/servers. Ask them what they'll do if it breaks and wait for the blank stare or.. "we'll call you".
• Always ask your new client what happened their previous IT provider, if they've had a falling out then fire them as a client before they fire you.
• Yes, microsoft office does cost that much. Considering you use it every minute of the day, yes it's worth it. No I will not pirate you a copy.

I shut up shop for the very reason westcoast66 mentions above, working at an enterprise level since. Regular salary and good benefits mean that my home is a much happier place to be. I can go on holidays without much hassle or take that random day off. I've upskilled (IT certs, just started a Bsc) a lot since going back to employment as my spare time in the evenings was often spent doing adminsitration work, whereas now I'm adding value to my CV and current employer.



I'm glad I got to experience those 3 years working for myself but it would have to be desperate times to go back to it. IT jobs are out there in abundance, there is no reason he cannot work on his project on the side while bringing home the bacon during the day. I've a couple of friends who did it this way to get up and running and it's worked out well for them.. either by successfully transitioning to their side project or they've come to the realisation that their project wasn't going to work out. If I was ever to go back to self employment, it would be as a subject matter expert as opposed to the commodity end of things.

Ctrl Alt Del

@ Kinet1c

Find a job that you love and you'll never work a day in your life !

All above are well true spoken but...aside of the fact that you enjoy and have fun in "command and execute myself" working style,if you fail is only "yourself" to blame. You are as good as your last job/project/install/sales !

Personal,i never had any of the above comments in the past years due to the fact that i know how to grow,educate,trust and care my clients.I have learned to create "awareness" and well in advance let them using common sense and budget based decisions to easily bring them to a best compromise,if i can say so.
Main issue for self employed people is if they are to get a job where they have to abide by the rules setup external to their control zone,without been asked / involved in the decision and/or execution process(es).

Let me wish you good luck and many pay cheques !

@all

While job security in year 2014 is a lie told by naive people,working in a company could be a shock from been important and the main focus/asset of your activity versus becoming a number on the payroll that can be dumped from a long distance HQ so that can they make the numbers looking nice for shareholders or themselves. I've been "kicked" out of my comfort zone back in 2008 despite looking after major accounts...reason:last in, first out. No comments... Thanks God for the kick in a s s,as that was a massive step forward.

Also,in the self-employment zone,is not what you know but rather who you know AND,adapted to 2014...how much you know of what they know !

Have fun...

Atomico

beauf wrote: »

I think you are missing the point, getting the work isn't the problem.

The problem is getting paid enough so it not loss making after all costs are considered.

Nail on the head there..

corrot

Thanks very much to all for your thoughts and insight. It has been very useful hearing different views and experiences.
Pedroeibar1 summed up really what the hubby's idea would be - set things up for a fee and then earn a retainer - but even if he had the client base to support an income he has concerns which I would agree are valid, such as needing a back-up in case he is ill/away etc.
Without the network and recommendations/word of mouth building a strong enough client base will be difficult and whether the returns would ever be worth the effort involved is definitely questionable.
He is looking at other options now and hopefully will find something which he enjoys doing but which also provides a little security income-wise. Thanks again to all and fingers very tightly crossed for the future.

beauf

This is typical

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057305713

To make money at it you need to be a very good business man first. Good at IT second. You'd probably spend 70% of you time at the business side, not the IT side. Most IT people aren't good at that. Its not their interest.

Contracting through an agency or full time job is a much better route to take. At least when getting back on your feet. Well for me anyway. Perhaps others find other routes better.

shanec1928

Kinet1c is spot on with pretty much everything he said.
If I hear my celeron or amd based machine is slow can he speed it up once more..:mad:

Dub_Steve

You could try going to the various networking events on meetup. At least you'll get the chance to talk to business owners at an informal event. Maybe offer a reduced price to someone with a lot of contacts, someone who could recommend your service. Finally, in his spare time he could create some youtube videos to demonstrate his expertise, anything which can show how SMEs can reduce costs would work well. I'm sure a few of use on boards could share with our linkedin contacts. Hope it goes well for you and your husband

imitation

To me the job your husband would love is something small application dev and maintenance, I have seen these guys in various multinationals doing stuff like Ms access. They tend to go around various sites and if they can land a few steady contracts the hours and money seem good. Unfortunately I think they are a dying breed as big companies want standardized software.

I would avoid small business IT like the plague as everybody has said, most small companies just cannot support the extra cost, margins are tight and on top of it every job will be quick sellatope job applied to some rickety and poorly maintained systems.

If I was him I would just get another normal job and see about doing a 4 day week. To be honest though the elephant in the room is why he doesn't want to work. If he wants to do something he truly loves, fine, but that usually takes initiative and sacrifice. Otherwise you have to do the 9 to 5 or else your going to fall between the stools.

Kinet1c

Just to add, I could've kept going with what I'd set up but I got in to technology to work with technology. Yes you are creating/fixing things for the end user, whether they're consumers of the tech or the product on the tech but 80-90% of my time is now tech whereas before it could've been anywhere from 25-50%. When you're working with SMEs, budgets tend to be in the 00s/000s whereas I'm touching tech now that cost 000,000s as well as a wider variety of it too.

I always said througout my time working self employed, if I was to merge or join up with another tech, I'd be looking for someone experienced in tech sales as I much preferred the technical side of things.

rubberdiddies wrote: »

Would it be worth creating a Facebook business page and spending a few euro (can be as little as €2 to €3) testing the waters with a targeted Facebook ad. Maybe one directed at SMEs and one directed at home users.

People go on to Facebook to waste time. It can work well for marketing FMCG but not for (potentially) high value B2B services.

Dub_Steve wrote: »

You could try going to the various networking events on meetup. At least you'll get the chance to talk to business owners at an informal event. Maybe offer a reduced price to someone with a lot of contacts, someone who could recommend your service. Finally, in his spare time he could create some youtube videos to demonstrate his expertise, anything which can show how SMEs can reduce costs would work well. I'm sure a few of use on boards could share with our linkedin contacts. Hope it goes well for you and your husband

The vast majority of people who attend those events are looking to gain business, not give it out. You'll also find time wasters and people just looking to fill their calendar. What will happen when you attend enough of them across the various local enterprise boards is that you'll notice the same people attending them. The only benefit you can get from these is you can use talking to people at them as a sounding board for new products or a different sales pitch - see what they're response is and then work on that when you get in front of a real life customer who is probably going to spend money.