Joshua Feinberg is the author and editorial director of the Computer Consulting Kit Home Study Course, which helps computer consultants, VARs, integrators, solution providers, and managed services providers get more of the best, steady, high-paying small business (SMB) clients.
Do you own a computer service business that needs better marketing results?
Many computer consultants start out thinking the home user, or B2C (Business to Consumer) market is the right place to be; but they quickly realize the difficulty of making a profit as a one-person (maybe two-person) operation catering to the needs of home users.
If you own a computer service business that wants to provide solutions to small businesses, you need to realize that there are a lot of different types of small businesses out there.
This article goes over 3 ways to define the "small" in small business and figure out which type of small business is the best focus for your computer services business.
1. Know about Home-Based Businesses and Micro-Small Businesses. A home-based business typically just involves 1-2 computers and an individual. A micro-small business is just one very small step up from that in size, with 5-10 employees and that many or fewer computer systems. If you focus too much on home-based businesses and micro-small businesses, you'll have a hard time selling a lot of ongoing services agreements. While both types of businesses are technically within the definition of "small business," they may not be the best clients for your computer service business.
2. Avoid Targeting Micro-Small and Home-Based Businesses. First of all, these kinds of small businesses often have lots of consumer-grade PC's, which will not be a big help for implementing sophisticated client/server networking solutions. Secondly, these kinds of small businesses often use pirated software, which will give you major problems when you start to develop long-term technology plans and complex networks. Thirdly, most of these kinds of small businesses will be reluctant, and often unable to pay for your sophisticated, high-end professional services. Fourthly, these kinds of tiny small businesses often believe that IT is not that important to their company, so they don't need the benefits you are offering. And finally, these kinds of tiny small businesses are usually too small to afford a real, dedicated server and a real client/server network, making your solutions overkill.
3. Great Computer Service Business Success Resides in Small Businesses with 10 or More PCs. Computer service business owners that target companies with at least 10 PC's are generally more successful at building strong businesses. At that point, small businesses cannot continue to run peer-to-peer networks. They also cannot afford to wait for volunteers and moonlighters to get around to responding to needs or emergencies. Small businesses that have 10 or more systems start to get really serious about putting in real client server networks, dependable back-up solutions, reliable power protection and secure firewalls. At this size, small business decision makers usually understand the need for more sophisticated total business solutions. They also know that they need to use IT more strategically in order to compete and grow. Small businesses with 10 or more systems are ideal because they will rely on your expertise and will understand why they need a very professional computer service business to take ownership of the total business problem, provide on-going service and not just respond to emergencies one at a time.
In this short article we discussed 3 tips to help you focus your computer service business. Learn more about how you can get great, steady, high-paying clients for your computer service business at http://www.ComputerServicesBusiness.com
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