Not to mention a giant pile of cocaine! Just kidding (sort of), but Mac's business didn't require having skilled professionals to peddle his wares. What he did was prance around shouting "save you money!" and pretend that his stuff was cheaper than everybody elses, while marking it up and selling it for more than his competition. The computer support business is more difficult because you depend on the technical skill of your employees in an industry where it is notoriously difficult to get and keep skilled people, much less one where it is difficult to determine who the skilled people are.
The home support business is pretty spotty AND I think you will start to see an influx of more and more home/small business support people out there. More and more support jobs are going overseas and putting qualified support people at corporations out of work. I think you'll see a big influx of skilled IT folks hitting the pavement trying to nurse the small business owner. At HP, I've already seen some very good support folks get the let go because they can hire 4-5 people in Mexico or India for the same price. I know this isn't on-site support, but phone support people often have the same skill sets. One of them I know has already taken a job with a local real estate guy as his IT guy. My father is a small business owner and the only people he does business with are small business owners. The thing you have to watch out for is that small businesses make their money by not spending a lot. At HP, if the fax is crapped out, we just order another, in a small business, they nurse that fax for everything its worth because the money spent on a new fax hurts the bottom line and often comes directly out of the owner's pocket. That's the danger of doing business with small business owners. They want the most bang for their buck. If they can get the neighborhood kid to do it for half as much, they will.
Good advice. My lessons: My first business (bar) went up my nose in the mid-80s in Texas. My second was a computer hardware support in the early 90s. As a long distant tech for Qwest, I couldn't even give it the attention to make work. 2.5 years ago a Marketing Director I met at Frito-Lay in the late 90s started her own business and called wanting my services (presentations). I was working full time somewhere else but gave her a good product. I started a dba sacrificing a social life. Within 6 mo. I fired my boss and went full time on my own (still don't have a social life) I do quiet well with only 2 huge clients and a couple of smaller ones. I hope you truly enjoy what you intend to do becaue if not, it will never happen. All the sacrifices in the world will be for not if you don't absolutely love it. Good luck RR
I had 3 restaurants for over 25 years. Main thing is not to under price, hard thing to learn because you worried about the competitors being cheaper but people will go and pay more for a good product rather then go for inferior stuff for a few cents less. When you sell out do not carry the notes yourself let a bank do that, because if the service or quality drops they will go bust. The bank will then try to get you to come back and build the business back so they can resell it but once a reputation is ruined the harder it is to get back to good reputation. As far as service I use to pay one refrigeration company $35.00 trip fee plus $1.00 a mile drive fee to come out. But I used them because they fixed the problem the first time out every time. Never had to have them come back to fix what they did not fix right the first time. Would have paid double that if they had ask. Sold out 11 years ago and all 3 restaurants are gone because the people who brought them were lazy and used frozen foods and meats instead of fresh and hired to much help because they were to lazy to work in the business themselves. IF YOU ARE AFRAID OF HARD WORK DO NOT GO INTO BUSINESS YOURSELF! Do not underprice yourself !
I have just officially gone into business for myseld a week ago. I am a CPA by trade and I have been the comptroller of a consulting company for a few years. During the time I have had 2 other clients (one a former employer and another is a frineds company) which have grown and a small tax business. I was to the point that I was workin 70-80 hours a week (more during tax season) between the full-time and the two part time jobs. I finally had the opportunity to move to part-time at the consulting job which was great for me. I still have 40 hour a week between the 3 jobs and I have already contacted a few associates about additional tax work (I picked up $1600 in business last weekend at a tailgate party). In my case I cut my hours by almost 50% and my income by 25% which was well worth the tradeoff, plus the fact I think I can make all the income back in taxes by the 2004 tax season. Toughest part for me, I think, will be ellign myself. Like most CPAs I tend to not be a salesman. Good thing is I have a lot of great friends who enjoy the same things as me (sporting events, having drinks/dinner) which makes socializing very easy for now. At some point I'll have to get in more uncomfortable settings (like Chamber of Commerce type events), but for now just getting around to my contacts keeps me busy.
You small business people don't forget to join a Lyons club in your area, good contacts never hurt, and you can help some people in your community.
Computer Geeks (I believe it's called) seems successful here in Austin. They have crummy commercials on TV, but they seem to have staying power. I think they were even interviewed on national news during the last 'worm' crisis (seems worms are good for business). You might call for their pricing schedule (to mimic). With the economy down, you might be able to build some high-value staff (sage hiring skills could make or break you, as many things will). You would probably need to be prepared to grow their reimbursement and perks as the economy improves or you will lose them. With the economy down, you might also have more demand for your services. Build a loyal clientele and word of mouth before comanies have the cash to staff back up. Think 'MOMENTUM'. Final thought: Don't forget Divine Intervention. It helps.
