Breaking into the small business market

[ridgefieldpc]

I'm thinking of moving into the small business market because it's easier to market. I'm comfortable with residential customers but business is a whole new thing.

I only had 2-3 business service calls in my life and I'm wondering what are the most common setups/problems they encounter.

Such as: Do most businesses use Server 2003? Do they use domain controllers? Do they get a lot of virus infections? How do they typically save their files? Do they use RAID?

Stuff like this. Last time I went on a business call I had to work on a RAIDed Server 2k3. I was a little bit anxious but I learned quickly - that time.

I'm looking for someone to paint me a picture of what I would be expecting to work on most, and what skills are most valuable. Thanks in advance!

 

[Alan22]

I have a 3 word answer.....it all depends.

 

[ITTech]

it all depends is right... depends on the business depends on the number of computers they have, depends on if they have a server,

most small offices do not have a dedicted server but share files with each other over a peer-to-peer network. These networks are just like home networks and the users operate their computers like a most home users.. I am talking about networks with less then 5 computers usually.

So it really all depends... if you ever need help with a business client just drop a line here before you quote anything...

 

[kagman]

service contracts...

A buddy of mine has his own one man computer business for years. what he does is for small business is that he puts them on a service contract. A smart idea if you ask me.. You charge them monthly for your service. You agree to make sure that there network is working properly, make sure updates are being done, setup a backup system, etc etc... Great way to generate an income to your business..


--Jose--

 

[jbixler]

Hey, just out of curiosity--are there any part-time computer repair business owners out there who are selling small business customers on service contracts? I've been idly considering expanding into small business support, but since I'm otherwise employed I'm mainly limited to weeknights and weekends--which I'm guessing wouldn't sit too well with a business customer whose network goes down around 8AM.

Should I just stick with residential, or is it not uncommon to put some sort of service hours into a contract?

Thanks in advance!

-Jeff Bixler
BixFix - Your Companion in the Digital Age

 

[MrUnknown]

So long as it is explained to them and they are completely fine with it, then there won't be a problem. However, finding a business that would agree to that I think is a long shot.

If I was a business looking for IT support, I certainly wouldn't want to only be able to use it after 5pm.

However, there are ways around this but it is expensive. Businesses like Cloud Services Depot offer white label Help Desk and NOC, basically they will do everything under your name while you work. Anything they can't figure out, they will send to you to deal with.