Creative ways to expand an IT business?

[itbookham]

Hello,

I recently came across the Technibble website by chance. I am impressed by the breadth and scope of information available to 'techs'.

About 5 years ago I started a part-time local PC Repair/Upgrade business about 20 miles south west of London.

Business has been steady but not overwhelming, as I have only been able to give 2-3 days a week to this venture. I have advertised in local papers/magazines with limited success. In the main I have targeted residential homes rather than businesses.

For some time I have been considering widening my client base and writing to small local businesses to introduce myself - perhaps sending out 100-200 letters or so. At the moment I reluctant to work on servers. Whilst I understand the basics of a Windows Server operating system, I am no expert and damage can easily be done leaving the client with a possible server rebuild and subsequent downtime on their network which could be disastrous for their business.

Even though I am studying to gain a deeper knowledge of server operating systems, I would be interested to know if there are other small IT businesses out there who undertake work for small businesses but do not deal with servers only with client workstations and printers.

Also, I would be interested to hear how others have managed to expand their businesses.

Thank you for listening.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

In my opinion...if you wish to get into small business for a market (and I highly encourage any IT place to do so...you have an opportunity to make so much more money, higher hourly rates, etc)...you will need to learn servers.

Yes there are the smaller end of small businesses which have little peer to peer networks...but the majority will have servers, more advanced firewalls, DNS management, more complicated e-mail setups, etc.

 

[TenYardFight]

None of us are here by chance! No, seriously, with all the indexed content here, its a wonder if a googling tech doesnt find this place...

There are many existing small business who are simply using their servers for basic functions only. You should be able to serve them with very quick study. Raise your prices, if necessary. Be sure you have enough room to pay (subcontract) a server expert to help. You'll learn as he helps. Even if you turn over your entire hourly rate to him, you win.

If you bring plenty of value to your company in OTHER areas, eventually you should be able to bring a server expert on to your team part or full time.

 

[itbookham]

Hello to all,

I am much obliged to those who responded.

Your advice is sensible and practical.

I am reasonably relaxed about setting up user accounts, mapped drives, network printers, anti-virus, tape backups and configuring POP3 and SMTP connectors on Exchange but the rest I would need to study more in-depth such as SQL, more advanced aspects of Active Directory and Exchange et al...

It is a good idea to have an Server consultant/ expert to hand if something does go wrong or if the expertise is more than I can handle alone.

Nonetheless, I think I need to widen my horizons through approaching small businesses. I would be interested to hear what people have found the most useful ways in attracting new business such as: mail shots, cold canvassing telephone calls, advertising, flyers or just simply turning up on the doorstep and introducing yourself.

Many thanks,
Mark

 

[Paul Rodgers]

I would suggest setting up a test lab and experimenting on that. Set things up, break them, and fix them.

To be honest servers aren't that hard to work on.