Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?
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@IRJ said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
PC Repair is dead. You may find the well off client that has a $2k machine once in awhile, but when you can get a PC for $200-300 new or a tablet for $40-100 you are virtually eliminating that market.
You should certainly work for a MSP before even considering starting one. You have no clue what they go through with client acquisition, quoting, businesses that don't want to pay, etc.
For every hour of billable work there is at least 2 up to 100 to gain a client, keep a client, get paid by a client etc. I have had a client take me up to 2 years of developing a relationship before landing them as a client. Then it takes 5 hours at least to get a solid contract written for them (we have a basic template but every client is different and is treated as such). Then you have your account administration duties, I call this the Toddler Whys? Then you have the billing (which you know that onsite you did last week how many hours was that? how far did I drive, what parts did I buy? UGH why didn't I write this down when I did it?) yeah that. Then you have the notes that SHOULD be done for all the work you did. We say that takes a minimum of 15 minutes per item. Oh now that has to be re-written for the client so they can understand it. Oh now you have to do the Toddler Whys again about your email. Then you have the bill: Why did you charge me for explaining the email you sent? What do you mean I get charged for all communication?
So where are you storing all that documentation for your client? Oh you are being cheap and using your own desktop? Awesome! OH now the hard drive died? Where's all the documentation? Seriously IT people sometimes try to cut corners too much and then spend too much time trying to redo the things they yell at clients for. There is always your own infrastructure to deal with.
Not to scare but this is the honest truth. No matter how organized you are or how much you promise yourself you will stay organized or get there if you are now it never really happens.
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@guyinpv said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
But how viable is bench as a career?
Not great outside of the enterprise space. Most viable bench work is datacenter.
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@IRJ said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Decent auto mechanics charge quite a bit more than $75 an hour. Now that is somewhat skilled profession (not as skilled as IT), but even when we look at non-skilled professions such as pest control, landscaping, etc. they still charge more than $75 an hour. Hell getting a truck or van out for anything costs more than $75.
Yup, if you are getting someone to come on site, it's $100 for unskilled, skilled goes up from there.
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@IRJ said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
PC Repair is dead. You may find the well off client that has a $2k machine once in awhile, but when you can get a PC for $200-300 new or a tablet for $40-100 you are virtually eliminating that market.
This. And good clients are taking backups and doing a full restore is fast and trivial. No need for repair.
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@IRJ said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@guyinpv I know I come off as ripping on you, but it isn't my intention. I think you are good guy with awesome intentions. Unfortunately things don't work out they way they should. I used to think like you and tell myself I am going to offer everyone a decent price and be good to my customers and they will be good to me.
What I found out in the real world, is it's survival of the fittest. Your customers will dump you in a heartbeat no matter how good or cheap you are. They will do it to save a couple bucks . Then since you don't charge enough to cover losing anybody you get yourself in real trouble.
Exactly. PC Repair / Consumer service / bench is a drive to the bottom. Everyone loses.
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All the above is my opinion too.
@irj You aren't ripping at all. I need opinions from people who've been there.My last bench job was over 10 years ago, even then it was about $13/hr after 6 years at the place!
My last job interview for bench/repair/onsite general tech at "the" local "big" shop was just a year or two ago but they maxed out around $17 or $18/hr even for an onsite tech who does business clients.
I've never seen a general tech position in my local cities anywhere over basic $10 to $14/hr. It's pathetic.
The highest paying IT job I ever found/applied for was for city government which was about a $45k job with full benefits, maxing out around $70k ish.
Even hospitals and town governments pay around $40k-$50k tops.If the very best I can do in my city is government at $50k, there has to be something better I can do on my own. I just don't know what that niche is, what it looks like, what is my value/offering.
OK so if traveling technician is out, and MSP it out due to complexity and lack of experience, what other niches are there?
It seems obviously to cater to business rather than consumer, though there may be a small niche of consumers worth going after too.
Businesses must have a need for IT but not big enough to afford their own part time or full time staff. And not small enough where they just have one or two Walmart PCs and a inkjet.Maybe I just need more examples of what people actual DO if they run their own IT business, and how much can be made doing it. I might as well not leave the 9-5 if going my own way increases work load by 40% and only make a few hundred more a month! Or I can keep applying for government jobs. eww.
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@guyinpv said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
All the above is my opinion too.
@irj You aren't ripping at all. I need opinions from people who've been there.My last bench job was over 10 years ago, even then it was about $13/hr after 6 years at the place!
My last job interview for bench/repair/onsite general tech at "the" local "big" shop was just a year or two ago but they maxed out around $17 or $18/hr even for an onsite tech who does business clients.
I've never seen a general tech position in my local cities anywhere over basic $10 to $14/hr. It's pathetic.
The highest paying IT job I ever found/applied for was for city government which was about a $45k job with full benefits, maxing out around $70k ish.
Even hospitals and town governments pay around $40k-$50k tops.If the very best I can do in my city is government at $50k, there has to be something better I can do on my own. I just don't know what that niche is, what it looks like, what is my value/offering.
OK so if traveling technician is out, and MSP it out due to complexity and lack of experience, what other niches are there?
It seems obviously to cater to business rather than consumer, though there may be a small niche of consumers worth going after too.
Businesses must have a need for IT but not big enough to afford their own part time or full time staff. And not small enough where they just have one or two Walmart PCs and a inkjet.Maybe I just need more examples of what people actual DO if they run their own IT business, and how much can be made doing it. I might as well not leave the 9-5 if going my own way increases work load by 40% and only make a few hundred more a month! Or I can keep applying for government jobs. eww.
I would say an MSP isn't impossible, but you should probably work for one for a few years first to understand everything required.
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@IRJ said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@guyinpv said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
All the above is my opinion too.
@irj You aren't ripping at all. I need opinions from people who've been there.My last bench job was over 10 years ago, even then it was about $13/hr after 6 years at the place!
My last job interview for bench/repair/onsite general tech at "the" local "big" shop was just a year or two ago but they maxed out around $17 or $18/hr even for an onsite tech who does business clients.
I've never seen a general tech position in my local cities anywhere over basic $10 to $14/hr. It's pathetic.
The highest paying IT job I ever found/applied for was for city government which was about a $45k job with full benefits, maxing out around $70k ish.
Even hospitals and town governments pay around $40k-$50k tops.If the very best I can do in my city is government at $50k, there has to be something better I can do on my own. I just don't know what that niche is, what it looks like, what is my value/offering.
OK so if traveling technician is out, and MSP it out due to complexity and lack of experience, what other niches are there?
It seems obviously to cater to business rather than consumer, though there may be a small niche of consumers worth going after too.
Businesses must have a need for IT but not big enough to afford their own part time or full time staff. And not small enough where they just have one or two Walmart PCs and a inkjet.Maybe I just need more examples of what people actual DO if they run their own IT business, and how much can be made doing it. I might as well not leave the 9-5 if going my own way increases work load by 40% and only make a few hundred more a month! Or I can keep applying for government jobs. eww.
I would say an MSP isn't impossible, but you should probably work for one for a few years first to understand everything required.
None of those in my neighborhood.
A guy tried to "partner" me into starting one with him, only what the deal really was is "you be on call and I'll have you do my work for me as needed. No guaranteed income or schedule or anything, and you can take 40% billable hours and do marketing and sales and B2B door-2-door on your own time for my new MSP."
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Remember that a MSP is but one type. Going consultant is a completely different model.
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@guyinpv said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@IRJ said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@guyinpv said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
All the above is my opinion too.
@irj You aren't ripping at all. I need opinions from people who've been there.My last bench job was over 10 years ago, even then it was about $13/hr after 6 years at the place!
My last job interview for bench/repair/onsite general tech at "the" local "big" shop was just a year or two ago but they maxed out around $17 or $18/hr even for an onsite tech who does business clients.
I've never seen a general tech position in my local cities anywhere over basic $10 to $14/hr. It's pathetic.
The highest paying IT job I ever found/applied for was for city government which was about a $45k job with full benefits, maxing out around $70k ish.
Even hospitals and town governments pay around $40k-$50k tops.If the very best I can do in my city is government at $50k, there has to be something better I can do on my own. I just don't know what that niche is, what it looks like, what is my value/offering.
OK so if traveling technician is out, and MSP it out due to complexity and lack of experience, what other niches are there?
It seems obviously to cater to business rather than consumer, though there may be a small niche of consumers worth going after too.
Businesses must have a need for IT but not big enough to afford their own part time or full time staff. And not small enough where they just have one or two Walmart PCs and a inkjet.Maybe I just need more examples of what people actual DO if they run their own IT business, and how much can be made doing it. I might as well not leave the 9-5 if going my own way increases work load by 40% and only make a few hundred more a month! Or I can keep applying for government jobs. eww.
I would say an MSP isn't impossible, but you should probably work for one for a few years first to understand everything required.
None of those in my neighborhood.
A guy tried to "partner" me into starting one with him, only what the deal really was is "you be on call and I'll have you do my work for me as needed. No guaranteed income or schedule or anything, and you can take 40% billable hours and do marketing and sales and B2B door-2-door on your own time for my new MSP."
You can work with a meta MSP (MMSP) that will do most of the tech work and you mostly function as remote hands and work to get local clients. Let's you scale up to the sizes necessary to maintain constant monetary flow - basically you become a cog in a bigger MSP machine, but one that you have a lot of autonomy and control over.
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@JaredBusch said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Remember that a MSP is but one type. Going consultant is a completely different model.
And far far more effective if you want to provide skilled IT solutions to businesses.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@JaredBusch said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Remember that a MSP is but one type. Going consultant is a completely different model.
And far far more effective if you want to provide skilled IT solutions to businesses.
..... Without a full firm behind you.
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@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@JaredBusch said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Remember that a MSP is but one type. Going consultant is a completely different model.
And far far more effective if you want to provide skilled IT solutions to businesses.
..... Without a full firm behind you.
A firm which is often staffed with resellers and people who design pretty project design brochures
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@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@JaredBusch said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Remember that a MSP is but one type. Going consultant is a completely different model.
And far far more effective if you want to provide skilled IT solutions to businesses.
..... Without a full firm behind you.
A firm which is often staffed with resellers and people who design pretty project design brochures
Well, that's a VAR. True MSP isn't a reseller. MSP is a services business. VAR is a reselling business. Many are both, but it is the VAR aspect that you are seeing there, not the MSP one.
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@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@JaredBusch said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Remember that a MSP is but one type. Going consultant is a completely different model.
And far far more effective if you want to provide skilled IT solutions to businesses.
..... Without a full firm behind you.
A firm which is often staffed with resellers and people who design pretty project design brochures
Well, that's a VAR. True MSP isn't a reseller. MSP is a services business. VAR is a reselling business. Many are both, but it is the VAR aspect that you are seeing there, not the MSP one.
The 2 generally have merged with more and more companies, more resolutions and fixes are pushed towards the VAR arm rather than the proactive maintenance and fixing issues arm.
As for the VA part, What value added? It's getting more and more silly out there now.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@JaredBusch said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Remember that a MSP is but one type. Going consultant is a completely different model.
And far far more effective if you want to provide skilled IT solutions to businesses.
..... Without a full firm behind you.
A firm which is often staffed with resellers and people who design pretty project design brochures
Well, that's a VAR. True MSP isn't a reseller. MSP is a services business. VAR is a reselling business. Many are both, but it is the VAR aspect that you are seeing there, not the MSP one.
The 2 generally have merged with more and more companies, more resolutions and fixes are pushed towards the VAR arm rather than the proactive maintenance and fixing issues arm.
As for the VA part, What value added? It's getting more and more silly out there now.
The two are very separate. Just lots of MSPs try to take advantage of people being casual with terms to make money as sales people instead of as IT people from foolish customers.
Easy differentiation: MSP staff are IT, VAR staff are sales.
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@scottalanmiller said
Easy differentiation: MSP staff are IT, VAR staff are sales.
But there is no differentiation for the clients because they deal with the same 1 person. Acting as both sales and technical support. That nice guy who does site visits for you and fixes everything? He's also a sales person.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@scottalanmiller said
Easy differentiation: MSP staff are IT, VAR staff are sales.
But there is no differentiation for the clients because they deal with the same 1 person. Acting as both sales and technical support. That nice guy who does site visits for you and fixes everything? He's also a sales person.
That makes them a VAR and a salesperson. If the customer is confused, that's a customer business identification problem, doesn't make MSP and VAR the same thing (or even related.)
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But I've seen that business model in industries other than IT.
As an example, in house AV manager for conference centres and other venues. He has the technical knowledge, skill and capability to pull off everything required but he is also there to sell solutions and services, extra equipment for rental and so on.
Same again with a venue manager, offering flowers or extra this or that as a service.
You don't have to be a "Sales" person by definition to sell things to people and a huge number of MSPs have their tech guys (Who the customer has built up a relationship with and trust) sell and pitch things.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
But I've seen that business model in industries other than IT.
As an example, in house AV manager for conference centres and other venues. He has the technical knowledge, skill and capability to pull off everything required but he is also there to sell solutions and services, extra equipment for rental and so on.
He might be a technical salesman, but he's just a salesman. It's a standard sales model. But once a salesman, you're a salesman. It's just how it is. Understanding that he's a sales guy that might do some technical work too is critical for anyone that "does business" to see. This is a minimum level of "service buying competence" necessary to be a viable end user of services.
