Soldato
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Very good point and one I would certainly consider if you start thinking seriously about setting up on your own.
Starting my own business
- Thread starter SkidMarkKing
- Start date
Very good point and one I would certainly consider if you start thinking seriously about setting up on your own.
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I can do data retrieval, will be able to provide licensing and provide software.
Might even consider basic IT home tutoring also.
Spending my weekdays with oldies
lol
I would do businesses I guess its just the server side of things I haven't done much with as far as configuring etc. To be honest we mostly provide NAS drive's as far as data storage is concerned as we do only tend to deal with businesses below 20 ish employees.
Currently where I work it is proving that the domestic side is not actually dead. We are stupidly busy at the minute with screen repairs, clean ups, data migration etc
Might even consider basic IT home tutoring also.
Spending my weekdays with oldies
lolI would do businesses I guess its just the server side of things I haven't done much with as far as configuring etc. To be honest we mostly provide NAS drive's as far as data storage is concerned as we do only tend to deal with businesses below 20 ish employees.
Currently where I work it is proving that the domestic side is not actually dead. We are stupidly busy at the minute with screen repairs, clean ups, data migration etc
Business cases
1. Realistic money income modelling
2. Realistic money outgoings modelling
3. Realistic changes in these over the next 3 years (your taxes go up etc, could you cope with a 20% hike in council tax or energy bills?) gives you limits and boundaries
4. Realistic EXIT options - when will you make a decision, what will that decision criteria look like and how will you wind down and carry on (given employment search takes a while)
5. Liability - if you destroy their data or their machine.. you will need insurance to cover this, if their system has a virus - crypto-locks their data and they blame you..
6. How do you ensure you're "clean" (virus, malware, legit software).. you may need to create a recorded history and demonstrate.. that way if people sue you, you can demonstrate a historic trail of cleanliness to provide clear "character" in a courtroom.
People make the romantic point about "I put everything in.. including the house and gambled it all on and now I'm a billionaire" - now look, how many failures out there.. there's a lot. So sometimes you need to have a realistic view point.. say what happens if you don't get any trade for a month, for 2 months or competition opens up that reduces trade?
How many people do this close to you? How big is the possible population near to you? Etc..
Remember your customers are the lifeline. Marketing costs, so word of mouth and social media helps.
1. Realistic money income modelling
2. Realistic money outgoings modelling
3. Realistic changes in these over the next 3 years (your taxes go up etc, could you cope with a 20% hike in council tax or energy bills?) gives you limits and boundaries
4. Realistic EXIT options - when will you make a decision, what will that decision criteria look like and how will you wind down and carry on (given employment search takes a while)
5. Liability - if you destroy their data or their machine.. you will need insurance to cover this, if their system has a virus - crypto-locks their data and they blame you..
6. How do you ensure you're "clean" (virus, malware, legit software).. you may need to create a recorded history and demonstrate.. that way if people sue you, you can demonstrate a historic trail of cleanliness to provide clear "character" in a courtroom.
People make the romantic point about "I put everything in.. including the house and gambled it all on and now I'm a billionaire" - now look, how many failures out there.. there's a lot. So sometimes you need to have a realistic view point.. say what happens if you don't get any trade for a month, for 2 months or competition opens up that reduces trade?
How many people do this close to you? How big is the possible population near to you? Etc..
Remember your customers are the lifeline. Marketing costs, so word of mouth and social media helps.
As others have mentioned probably one of the best things to do is to consider your market base.
Do some research and put some feelers out to local companies asking whether they would be interested first then build from there. If you build yourself a reputation you can get a decent amount of work especially if you are recommended to others.
Also look out for competition and try and find a market edge.
Apologies if this sounded too generic.
Do some research and put some feelers out to local companies asking whether they would be interested first then build from there. If you build yourself a reputation you can get a decent amount of work especially if you are recommended to others.
Also look out for competition and try and find a market edge.
Apologies if this sounded too generic.
Soldato
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I did home PC repairs and that sort of thing on the side up until 2008 when the bottom dropped out of the market. As v0n rightly says, nobody is willing to pay for repairs on a £400 laptop. Data recovery is still lucrative but a massive pain in the bum.
What people are willing to pay for is to be shown how to use their new laptop, get it hooked up and make sure it's all working properly. This is what it sounds like you're doing, which is good. I'd suggest doing some easy to follow step-by-step guides on certain tasks that customers want to do (check their email, browse google, buy from Amazon etc), a printed copy goes down really well in my experience.
My more general advice is to keep your costs down as much as possible and be making profit from the word go. This means take advantage of things that let you scale up (and down) with your cash flow. Recurring revenue is nice but long-term obligations have a burden all of their own which can interfere in your growth stage. If you're not sure if you should spend money on something, sit on the decision until you absolutely have to. 'Nice to haves' are a major drain on cashflow in my experience and it took me far too long to realise that. Don't be afraid to contract work out to other people as long as you're getting a cut; they're trading on your good name after all. Don't be shy about ditching unproductive business relationships if people mess you around, I give people one chance and then blacklist them. Figure out a way of scaling up your business model, whether it means hiring more bodies or offering more automatically-provisioned services and gear everything around that approach. There is plenty of money out there if you're willing to graft for it. Best of luck!
What people are willing to pay for is to be shown how to use their new laptop, get it hooked up and make sure it's all working properly. This is what it sounds like you're doing, which is good. I'd suggest doing some easy to follow step-by-step guides on certain tasks that customers want to do (check their email, browse google, buy from Amazon etc), a printed copy goes down really well in my experience.
My more general advice is to keep your costs down as much as possible and be making profit from the word go. This means take advantage of things that let you scale up (and down) with your cash flow. Recurring revenue is nice but long-term obligations have a burden all of their own which can interfere in your growth stage. If you're not sure if you should spend money on something, sit on the decision until you absolutely have to. 'Nice to haves' are a major drain on cashflow in my experience and it took me far too long to realise that. Don't be afraid to contract work out to other people as long as you're getting a cut; they're trading on your good name after all. Don't be shy about ditching unproductive business relationships if people mess you around, I give people one chance and then blacklist them. Figure out a way of scaling up your business model, whether it means hiring more bodies or offering more automatically-provisioned services and gear everything around that approach. There is plenty of money out there if you're willing to graft for it. Best of luck!
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I would broadly concur with this. But then your employer is in the same situation. I doubt that you have much to loose no inflation proof pension and wall to wall sick leave as with local council/Government. A huge number of startups fail. Do your homework get all the free help available. Try not to become infatuated with the idea. Anyway good luck in whatever you decide
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Yes, I would offer that service. Setting up new laptops on wireless home networks etc.
The only thing with doing it on the side now is I can't really hand business cards out and go in local advertising magazines as my current boss is also in them lol.
Lets put it this way, my current boss hasn't really had to build up from the bottom. (mummy/daddy have £££)
If I was in a 30/40k a year job I would obviously reconsider. At the moment I just feel like im going know where and helping someone else do so :S
The only thing with doing it on the side now is I can't really hand business cards out and go in local advertising magazines as my current boss is also in them lol.
Lets put it this way, my current boss hasn't really had to build up from the bottom. (mummy/daddy have £££)
If I was in a 30/40k a year job I would obviously reconsider. At the moment I just feel like im going know where and helping someone else do so :S
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You absolutely need to build yourself a server and become full competent in the basics (AD DS, DNS, DHCP, IIS, Hyper V, RDP etc etc.) You will quickly find that if you want to make anywhere near what you're aiming for its all in business support. And having an amazing customer management system.
Soldato
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Might of already been said but start small, do a few jobs yourself and keep building it up until you can leave the place you work for. I wouldn't jump straight into it.
Soldato
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Another "go for it" here. What you can learn doing this, even if it doesn't work out straight away, is invaluable. Best of luck!
Howdy
I will have to go with NO
I am sure the other go for it people have run a successful IT business (and probably still are) but you need to think very carefully about this decision.
I did what you are thinking about approx 4.5 years ago, I quit my job and opened my own IT business and did pretty well at it. I broke even within 9 months and was in profit after that. I never lost any money but if I had to do it again I would have never bothered.
When you are self employed the buck stops with you. Get sick have to take time off = no money coming in. Whilst it does sound good to be the "master of your own destiny" it is a lot of pressure.
About 2.5 years in , still doing ok making money etc (not as much as I was when employed by a company) I decided I was bored doing it and wanted more of a challenge, so I got a full time job in R&D (software) and kept the business on part time, I still do some odd jobs etc and still sell stuff.
But I would not go back to self employed full time again
You have to work really really hard to keep things going and you will be working 6 days a week sometimes late into the evenings for a lot less then getting paid by someone else.
TLDR; it's a lot of work that might not work out for you, out of 100's of business starting out many do not last long at all.
I will have to go with NO
I am sure the other go for it people have run a successful IT business (and probably still are) but you need to think very carefully about this decision.
I did what you are thinking about approx 4.5 years ago, I quit my job and opened my own IT business and did pretty well at it. I broke even within 9 months and was in profit after that. I never lost any money but if I had to do it again I would have never bothered.
When you are self employed the buck stops with you. Get sick have to take time off = no money coming in. Whilst it does sound good to be the "master of your own destiny" it is a lot of pressure.
About 2.5 years in , still doing ok making money etc (not as much as I was when employed by a company) I decided I was bored doing it and wanted more of a challenge, so I got a full time job in R&D (software) and kept the business on part time, I still do some odd jobs etc and still sell stuff.
But I would not go back to self employed full time again
You have to work really really hard to keep things going and you will be working 6 days a week sometimes late into the evenings for a lot less then getting paid by someone else.
TLDR; it's a lot of work that might not work out for you, out of 100's of business starting out many do not last long at all.
Soldato
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- 4,095
I think going into a domestic PC support business would be a fools errand. Whatever market there is will continue to shrink for the reasons other people pointed out.
Find yourself a niche like data recovery, that is where the real money is.
Find yourself a niche like data recovery, that is where the real money is.
Niche ain't going to cut it, proper data recovery will require a clean room, I wonder if OP has got the money to fit out a clean room ?
Data recovery
Laptop/PC repairs
TV repairs
Console repairs
Sales of systems , parts etc
Call outs
Etc etc
Did all of these
Data recovery
Laptop/PC repairs
TV repairs
Console repairs
Sales of systems , parts etc
Call outs
Etc etc
Did all of these
You need to do some thinking, and reading. This route can be lucrative but make no mistake, it's hard work, and full of challenges.
For instance, self-employed or limited company. As self-employed, you are personally liable, so make sure you are thoroughly insured, some of which may be a legal requirement anyway, depending on how you operate. For a limited company, you aren't personally liable, but will have to fill in annual returns for Companies House, etc, and are subject to a vast array of company law. You still need insurance.
Either way, you'll have to fill in a tax return every year with either the self-employed or director supplements, or pay someone to do it for you. But even if you pay someone, an accountant, YOU are still the one HMRC hold liable if it's wrong.
Oh, and can you do your own accounts, or do you need to pay a bookeeper too? And perhaps establish contact with a solicitor because odds are, sooner or later, you'll need one.
If you have a car, don't forget to find out about extending cover for business use, or after an accident you may find yourself uninsured .... and prosecuted.
You also need to notify HMRC. There is a time limit on that, but I don't remember what it is.
What about VAT? You probably won't need to register straight away and if dealing with domestic customers it's almost certainly best not to. But if turnover exceeds their cutoff point, you have to register, and are liable for VAT you should have charged but didn't. If you have business customers, registration will be increasingly beneficial and many larger companies won't even consider you if you aren't. And, can you learn enough to handle VAT if you do your own books? And if, or when, you do register, which scheme?
The biggest single challenge, though, is getting the snowball rolling downhill.
Initially, you'll be pushing a rock uphill. It's called getting clients. How will you get them? Advert in local paper? It costs money and for any real benefit, you need it every week, long term. Leaflets through doors? Again, costs money, there's loads of competition, including from 'computer-literate' friends and family, and about 99.9% end up in the recycling 5 seconds after they're picked up.
The best method is reputation and word of mouth, but it's hard work initially and can take ages to get going. Eventually, if you're good and reasonably priced, with good customer service, it can work but it isn't easy getting that rock up the hill initially.
If, reading all that, you're put off, I'd suggest thinking hard about it because it isxa challenge, and really making it work is hard, long hours, loads of admin, etc. If you think it's a "grass in greener" route to easy success, think again.
If, on the other hand, you read all that and are itching to get going, it can be very rewarding, both as a challenge and financially. Just don't think you'll be the next Gates or Jobs doing this. You need to be pioneering the next trend, right time right place, for this. What you're proposing is the 21st century equivalent of a local painter, or jobbing handyman. It can provide a decent, comfortable living, if you put in the gruelling hours in the early years, but it is not an easy option.
Consider doing it part-time, evenings and weekends, to test the water. And if you don't want to give up evenings and weekends, forget the idea because you'll definitely be giving lots of them up if you do this full time.
I recovered peoples data (mainly photos) from dead laptops or laptops that wouldn't boot into Windows for a while. Easy as hell job just disconnect the hard drive and connect it to my desktop machine and copy over to a USB flash drive. People were willing to pay silly money sometimes for something that was taking me literally 30 minutes to do. I don't do this any more as ive got a really good job that pays well now.
If the pay is the problem, I'd recommend no.
It's probably true that you can make more doing what you're doing on your own than with your current employers, but it's a shrinking market that's likely to have challenges in the longer term. You'd be better off spending the time required to start the company learning other skills and trying to move to something that does survive better in the longer term.
It's probably true that you can make more doing what you're doing on your own than with your current employers, but it's a shrinking market that's likely to have challenges in the longer term. You'd be better off spending the time required to start the company learning other skills and trying to move to something that does survive better in the longer term.
Permabanned
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Don't forget marketing and customer base. This is your biggest move forward you will ever see in your business. Market Market Market
OP. Have you also considered that if you will be running your own BUSINESS then you're going to need to look at setting up your own company? You'll need to get your head around the whole tax thing as well. It's not just a case of putting up a website and doing work for cash in hand.
If you do decide to form your own company just be mindful that you can do it for £15 directly with company house where as some company formation companies charge in excess of £100 to do the same thing.
As others have said, get some money behind you BEFORE you start working for yourself. If the SHTF then at least you have something to fall back on.. oh and do not burn any bridges with former employees, you never know if you'll cross paths with them in the future!!
But at the end of the day if you want to go it alone by all means go for it, just take it slowly, build a good local reputation, and lower your expectations around the amount of money you will make in the initial few years.
If you do decide to form your own company just be mindful that you can do it for £15 directly with company house where as some company formation companies charge in excess of £100 to do the same thing.
As others have said, get some money behind you BEFORE you start working for yourself. If the SHTF then at least you have something to fall back on.. oh and do not burn any bridges with former employees, you never know if you'll cross paths with them in the future!!
But at the end of the day if you want to go it alone by all means go for it, just take it slowly, build a good local reputation, and lower your expectations around the amount of money you will make in the initial few years.
You'll need Public Liability insurance in case someone gets injured whilst you're visiting them (trips over a toolcase etc), Professional Indemnity insurance to cover you if you make a mistake and get sued, Cyber Liability in case you get hacked and someone steals data and a Homeworkers policy that will cover the liability of other peoples goods in your possession.
It shouldn't be too expensive but if you want to be properly covered it's all things to think about.