Robert
5 Questions For Cloud Partners
No Cloud provider can ensure 100% uptime. Things can and will happen that are simply unpredictable. But you can outline all the options available to your client that will provide reliable, affordable failover protection for even when the unimaginable happens.
Not a week goes by where I’m not having a conversation with a client about Cloud services. Either I’m reaching out offering suggestions on how to implement new services, or more often, my clients are calling me first asking how they can start making the move.
It’s no wonder. Getting applications and data out of the local office and into the Cloud can bring new levels of productivity and possibly significant cost savings for a small business owner.
When having access to the Internet means having access to their company data, end-users can now work from just about anywhere, allowing for greater efficiency and faster, easier collaboration.
Safety of the data can also potentially be improved, through redundant backups to remote locations, as opposed to the single point-of-failure that localized tape backup represents.
And with software being provided as a service, businesses now have the opportunity to use the applications they need without having to make a steep initial investment in hardware required to run those apps.
But while moving to the Cloud can offer some strong and attractive benefits, it also opens up a whole new world of security concerns.
The End of the World?
I thought ringing in a new year was supposed to be a time for renewed optimism. A time where we should be celebrating all of the potential opportunities that that lay ahead.
So why do I feel like I’m surrounded by nothing but “gloom-and-doom” speak about the dismal future for IT Support Providers? Blog posts… forum chatter… even a recent CRN article talking about “major shakeouts” and huge declines that are coming for the MSP market…
“Managed Service Sales are too tough.”
“It’s too hard to grow an IT Support business in this economy.”
“Small providers can’t compete with the large MSP’s that are emerging.”
Maybe I don’t have the same crystal ball these guys are holding, but statements like these don’t sound like tell-tale signs of an industry in danger. Sounds more to me like the rants of a struggling computer consultant who hasn’t yet learned how to properly market and manage his or her MSP Business and is simply looking to point fingers.
When setting up a backup plan, many IT Support Providers stop at the simple step of buying a tape drive and instructing someone at the client site how to change the tape. But when your client’s business relies on critical information that simply can’t be lost, especially if that information is personal and private in nature – medical, financial, or legal data in particular – a single point of failure in the backup strategy can be a recipe for disaster.
Tape has remained the standard proposed solution for many IT Providers for several reasons. Tape is affordable, it’s reliable and it’s easily managed. However, there are many shortcomings that the support provider and client must be aware of if they are relying on Tape to get their business running again should a failure occur.
If you have the skill and ability to maintain a small business computer network, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t be able to start a computer consulting business of your own and become your own boss. I can promise you from personal experience, there is no more rewarding career choice that you can ever make than to become successfully self-employed.
It’s extremely easy to build a profitable client base when you build on a managed service model, and once you do, you will have an unmatched level of job security, no limit to the salary you can make, tremendous freedom in your daily schedule and more free time for your personal life than you can ever expect to have if you’re working for someone else.
With so many potential benefits, why would you choose to work for someone else?
Don’t think you can get enough clients?
Nonsense! If you setup your business under the correct model of flat-fee managed services, each of your clients will pay you a set fee each and every month (and I can show you how to guarantee to collect this fee on the FIRST of every month! No waiting 30, 60, 90 days for payment!) Small businesses with an average of 10 employees will gladly pay a managed service provider a fee of $1200 a month or more to know that their systems are monitored 24×7 and that support can be provided instantly (you can easily do both by using inexpensive, web based utilities). Just FOUR small clients can generate a stable, reliable salary of almost $58,000. ANYONE with a desire to succeed and a few decent pieces of marketing materials can land four or more small clients very quickly and easily.
Worried you can’t sell?
Let’s say instead of starting your own business, you chose to look for a new job instead. How different do you think going on an interview is from selling a potential client on your managed service? I’ll tell you how different… Selling to a potential client is WAY EASIER!
On a job interview, you’re probably competing with dozens, if not hundreds of other potential candidates. Many of which will probably have an equal if not greater level of experience than you do. But when you’re talking to a potential client for your computer consulting service, you’ll be competing with two or three other candidates at most. And if your potential client came to you through a referral (the greatest way to find new clients by the way), odds are, you won’t be competing with anyone!
When looking for new clients, you should be going to places where they are actually out looking for you (business networking, through referrals, through job ads the client placed, etc.). These businesses are already anxious to use your service. As long as you can show how your service can provide a benefit and value to this potential customer, you can make the sale.
Not sure if you’re qualified to run your own business?
If you can maintain a small business computer network, you’re qualified to run your own computer consulting business! Thanks to the inexpensive system monitoring and remote access applications available today, you can easily support a small but very profitable base of small business customers. Because you’ll be able to maintain your clients systems without having to run on-site for every little issue, and because you’ll be able to ensure a much more stable operating environment through your monitoring, you will be able to support your entire client base on just a few hours a day. Starting a computer consulting business as an Independent Computer Consultant requires almost zero startup capital and very little monthly overhead. By leveraging the use of current technology, there are few business opportunities available that are easier to start than that of an Independent Computer Consultant operating as a Managed Service Provider.
If you’re an Independent Computer Consultant, for you to compete against the larger MSP’s and IT Service Providers for your target small business customers, you need to offer something that sets you apart. Something that makes you unique that the other guys simply can’t or don’t provide. This “something” is called your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP.
The Managed Service Model works and is the only way to operate an IT Support Company profitably and successfully. Eventually, all support providers will move away from hourly support an onto the Managed Service Model. But when everyone is offering essentially the same thing… 24×7 monitoring, remote helpdesk support, flat-fee billing… what can you as an Independent Computer Consultant offer that’s different?
Well, it’s the fact that you’re an Independent Computer Consultant that will set you apart and give you a very distinct advantage over your larger competition.
I get calls all the time from small businesses owners inquiring about my service because they’re unhappy with their current provider and looking to make a change. What do you think is the #1 reason usually given for wanting someone new?
Their current provider isn’t responsive enough! The client often feels like they’re being treated as a lower priorty than some of their IT Provider’s larger clients. Or their consultant is continually late or reschedules on-site appointments. Or they simply don’t receive the level of communication they would appreciate and believe they deserve.
Why is this such a problem for so many larger Support Providers to address? Because there’s typically a large amount of overhead needed to support a large IT Support Firm. To remain profitable, they must maintain a large client base, while keeping expensive internal staff members to a minimum. It’s a difficult balance to achieve and often the consultants are simply spread too thin.
But an Independent Computer Consultant operating under a Managed Service Model only needs to maintain a very small client base to remain profitable. In fact, I’ve proven time and again how a single computer consultant can generate a full-time income while supporting only 4 small business clients and working a total average of about 10 hours a week, a large portion of which is performed remotely.
Because as an Independent Computer Consultant you now only need a few clients to thrive as a successful business, and you can maintain these clients on such a flexible schedule, it’s very easy to provide a level of dedication and attention to your customers that your larger competition simply can’t match.
You can approach a potential new client and state, “I currently maintain a client base of “(number of)” clients, all of which will be glad to provide a glowing recommendation. I never maintain a base of any more than (number of) clients at any one time, so that I can be sure to give each and every one of my loyal customers the level of dedication and attention they deserve.”
You can easily show that you can provide the same level of monitoring and remote support that any large provider can offer. But it’s this level of personalized support that the small business owner craves, and knowing that they will have an expert IT Support Person who’s dedicated to them is what will help you win the contracts and beat out your competitors every time.
Of course, your clients will want to know how you intend to support them when you’re sick or on vacation. This is easily accomplished by creating a partnership with another consultant or support provider. But this is a subject for another post.
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