Do you own or manage a computer consulting company? Are you having trouble growing your computer consulting company's profits? If so, then you must learn how to focus on your computer consulting firm's profit and bottom line.
In this article, we'll look at seven profit secrets and strategies you can use in your computer consulting business to ensure that you balance your clients' small business IT needs against your own profitability challenges.
Origins of the Problem
While focusing on your computer consulting profits may sound simple enough at first glance, this business-focused discipline often eludes many computer consulting firms.
This usually happens because many computer consulting business owners fall in love with technology gadgetry and get seduced by seemingly attractive reseller channel programs at the expense of their business's profit.
At the end of the day, however, your computer consulting company is a business… not a charity and not a hobby. Your computer consulting company must be run like a business.
Profit Secret #1: Show Motivation with Your Small Business Computer Consulting Clients
To avoid being labeled as just another clueless geek, you need to position your computer consulting services to be more in line with those of a virtual CIO for hire. Always be on the lookout for new ways to enhance your clients' businesses, not just fix broken desktops and servers.
Profit Secret #2: Be Dedicated and Relentless in Your Pursuit to Improve the Status Quo
Because it takes a lot of work to land the best computer consulting clients, you need to focus on lifetime customer value, not just one-shot-deal sales. Always remember that your proposed or recently implemented computer consulting technology solution isn't a one-shot deal. This kind of long-term vision and planning requires tremendous staying power and perseverance, which often escapes many computer consulting business owners.
Profit Secret #3: Don't Be Afraid to Be Creative with Your Client Engagements
Small business technology solutions often need to stay within relatively modest budgets. Your computer consulting solutions must work without the need for in-house IT staff. To satisfy these challenges, don't be afraid to think outside the box when appropriate.
Profit Secret #4: Evaluate How Your Clients' Systems Function Today
As part of your virtual CIO role, look at how these existing client systems are meeting or not meeting present and future needs. Most of this work will be done during IT audits, another key computer consulting profit secret that can really help to separate you from the pack of mediocrity.
Profit Secret #5: Put Yourself in Your Clients' Shoes
Yes, as a computer consulting business owner, you need to have good people skills and a certain degree of empathy for your clients' business problems. But an even more advanced computer consulting business owner doesn't just stop at understanding their clients' business problems. The virtual CIO really digs in and learns about their clients' customers' business problems, one layer down on the value chain.
Profit Secret #6: Keep Up with Advances and New Versions
As a virtual CIO for your computer consulting clients, your clients depend on your firm to advise them on what tools can better help their businesses grow. While you can't allow this R&D and training to consume and devour all of your scarce weekly schedule, you do need to stay a few steps ahead of your clients' IT needs at all times.
Profit Secret #7: Summarize and Share Information with Your Clients
The essence of your R&D and training should focus on one major objective: will this new platform or tool add value to your computer consulting clients' existing or future installations? How can you best summarize this information in layperson language that non-technical clients can understand?
The Bottom Line
Your computer consulting firm's need to be your client's virtual IT department can often be at odds with your computer consulting firm's need to be profitable. A big part of this problem happens because computer consulting business owners fall in love with technology at the expense of their marketing and sales activities.
To make sure you don't fall into this same trap, which can kill your computer consulting profits, don't go overboard with your training and R&D activities. Be sure to keep business development activities in your weekly schedule every week. If you want to keep your computer consulting profits as healthy as possible, make sure that you're proactive in your marketing and sales activities. Dig the well for computer consulting profits before you're thirsty. And a great way to start is by listening to the profit-generating secrets at Computer Consulting 101.
