New IT startup. Advice please.

[midlandnetworking]

This is my first post here so Il introduce myself.
I'm David, I've been working in the IT Industry for around 8 years now.
I'm 30 now and in June I was made redundant from my IT sales job. Id always wanted to start my own business up so I thought there is no better time than the present. My background is mainly IT support and more recently IT sales.
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I'm currently advertising in a local magazine doing mainly home's and the odd local business. I did attend a local BNI business network meeting, and although it seemed good I havnt got the funds at the moment to fork out on the joining fee costs.
I'm still in the progress of building the company's website and working on how its all going to function etc.
So far I've:
*Made quite a few cold calls with not a great response. I think most companies get sick of IT companies calling them!
*Advertised in local magazine at a cost of £25 per month (readership 10k)

I'm currently designing a flyer to be distributed to the local business parks.

Can anyone advise or give me tips on a good flyer design?

I would appreciate any tips on design layout and wording.
Should I mention price or include an offer?
Should i have a flyer or would a letter be better?
Printed on home laser printer in b/w on good quality card or professionally printed? I already have colour printed letter heads
I want people to see it and think I must call ASAP.

Any other advice you can offer a new IT business will be gratefully received in light of gaining new customers. Also what do you think to my website?
Thanks
David
Midlandnetworking.co.uk

 

[telemax]

Hi

How many calls do you mean by Quite a few Cold calls?

I have worked telemarketing on behalf of several IT support companies. You need to be making 500 calls per week for at least 3 months to see any benefit from it. It's an enourmous effort and many people are not prepared to see it through.

It's certainly doable but you need the commitment

Jonathan

 

[Ecler]

Hi David

I can't really help with flyers but to be honest I think you'd get more by finishing your website first and put a marketing strategy in place so that you can generate leads for your new business.
Offers are really good but as far as I can see people looking for IT experts will really want to see references / track record of what you can do as well as attractive prices.

I know I'm may be a little biased here, but I'd suggest you focus on online activites to get your name out there. Why not put an ad on gumtree (free) and register in free directories. Spend some time optimising your website for search engines and carefully study your target market.
if you want to work for SMEs, then find out which forums your audience is likely to use and get involved in discussions, give advice like people do here. A lot can be achieved for free online if you're organised.

Hope this helps

Etienne

 

[chip_y2kuk]

Hi,

i'm in a similar situation (not made redundant, just graduated and can't find a job)

i went to vistaprint and ordered flyers, business cards, and a website,

The way i figure it is if people want me they will call me, i just need to make sure they know i exist and the number they need to call me on.

They all matched (corporate image) and it was really easy to do on their website.

then i startd sticking them in places i knew people would see them,

shops, shopping centers

i handed people business cards and they in turn have handed them out
i handed some business cards out myself
people have recommended me (word of mouth)

Then you have to wait (the waiting has been the hardest for me)

and slowly but surely the calls are flowing in (it's been about two weeks)

there's lots of good advice and information on here so i would have a look around

joe

 

[midlandnetworking]

<<Offers are really good but as far as I can see people looking for IT experts will really want to see references / track record of what you can do as well as attractive prices.>>


Thanks for you advice - I was unsure if to offer pricing on the site - do you think this is a good thing? I want to be as transparent as possible and after working for a few cowboys in the past I know that some people are put off by IT companies.

Jonathan at Telemax - Thank you also for your response. I have been calling about 200 people a week. I guess I need top up this level.

 

[chip_y2kuk]

surely if you put prices on your website then the image i thought it would be portraying to customers is this is what i can do and this is how much it's going to cost (an inflexible type stance)


and i've worked for a few cowboys in the past and so decided to go with an "honest" pricing strategy

which means:

I don't charge to look at a job
i don't charge per hour
i do my best to give the customer an upfront cost to do the work
i am as honest as i can be
there's no call out charge ( i feel really tight charging people £35+ for stepping onto their property)

and i've found this honest approach and people spreading the word round for me has done me well so far

i've worked for companies that have charged someone £70 for a couple of hours labour but we didn't have the parts so we had to go back and that was another £35 plus the parts.

at the same time, i'm slowly learning we have to make money as companies and we have to place a value on our time and skill's.

hope that helps a little bit

joe

 

[KM-Tiger]

IT is a broad field and there are lots of IT companies, so you might do well to define your area of expertise, and perhaps find a speciality that will make you stand out from the crowd.

Just a small example, but I get a fair few enquiries to sort out 3G dongles on Linux laptops. I don't actually deal with end users so I pass those on to someone else, but there must be a small gap in the market for the enquiries to come my way.

 

[Pete Crane]

Personally I wouldn't put pricing on the site to be honest. Better to have a little flexibility and from bitter experience some people only need the tiniest excuse to do it themselves - which is easily the most common reason why so many companies have some of the most appalling security issues for example.

 

[JamesCartwright]

Have you considered advertising with Google Adwords instead? It may have better conversion rates than flyers...

 

[jonathan.kempson]

There are a lot of IT companies out there, so you need to be clear about what you do and who you can realistically do it for.

If you have specialist skills, then you'll probably lead with those.

If your skills are general, it's just you initially, and you intend to be mainly selling your own time, then that suggests that you'll be working with consumers and/or small businesses, and your initial pitch will probably just be low price.

I agree with the suggestion of sorting your website out, but mainly because it will force you to think through what you do and what you want to say to potential customers .. and why anyone reading your site would take things further.

 

[n7 Studios]

Your site didn't sell you or your services to me very well. There was no mention of your experience or immediate skillset when I arrived on the home page. I don't know if you're catering for SOHO users or big business.

I feel that the business is essentially you, so sell yourself to your prospective clients. You're not a faceless, large IT company - so don't make your website portray that you are. The few clients I have on the IT support side have made a point of saying they prefer a single point of contact who's professional.

Keep both a broad range of services available, as well as some detailed specifics. I wouldn't post prices; but certainly promote your practices i.e. no call out fee, or whatever you decide to do.

You're bound to have made contacts from your experience in the industry. Use them. They're far easier to convert than cold calling. Tell them what you're doing (not sell) - you'll be surprised how word of mouth works; if they don't ask if you can do some work for them, someone else will. I appreciate your terms of employment may have a clause meaning you can't do this, so tread carefully.

 

[midlandnetworking]

Ok thanks for your advice I will have a look at my site tonight and review. I would be grateful for any constructive feedback tomorrow. Thanks.

David

 

[Nathankeane]

Hi,

In today's competitive based business world, businesses need to have an edge over their competition in order to secure new customers as well as keep current customers satisfied.

One way to do this is through sales training. It is important for your sales force to understand that they are the key to the success of your business. Finding new prospects on a daily basis can be difficult, however, with sales training, they are taught the most important aspects of sales from beginning to end.

 

[-Will101-]

Hi David,

I have a friend who runs an IT support company for local businesses – sounds similar to what you are trying to achieve. She swears by BNI. They get all their business through BNI, other networking events and referrals. I am not a member of BNI for the same reason as you –joining fee.

I guess you will have a similar problem to us in that not many people go looking for an IT services company as there are quite a few about. On this basis I would wonder if using Google etc. to generate leads would actually work?

I think relationships with small, local businesses are going to be key so networking, referrals etc.

Best of luck and good for you, taking the step to start up on your own.
Will