Some honest advice needed

[andrew1810]

As a bit of background, I've been self-employed for just over a year selling wireless music streamers which for a few reasons hasn't taken off.

I am now thinking of moving into IT Support (I've done it in a permanent role before) for small businesses in Northumberland, but at the same time I have been for a few interviews for full-time support positions.

I would really much prefer working for myself as it allows me to be more hands-on and meet more people, but once bitten, twice shy and I'm worried that 6 months - 1 year on I'll look back and regret it.

Do you think there is a market for such a service and I should push ahead with it?

If so, any recommendations on marketing/advertising it on a limited budget? I have put together a website, but that is it so far.

Thanks in advance

Andrew

 

[Toon]

Can you afford for it not to work? In other words if you concentrate on this and it makes you no money - how are you going to pay the bills? I would suggest you possibly concentrate on it part time whilst holding down another full/part time job. If you see things are going well then either reduce your working hours or take the plunge and do it full time.

 

[andrew1810]

I can technically afford it if it all goes wrong as I'm still living at home and have a part-time data entry job a couple of days a week to pay for the few bills I have.

I'm just concerned that a year on I won't have made any money whilst people I knew from uni will have progressed through their careers a bit more, have houses etc.

 

[PI Guy]

I agree with toon, bills have to be paid.

 

[a-okadmin]

Hi Andrew,

I don't think you should worry too much about comparing yourself with other people from Uni. I think you should focus on what your own goals and ambitions are. Decide what is more important to you, not other people, and what will make you happy.
Working for yourself is of course a gamble, but one that could pay off in more ways than one if you do your research and are prepared to put the hours in.

Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[Arhiann]

If you have a safety net to fall back on the tendency can be not to work too hard to make an idea work. If an idea has to work, and it's fairly sound in principle, then I think you will have the motivation to make it work.

The business idea you are proposing works for a few companies locally, though obviously I can't speak for the area you are in. If you have the expertise, and there is a large enough business community in your area I would think it would be OK; the only thing that may work against you is your age (I assume you aren't long out of uni).

It's easy enough to test the market though. You already work in data entry, so it will be easy enough to create a custom mailing list from YP or any other number of resources for little more investment than your own time, and a well constructed letter sent to the right companies will give you an idea of whether it's a non starter or not. I doubt it would cost more than £500 or so to do a reasonable sized mailshot to check out interest, and an even rougher guide could be quickly gauged by picking up the phone.

Rob

 

[falconinternetlimited]

Andrew,

As per the previous posts I would suggest that if you can afford to do so, then I would definitely give it a shot BUT ONLY if you believe in yourself that you can make a go of this.
Starting out in business you have to be so dull of self-belief because if you are not, no one else will believe in you.
I think there is a market for this type of service. There are plenty of people who need help setting up their home systems and having maintenance done.

With regards to your original post - it's funny, we started selling thse kits about a year ago but I feel we were a little ahead of the market. PC & Consumer markets convergence is still very much in it's infancy, but as soon as the likes of Sony, Sky, Microsoft etc get their heads around it, and find their natural position instead of trying to dominate the whole space, that whole area will take-off - and there will be plenty of help need to sort out their home environments.

I would go for it. Get some initial customers. Sign them up for twice yearly maintenace visits. Suggest upgrades to their equipment when needed and do that for them. Let them spread the word etc etc. You could soon have quite a lot of recurring business on your hands.

the challenge is to get yourself out there are get a few customers out there saying worthy things about your service./

Good Luck!

Rupert

 

[nickmartni85]

I would go for it, not exactly suer what one is though. It plays music from your PC wirelessly?

 

[mia]

If you believe you can do it, you should go for it. Otherwise you will alway have that 'what if...' question. A goo dway might be to partner with some local retailers and go from there. Good luck!

 

[andrew1810]

Thanks for the advice, I think I'll probably give it a go and see what happens.

I've been looking into servers and could probably put together an email/file/web/print server for around £200, so that could be a good selling point.

Thanks again

Andrew

 

[Marketingmind]

The first I would say is it might help when you are starting out to look at it this way - "You are not in the IT Support market. You are in the business of marketing your IT support services. You could be the best IT support technician in the world but if no one knows about it you will never be hired.

The good thing is there are plenty of options for marketing your business!

One of the most difficult things for new businesses is no one trusts you or believes you will do a good job and if you try and sell that to them they run scared. So one of the ways of achieving this is to give them something first. The way you can show of your expertise, biuld up some trust show them you really are good at the job.

You could do this by providing your target market with a help guide on how to do some of the very basic things on the computer or a how to guide. you know more about what you over and what your ta4rget market needs than I do but you get the jist. You could give away a free report on your website and maybe capture email addresses.

That way all the email addresses you have collected are people who have already said "Hey I'm interested in your services," and who better do you want for potential customers?

Best Wishes

J
Marketing Mind - "Helping You Grow Your Business"