Telecoms Startup

[Demvaril]

Hi all,

New here. I was informed yesterday the company I work for is going into administration (mismanaged in my opinion) - so I'm starting my own company doing the same thing, Telecoms for businesses, as a sole trader. I was lead support for the company, doing all the installs and support. Mine will be all hosted in the cloud with 3CX. I'm in the North East and the company I work for is down South.

Any advice appreciated, I'm just dipping my toe in the water right now.

One thing, as its going into administration am I allowed to let current customers know I'm starting on my own? I assume the administrators will want to sell the customer base, which is quite substantial, around 500 companies are currently on the platform (which isn't 3CX).

Anyway - so I've registered as a partner with 3CX, I have a SIP trunk company who will also handle the billing for the calls made and I have a supplier for the physical handsets.

As soon as my employment is terminated by the administrators I'll be cold calling, emailing, leafleting and walking around as many businesses as I can. Any advice in this area would be great also, I'm reading through these forums now to see what help there is already. Need to get as many leads as possible.

Have a great day.

David.

 

[japancool]

Hmm.

First of all, let's assume you don't get these customers? What's your marketing plan? Who are your target customers? What's your USP?

Have you worked out your pricing and margins?

Are you really going to have time to do both installs and support?

Remember, if your customers are businesses, especially larger businesses, any issues with telecoms are time critical.

As an adjunct to the above, have you drawn up your contracts?

You really don't want to be a sole trader for this.

I've been in independent telecoms for 20 years, from all levels from small business to corporate (I never have, and never want to do consumer telecoms. It's not worth it). I may be able to help.

 

[cjd]

When you say you have a SIP Trunk company, do you mean you have a relationship with another telephone company or that you actually own it?

You might be interested in this as it takes away all the support, billing and regulatory issues but provides a lifetime income.

Technical Partner Programme

Join Voipfone UK Technical Partners: 10% commission on referrals. Recommend our VoIP services, open networks. Partner with us today for mutual growth and success!

www.voipfone.co.uk

 

[Demvaril]

Thanks for the reply.

Im quite sure I wont, I don't think its allowed - like I said the administrators will probably sell the customer base. As for the marketing plan, target customers and USP I'll be working on those this weekend. I was only told about the administration yesterday.

Yes I have pricing and margins.

I do installs and support now, there is another engineer but he does a different product set. I don't foresee any issues, its all cloud based and I can access the PBX from anywhere should an issue arise. The platform is quite solid, been using it over 2 years and not had any issues. As long as the customers network is connected up to the broadband to allow the phones and/or apps to connect to the 3CX cloud there wont be many issues, generally its adds moves and changes.

Contracts I'll have to look into, never really dealt with that side before so need to learn.

I'd rather not be a sole trader but I cant afford to pay someone so have to start that way.

I've also been in Telecoms a long time, 16 years now, from on premise NEC analogue and digital systems to on premise VOIP Shoretel to Broadworks solution in our DC and now rolling out 3CX fully hosted. Really love doing this job. Its all businesses I'll be aiming for don't want to touch consumer like yourself.

All help and assistance is greatly appreciated thank you.

 

[Demvaril]

When you say you have a SIP Trunk company, do you mean you have a relationship with another telephone company or that you actually own it?

You might be interested in this as it takes away all the support, billing and regulatory issues but provides a lifetime income.

I have a relationship with a SIP trunk company - not related to my current employer. They simply provide SIP trunking and billing the calls on those SIP trunks. They bill the customer directly but on my letterhead.

The company you linked to is pretty much what I'll be offering, except not broadband for now.

 

[japancool]

I'd rather not be a sole trader but I cant afford to pay someone so have to start that way.

It costs under £20 to form a limited company. While there is some extra administration burden, I would strongly recommend going this way if you want to target business customers. You'll also potentially want to register for VAT (in fact, it's probably mandatory if you're B2B).

Just be aware that telecoms is seen as a higher-risk industry in terms of insurance and finance.

Are you also providing the broadband connectivity? You may want to consider doing that, if not.

If you're going to target business customers, what size of customer are you aiming for? A large corporate will want a very different service than a two-man office. Who you are aiming at will dictate your marketing strategy. You spoke about leafletting, which suggests you're thinking about the smaller end of the market, is that right?

What segment did your current company aim at?

Once you're made redundant, there's nothing to stop you from contacting the customers. Do you have a personal relationship with any of them? In particular, with the IT mangers/decision makers? It's certainly not unknown for salespeoples and account managers to up sticks and take their customer base with them, I've been involved in a few of those.

 

[Demvaril]

It costs under £20 to form a limited company. While there is some extra administration burden, I would strongly recommend going this way if you want to target business customers. You'll also potentially want to register for VAT (in fact, it's probably mandatory if you're B2B).

Just be aware that telecoms is seen as a higher-risk industry in terms of insurance and finance.

Are you also providing the broadband connectivity? You may want to consider doing that, if not.

If you're going to target business customers, what size of customer are you aiming for? A large corporate will want a very different service than a two-man office. Who you are aiming at will dictate your marketing strategy. You spoke about leafletting, which suggests you're thinking about the smaller end of the market, is that right?

What segment did your current company aim at?

Once you're made redundant, there's nothing to stop you from contacting the customers. Do you have a personal relationship with any of them? In particular, with the IT mangers/decision makers? It's certainly not unknown for salespeoples and account managers to up sticks and take their customer base with them, I've been involved in a few of those.

Ah I misunderstood - I thought you meant don't do this on your own. Yes a limited company would probably be best and register for vat, thank you.

I wasnt going to do BB immediately, as I find it to be problematic - get more issues with BB going off than I do with the comms side.

I was aiming for SME's, anything from 3-4 people up to 100 - more users is more income but more adds moves and changes involved. But starting off with companies under 20 users - which is most of our platform where I am currently. Current platform aims for companies of all sizes, biggest is 140 users.

I do have a great relationship with most of them, a lot are the IT managers and decision makers. I will bear that in mind once I've been let go. There's a few I think would very much consider moving to me as its me they deal with all the time. Not guaranteed though.

 

[japancool]

I was aiming for SME's, anything from 3-4 people up to 100 - more users is more income but more adds moves and changes involved. But starting off with companies under 20 users - which is most of our platform where I am currently. Current platform aims for companies of all sizes, biggest is 140 users.

At the upper end of that range, people are moving to MS Teams calling. Most of our customers are expecting us to provide a complete Teams + calling solution.

Many are also looking for a complete comms solution (as in BB+comms), but as you say, the connectivity side is more problematic. Then again, we do get quite a few issues with users being unable to call particular destinations.

My concern would be that, particular for larger businesses, if something *does* go wrong, you'll need to be able to respond in a timely manner.

Under 20 is good. Local or national?

 

[Demvaril]

At the upper end of that range, people are moving to MS Teams calling. Most of our customers are expecting us to provide a complete Teams + calling solution.

Many are also looking for a complete comms solution (as in BB+comms), but as you say, the connectivity side is more problematic. Then again, we do get quite a few issues with users being unable to call particular destinations.

My concern would be that, particular for larger businesses, if something *does* go wrong, you'll need to be able to respond in a timely manner.

Under 20 is good. Local or national?

Urgh I hate Teams.

With calls to destinations issues I will miss not having direct access to the SBC. Be a case of raising it with the SIP trunk provider.

We have a culture here that the phone is picked up within 2 rings and any tickets in Zendesk are responded to with 1 minute - we also pride our support in not having any tickets in the queue by end of play.

More local - but I wont turn people away from wherever they are. I never visit site in this job as its simply a case of logging into the PBX and making a change. I can't remember the last time I visited a site.

 

[ahr56]

Hi all,

New here. I was informed yesterday the company I work for is going into administration (mismanaged in my opinion) - so I'm starting my own company doing the same thing, Telecoms for businesses, as a sole trader. I was lead support for the company, doing all the installs and support. Mine will be all hosted in the cloud with 3CX. I'm in the North East and the company I work for is down South.

Any advice appreciated, I'm just dipping my toe in the water right now.

One thing, as its going into administration am I allowed to let current customers know I'm starting on my own? I assume the administrators will want to sell the customer base, which is quite substantial, around 500 companies are currently on the platform (which isn't 3CX).

Anyway - so I've registered as a partner with 3CX, I have a SIP trunk company who will also handle the billing for the calls made and I have a supplier for the physical handsets.

As soon as my employment is terminated by the administrators I'll be cold calling, emailing, leafleting and walking around as many businesses as I can. Any advice in this area would be great also, I'm reading through these forums now to see what help there is already. Need to get as many leads as possible.

Have a great day.

David.

I say go for it - perfectly timed.

PS: do you need a business partner?

 

[Demvaril]

I say go for it - perfectly timed.

PS: do you need a business partner?

Hi AHR, business partner in what capacity?

 

[japancool]

Well, I might be interested in partnering as well. My expertise in telecoms is mostly billing and admin, but I get involved in all areas. It depends whether I can bring anything to your table. You sound like you've got most areas covered.

 

[Demvaril]

Well, I might be interested in partnering as well. My expertise in telecoms is mostly billing and admin, but I get involved in all areas. It depends whether I can bring anything to your table. You sound like you've got most areas covered.

Billing and admin is not something I have ever been involved with. The SIP Trunking partner will do billing for me but they take a huge cut of the profits.

I'm currently building a website and registering my new company.

Do you have your own company right now?

 

[ahr56]

Hi AHR, business partner in what capacity?

I can help with the admin involved with running a company (e.g. the accounting) and setting up systems.
Potentially branding etc too, but not sure what your position is on that currently (I also own a domain that could work in this space).

 

[japancool]

Billing and admin is not something I have ever been involved with. The SIP Trunking partner will do billing for me but they take a huge cut of the profits.

I'm currently building a website and registering my new company.

Do you have your own company right now?

I do, but it's not in telecoms. My ltd is for my side hustle - like you, my "real" job is for a company based down south (in London). I'm in Yorkshire. It might be worth having a chat to see if there's anything I can do for you.

 

[NickGrogan]

When you say you have a SIP Trunk company, do you mean you have a relationship with another telephone company or that you actually own it?

You might be interested in this as it takes away all the support, billing and regulatory issues but provides a lifetime income.

Technical Partner Programme

Join Voipfone UK Technical Partners: 10% commission on referrals. Recommend our VoIP services, open networks. Partner with us today for mutual growth and success!

www.voipfone.co.uk

Do you have a white-labeled option?

 

[NickGrogan]

We have a culture here that the phone is picked up within 2 rings and any tickets in Zendesk are responded to with 1 minute - we also pride our support in not having any tickets in the queue by end of play.

Why did they go bust and what will you do differently?

 

[cjd]

Do you have a white-labeled option?

Sorry, no.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Well, I might be interested in partnering as well. My expertise in telecoms is mostly billing and admin, but I get involved in all areas. It depends whether I can bring anything to your table. You sound like you've got most areas covered.

OP this is a good offer and the best offer you will get

 

[Pviegas]

Hi all,

New here. I was informed yesterday the company I work for is going into administration (mismanaged in my opinion) - so I'm starting my own company doing the same thing, Telecoms for businesses, as a sole trader. I was lead support for the company, doing all the installs and support. Mine will be all hosted in the cloud with 3CX. I'm in the North East and the company I work for is down South.

Any advice appreciated, I'm just dipping my toe in the water right now.

One thing, as its going into administration am I allowed to let current customers know I'm starting on my own? I assume the administrators will want to sell the customer base, which is quite substantial, around 500 companies are currently on the platform (which isn't 3CX).

Anyway - so I've registered as a partner with 3CX, I have a SIP trunk company who will also handle the billing for the calls made and I have a supplier for the physical handsets.

As soon as my employment is terminated by the administrators I'll be cold calling, emailing, leafleting and walking around as many businesses as I can. Any advice in this area would be great also, I'm reading through these forums now to see what help there is already. Need to get as many leads as possible.

Have a great day.

David.

Hi David,

I went through a quite similar situation at the company I was working for, but in my case, it was a systems development company rather than telecommunications. I understand the challenges you are facing now.

In my scenario, offering services to the clients of the company I was working for initially seemed to me a delicate ethical issue. However, after a while, I decided to leave the company. The company asked me to stay for an additional 2 months, during which I informed the clients that I would be leaving, as requested by the company. When explaining the reason for my departure, I mentioned that I was planning to start my own company. This, in fact, helped to secure some contracts initially.

Moreover, I took advantage of the contacts from the companies I was providing services to, and as soon as I left the company, I began scheduling informal meetings to discuss possible collaborations.

Your initiative has intrigued me, and I am curious to learn more about what you are planning with your company. Who knows, I could even become a future client.

Best wishes,

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

I have a relationship with a SIP trunk company - not related to my current employer. They simply provide SIP trunking and billing the calls on those SIP trunks. They bill the customer directly but on my letterhead.

The company you linked to is pretty much what I'll be offering, except not broadband for now.

Question: I know an MSP that's been around for more than 20 years which would like to sell VOIP solutions. They have a few hundred customers around the Welwyn area.

Just as an idea, could you white label a solution? So they do the selling and you do the implementation?

It's just a crazy idea that probably won't work but just wanted to ask.

 

[fisicx]

I'm currently building a website and registering my new company.

Just get a placeholder site set up with a sign up form and maybe some terms.

Until you have the business organised along with billing and a marketing plan there is little point in developing anything other than a very basic site. Which you can have set up in an hour.

 

[cjd]

I've been trying to not comment further on this but I do feel I have to.

Telecommunications is a regulated industry, you can't just set up as a one man band and call yourself a telephone company - though many do. If your company originates telephone calls in the UK you must comply with Ofcom's General Conditions of Entitlement and the European Electronic Communications Code - you need to become a member of an ombudsman scheme and have a resilient network capable of providing emergency service calls - even under failure conditions - just to mention two. Ofcom can fine up to 10% of revenue for non-compliance to its many General Conditions. There's a pile of grief ahead if you don't know the regulatory side of the industry.

General Conditions of Entitlement

www.ofcom.org.uk

But it does matter where you are in the chain, most small companies merely re-sell the actual Service Provider's services or have referral type deals (like ours) which sometimes gets them off the hook, but if you're originating calls yourself you fall under Ofcom's regs and it all gets very expensive and very hard. Many people think that telephony is just another IT service, it's not.

 

[japancool]

Ofcom can fine up to 10% of revenue for non-compliance to its many General Conditions. There's a pile of grief ahead if you don't know the regulatory side of the industry.

Indeed. For example, because of the nature of our clients (in a very security sensitive industry), we regularly get police requests for call data, which you must keep available for at least 6 years.

Many people think that telephony is just another IT service, it's not.

This! It is all too often treated this way, and invariably, it is almost always dealt with by IT managers with no understanding of it. Especially true when you provide mobiles. 20 years ago, many large companies had a dedicated mobile fleet manager.