Management Articles

Computer Consulting Profit Secrets

Learn Management Articles on management-info.biz. Computer Consulting Profit Secrets article will help answer your questions on Management Articles.We at management-info.biz specialize in Management Articles. Management Articles at management-info.biz provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

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 7 profit secrets and strategies you can use in your computer consulting business, to ensure that you are able to balance your clients’ small business IT needs against your own computer consulting company’s 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 a computer consulting firm.

This usually happens because many computer consulting business owners fall in love the technology gadgetry, and get seduced by seemingly attractive reseller channel programs, at the expense of their business’ profit.

At the end of the day however, your computer consulting company is a business… not a charity and not a hobby. And 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. So always be on the look out for new ways to enhance your clients' businesses… not just fix broken desktops and servers.

Profit Secret #2: Be dedicated to the task 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. So 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. And 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 of the box when appropriate.

Profit Secret #4: Evaluate how your clients' systems, both paper- and computer-based, function today. As part of your virtual CIO role, look at how these existing clients 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 and think about what THEIR clients need from them. 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 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. So 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 that 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? And how you can best summarize this information, in layperson language that non-technical clients can understand?

The Bottom Line Your computer consulting firm’s needs 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 strap, 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 http://www.computer-consulting-101.com

I recently had the distinct pleasure of meeting up with Mary Jo Foley in Vancouver during TechDays as she was our guest on a special edition of the AlignIT Manager Tech Talk series. She’s put together this guest post for the blog on what you need to know as an IT manager and shared her tips on how best to keep up to date. Enjoy!

---

After having the opportunity to talk with a number of IT managers in Vancouver during Tech Days in November, I came to a few realizations.

What Canadian techies want to know is not so very different from what U.S. techies do. And like their U.S. counterparts, Canadian IT professionals want to know how they can find reliable, timely information that will help them do their jobs better.

Ruth Morton, a Microsoft Tech Evangelist and host of the AlignIT IT Manager Podcast Series, is the one who got me thinking about the "how" question last week, when she asked me to give IT managers some ideas for staying abreast about what's going on at Microsoft.

The way I -- a full-time Microsoft watcher -- stay up-to-date about IT matters is a multi-pronged process:

• Make sure to watch and listen closely for information about new products and directional shifts. Remember when former Server and Tools Chief Bob Muglia said over a year ago that Microsoft's strategy with Silverlight had "shifted"? That was key for IT managers who were thinking about the extent to which to bet on Silverlight, Microsoft's rich-media plug-in and development tool. Some may have opted to consider other options, including HTML5, JavaScript and CSS, for certain new dev projects.
• Be on the look out for roadmaps. This is where Microsoft conferences and blog posts can be handy. At certain shows, Microsoft execs may be more willing to flash a roadmap slide during an in-depth talk. And every once in a while, teams decide they can share more information via blog posts. (Subscribing to favorite blogs via RSS, while no longer, "trendy," can help you make sure not to miss the occasional roadmap post.)
• Filter, filter, filter. There are more technology blogs cropping up every day. But not all blogs (or bloggers) are created equal. Look for blogs and authors who seem to be clued in and who have a good accuracy track record. While it's easy to be caught up in the latest hot rumor on TechMeme, remember that there's pressure like never before on journalists and bloggers to get clicks. Volume doesn't equal quality; rumors aren't the same as well-sourced reports.
• Don't be afraid to use social media to ask questions. It's next-to-impossible to be an expert on every new technology. But the Web is full of experts in particular domains. Ask questions using Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social-media channels and you'll quickly find a number of subject-matter experts willing to share what they know. I've had good success gathering timely information via Twitter on everything from System Center, to Windows 8. A quick Twitter exchange often leads to email address sharing, allowing more in-depth, private conversations.

Next year, 2012, is going to be one of Microsoft's biggest launch years in the company's history. If the tipsters and roadmaps are right, Microsoft will be delivering SQL Server 2012, System Center 2012, Windows 8, Office "15," Visual Studio 2012, new versions of Dynamics CRM and ERP -- and cloud complements to all of these products -- before the year is over. Keeping up with all the coming changes can be a full-time job (and is, for me). Being smart about staying current with the latest tech trends is more important than ever.

Bonus Links

• Microsoft: Our strategy with Silverlight has shifted
• Microsoft server roadmaps: A free webcast and cheat sheet 
• New System Center, SQL Server releases on tap for early 2012
• Keeping track of the Microsoft codenames

About Mary Jo

Mary Jo Foley has been a tech journalist for more than 25 years. She has worked for a variety of tech publications and Web sites, including PCWeek/eWeek, CRN and ZDNet. She is the editor of the "All About Microsoft" blog on ZDNet, and the author of the book "Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era" (John Wiley & Sons). She also is the co-host of the Windows Weekly show on the TWiT network and a frequent commentator and speaker on all things Microsoft-related on TV, radio, podcasts and at industry events.

More Articles: