How to Start a Computer Consultant Company
Companies hire consultants because they have specific problems that they need to solve. Computer consultants may be called in to rescue a failing IT or software development project, implement a specific short-term IT project, perform upgrades or incident response, repair computer equipment or act as temporary IT managers. Starting a computer consulting company will give you exposure to a constant variety of interesting problems to solve.
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Instructions
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Determine your specialty. Consultants should be experts at the top of their field and skill sets, so narrow your offerings down to those specialties in which you can truly claim expertise and experience. Some consultants focus on selecting or implementing particular software packages such as SAP, and others focus on technical domain knowledge such as information security, server repair or database management.
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Research and understand your customers. In order to have a successful business, you'll need to have a large and growing supply of potential customers and will need to intimately understand their needs. Determine what companies in your area or industry are likely to have the types of problems that you can solve. Then research how many of those companies are, how often they use consulting services and how much they spend, and what types of services you can offer them that they would consider most valuable.
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Set up your business. You will need to file for a business license through your state website, open a business bank account, consult with a CPA or attorney on the best legal structure for your company and how to file your taxes, and have business cards made. You may want to get a business credit card in order to start establishing credit under your business name before you need to apply for loans or lines of credit. A professional website is a must.
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Price your services competitively. Research what your competitors are charging and whether they do so by the hour or by the project or by some other method. Avoid underpricing your services in the hopes of capturing more clients or undercutting your competition. This risks giving the impression that your consulting services are not as valuable as those of your competitors, and risks locking you into contracts and rates you will later be unable to sustain.
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Market your services. Because your product is essentially your time and expertise, you must spend a great deal of effort in establishing your credibility and reputation. Expend extra efforts on getting referrals from your contacts within your industry as well as publishing white papers or how-to articles, and doing some public speaking or pro bono work. In the beginning you may spend 90% of your time on marketing and only 10% on actually doing consulting work. As your business expands this proportion will reverse, but you will never stop marketing. Expect to spend six to 12 months marketing yourself before you start to see work roll in.
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