Why did I think of this type of business?
I'm currently in the IT field and I've been doing research about various IT businesses that are built around being scalable. The fastest growing businesses I'm seeing in this field are Managed Service Providers which makes a lot of sense and I have an idea to start one. Some of the more well established MSP's are bringing in 100m or more a year in revenue's. These businesses are built around providing proactive monitoring services for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Usually charging anywhere from $10-$200 per computer device depending on what it is.
What's customer's need?
I'm still trying to recognize the entire need so this is me assuming; Businesses depend and need their servers and network devices to be up and functioning as much as possible. Down time equals a lot of lost revenue for a lot of companies. Providing IT services that are proactive rather than reactive waiting for the business to call once their critical server is down would be a huge benefit. Proactive services would include monthly server checks, software updates, and dispatching a tech as soon as we're alerted that the device is down.
Who's the competition?
There's some local competition in my area but I believe I can beat them with better marketing and focusing on providing managed services first and consulting services second or do away with consulting all together. A lot of the IT businesses around here appear to focus the other way around. However there's a MSP providing network monitoring services pulling 50m a year in revenues but they service businesses nationwide and not a huge focus on local so not a direct competitor I don't think. Another thing this company has over me is that they have their own equipment and call center to provide monitoring. I wouldn't be able to do this right off the bat so I would need to use some reseller services from other well established MSP's.
How will I setup this business?
I would use top rated local IT contractors from onforce.com or workforce.com whenever a dispatch out to the customers site was needed rather that's for a monthly check up or a service that's down. I would network with businesses through chamber of commerce and other events along with direct mail marketing and internet marketing. I was thinking about offering a month of service free for one device a business has as a way to prove my concept to the customer and show them how I can solve their need. The only thing is that I would I have to pay for this out of pocket for that month but it shouldn't be much more than $50 to do so.
When will I get this running?
My first goal would be to go ahead and spend a few weeks setting up the contract agreements, legal stuff, and tax stuff with professional account and lawyer. Also fine tune the plan setup the services, and build the website. The second goal would be to land 3 customers within 6 months. The end goal would be to have this business doing 3m-5m in yearly revenues.
Would love for you all to poke holes in my plans or offer any suggestions, even if its just telling me I'm stupid and should go back to the drawing board lol!
I'm currently in the IT field and I've been doing research about various IT businesses that are built around being scalable. The fastest growing businesses I'm seeing in this field are Managed Service Providers which makes a lot of sense and I have an idea to start one. Some of the more well established MSP's are bringing in 100m or more a year in revenue's. These businesses are built around providing proactive monitoring services for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Usually charging anywhere from $10-$200 per computer device depending on what it is.
What's customer's need?
I'm still trying to recognize the entire need so this is me assuming; Businesses depend and need their servers and network devices to be up and functioning as much as possible. Down time equals a lot of lost revenue for a lot of companies. Providing IT services that are proactive rather than reactive waiting for the business to call once their critical server is down would be a huge benefit. Proactive services would include monthly server checks, software updates, and dispatching a tech as soon as we're alerted that the device is down.
Who's the competition?
There's some local competition in my area but I believe I can beat them with better marketing and focusing on providing managed services first and consulting services second or do away with consulting all together. A lot of the IT businesses around here appear to focus the other way around. However there's a MSP providing network monitoring services pulling 50m a year in revenues but they service businesses nationwide and not a huge focus on local so not a direct competitor I don't think. Another thing this company has over me is that they have their own equipment and call center to provide monitoring. I wouldn't be able to do this right off the bat so I would need to use some reseller services from other well established MSP's.
How will I setup this business?
I would use top rated local IT contractors from onforce.com or workforce.com whenever a dispatch out to the customers site was needed rather that's for a monthly check up or a service that's down. I would network with businesses through chamber of commerce and other events along with direct mail marketing and internet marketing. I was thinking about offering a month of service free for one device a business has as a way to prove my concept to the customer and show them how I can solve their need. The only thing is that I would I have to pay for this out of pocket for that month but it shouldn't be much more than $50 to do so.
When will I get this running?
My first goal would be to go ahead and spend a few weeks setting up the contract agreements, legal stuff, and tax stuff with professional account and lawyer. Also fine tune the plan setup the services, and build the website. The second goal would be to land 3 customers within 6 months. The end goal would be to have this business doing 3m-5m in yearly revenues.
Would love for you all to poke holes in my plans or offer any suggestions, even if its just telling me I'm stupid and should go back to the drawing board lol!
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