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IT Consulting Company Startup

sivle35sivle35 subscriber Posts: 1
edited July 2013 in Business Planning
I have been in IT for over 13 years and am pretty much a jack of all trades. I have a current full time job but I'm working toward starting my own IT consulting business. I'm struggling with figuring out how to find someone that can work with me as a subcontractor to help me when something comes up that I simply can't get to due to my current job and/or an issue that falls outside of my technical abilities. Has anyone else been successful at starting a consulting company that they eventually jumped into full time and left their job for? Did you hire someone to help you during this process? I really need some suggestions on how to find people (interns, freelancers, other IT consulting companies, temp agencies, etc.) and how to balance what you charge your clients with paying for this person. For example, if my client is paying me $500 per month but I have to send out a tech for a major issue and I have to pay that person $45 per hour, I worry that I'd end up losing my rear on hourly fees to my employee vs. what my client is paying. Any thoughts, advice, etc. would be greatly appreciated!
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Comments

  • vphat28vphat28 subscriber Posts: 0
    You can outsource your works to some developing country like Vietnam. Here the goods here are quite low so it allow us to charge less. Let me know if you need a service on IT. Best luck on your startup
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  • LeaseQ1LeaseQ1 subscriber Posts: 2
    In order to keep the costs down you would need to have a good business plan. Find out everything you can for the business you are planning to start. What are the market rates and other costs involved. I would suggest you can do a trial basis for 1 client and see how it goes with your time management but yes one alternative solution is to outsource. Also if you would be needing equipments for your business in the future i would suggest to lease and not buy them so you have a greater control of your cash flow.
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  • BusinessLoansBusinessLoans subscriber Posts: 0
    Welcome to the business world. If you don't have time or the knowledge - then don't accept that job. Or, set a base rate with your client. If you have to pay someone $45 an hour - then charge your customers say $55 per hour and bill them in hour increments instead of flat fees. If you don't what to bill hourly, then make your subcontractor also accept a flat fee. Thus, if you charge $500, tell the sub that you will pay them $400 when the job is done.
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