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Looking for a Mentor or Advice

tigresatigresa subscriber Posts: 1
edited August 2007 in Business Planning
I`ve been in the computer field for about 10+ years now and find my self loving every minute of it.  Which is why I have been pondering the idea of starting my own business.  I would like to get advice on starting a new home based computer consulting business.  What are some pointers anyone with business knowlodge can offer me. 
Thank you
Tatiana

Comments

  • DaleKingDaleKing subscriber Posts: 141
    Tatiana, learn everything you can about the ins and outs of marketing. Also, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of  How To Male At Least $100,000 Every Year As A Successful Consultant In Your Own Field by Dr. Jeffrey Lant.
    Dale King
  • WebDropsWebDrops subscriber Posts: 3
    woah!! 10 years is a big time... I would suggest select a business... depending upon your current domain area in computer industry...
  • patentandtrademarkpatentandtrademark subscriber Posts: 103
    Tatiana, learn everything you can about the ins and outs of patent and trademark law.
  • iouone2iouone2 subscriber Posts: 14
    To be honest I really don`t understand the question clear enough. When you ask, "What are some pointers anyone with business knowledge can offer me?" do you mean in general or more specific? Are you looking for knowledge the computer consulting industry or the home based business industry... or how to gain clients while working from home... or how to start and become established?Anyway, I`m not exactly sure of the knowledge you already have. Where should I start?Do you have contacts that would recommend you? How do you plan to obtain customers?
  • tigresatigresa subscriber Posts: 1
    thanks so much for the advice,
  • robertjrobertj subscriber Posts: 0 Member
    Tatiana,
    Have you started your own business?
  • Wise1GuideWise1Guide subscriber Posts: 1
    Tatiana:
     
    As others have noted, loving what you do is critical.  So, I am going to ask the really key question:  you have worked 10 years in the computer field, but have you been doing consulting work?  I started my own business after 18 years in computer programming, and project management and being Director of IT for a huge corporation.  Then I walked away from it to start my own computer consulting business.  And then I came to the realization that while I thought I loved computers, what I really loved was computer programming.  Starting up and running a business, especially a consulting business, requires an entirely different skill set than what I really enjoyed.  Although I was able to do the consulting work, and my clients were happy with the work, I didn`t love doing it.  I have since closed that business and gone back to computer programming, doing what I truly love to do.
     
    So, to shorten up this long story: make sure that you love what you will be doing, not just the industry.  Good luck!
  • Benji145Benji145 subscriber Posts: 0
    You can build your own website and provide free consulting service at first. Then you can charge for your service when many people have known your site and ask for help.
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