Many
small business IT consultants wonder as they are starting their
businesses whether or not they should do computer maintenance contract
subcontracting for national service organizations.
The simple answer is, “NO!” Essentially, you will
spend a lot of money and time getting certified and learning the latest
platforms and technologies and best practices. And you will end up doing
a lot of low-level, low-skilled hardware repair and work that puts you
in the same category as a commodity. Why? Because every year, hardware
components become more disposable and replaceable and less repairable.
The following 4 tips can help you understand why you
should stay away from doing computer maintenance contract subcontracting
with a national service organization:
-
Many Computers are Dirt-Cheap and Basically
Disposable. As an example, think about a standard $400
consumer-grade PC. Can you imagine one of your clients spending
money on an out-of-warranty repair for this type of computer? And
who would spend money out of warranty as part of an on-going
computer maintenance contract to have a $400 laser printer repaired?
You can’t focus your consulting business on these minor computer
repairs. Rather, you should target small businesses that need your
help on more complex IT business problems and can afford your
sophisticated expertise.
-
Labor Allowances for Computer Maintenance
Contract Work are Low with National Service Organizations.
National service organizations are going to be dealing with warranty
repairs on pretty inexpensive hardware. That being said, how big
will the labor allowance be for a $1,200 notebook? Many big hardware
vendors are so hard-up for cash that they are always on the verge of
going out of business. There are only a handful of major hardware
players that are still in good financial shape. So you have to think
about what your chances of getting paid well in this situation will
be.
-
Think About Your Profit Margins on Computer
Maintenance Contract Repairs for National Service Organizations. Consider
what you will make on a repair. You will probably only make
somewhere between $50 and $200 (at the absolute most). You will do a
lot better when you find small businesses in your area that need
high-level professional IT services on a regular basis and not just
your help un-jamming a printer or rebooting a computer.
-
Computer Maintenance Contract Subcontracting for
National Service Organizations is Barely Profitable. When you
act as a subcontractor for a national service provider, you will be
working against yourself and your business constantly. You will most
likely be in eight different offices every day as opposed to one or
two. And you will be given a $65 labor allowance to replace a system
board, no matter how long it takes you, instead of billing out
$100-$150 per hour for high-end network support services and network
integration services.
Repairing and troubleshooting hardware is low-end
commodity work and should be left to those that can afford to bill out
at $20-$30 per hour. You need to focus on high-end consulting and
establishing a strong computer maintenance contract program with steady,
high-paying clients if you want to really succeed in the small business
IT world.
In this article, we talked about 4 reasons to steer
clear of doing computer maintenance contract subcontracting for national
service organizations. To learn more about how you can build your
computer maintenance contract business around great, steady, high-paying
clients, go sign-up now for the free
Sample Tips and Excerpts below
from the Computer Consulting Kit Home Study Course.
Sample Tips and
Excerpts
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