How to start IT Tech Support Service post-lockdown

How to start IT Tech Support Service post-lockdown: Undoubtedly, if you’re an IT specialist, the doors of earning are always open for you, but nothing is left unshaken due to pandemic.

Technology drives the modern business landscape, and all companies are working hard to build the right tech infrastructure to protect data, reduce risk, attract clients, and, most importantly, stay competitive.

Hence, IT services professionals are always in great demand, and especially in the current scenario, where the IT units are working that efficiently, you can establish your IT tech support business.

It’s not wrong to describe that it’s the golden era going on for starting an IT tech support. Every single industry is going to need you, and your client base can really get huge in no time.

The person with the right knowledge won’t find providing IT services that tough. We’re guiding you through the whole setup (including the deep intricacies), and after that, you’ll be ready to capitalize on your file!

Shall we begin?

How to start IT Tech Support Service post-lockdown

Now, if no matter you aren’t an IT support specialist, starting this service isn’t that tough for you. You may have knowledge about one or two departments, and that’s enough for the beginning. After that, you can keep on learning new things and expanding.

Decide what sort of IT tech support you’ll be providing

There are so many departments and fields in IT, and selecting the one in which your expertise shines won’t be that tough for you.

Remember that your services are going to be the main selling point for potential clients. A few IT services you may provide include:

  • Software installation and updates
  • Network design and installation
  • Risk assessments
  • Remote admin management
  • Reputation management
  • Cybersecurity
  • Tech support
  • Hosted services and storage
  • SEO
  • IT budgeting and procurement decisions
  • Security strategy

And the list is exceptionally long!

When deciding your offerings, incline towards ones you have experience with. If you’re deciding to offer services that are outside of your skillset, it may heavily backfire. Of course, you can get more clients, but what about satisfaction, and what about your image and reputation?

Spend time researching your market & competitors

After choosing your best IT services, start targeting your customers. You can target individually, small companies, and if you’re skilled enough, then even large companies, and earn insanely.

However, spending time in deeply researching your market & competitors is crucial. It highly depends on where you’re living and what IT services are needed by the public there. In some cities, starting an IT service business can be too challenging due to heavy competition and sometimes expenses.

Consider what IT business is going on in your city and which needs of the It clients are not getting fulfilled.

In the beginning, avoid being a part of the heavy completion. Rather, you can just go on for a specific niche with low competition, in which you’re an expert. Undoubtedly, you’ll get fewer clients in the beginning, and the earning maybe less, but it’s all fine! At least you’re in the game now. In the IT field, expansion of business can take place in the blink of a wink!

Do a profound competitive analysis, which will help you in identifying all opportunities to set your feet in the local IT services market. 

Prioritize the IT certifications & keep learning with the time

In the IT line, the learning limit simply doesn’t exist. Besides providing your services and earning, never foresee the importance of learning continuously. If you keep on sharpening your skills, you’ll be able to assist even more clients, and that’s how you can expand your IT business.

After that, let’s come to certification. IT is a sensitive line, and you need to win your client’s trust to get work and earn. If you have got some impressive certificates, you’ll certainly prove yourself a standout amongst others and develop a bigger client base.

Even if you currently don’t have certificates, you can start your IT services business and keep studying simultaneously and earn certificates.

Select the right business structure

The truth is, you can’t begin your IT services business just with a website and a bunch of certificates. Finding the right business structure is a crucial part. A sole proprietorship is ok if you’re planning a small IT services business, or you can go for the limited liability corporation (LLC)

The amount of paperwork you’ll need, the amount of taxes you pay, etc., will depend upon the structure you selected for your company. 

For a single person company, we recommend a sole proprietorship, as it’s the easiest business structure for such companies. However, if a client sues you, there won’t be any distinction between your business and personal assets. 

If you’re planning to form an LLC, $500 is the cost, and the paperwork process consumes a few weeks. The benefit is that while running a small business, your personal assets are shielded well in case of a lawsuit. Similarly, partnerships also need some paperwork. Contact your accountant, and he’ll explain everything.

Paperwork and legal procedures do sound boring and confusing, but they actually aren’t. Most importantly, you can’t escape it. 

Get a business license

After deciding your company structure, the next step is getting a business license. The process of getting one differs by state, but the applying process is usually straightforward and the same.

The business licensing website of your website will offer specifics, but you may have to submit basic information regarding your company, for example:

  • Employer Identification Number (EIN)
  • contact information and business address
  • business name and type
  • number of employees, if any
  • name of the business owner

Depending on the state you live, you might need to pay certain filing and/or processing fees. After your application is approved, ensure to inquire regarding the validity of your license. Certain states need small business owners to reapply for a business license every some year, while in other states, the scene is different.

Write a business plan

Describing a business plan is possible as a snapshot that shows your company’s current state besides its future growth’s road map. The owners of several small businesses don’t make a formal business plan while starting for the first time. However, if you’re looking forward for some funding from business, banks, investors, etc. then you’ll surely need the business plan.

The U.S. Small Business Administration offers you templates for lean and traditional business plans. You’ll take more time to write the traditional business plans as they are longer. However, this is the perfect choice if you want major funding in the future.

Business plans typically include:

  • A company summary
  • Product or service offerings
  • Your business structure
  • Funding sources
  • Financial projections
  • A competitive market analysis
  • Marketing strategy
  • Budget
  • Hiring strategy

Open am account of the business bank and get yourself a business credit card

Tracking of income and expenditure is very important. If you don’t keep your personal finances & business separately, calculating the profit/loss and making future strategies will be too difficult for you. 

That’s the reason we are recommending a fresh business bank account along with a dedicated business credit card. That way, your taxes, and bookkeeping will be far less complicated. You’ll be able to calculate your income besides tracking deductions much easily, as you’ll be familiar with whatever transactions took place related to your business.

A business credit card will separate business expenses. These cards generally offer better terms, and you enjoy higher limits than personal cards. Besides that, you can enjoy perks, including cash-back offers, rewards points, coupons, etc.

Several banks permit you credit card options competitive small business checking accounts. You’ll have to consider consulting your accountant regarding banking options.

Secure funding

Before you can get the business you have off the ground, specific costs might stand in your path. If you can’t endure the bill with your savings or assistance from friends & family, you have options.

Raising cash from venture capital firms might be helpful. You’ll want to locate a venture firm, which works specifically with IT services businesses. In other words, America’s Seed Fund is among the leading investors for early-stage IT organizations.

Other than a business plan, venture capitalists will also need to indicate a compelling pitch, which describes why they should invest in the business you have and what return you hope to provide them.

You might be eligible too for a grant via the SBA, for example, the 7(j) Management & Technical Assistance Services grant. This grant offers funds to organizations that offer technical assistance as well as management services to other businesses that are small.

In case these options don’t seem like a perfect fit, business of researching grants funded by third-party organizations. Also, the National Association for the Self-Employed provides an award to small businesses grants for shopping equipment, creating a website, hiring part-time help, etc.

Other small business funding sources incorporate SBA microloans, crowdfunding platforms, and low-interest credit cards.

How to start IT Tech Support Service post-lockdown: Select your workplace

Among the major advantages of self-employment is selecting where you work.

You can opt for an office that is traditional, your home office, or a co-working space. Your determination must factor in your working style, budget, plans of hiring employees, and how frequently clients will visit.

In case renting an office space is your plan, then remember that most landlords will need you to carry commercial property insurance for securing against theft/damage to products in your space.

Home-based IT service businesses, which do most of their work at sites of their client, should consider hired and non-owned auto insurance or commercial auto insurance. Policies of most personal auto insurance won’t pay for any accident damages; it happens when you’re driving for your business.

Before starting your IT tech support business, create a basic budget

If you understand any upfront expenses for your IT services business, it can certainly help you save your money over time. Before heading into big investments in your business, you should create a straightforward budget that will help you stay on track. We’re providing an idea for getting started:

  • Calculate the costs: Firstly, sum up your business costs, including rent, software licenses, loans, insurance premiums, etc. If you’re running a business, host websites or apps for customers, servers, and other expensive equipment will be required. However, web hosting isn’t expensive at all.
  • Estimate your revenue: Figure out how much money you expect to earn per monthly, quarterly, and annually. In case your income has started, just use that as a baseline, and you can easily forecast your revenue. If the income hasn’t started yet, you can estimate revenue considering your financial targets.
  • Calculate your profit margin: We all know, Your profit margin determines the percentage of money left after eliminating your business expenses form the total sales. If you monitor your profit margin, you’ll be able to check whether you’re charging enough besides keeping expenses in check while your business expands.

At the end of every month, you can tally your expenses and revenue, and that way, you’ll spend and invest smartly. Also, it will help you figure out whether to increase/decrease your service charges or not.

Your budget needs will increase as your business thrives. So, for the sake of your business’s financial future, you need to carry out the practices mentioned above.

How to start IT Tech Support Service post-lockdown: Invest in networking & marketing 

It can be challenging for you to find new customers for your new IT services company. But it’s the crucial step for long-term success. That’s the reason you need to fully consider the criticality of marketing and networking.

Digital marketing is a must as an IT business. Several potential clients are going to find your business via search engines. If your budget permits, do hire a freelancer or web firm to create your website. You can hire an SEO (search engine optimization) consultant to help rock your site’s Google rankings.

Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress are a few tools that highly help out in designing your website in case your pocket isn’t heavy enough to hire a professional. Blogging is an amazing way to attract new clients besides improving the site’s rankings.

Social media is a superbly, powerful tool for reaching approaching clients. Create LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram accounts for your IT services business. After that, be consistent at posting content relevant to your potential clients and industry. Besides that, you can run paid ads targeting users by demographics, income, geography, and various other criteria.

But don’t skip the human touch, as there’s still no replacement for networking. You need to reach out to your current as well as former clients. Try to fetch any of your highly talented colleagues into partnership. Also, pay importance to attend in-personal and virtual conferences and networking events. You should also invest in business cards and share as much as possible with your new contacts.

Hire strategically

After you find that your business is growing, it’s the perfect time to consider hiring freelancers or employees. Beyond lightening your workload, it also permits you to take on new projects, and not just expand your experience base, but also earn more.

You should avoid necessarily hiring the first person who applies. Ensure every new person you hire undergoes a thorough background check. Your employees need to be confidential while handling potentially sensitive information. Make an offer letter only after contacting their references. Ensure everything is clear regarding services, payouts, etc. in the terms & conditions mentioned in your employment letter.

Workers’ compensation insurance is needed by the majority of the states for businesses with employees. In case an employee suffers a job-related illness or injury, workers’ comp coverage finances for the partial lost wages and medical expenses of the ill/injured employee.

Besides that, these policies also cover court costs, attorney’s fees, and settlements in case any ill/injured employee sues your business. Employment practices liability insurance is considerable for ensuring protection against lawsuits over harassment, wrongful termination, etc. issues.

If you start an IT services business, it will provide a great opportunity to choose your very own projects, work for clients in numerous industries, and boost your income. Investing the effort and time into covering various bases increases the possibilities that your IT business will have long-term success and keep rolling smoothly.

How to start IT Tech Support Service post-lockdown: The Conclusion

Undoubtedly, there’s great scope in the IT tech support business. Starting an this service isn’t like climbing the Eiffel tower, and you just have to hold on to your strategies. Most importantly, it’s a very broad niche, and the market is spreading like fire in the jungle. All businesses are looking for IT tech support now!

Once you settle yourself and develop a basic client base, you just need to stay focused, dedicated, and sharp. The success will be yours.’

Design a website first of all, then get the best web hosting for IT service (@$3.07), let people know about you, and begin making great money regardless of the toughness created by this pandemic! The post-lockdown period is all yours!

 

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