New Business Opportunity

[chrisafp07]

Hi guys, although this is a random post I figured this would be the best community to ask, to gain any perspective, or heed any warnings given. The short is that I'm leaving the military and trying to find my way in a civilian world. I have the opportunity to take over clientele from a local IT business owner who is very sick and wants to hand off clientele to someone he trusts. Although I have no professional training in IT I've always been a PC hobbyist and I'm the guy everyone in the family calls to fix their hardware or software issues. I also have already gotten 3 jobs basically buying new hardware for 3 small businesses and getting them up to speed with current tech practices and current tech hardware (they are using very outdated stuff in all cases). I'm currently studying to get my A+ cert and I'd say a good amount of the information I've already covered I had some previous baseline knowledge of. I will also pursue my Network + and Security+ certs to gain some baseline understanding of the current industry.

What can you tell me from your experiences in business whether working for someone or yourself?

What are some pitfalls I should avoid?

Where are good places to purchase hardware instead of going to places like Amazon, Bestbuy etc?

Do you have any tips, warnings, ideas that you think would benefit me at this stage?

*As a side note I was a Crew Chief in the US Air Force and I do not want to do aircraft maintenance/safety inspection in the civilian world. I've always loved tech and really want to get into this industry.
Thanks for any help it is greatly appreciated!

 

[USAFRet]

Amazon, Newegg Business, Microcenter if one is nearby.

The main thing you're going to have to wrap your head around is service. Warranty.
Changing, and often unreasonable customer demands.

Be able to get inside the customers head to discover what they actually need, rather than what might come out of their mouth.

Commit to nothing until you lay hands and eyes on the situation.

Crew chief - What jet(s)? I too was a flightline person (WPNS) in a different life.

 

[USAFRet]

Know your competition. Who else in your local area is doing the same thing?
Start small. Let word of mouth be a major advertiser.

A one man shop is hard. When a customer calls you on a Sunday afternoon when you're having a BBQ with your buds...what do you do?

 

[chrisafp07]

Amazon, Newegg Business, Microcenter if one is nearby.

The main thing you're going to have to wrap your head around is service. Warranty.
Changing, and often unreasonable customer demands.

Be able to get inside the customers head to discover what they actually need, rather than what might come out of their mouth.

Commit to nothing until you lay hands and eyes on the situation.

Crew chief - What jet(s)? I too was a flightline person (WPNS) in a different life.

I worked on the C-5 my entire time in service, definitely had some of the best times of my life but I don't want to re-enlist again, and I don't want to work on planes either. "Be able to get inside the customers head to discover what they actually need, rather than what might come out of their mouth." I think that's a great point, thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

[chrisafp07]

Know your competition. Who else in your local area is doing the same thing?
Start small. Let word of mouth be a major advertiser.

A one man shop is hard. When a customer calls you on a Sunday afternoon when you're having a BBQ with your buds...what do you do?

Yea very true. Do you work a one man shop?

 

[USAFRet]

Yea very true. Do you work a one man shop?

No. I xtrained into software dev, and have done that for several years.

 

[chrisafp07]

No. I xtrained into software dev, and have done that for several years.

Nice, do you think A+, Sec+, and Net+ are good certs to get for what I plan on doing? Any others? Not sure if I can handle going back for a degree tried that in the AF and hated college, leadership pushed hard for a degree after E-5 as you probably know. I could try school again with my GI bill but I don't want to do a semester and hate it and drop out again. The atmosphere being around students when I'm 30 is odd, felt like highschool.

 

[USAFRet]

Nice, do you think A+, Sec+, and Net+ are good certs to get for what I plan on doing? Any others? Not sure if I can handle going back for a degree tried that in the AF and hated college, leadership pushed hard for a degree after E-5 as you probably know. I could try school again with my GI bill but I don't want to do a semester and hate it and drop out again. The atmosphere being around students when I'm 30 is odd, felt like highschool.

Well....A+ is a VERY basic cert. I could coach any semi intelligent 13 year old to pass it.
Sec+ is more theory than hands on. A lot of companies require it, but nothing you can't learn on your own.
Never looked in to Net+, so I don't know.

 

[punkncat]

The worst thing about working with the public is the public.


Probably not a bad idea if you are strongly considering this to talk to a tax professional. You will need to consider things like insurance, possibly a retail space where people can come. I do not recommend using your home for said, from personal experience...but at the same time be careful not to go too far on the limb at first.
You can deduct things like a new car from a business. It's always good to present a successful side, so don't show up in some jalopy. Heed the above about that limb though.

At first consider paying yourself the bare minimum you need to survive, IF you have to pay yourself at all. I would imagine that you will have something coming from the military.

Be wary of keeping stock, and specifically what that stock is. If you are having to purchase from a retailer then you have to add that on top of what you need to profit. It is likely best that you deal with customer issues and when/if hardware issues come up to leave procurement to the customer such that they can buy the part you recommend. As above mention, keep in mind what manner of warranty you plan to offer for your own services. Don't cover manufacturer parts and don't offer the labor for swapping them for free even if THEY have a warranty claim with said. They come to you because you know how....(if you build out the door systems there will be differences)

I have personally found a neat niche in buying old Dell equipment in lots from such as eBay, as well as having a connection within a business that allows me a bit of a 'first dibs' on equipment they have going out the door. It has, up until W11 requirements, been lucrative enough to make it worth my while. It isn't going to be a retirement plan at this point, but worth a bit of pocket money for putting back into other interests. Since the W11 requirements I have only sold one system which was a Ryzen based rig that CAN be updated for compatibility. The Dell (Optiplex) rigs slowed to ZERO movement.

I would say most of all to keep your friendships and your business completely separate where dealing with PC repair and services. You will become the go to tech support and often people misinterpret the friend aspect and will expect these services and knowledge for free. Be sure that you have a way to tell folks where to draw boundaries in regard to this aspect.

Most of all, good luck. Being your own boss can suck. I am, and that guy is a jerk! (lol)

 

[Ralston18]

And for the business aspects do take a look around.

Many areas have a variety of organizations that provide training, support, counseling, etc. for people starting their own businesses. Some programs are specifically intended for veterans.

The programs can be Federal, State, Regional, Local - sponsored by industry sources and educational institutions.

Availability, content, quality, etc. can vary. But often such programs are free and may help with avoiding some of the startup and growing pains so often experienced by both new and existing businesses. Some of those problems have already been mentioned above.

Learn and understand what "Breakeven" means. Unfortunately there is a great deal of misinformation about how small business accounting and financing works.

Suggested reading:

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p334

If anything, just scan through the pub. No intent to discourage you - the intent being to just ensure that there is some sense of the proverbial big picture.

All too easy these days to run afoul of some unforgiving bureaucracy that can bring everything to a halt. Through no fault of your own.

Get ahead of the curve as best you can.

And I would be totally remiss if I did not suggest doing a business plan. That is a living breathing document that must be created and maintained.

There are all sorts of business plan formats, schemes, templates etc. so I will not belabor the point. Just find a format that makes sense to you and use that as a guideline. Remember it is your plan for your business. Think positive but be realistic and brutally honest with the plan.

A business plan is not an end all guarantee of success by any means but will certainly help keep your business on track.

= = = = Alice in Wonderland quote = = = =

"“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

“I don't much care where—” said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

= = = =

Just my thoughts on the matter.