IT Consulting in Micro Small Businesses

IT consulting practices can be done by starting with microbusinesses. Gain confidence by realizing what software and hardware you need to know (and probably already do) to begin IT consulting.

Small business is a hot market for IT consulting. There are different sizes of small businesses and they all have different IT consulting needs. In this article you'll learn some items you should be familiar with in order to provide IT consulting to these businesses.

Micro Small Businesses Defined

Micro small businesses are companies that have anywhere from 1-10 computers; windows based in most cases. Usually these companies employ 1-10 people. Revenue (in U.S. dollars) will typically be anywhere from $100,000 up to about a million or so.

The big differentiator in micro small businesses from others, as far as IT consulting is concerned, is that they have no dedicated server yet. They may be running a peer to peer system and that’s the major reason they are bringing you in there.

Don't have a “crisis of confidence”. Many people, when first entering IT consulting are not sure if their skills are strong enough. But most people will find that they are at least capable of working with at least micro small businesses as a starting point.

Micro Small Business: What Hardware You Need for IT Consulting

You need to know about basic desktop PC support, notebooks, PDAs like palm based PDAs and windows cd based PDAs, printers, how to set up servers and dial up modems, DSL, cable modems a little bit about how to set up surge protection, data line protection, and entry level battery back up units.

Software Requirements for Micro Business IT Consulting

You need to be reasonably familiar with the most popular desktop and notebook operating systems out there. But mainly just the basic Microsoft Windows flavors on the desktop and the desktop’s of notebooks and a little bit on PDAs.

Micro businesses are also looking for a lot of very heavy desktop office automation applications support, basic PC support, basic notebook support, the whole Microsoft Office family, Intuits Quickbooks the accounting software is very popular, the Best Software’s ACT software for management is also really popular.

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Computer Consultant Knowledge: Do You Have to Know Everything?

Computer Consultant job descriptions don't only include technical skills. People skills and problem-solving abilities will take you far as a computer consultant.
Will you be expected to know anything and everything about anything that could ever go wrong with small-business IT? No.

Do You Need to Be Better at Technical or People Skills?

To be a great computer consultant, you just need to be really well organized and be a friendly person that enjoys helping other people. Yes, you need to be extremely resourceful; but you don’t need to be a technical genius to be a computer consultant.

In a lot of ways, being a technical genius can hold you back. Computer Consulting is very much a people business. But even if you have great tech skills and you’re a little shy when it comes to things like working the room, you can get better at it.

Do You Have the Right Skills?

How does someone know whether they really have the right technical skills or enough skills to become a computer consultant? Don't let a lack of certifications hold you back. It’s just not that important to the typical non-technical small business owner or non-technical small business manager. Until you start selling to an IT director, which typically you only start to see when you get on to accounts that have at least 40, 50, or 75 PCs.

Small Business Owners Want the Whole Package

The typical small business owner or manager is not shopping for credentials. They are buying you, they are buying your business expertise. They are also buying your solution expertise; your ability that you work with other companies like theirs.

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