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Boot Strapping an IT Support Business (MSP)

Chris Martin on June 6, 2009

Things against You:

Track Record
Established Competition
Durability
Experience
Finances
People who’ve promised customers and not delivered and/or disappeared without a trace

Things for You:

You (and your smile):
◦ You’re keen and need to survive
◦ You have the skills (or should have)
◦ Your life/work experiences elsewhere.

It’s you against the world. Enjoy it – it’s great, it can be done and it’s very satisfying, and perhaps one of life’s best learning experiences. If you succeed, the rewards are plenty, and not just financial. You’ll feel empowered and know how to survive in almost any circumstance.

How to stack the deck in your favour

Get in front of a potential customer – networking will deliver best at first
Remove the risk from buying from you:�
◦ Price
◦ Technical Risk
◦ No tie in
Be honest and up-front
Do what you say you will
If there is one thing that you can impress a potential customer with, it’s who you’ve done similar work for previously. So highlight previous (and perhaps unpaid) work or consulting, and use your previous work to demonstrate your track record as soon as you have some. Market your track record. On our website, it just told of projects we had done or were doing currently. People can get the picture rather than from pages of techno-babble.
Continue until you learn a bit about the business
Meet some people (and potential partners)
Consider financing your business, if it looks rewarding and suitable risk – finance properly
Tune your operations, perhaps make use of some software which makes you more efficient, reduces risk, organised and delivers better service
Nail & Scale

That’s how I did it and managed to form and run one of our country’s biggest and most well-reputed IT Support Companies.

About the Author: Chris Martin

Chris has a first class Honours degree in Software Engineering and Masters in Computer Science. He has the dubious distinction of being one of the earliest Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers (MCSE) in the UK. Chris started his career in the early 90s in Enterprise IT at NCR/AT&T as a Software Engineer and morphed into Infrastructure looking after company Network & Servers. He then spent some years in small business, forming and running an IT Support Company. Chris lives in Fife, Scotland with his partner, kid and two dogs. He’s a keen sportsman, cycling, running, golfing and various other (sometimes risky) outdoor pursuits. He claims (and we believe him) that he really wants to be an Egyptologist or Economist.