Starting an IT consulting biz

[GT1999]

I've worked in IT since 99, and have a degree in IT ago and due to some recent events and an upcoming wedding, I'm trying to raise some extra cash without raiding the 401k ive worked so hard to save. As supplemental income, I have done a lot of side work with IT for friends and done year of consulting for businesses in our state capital making $95/hr. Has anyone had any luck doing this on the side, not specifically for businesses but on your own? I have some good ideas for marketing, I'm just going to need business cards and card magnets... I don't plan to make a ton of money from this, but I certainly think it won't hurt to try...

 

[SirStev0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn2FB1P_Mn8

 

[GT1999]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn2FB1P_Mn8

I'm guessing this is a joke... But it won't load the movie on my iPad.

Step #1: Sell iPad and profit?

 

[Saint Nick]

If you have a client base, I'd say go for it. I want to do some freelance web development, but I have no client base so I'm not even going to waste my time. Might try to build that up in the mean time though.

 

[SirStev0]

I'm guessing this is a joke... But it won't load the movie on my iPad.

Step #1: Sell iPad and profit?

Ipad won't load youtube videos? Not giving me a lot of confidence in your tech proficiency.

It is a montage from the IT crowd.

 

[GT1999]

Ipad won't load youtube videos? Not giving me a lot of confidence in your tech proficiency.

It is a montage from the IT crowd.

Lol. There probably isn't a mobile version.

 

[SirStev0]

I don't know much about apple products... but not being able to watch a youtube video sounds pretty fucking bad.

 

[Zargon]

Ipad won't load youtube videos? Not giving me a lot of confidence in your tech proficiency.

It is a montage from the IT crowd.

a great one at that, now because it was so great Ill ignore th absurb assertation that ability to use an ipad(simpletons toy) has any relevenace to tech proficiency


geekish I paid for most of my wedding doing the same thing, but for one big client

 

[ss284]

I don't know much about apple products... but not being able to watch a youtube video sounds pretty fucking bad.

Youtube only shows certain videos for "mobile" devices like the Ipad. I'm guessing the video you linked is not available on the mobile site and thus apple's youtube app. Also, the Ipad doesn't support flash. Unless he has some sort of jailbroken app that supports standard youtube videos then he probably can't watch the video.

Maybe do some research since your own knowledge on this subject is "pretty fucking bad".

 

[GT1999]

Thank you ss284. I'm glad someone has some IT experience around here. I'd certainly hope so.

 

[Zargon]

my android phone does the same thing all the time

 

[Mackie2k]

Get cards/magnets from Vistaprint.com, they are awesome. Become a Microsoft Cloud Partner and resell Office 365 and Windows Intune....

 

[xSauronx]

Ipad won't load youtube videos? Not giving me a lot of confidence in your tech proficiency.

seriously. dont do this. how do you not know why this is, OP?

and i wouldnt want to be doing support on the side if it could interfere with your other work...if you are doing some pc repair or minor things thats one thing, but if clients expect things to work when they call you, and you just...cant get to it, thats going to get bad quickly.

 

[debian0001]

What does working in IT mean? development, desktop monkey, network admin etc....

 

[GT1999]

Network Engineering and general support

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Youtube only shows certain videos for "mobile" devices like the Ipad. I'm guessing the video you linked is not available on the mobile site and thus apple's youtube app. Also, the Ipad doesn't support flash. Unless he has some sort of jailbroken app that supports standard youtube videos then he probably can't watch the video.

Maybe do some research since your own knowledge on this subject is "pretty fucking bad".

I haven't run into a single youtube video I can't play on my iPad.

What does working in IT mean? development, desktop monkey, network admin etc....

Working in IT is a very broad description?
Doing "IT" work for joe blow can be very, very infuriating. Seeing how someone else setup a environment can make you want to burn the place down and tell them to start over. IT really isn't worth the effort to do it on a small scale.

Also, if you're having to raise a bunch of money to have a wedding, you better save a bunch of money for the divorce.

 

[GT1999]

I haven't run into a single youtube video I can't play on my iPad.


Working in IT is a very broad description?
Doing "IT" work for joe blow can be very, very infuriating. Seeing how someone else setup a environment can make you want to burn the place down and tell them to start over. IT really isn't worth the effort to do it on a small scale.

Also, if you're having to raise a bunch of money to have a wedding, you better save a bunch of money for the divorce.

I almost died about 1 1/2 years ago and she was at my hospital bedside every single day and even took 2 weeks off of work. I also almost lost my job this past week, which didn't happen, and she said she would never break up with me and instead pulled the past two weekends with double overtime making over $800 a day to recover any losses from my income. Out of all the girls I dated, this is the one I'm least worried about things failing with. Nothing is perfect, but I'm betting against a divorce. She makes more money than me in healthcare, so I don't exactly need a prenup. Women usually get the kids after a divorce anyway, so I don't know why I'd be planning for something to fail before it does. That is a very pessimistic attitude.

I unjailbroke my iPad and tried the video again. It still doesn't work, and others do. So it's obviously not a mobile compatible video or has some sort of issues.

I'm printing 1000 business cards @ $20 from Vistaprint.com and I'm going to drop them everywhere. I'm going to use my Google Voice number which is currently unused as my business line to re-route phone calls according to location and to keep my private number private.

 

[Dallascisco]

Engineering might be tough to pull off as a side project as alot of projects will require on site time during normal business hours. I have a side onsite\remote pc\mac repair biz in the DC Metro and it's fairly easy to manage part time and brings in a nice second income.

 

[OutHouse]

OP who will be your customer base? running cat6 for rich clients can only go so far.

 

[bearxor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn2FB1P_Mn8

*skips video, no time for that!*

It is a montage from the IT crowd.

*ZOMG, WHAT!? Furiously scrolls back up to watch ANY video from The IT Crowd*

Awesome.

 

[GT1999]

The video is pretty awesome, haha.

Obviously this will not be me doing OSPF, BGP or advanced firewall engineering for small customers. I'm going to guess most people just want their PC fixed. And that's fine. I'll take what I can get at this point.

If I make $100 in the next year, I'll be happy.

I'm using all of my contacts and Facebook to spread the word. I'm keeping my workday separate, though I'll have voicemails routed to my work phone, I won't be calling a soul during the day as that would be a conflict of interest.

I'm friends with a website developer who owns his own medium sized company in another state who does development nationwide so I'm going to try to partner with him, but I don't think he'll be of much use since he's out of state for referring local clients.

 

[OutHouse]

I won't be calling a soul during the day as that would be a conflict of interest.

if you want to grow it you might want to reconsider that.

 

[GT1999]

if you want to grow it you might want to reconsider that.

I could call people outside with my cell by returning a voicemail, but not inside at work. I'm sure nobody would care, but if the calls start flooding in, I'd hate to lose my job simply due to taking too many phone calls.

I'll stick to the listen and return call approach until 4pm.

 

[Superself]

Good luck to you.

There is money to be made but you have to network really well to find clients.
I have had luck with a few clients and have kept one small business for over 10 years. One plus is that I have to upgrade their hardware/software every few years and this keeps me up to date as well.

 

[GT1999]

Good luck to you.

There is money to be made but you have to network really well to find clients.
I have had luck with a few clients and have kept one small business for over 10 years. One plus is that I have to upgrade their hardware/software every few years and this keeps me up to date as well.

Very true about staying up to date. It's been almost 5 years since I've done consulting with Windows Server, so if I have to do that I may need to brush up. But I'm definitely up to date with networking and day to day support.

I'm certainly not making this mistake though - when I was working for a small ISP in my hometown, the owner had his friend come in and wanted me to build a computer. Sure, I said. Well, 2 days after I got the parts it was all built, being only the second computer I've ever built, I had terrible UDMA/66 driver issues on the mobo, and it was a real hassle. The guy gave me $20. It was almost a slap in the face.

I haven't made the same mistake since.