Posted on December 15, 2008 by Ginger Watford
A good businessman will gladly accept wise counsel wherever and whenever he can get it, especially amidst a global economy elbow-deep in recession. Most methods that businesses use to stay afloat in recession involve increasing cash flow and decreasing expenses. As it happens, that is not a business strategy that is only useful in times of economic meltdown, but rather it’s the goal of most businesses all the time. Therefore, any wise advice a franchise businessman can pick up and put to use in recession will likely be useful in good financial seasons as well.
For those in computer franchises, trying to keep their heads above water, here are 10 bits of wisdom from those who have gone before you.
#1) Do What You Love
If you’re already well into your own IT franchise business, it may be too late to put this gem to work for you, but if you’re just looking into a business opportunity, this is essential to success and satisfaction: do what you love to do. It’s become sort of a cliché notion in recent years, but if you would be doing the work even if you didn’t get paid for it, it’s the perfect job for you; one that you won’t bail on when times get hard.
#2) Start While Still Employed
The last thing any new franchisee wants is to leave a current job, open a new business, and find that the market is doing so poorly that it may be a few months before turning a profit. With a franchise, that may be a rare event, but the fear can still be a reality, so don’t hesitate to ease yourself into a new profession by working part-time until it begins to take flight. Some franchises allow for part-time involvement, which will give you time to make a smooth and financially solid transition from one job into the next.
#3) Keep Your Skills Up-to-Date
The big issue in the tech industry is that it’s always on the move: growing, adapting, and evolving. It’s a hard industry to keep up with, but when you work in the field, you have to; otherwise you and your business become obsolete and risk being thrown onto the scrap heap. If for instance you operate a TeamLogicIT home based business, in order to constantly address your clients’ IT repair and protection needs, it’s vital to know what kind of new equipment is out, what new threats exist, and the best new repair practices. The franchisor often works to keep franchisees abreast of changes, but staying on top of industry magazines, websites, and manuals is a good idea too.
#4) Find Out What You’re Worth
A great mistake that many self-employed IT professionals make is not knowing what the practical value of their service is and, therefore, either charging clients too much or too little. Study businesses similar to yours and see what the going rate for your kind of work is so that you’re not turning clients away with outrageously high prices or killing your business with unrealistically low ones.
#5) Get Advantages Wherever Possible
Don’t forget that in recession, just as you are lowering prices to keep clients, your vendors need to do the same with you. It’s perfectly alright to ask them for special discounts on the equipment and parts that you need for operating your Computer Troubleshooters computer repair and retail shop. And if you can manage deals with local newspapers, trading IT services for advertising, do that too. Don’t be afraid to ask for deals and discounts on anything possible.
#6) Market to Your Area
Nerds We Can Fix That, a quintessential work from home computer repair business, is much like almost all franchises in that it comes complete with national advertising already at work and a fully established local marketing plan. Whether your franchise comes equipped with all that or not, it’s always a good idea to seek out more ways to market yourself in your area. The more people see your business name, the more business you’ll get.
#7) Always Carry Yourself Professionally
Especially when you operate a home business, it’s very easy to forget to keep a professional demeanor when you interact with a client. Though your primary work goal is to fix the customer’s technical dilemma, you are not serving the computer you’re working on; you’re serving the human client. As such, your intent is to please him, which includes proving to him that you’re a mature businessman, not just an oversized teenager who can crack open a computer tower.
#8) Hire People with Complementary Skills
When operating any kind of IT business, it’s important to hire people who can do what you can’t. This is the very reason that Nerd Force franchisees with no previous IT experience work with a staff of trained technicians who actually make the house calls; their skills complement the franchisee’s business leadership.
#9) Don’t Neglect Your People Skills
Working with computers takes very little charm or charisma, especially if you work at home, but working with people requires a lot of both. Even if you’re the one fixing machines every day, do whatever it takes to keep from losing your ability to relate to other human beings. People are the ones who pay you, not the computers.
#10) Prepare for the Bad Days
In the midst of recession, today might be a bad day, but it’s always possible for tomorrow to be worse, so don’t let up on saving money and prepping the business to survive a hypothetically disastrous day.
People in all industries are just a little shaky in light of the recession, but it seems that many tech professionals agree that this period of economic decline is not likely to damage the technology industry because so many other businesses rely on technology to survive. Put some of these IT business practices to use and there will likely be many years of success ahead of you.
