Before you get overwhelmed with too much product-focused tunnel-vision from the big computer reseller channel programs, learn 4 easy ways to add more lucrative value-added service revenue, as you figure out how to become a reseller, the profitable way… the 1st time around!

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Good! You’re on the right track, kind of, sort of.

Why only a half-hearted pat on the back?

Because becoming a reseller shouldn’t be thought of in a vacuum. The days of being able to grow a successful business, purely on the basis of reselling PC hardware and software, has seen its better days.

Why? Because the profit margins on most PC hardware and software reselling run somewhere between anemic and non-existent.

Today, to become a reseller of computer hardware and software, you need to be thinking of additional related revenue streams such as installation, customization, training, and ongoing service.

That’s not to say that if you’re figuring out how to become a reseller that you absolutely must follow a prescribed business-salvation plan. But you need to be honest enough with yourself to recognize that reselling is a brutal business, it has been a brutal business since at least the mid-1990’s, and that the only way for most resellers of computer hardware and software to survive and thrive is by getting involved in selling value-added services to their customers.

What kinds of value-added services? It largely depends on whether you try to sell to “everyone”, or whether you’re smart enough to focus primarily on B2B (business to business), where there’s a lot more at stake with IT and the potential for loads of recurring revenue.

So if you want to become a reseller that focuses on the B2B segment, primarily local small businesses, consider offering the following 4 services.

1. Technology Assessment Services. Before you can make sound hardware and software product recommendations, you really need to spend some time getting to know your customers’ true IT needs, what they already own, where their businesses are headed in the next 2-4 years, and what IT problems they currently face. As this is more of a consulting service rather than a traditional reseller role, you should most certainly charge a nominal fee for your Technology Assessment Services.
2. Systems Installation Services. While there’s little value-added in just un-boxing equipment and plugging it in, there’s tremendous value-add in the software patching, data migration, integration work, and customization. Again, as this is more of a consulting service, you should be charging extra for Systems Installation Services and strongly recommending them for any of your customers who don’t have in-house IT support.
3. Training. While Fortune 1000 companies usually have formal plans for employee software training, small businesses rarely have this luxury. As a result, the only training employees often receive is from their reseller. Even if your customers can only afford to pay your company for an hour or two of ad-hoc one-on-one training with each employee, this training can make an enormous difference to your customers getting better utilization from their newly purchased systems. Again, add this to the list of easy incremental sales for most customers.
4. Help Desk. When your customers have how-to or troubleshooting questions, customers rarely have the expertise or patience to deal with multiple vendors each pointing the finger at each other. Solve this problem for your customers, with a single point of contact help desk. Once again, this is a relatively easy, high-margin incremental revenue source that’s very conducive to selling on a subscription basis.

Most entrepreneurs, when thinking about how to become a reseller of computer hardware and software, just focus on what reseller programs to join. While you certainly do need to have your favored product lines, the harsh financial realities of becoming a reseller in this day and age demand that you diversify into higher margin value-added consulting services.

In this short article, we’ve introduced you to some simple strategies to take the brutally competitive, low-margin prospect of becoming a reseller and turn that into a much more lucrative value-added IT consulting business. To learn more about how to become a reseller of computer hardware and software the profitable way, be sure to sign-up for the free additional tips and business strategies now at http://www.HowToBecomeAResellerTips.com

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In this article, we’ll look at starting a consulting business with your best foot forward, essentially your right foot-in-the-door, so you don’t inadvertently sabotage yourself with your foot-in-your-mouth.

Now pricing is a very individualized decision. Some sales experts say you should scout around to find out what the competition is charging and then set your price somewhere in the middle. But the most important thing to remember is that you have to think about pricing very carefully before setting your final rates. Changing your prices is going to be very difficult later on, so you have to make sure you set them right in the beginning.

And it certainly is worth pointing out… When you’re starting a consulting business, it’s common to think that prospects make their decisions largely based on price.  The reality however is quite different.  The best qualified prospects are often a lot more tuned into being value-conscious, rather than price-driven, and often pursue a vendor who has the lowest perceived risk, because of their underlying fear of failure.

So consider these following 5 factors that should go into your pricing strategies as you are starting a consulting business, regardless of how and what you decide to charge for your solutions.

1. Geography. Generally, consultants within large cities can command higher billing rates than those in the suburbs. Many of these geographic issues can be traced to monthly overhead or a more general cost of doing business.
2. Scarcity of Skills. You might have a specialty … or be a generalist. You need to think about how in-demand you are to your potential clients as you are starting a consulting business and setting rates. In much the same way that a cardio-thoracic surgeon can charge more for an office visit than a general practice physician, a consulting firm specializing in firewalls, Virtual Private Networking (VPN) and penetration testing will be able to command higher billing rates than a firm that just installs PCs and LANs.
3. Local Demand. How booked up are your competitors? Just like the hotel industry, when consultants start approaching 80% – 85% utilization rates (about 32-34 billable hours per week), prices will get firm. As you are starting a consulting business, make sure you know how busy those in your industry and specialty tend to be. When consultants are sitting at their desks on a Monday morning twiddling their thumbs and hoping their phones will ring, they really need to think about being more aggressive about marketing and awareness-building, or tweaking their specialty to make them more marketable.
4. Overhead. You need to consider how much it costs for you to get trained each year, the cost of lab/test equipment, how much time and money you need to invest in marketing to keep your calendar relatively full, insurance, taxes, professional services (accountants, attorneys, etc.), cell phones, electricity and everything else as you are starting a consulting business. All these overhead items can factor into the prices you will charge your clients, so you can’t ignore them.
5. Client Size. A home-based micro small business will generally have a much smaller IT budget than a 10-person downtown law office. And the 10-person downtown law office will have nowhere near the IT budget as the 100-employee (50 PC) manufacturer. Think about the size of the clients you will be serving and what they can reasonably afford to pay you for your services before setting your prices. And if the size of business you are targeting can’t afford to pay you sustainable rates, it’s probably time to seek out a new target for your services.
   

In this article, we talked about 5 factors that should go into the pricing strategy for your new consulting business. Learn about starting a consulting business and getting great steady, high-paying clients now at http://www.StartingAConsultingBusinessNow.com

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