

Ask HN: Advice for a one-man services startup? - kaput

(Apologies for the amount of text; questions are at the end.)<p>I'm a fairly "high-end" Linux/network admin with a very broad range of experience. I've no formal training, but in less than 10 years, I am now responsible for 1000+ high-security servers.<p>That said, I'm getting pretty tired of having my fate and job satisfaction rest in someone else's hands. I make good money, but I'm willing to walk away from some of it (especially temporarily) for higher job satisfaction.<p>So, I've decided to start my own IT services company. My last job was as the lead engineer for just such a company which focused mostly on small-to-mid sized businesses. I think I'm going to emulate their model as it was wildly successful and there's a <i>lot</i> of companies out there that don't need a full-time IT person and/or full-time a specialist, but need someone to do the work. That's where I come in.<p>Here's a summary:<p>1) Pre-paid, hourly contracts
All work and time spent is documented and then signed off by the client on completion. I keep an inventory of hours and initiate re-upping of contracts when the client's hours "inventory" become low.<p>2) Rates
My last employer offered "tiered" hourly rates ($125-$200). I'm thinking of a flat $150 per hour for most clients. Scheduled after-hours work is x1.5 and unscheduled emergencies are x2 (most clients realize it's not really an emergency and will schedule when reminded of the "unscheduled emergencies" clause.)<p>3) Regularly scheduled appointments
Two-thirds of my last employers business was from regularly scheduled appointments. I'm planning on focusing on the same type of arrangements (with one/two appointments scheduled per week). I may set up ticketing systems for customers to submit tickets for non-emergencies for me to prep for and tackle when I get on-site (or remotely).<p>4) Not a re-seller
I don't want to be a re-seller. I've found that clients (rightfully) don't trust most VARs because they profit from the sales. Instead I'll make recommendations and the customer buys the hardware. They just pay me for what their IT guy would do. If they prefer, they can pre-pay me cost of hardware and I'll facilitate the purchase, but for a 10% fee (full transparency).<p>I've already got some interested clients and my minimum know-I-can-make-this-work threshold is 10-15 billed hours per week. Once I get to 25+ hours, I may consider bringing on an employee.<p>The great thing is that I need almost nothing to start. I've got a name, the domain, and a laptop. The only thing is I need to save up a bit more seed money and/or pre-secure a few clients.<p>That said, I've got <i>lots</i> of questions about how to form the company (LLC?), business insurance, accounting practices, and many of the other business issues.<p>I'm very good at this and I had previous clients beg me to start my own company so they could work with me exclusively. I'm confident I can do this. I just need to get the details and timing figured out.
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macco
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