When you are thinking about how to start a computer consulting business, how do you decide whether or not to buy a franchise?  There are some strong pros and cons with franchises, and you need to carefully consider them.

Pros of How to Start a Computer Consulting Business as a Franchise

1.    You get the perks of being part of a larger company.

2.    You get a built-in peer support network.

3.    You get a lot of tools and resources.

4.    You get people to match problems.  

The Cons of a Franchise

There is an opposite side of the coin too when it comes to deciding how to start your computer consulting business and starting it as a franchise.  The biggest problem is that you have to make a pretty large capital investment in order to get going.  You will also be giving up a percentage of your revenue or profit every month as a royalty to the franchiser.  You will also have some restrictions on what you can and cannot do with your business.  

Computer Consulting is about Time More than Money

When you are figuring out how to start a computer consulting business, you have to think about the fact that just starting a non-franchise business or any business at all is a lot more of a time investment than a capital investment.  You might spend anywhere from three to six months (or even more!) developing your contact and prospect lists and getting enough projects in your sales funnel to get to a 50-60 percent utilization rate (20-24 billable hours weekly).  

Revenue?

When you decide how to start a computer consulting business, even when you are going to all your local networking events, on sales calls and really active in the process of starting, you will have to wait probably up to six months before you start to see significant cash flow.  If you want to get to a point where you can hire more staff members and sales people, the process might take years.  

You need capital in order to pay your business expenses.  Make sure to keep your overhead low so you don’t have unnecessary stress.  Think carefully when you decide how to start a computer consulting business for yourself and consider whether or not a franchise is really the best option.

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg