Discussion
Yes more of my mad ideas needing assistance I'm afraid.....
I've looked into starting my own company and after I've projected what I could realistically expect as an income I've found a very big hole. Thank god for planning!
So, I've modified how I was going to proceed and I'm intending to pitch one of my existing accounts to manage their network as they're a PLC without a network manager or any dedicated IT staff
I believe I can deliver large cost savings if I look at their business and how they implement IT (or rather don't) in terms of back office staffing levels either currently or in the future through increased efficiency.
What I can't do is put any real world numbers on it without spending time investigating. I've carried out work for the customer for ten to fifteen years, I know I can improve their IT (We've only ever acted in a reactive capacity, so it's not our fault that their IT is ineffecient!)
I am thinking about two approaches. Option one. Work for them full time for one to two years (contracted if necessary) Option two, work for them two days per week and gradually build up my business on the other three days. Option two would leave me tight but with my head above the water.
So how would you go about pitching this? If you were the director what would you expect me to bring to the table in that first meeting? I'm going to be asking for a very healthy amount to achieve option one!
I've looked into starting my own company and after I've projected what I could realistically expect as an income I've found a very big hole. Thank god for planning!
So, I've modified how I was going to proceed and I'm intending to pitch one of my existing accounts to manage their network as they're a PLC without a network manager or any dedicated IT staff
I believe I can deliver large cost savings if I look at their business and how they implement IT (or rather don't) in terms of back office staffing levels either currently or in the future through increased efficiency.
What I can't do is put any real world numbers on it without spending time investigating. I've carried out work for the customer for ten to fifteen years, I know I can improve their IT (We've only ever acted in a reactive capacity, so it's not our fault that their IT is ineffecient!)
I am thinking about two approaches. Option one. Work for them full time for one to two years (contracted if necessary) Option two, work for them two days per week and gradually build up my business on the other three days. Option two would leave me tight but with my head above the water.
So how would you go about pitching this? If you were the director what would you expect me to bring to the table in that first meeting? I'm going to be asking for a very healthy amount to achieve option one!
Any services based sell has to be on an ROI basis.
Got a friend on the inside who can advise on how much these reactive callouts are costing them and how much business the lead time is losing them?
Then work backwards to your solution, which is presumably infrastructure change based, in order to work out the ROI and the period in which it can be achieved.
Got a friend on the inside who can advise on how much these reactive callouts are costing them and how much business the lead time is losing them?
Then work backwards to your solution, which is presumably infrastructure change based, in order to work out the ROI and the period in which it can be achieved.
I know what they've historically paid for having a reactive service which doesn't allow for any IT planning whatsoever. They don't suffer much downtime (I put the servers in, of course they're reliable!) their problem is IT has always been installed on an adhoc basis without looking at business need.
My sell would be about cutting/not increasing staffing levels. However I intend to pitch a figure approximately four times the amount they have historically paid for support to go for them full time. I can always negotiate down but the reason they will be unsupported when I leave is because their current arrangement isn't financially viable.
The difficulty is putting numbers on things.
My sell would be about cutting/not increasing staffing levels. However I intend to pitch a figure approximately four times the amount they have historically paid for support to go for them full time. I can always negotiate down but the reason they will be unsupported when I leave is because their current arrangement isn't financially viable.
The difficulty is putting numbers on things.
Can we all assume that your employer won't take you to court for poaching their customers?
My cousin's (in IT) company charge around £100/hr but then they probably have a budget set aside for consultancy and to change the budget to accomodate a full-time employee is sometimes impossible, even if it makes financial sense.
You may find that they don't want to pay you any more that your present employers.
My cousin's (in IT) company charge around £100/hr but then they probably have a budget set aside for consultancy and to change the budget to accomodate a full-time employee is sometimes impossible, even if it makes financial sense.
You may find that they don't want to pay you any more that your present employers.
If you can really make it work, then approach the customer and make your pitch, but you need to do it with Option Three:
- you will do all investigative work FoC
- your pitch will include projected RoI / savings
- your payment is via a percentage of the savings
If you get it wrong, you don't get paid.
Obviously, the risk here is they take your ideas and implement them without out you...but if you are good enough to make them realise you can act as trusted advisor by telling them only a little, then they won't be able to do it all without you.
- you will do all investigative work FoC
- your pitch will include projected RoI / savings
- your payment is via a percentage of the savings
If you get it wrong, you don't get paid.
Obviously, the risk here is they take your ideas and implement them without out you...but if you are good enough to make them realise you can act as trusted advisor by telling them only a little, then they won't be able to do it all without you.
My current employers won't take me to court, they're winding down server and desktop support.
I've just had an idea for option four..... Pay me a reasonable IT managers salary with a (large!) bonus if I can pull off cost savings above a certain level.
The only difficulty with that is proving how much they would save it I merely save them employing additional staff
I've just had an idea for option four..... Pay me a reasonable IT managers salary with a (large!) bonus if I can pull off cost savings above a certain level.
The only difficulty with that is proving how much they would save it I merely save them employing additional staff
If you personally have had a relationship with th ecustomer for 10-15 years I hope you've forged some decent personal relationships. You need to find out if they have ( or want to have) an IT strategy. Or do they farm it out to you guys because they see IT as a necessary evil.
If your company is about to get out of the support market I would start by quietly approaching the customer and explaining what is about to happen, but that you are planning to go freelance and could provide a similar service from either their offices or your (spare bedroom) office. If you charge a bit less than they are paying you should be in good shape to get started. When you have devloped a relationship of trust you can pitch for other work wwhere their savings cover your costs. Remember that eventually you will run out of things to do for them so you will need some time for marketing and building your business.
If you go in suggesting they pay more than they are now you'll probably have a very short meeting...
If your company is about to get out of the support market I would start by quietly approaching the customer and explaining what is about to happen, but that you are planning to go freelance and could provide a similar service from either their offices or your (spare bedroom) office. If you charge a bit less than they are paying you should be in good shape to get started. When you have devloped a relationship of trust you can pitch for other work wwhere their savings cover your costs. Remember that eventually you will run out of things to do for them so you will need some time for marketing and building your business.
If you go in suggesting they pay more than they are now you'll probably have a very short meeting...
If you were pitching to me you'd get my attention by saying something like "If I were to show you a way that you could cut direct costs by £xxx every single year would you be interested?"
Then I'd present the mathematics. Let's assume you can save the company, say, £250k per year (fill in your own figure). Let's now assume the company is making, say, 30% GP (again, fill in the real figure). You could say to the Director, that by saving £250k per annum that's equivalent to getting £750k pa extra turnover - in terms of bottom line results.
The real questions are:
Can you really save direct costs - something running smoother is pointless unless there are tangible cash savings. If you can, then it'll need to be a well-constructed presentation.
Then I'd present the mathematics. Let's assume you can save the company, say, £250k per year (fill in your own figure). Let's now assume the company is making, say, 30% GP (again, fill in the real figure). You could say to the Director, that by saving £250k per annum that's equivalent to getting £750k pa extra turnover - in terms of bottom line results.
The real questions are:
Can you really save direct costs - something running smoother is pointless unless there are tangible cash savings. If you can, then it'll need to be a well-constructed presentation.
There are a few other things to consider here.
Who are your existing relations with - dont focus on the technology side but the business benefit. The point made by ? is very pertenant in how to capture somebodys attention. However, do not be to presumptive. Reducing headcount is not always easy and you face the green dollar, brown dollar argument. they may benefit more from being proactive rather that firefighting but without the investigative work to discover where this time can be used its fruitless.
Do not be afraid to charge a reasonable consulatative rate for investigative purposes - pitched as a healthcheck type afair. This will also provide you with an understanding to there level of commitment to the whole process.
Whatever you choose ensure you leverage existing relationships but dont end up with a one legged stool, align your pitch to business objectives, present well and you will be fine.
Lastly, enjoy - this is an exiting time and the potential for growth is substantial. worst case scenario, you can go back to what you are doing in a similar role somewhere else!¬
Who are your existing relations with - dont focus on the technology side but the business benefit. The point made by ? is very pertenant in how to capture somebodys attention. However, do not be to presumptive. Reducing headcount is not always easy and you face the green dollar, brown dollar argument. they may benefit more from being proactive rather that firefighting but without the investigative work to discover where this time can be used its fruitless.
Do not be afraid to charge a reasonable consulatative rate for investigative purposes - pitched as a healthcheck type afair. This will also provide you with an understanding to there level of commitment to the whole process.
Whatever you choose ensure you leverage existing relationships but dont end up with a one legged stool, align your pitch to business objectives, present well and you will be fine.
Lastly, enjoy - this is an exiting time and the potential for growth is substantial. worst case scenario, you can go back to what you are doing in a similar role somewhere else!¬
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff