Well... I've been considering what my next move in life is having just turned 39 and am considering an IT franchise which would cater to small to medium business (100 computers or less). The concept would be to offer small businesses solutions for their day to day operations including but not limited to software, servers, networking and any other technology related item that would come up in the day to day business. I'm torn between that and going back to bidding electrical contracting projects (shopping centers, grocery stores, etc); something I got out of a little over a year ago so I'm trying to pick my next move. This past year I've gotten several certifications and have a ton of small business experience ranging from estimating, job cost, project mgmt, payables, receivables, and anything else you could come across growing a company from nothing to a substantial size.

Do any of you guys have any opinions of an IT franchise?

Cheers!

Jerz

Do you mean franchise as in paying someone for naming (McIT )and etc or just your own business.

Basically, you are paying for a business plan and backend support (ie... partnerships with Dell, Intuit, Symantec, Cingular, etc.).

For example www.rescuecom.net or http://www.cmitsolutions.com/franchise%20opportunities/franchise_main2.php

Or on the hideous end of the spectrum (I'm not a "geek"):
http://www.geeksoncall.com/Franchise%20Opportunities.htm
http://www.geeksquad.com/main.asp

Sadly that image appears to work. I frequently hear computer novices talking about how they think geeksquad is really good even though they haven't used them.

Sorry I can't offer any real advice I could never start my own business if I had to pay quarterly I would commit suicide. Also I am way to cinical whenever I read ads telling me how much money they can make me I think scam.

Do you think you will get enough business referals from these guys to make up for how much you have to pay them over what you get on your own ?

Actually, I'm a bit above helping the "homeowner" I'm thinking bigger than that like small to medium sized business. I know there's a demand for it and people are looking for a one stop shop... For example, I recently completed a project where I installed the cat5, configured the computers on a small (5computer), configured the 802.11g, router, digital copier and avaya phone system including the voice mail module and got the job because I could do it all... (well actually I've installed the partner phone system before but I was doing some digging on the internet to figure out the voice mail module).

I definately would not want to do the geeks thing but would really like to go after the small business segment and recommend software and how to set up the software with databases, odbc for reporting, import of estimates to job cost for project management, unified messaging, digital send for the new type of digital copy machines, etc. A couple of weeks ago I recieved a call to figure out how to convert a file downloaded from isqft.com to a tif so it could be loaded into another program that would count all of the fixtures and devices, break them down per drawing or section and do a report. You could then print out the plans on a designjet 500 and everything counted would be highlighted so there's no chance of making a mistake. This info would be valuable for example in ordering the fixtures/devices and also communicating to the guy in the field who is actually installing the stuff as to what was ordered and where it's supposed to go. This method would also head off any problems before they actually become a problem. There's nothing like getting down to the end of a project only to find out that you're missing some things because they were installed in the wrong spot.

Anyway, I'm getting off track....

I want to provide solutions to small business to prevent them from spending money on preventable mistakes.

But then again, I could always go the easy route and bid jobs like this Target that I'm putting together in Georgetown, TX... Yeehaw!

Cheers!

Jerz

Or why not start your own small business IT support company? Hire a crew of college kids to work when they don't have class, and you manage everything from your home office. Small businesses may appreciate working with another small business; you.