Would you...

[TomTechITSupport]

Would you say you are ready to take a business up as a job after having one clinet? or would you wait till you have more on board like say 5?

Curious.

[carolinem]

I suppose it depends on lots of different variables....

E.g. How much cash do I need to keep a roof over my head? Can that one client sustain me?
Can I service that client part-time out of hours (i.e. working evenings/weekends/early mornings)?
Do I have a plan to get more clients? How likely is it they will come on board and at what level?
Is there anything in my employment contract forbidding me from undertaking freelance work or other jobs?

A lot of people start their business part-time working weekends and evenings. Some understanding bosses even let you work part-time hours until you are fully up and running (mine did - thank you Big Al at Euro RSCG Riley - best boss in the world!).

Does that answer your question? (I think I got the gist of it!!)

[TomTechITSupport]

Thank you. Advice taken. Next question was, how do you ask a pay as you go customer for a contract based service, because next year i'm trying to avoid the pay as you go clients because they tend to waste my time on call outs that i could have fixed remotely with my eyes closed. I kinda want then to value the service more.

Originally Posted by carolinem

I suppose it depends on lots of different variables....

E.g. How much cash do I need to keep a roof over my head? Can that one client sustain me?
Can I service that client part-time out of hours (i.e. working evenings/weekends/early mornings)?
Do I have a plan to get more clients? How likely is it they will come on board and at what level?
Is there anything in my employment contract forbidding me from undertaking freelance work or other jobs?

A lot of people start their business part-time working weekends and evenings. Some understanding bosses even let you work part-time hours until you are fully up and running (mine did - thank you Big Al at Euro RSCG Riley - best boss in the world!).

Does that answer your question? (I think I got the gist of it!!)

[carolinem]

Well really you have to make it worth their while...

We have a supplier who I work with on an ad hoc rate - which makes sense because I only use the service twice a year. If I took out a maintenance contract I'd get it for a cheaper price per hour but I'd need to commit to using it once a month.

Do the clients need you on a regular basis? Are they able to pay more? Is it of value to them or could they go down the road and get it cheaper? Are there freebies you could package into the deal to attract them to it?

[TomTechITSupport]

Originally Posted by carolinem

Well really you have to make it worth their while...

We have a supplier who I work with on an ad hoc rate - which makes sense because I only use the service twice a year. If I took out a maintenance contract I'd get it for a cheaper price per hour but I'd need to commit to using it once a month.

Do the clients need you on a regular basis? Are they able to pay more? Is it of value to them or could they go down the road and get it cheaper? Are there freebies you could package into the deal to attract them to it?

Well in particular one of my clients, he needs me, even with simple technology related advise he rings me, he can pick up his phone at 10pm and say Tom how do i setup my iphone lol. I have experimented telling him i will no longer service him and he's went else where but felt he wasn't getting good enough service and he came back to me and i felt bad so i took him back on. I see what you're saying tho and i will review my draft copy of contract and fine tune it for him till i thin it's of advantage to both of us.

Thanks again