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Tool #1: Your computer
Get a Pentium II or higher. Anything less is inadequate. You don’t have to go for top of the range as you pay through the nose for that. In fact, I recommend you spend as little as possible when you first start out. Get the good stuff when you are established.
And a good business maxim to follow is never spend money unless you absolutely have to. Go for 128mb RAM and plenty of hard disk space. A 17” monitor is best and they are relatively inexpensive nowadays.
Tool #2: Windows 98 or above
You must have this. You may also want to get Windows NT if you are going to be doing a lot of networking of computers as your preferred niche skill. Using a product like System Commander 2000 let’s you dual boot between these two operating systems. Very handy.
Tool #3: Microsoft Direct Access pack
Want to know where to get $5,000 worth of Microsoft software for $400? Look no further than the Direct Access pack. Microsoft wants to encourage developers and suppliers to use their software so they give crazy discounts to encourage use. The deals often vary but generally you get to choose 10 different Microsoft products from their carefully chosen list. Some of these products include Microsoft Office, BackOffice and other high priced items. Check out their website for details. It’s a real bargain.
Tool #4: Your business card
I started with a cheap business card. It was plain, had no colour and lacked my website or fax details (I started out without a fax!). Six months down the line I upgraded my card. You don’t have to go for fancy color, as that can be quite expensive. Just get something neat and professional to get you off the ground. The likely cost is around $25 for 200. It won’t break the bank, but it will give you the feeling that you are now “in business!”
Hand them out to clients, friends and associates. Get the word out that you’re in business.
Tool #5: Your website
Get yourself a decent website and you may be surprised at who knocks at your door. My websites get me into all sorts of companies, both large and small. Sometimes my website visitors think I’m Microsoft! Its very difficult for the visitor to tell how large a company you are from your website and that definitely works in your favour when you start out. Don’t make it flashy with lots of moving pictures. Just a neat and tidy site is all you need. To a large extent, the graphics don’t sell. The words do (so you better start reading those marketing books, right?).
Tool #6: A mobile phone
Do I really have to explain this one? If they can’t contact you when you’re on the move, you will loose business. Not a bit of business, but lots. Being accessible to clients at all times is of major benefit to them. Having them leave their name and number on your answerphone is not good enough. Do your damn hardest to be contactable. Otherwise, this might happen: Secretary: “Tried phoning John Doe but I couldn’t get hold of him.”
Manager: “Shame. OK, what about that guy we used last year. Give him a try.” They call him, they speak to him, he gets in the door, he sells them on his services and kicks out all your other business opportunities with that client. Don’t loose a client because of this.
Tool #7: An answerphone
You must have one of these but try to make sure clients don’t have to use it. Let it be your last resort. And check it regularly!
Tool #8: An email and Internet account + modem
If you’re not on the net you will come across as a total amateur. Get yourself your own domain name (e.g. www.computerservices.com) and the fastest modem you can afford. I use email extensively and so will your business customers. You can confirm appointments with it, send software updates to them, stay in touch and much more. Use it. Tool #9: Printer
I can highly recommend an all in one unit. Mine has a fax, printer, scanner and copier all built into one convenient, space saving device. I don’t need printing speed, just ease of use. These multi-function devices are your most cost-effective bet. Try to stay clear of an inkjet printer for business correspondence. The quality is good but just short of a laser. If you already own an inkjet printer then don’t buy a laser until later on. Save your money. Yes, I know, inkjets give good quality nowadays but they are not quite so sharp as a laser.
Tool #10: Training manuals
Since your time is so valuable it pays to have training and reference manuals at your fingertips. Every minute you waste hunting for information is a minute you cannot bill at your high rates. And take it from me, time seems to slip through your fingers at every opportunity. Five minutes spent researching how to eliminate an annoying bug on your system turns into a whole afternoon. Don’t let it happen. Get manuals on Word, Excel, Access, Windows 98 and Windows NT. I would also recommend not buying them all at once. I have listed them in the order I think you should purchase them. That would bring the most relevant information in the shortest possible time. If you are focusing on different niche markets then your needs will differ.
Tool #11: Collapsible training pointer
Ever seen one of these? They look like a pen but you can pull the telescopic end out and it becomes a 3 foot pointing device. It’s a bit like a car arial. These are excellent for training. If you don’t get one you are forever leaning over at awkward angles trying to point to the screen with your finger to demonstrate things. A lot of the time its no good saying “Click on Tools on the Menu Bar” because the client may say “What’s a Menu Bar?” or “Where? I can’t see Tools.” Clients love them to. They think you will “discipline” them with it and it becomes a point of fun that breaks the ice. You should be able to pick one up for under $15.
Tool #12: Marketing books
Its no good being a techie with all those wonderful computer skills if nobody can understand what you can offer. This area is so important and so critical to your success that you simply must study marketing and study it hard. The person who said “Build a better mousetrap and they’ll come beating a path to your door” probably went bankrupt days after they said such a stupid thing. Don’t believe such nonsense unless you want to forever be struggling at the bottom of the heap. When I placed my first adverts -1 year before starting my business properly - I got zero response so I gave up. After all, who wants to waste money on advertising when clearly it wasn’t working. Then, during that year, I read loads and loads of marketing material. One year later, when I started to advertising again I was armed with my word “cannon” and wrote adverts that sold and sold well. I’m no genius on the English language - it took me three attempts to scrape a pass at my English language exam at school. Marketing uses simple words that a 10-year-old can understand. It is easy to learn and anyone can master it. Look at 10 Hot books every IT entrepreneur simply must read for recommendations.
Tool #13: Briefcase
You must have one of these or you look “incomplete” when you arrive at your clients. They’re great for storing your sales literature along with magazine cover CD’s, pens, reference manuals and training literature. Get something smart and avoid plastic. Don’t get one of those ultra thin ones like I did. They keep falling over when positioned upright resulting in a loud crashing noise. Also, later on when you get yourself a laptop, the thin briefcases will struggle to hold your laptop and literature at the same time. Think ahead and you’ll avoid having to repurchase a new case. Tool #14: Smart suit and shoes
A dark blue navy suit is considered the most authorative suit according to researchers. You are perceived as being of higher status and more in control when dressed this way. This applies to men and I’m afraid I don’t know about women – sorry! Get smart lace-up good quality shoes. Keep them highly polished and make sure the back of the heels haven’t got the polish worn off them. This often happens if you start clocking up the miles in your car as the heel is constantly being rested upon. Follow this dressing advice and you will turn up looking the part. When you get to know your clients, some will say come more casually dressed as this may fit their culture more. But never do it the other way around. Its never a problem to be overdressed, always a problem to be underdressed. I’ve made both mistakes and have been told to not turn up so casually dressed in future. It is highly embarrassing when it happens.
Tool #15: Decent pen and clipboard
A good quality pen costing around $40 will help cement your already professional image. When in the business market you will often be dealing with managers and presidents of companies. Using cheap pens will not present a consistent image to these people. They may subconsciously think you are a fake instead of the highly experienced, highly paid and highly valued consultant you are (or want to be). Don’t let them know you are just starting out! Often you will be asked questions when training that you will need to come back to. Use a clipboard to support your paper, as there may not be a table to hand. Also, you may be sitting the other side of the desk from a manager who is giving you a list of things he wants sorting out at the company. If you have to perch a bit of paper on the end of his desk (or even worse your wrist) it will come across as sloppy and unorganised. Clipboards will only cost you about $5. Tool #16: Diary
Without a diary how are you going to organise all those appointments? I prefer those that show one week on two pages. They allow me to see at a glance when I am free this week or the following week. For goodness sake, do not have one with cartoons on it. Keep them plain, understated and simple. Currently, I am using a Palm V which is an electronic Personal Digital Assistant. It acts as my diary, address book, to do list and more. It synchronises with Outlook with the push of a button. They come with my highest recommendation but are a bit pricey when you first start out. However, keep this one in mind for the future.
Tool #17: Dreamweaver web design software
I used to use Microsoft FrontPage but I kept hearing reviews about how good Dreamweaver was. Believe the reviews. Dreamweaver is the software of choice for designing websites, whether it is for your own site or for clients. What if you won’t be designing websites for clients? I still recommend getting Dreamweaver eventually (or you can use FrontPage when first starting) because I strongly advise you to have your own website. It improves your companies’ image (Client: “What? You don’t have a website? How long have you been in business?”) and can generate a constant stream of enquiries for very little cost. It can also get you into larger companies.
Tool #18: Supermemo
Wow! What an amazing product! I came across this bit of software by accident but it blew my mind. In a nutshell, Supermemo helps you memorise things. When we learn new material, there is a forgetting curve. If you don’t review that material, you are likely to forget it unless you come back to it for revision. What Supermemo does is test you at optimised periodic intervals until it is in your long-term memory. It does this using the least amount of time possible. In my first month in using this program I learnt 306 different items, including some programming language. The website is www.supermemo.com. Read more about it there but it could give you a fast start when learning such things as programming languages, Word and Excel.
Tool #19: Company info sheet
When you receive an enquiry from a business, its quite handy to fax some literature that tells them what you do and further information about your company. Include your company name, address, phone/fax numbers, email and website address. List all the services you offer (e.g. training on Word, Excel, Access, Windows, technical support, website design), where you are located and how you offer these services (e.g. onsite training only, group or one-on-one training). Include a list of clients you have helped once you’ve been in business for a few months. Add some testimonials from satisfied clients. If you don’t already know, a testimonial is a letter of recommendation. It can be as short as one sentence or as long as a whole page. Always ask your clients this: “Would you object to providing me with a brief testimonial? It really helps us because it reassures potential customers that we know what we are doing.” It is quite difficult for them to say, “No, I object.” You can help them out by saying “I’ll even write it for you to save you time if you want. Then, if you agree with what is written, just sign it." Tool #20: DoorwayPro 2000
You must get this product if you seriously want to market your website. It helps you generate large volumes of website traffic using something called “doorway pages” or “gateway pages”. Check out their website at www.gettingtraffic.com – it is the best product in its class.
Tool #21: In-out trays
Don’t ask me how it happens but I get a ton of paperwork. I get industry papers sent to me by the dozen, bank statements, client payments, tax forms, the lot. So, create a system that works for you to stay organised. In my office, I have In-Out trays for handling routine correspondence. The in-tray is for all my new post to look at. The out-tray is for stuff to file at the end of the day and letters to post. You may prefer to file as soon as you have actioned a bit of paperwork as this reduces the clutter. The system I use for filing is as follows: when you have actioned something and it needs filing, using a pencil write “F” at the top right hand corner and circle it. This signifies it is ready to be filed (by you or your admin staff). You may also want to write under what category in your filing cabinet it is to go. This is particularly useful when you have part-time (or full-time) admin staff. So many times in the past have I had correspondence filed in the inappropriate place that I nearly always specify where it is to go now. Tool #22: Quickbooks accounting software
I use Quickbooks because it is simple and straightforward. This package has found favour with many entrepreneurs because it requires minimal accounting knowledge. It is also useful to create invoices for clients. In fact, it is so quick that I can turn out an invoice in less than 2 minutes using Quickbooks. Doing invoices in Word is too slow and is to be avoided. In your first few weeks, don’t spend money on this package. See how much income you generate first. Don’t spend money before you get it or you will go bust, even if you do have space on that credit card.
Tool #23: Fax
Buy a fax when you have been in business for a couple of months. You can get away without one for a while as I did - I bought one after being in the business for 2 years. But your image will be enhanced if you do have one. They are also very convenient for receiving faxed directions and sending clients documents to sign. While some of these things can be done by email, clients often prefer the quick convenience of a fax. Go for a multi-function device as already stated. They have a printer, copier, fax and scanner built into one super-compact unit. It will save you space and money.
Tool #24: Copies of local papers, with advertising rates
Go down to your newsagent and get copies of all the local papers and those in the surrounding area. Ring them all up and ask for an advertising rate guide or media pack to be sent to you. This will outline the papers circulation figures, advert cost and reader demographics. Wow! Demographics! I never looked at that because I only had a couple of local papers. I didn’t have a choice over where to advertising and would probably not have understood the implications of the demographic profiles anyway. Once armed with this data, you can set about deciding where to advertise by analysing which is the most cost effective publication. See the chapter on “Advertising Magic” for more detail.
Tool #25: Letterheaded paper
You can start off using something created with Word. However, beyond your second month I recommend spending a few dollars getting something done professionally. It need not cost much but get 500 letterheads that have the following information:
• Company name and address
• Phone number and fax
• Email address
• Website address If you put your mobile number on there you risk looking like a small, one-man band business. Only put the mobile number in the text of the letter when signing off. E.g. “If you have any questions then please contact me on xxxxx xxxxxxxx (office) or xxxxxx xxxxxxx (mobile).” While a logo is not essential, it can help add credibility to your image. Get a graphic artist to create one for you. They will do a much better job that you ever could, unless you have good experience in this area. Go to www.elance.com where freelancers will bid for doing your logo. Some will actually create your logo for you to view online. If you like it, then pay them. You have nothing to loose. Tool #26: Typing tutor software
You need to learn to type. Your primary method of communicating with the PC is via the keyboard so you should be quick. Nothing looks more amateurish than stabbing away at the keyboard with two fingers. There are several software products on the market that help with your typing skills, such as Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. They are inexpensive but bring a high return to you because you’ll save time “communicating” with your PC. Come on, take the time and effort to do this right. Once you have these skills you
will never loose them.
Tool #27: Collection of magazine CD’s
Regularly purchase your favourite PC magazines to keep abreast of developments in the IT world. Often they come with a free CD on the front cover. These CD’s are usually packed full of utilities - such as Winzip – that come in handy when at a client’s site. Put several of these CD’s in your briefcase so when you go to appointments you will always have a copy of, for example, Winzip to store on their system. Nothings more frustrating than travelling miles to solve something and finding the client doesn’t have the most basic of utilities needed to do the job.
How to buy these tools with serious discounts
Shop around. Look on the net in several places and compare with local stores. You would be surprised at how much you can save. When buying stationary, I phone up office suppliers who have stationary magazines with their standard prices shown. Then, periodically they send Sale catalogues with discount prices. More often than not, the main catalogue prices are works of fiction. They are the top prices they charge and only the gullible and ignorant end up paying these. So, to help you get a discount, make your stationary purchase list and say the following: “I’m a buyer for XYZ Company and we are looking for a more competitive stationary supplier. We haven’t used you before but we wondered what kind of deal you could do for us, as we are particularly price sensitive.” They will probably take your list of items and give you a price that is significantly lower than those shown in their catalogue. If you are really hard nosed, you could always add: “Is that really the very best you can do?” This may sometimes cut the price a little more. A penny saved is a penny earnt, so the expression goes. How true that is in business. Try to get discounts on everything. When buying software and hardware, the net is one of the cheapest places to shop. Go to several of the major suppliers and compare prices. Quite often you will see a significant difference in price between two different websites. But don’t forget to take their delivery charge into consideration. I used to think the cheapest place to go would be the trade suppliers but that is often not the case nowadays. Most of the time I have found the major retail suppliers have the cheapest prices! They buy in such large quantities that the margins are next to nothing. That’s why I have recommended only selling peripherals to get in the door and not to make a profit on them. |
