Small Business and IT Consulting

Many small offices in my area (and I can only assume, across the country) spend good money after bad yearly due to misconceptions. I have done consulting work for small business' for years and the most common mistake made is failing to make the distinction between recommendations, quotes, and consultation.

Recommendations

We'll start with recommendations. Recommendations are what you get from your guy (you know your guy, everyone has a guy.) You can get them from the local Staples/Office Depot/Circuit City customer representative. You can even get recommendations from your parents. Recommendations can be helpful when you are searching for simple solutions to simple problems. This includes computer problems, such as which digital camera to buy or what photo printer you should purchase to replace the one that just died. Recommendations are a great tool in the small business' arsenal, not because of it's effectiveness, but for it's price. Recommendations are usually free, but this is no way to solve a complex problem or issue.

Quotes

Quotes are, for some reason beyond my comprehension, somewhat tricky. You get a quote, when you know what you need. Now, you might think you know what you need. But, do you really? Do you know what you need, or do you just know what you need to do? The truth is that many small business' don't actually know what they need. They do however, know what they need to do. Think of quotes as an online store cart, you have to know what you need before you can add it to the cart. Quotes are an excellent way to keep costs down. However, this only works when you already know what you need as well as what you need to do.

Consultation

Consultation is a necessity when a small business knows what it needs to do, but not what is necessary to do it. Consultation is often confused with requesting quotes. I cannot count how many times I was asked to provide a quote for equipment for a small business and the business didn't have the details of what was to be quoted. In fact, in one particular instance a potential client got quite bent out of shape when I failed to provide a quote for that very reason. The small business wanted several workstations with software and a server-based network. The workstation and server specifications were layed out like a multiple choice test. The server OS was not even chosen ahead of time. Furthermore, it was expected that all make and model numbers of individual parts that made up the workstations and server were to be provided as well. A quote, in this instance, is clearly not what was being requested. This small business needed consultation before requesting quotes.

So, what does it all mean, Basil? (obscure Austin Power's quote)

When you choose the wrong approach to solve a problem you, in general, waste time and resources that could have been better spent elsewhere. Don't expect quotes to solve complex issues for your small business. Come to think of it, don't lay it on a customer representative or your parents, either. If you do, you're likely to be, not only, disappointed, but much poorer in the end. Take advantage of the consultation services of information technology specialists. Many consultants, myself included, are perfectly willing to consult, provide the necessary information and education, and help the client through the quotation process without actually bidding on the quote itself. This helps keep the consultant somewhat impartial.

Does this mean you should call a consultant every time you need to replace a workstation? Of course, not! However, if you're replacing your server and/or several workstations or considering a change of software/OS platform, it is probably a good call to make. Because you are paying for a service, the consultant will take to time to help identify your needs, educate you, and find software and hardware to satisfy those needs. This kind of "hand-holding" can reap great results, in saved time and money.