Every year, the IT demands on businesses grow. Therefore, those thinking about creating a managed services business have every chance to solidify a position in the market. But how do you get started? Here are five simple steps!
1. Create a Business Plan
Regardless of the industry, every new business needs to create a plan. Here, you'll consider the following:
- Pricing strategy
- USP (unique selling point)
- Potential challenges
- Competitors
- Products and services
- Marketing plan
- Staffing plan
In particular, what will set you apart from the competition? If you're going to enter the market as a replica of all other services, you'll struggle to find success. On the other hand, the very best new businesses offer customers something different.
A business plan acts as a guide for the business in the early stages, and it also helps you to get funding through business loans and alternative methods.
2. Explore Partnering Opportunities
While you can certainly launch a business by yourself, we recommend also exploring your options to partner up with other services, companies, and individuals. For example, it's wise to partner with a cloud services provider, especially if they offer IT consulting in West Palm Beach. If you are not in West Palm Beach, consider researching your market to find the opportunity. The stronger your partners, the better the infrastructure upon which your clients will come to rely.
You need to realize that only the best tools, hardware, and software will do during this stage. Since your competitors invest in the latest technology, you cannot afford to always be one step behind and expect clients to choose your service.
3. Locate Clients
At some point, you need to locate clients and earn revenue to keep the business going - this comes after generating a business plan, partnering with other services, and creating a solid infrastructure depending on the services that you've decided to offer.
If you want to grow your MSP, you'll need a reliable and consistent sales funnel and a solid social media presence. In other words, the marketing team needs to appeal to clients' needs at every stage of the funnel. What does this mean? Providing the right content to all prospective leads, whether they're just discovering your brand or ready to spend money.
To encourage people to dial your number and work with you, it's best to optimize your website for all devices and position your brand as a market leader. Show off your knowledge, brag about your exceptional services, and focus on user-generated content like reviews and testimonials.
4. Encourage a Positive Experience
Nothing can replace the feeling of getting your first client and then the sense of dread when you realize that you're now responsible for their IT services. While you can't keep 100% of customers happy, you can encourage a positive experience by always trying your best. Stick to your promises, pick up the phone when clients call and go above and beyond the call of duty.
One of the best rules to follow in business is 'under-promise and over-deliver. By underpromising, you're not offering something that you can't deliver. If possible, you'll then over-deliver, and your clients won't be able to restrain their smiles. But, if you can't over-deliver, at least you've met their expectations without promising anything else.
5. Diversity
If you start your MSP with only a couple of services, eventually, you'll want to diversify and offer more services to clients. The more services on offer, the more likely you will keep clients happy (while also attracting new clients!). When moving into this fifth stage, don't forget all the steps before it. For example, remember to come back to the business plan every so often while always striving for positive customer experiences.
