How to Start an IT Consultancy

Working as an IT consultant can be very lucrative if you have the right starting connections, and of course, the right set of skills. The market is not too crowded in some areas yet, and New Jersey remains a great opportunity for those who want to establish a business of this type. The state not only offers an attractive environment for those who want to practice in IT, but it also makes it relatively easy to get a company established and cover all legal fronts.

The Legal Aspects

There are various legal issues that you’ll have to sort out before you get started. First, figure out who your registered agent will be. This can also be you, and you’re not required to hire an extra person just for that. Your RA will be responsible for all legal communication regarding your company, and they will have to forward such documents to you, or other relevant departments.

After you’ve done that, you need to actually found your company. If it’s an LLC, you just have to file a Certificate of Formation with the state. You can even send yours online if you can’t be there in person at the right time!

Picking the Right Name

The name of your company will matter more than you might expect. There are several implications behind it, both practical and legal ones. For one thing, you’ll obviously want to do some research to ensure that you’re picking a name with a good market potential. Look up what companies are operating on the market in your area at the moment, and try to stand out somewhat. Make sure that you can purchase a corresponding domain name as well.

On the other hand, you’ll also want to keep certain legal restrictions in mind. For example, your name should not confuse anyone that you might be representing a government organization. You also can’t use the names of some types of institutions, like “university” or “bank”. Consult a lawyer before settling on a name if you want to be sure that it’s good to go.

Do You Have Clients?

Getting an IT consultancy business off the ground is all about having the right connections. You’ll want to know that you can expect a steady stream of work right off the bat. This is difficult to accomplish when you don’t have a steady client base readily available. But on the other hand, how can you have clients before your business even exists?

The answer is networking. Try to leverage any opportunities you might have to build some new connections to people who might be interested in your services in the future. If you’ve decided for good that you’re going to establish a consulting firm, make that known. Of course, try to keep things reasonable and don’t outright poach clients from your current employers!

Building Up Your Online Presence

Once your company is established, you’ll also want to ensure that you have a steady stream of new clients in the future. This is best accomplished with a solid online presence. Pretty much every type of company nowadays can benefit from having a good website and social media accounts, but when it comes to IT, that’s even more true. The old saying “if your business is not on the Internet, it does not exist” goes double for companies that actually operate with technology as their main type of work.

Of course, just because you’re an IT consultant doesn’t automatically mean that you’ll know how to do SEO properly. This is a whole separate field of skills that take a lot of time to develop. The best option in this case is to hire a specialist who can handle this for you. Just make sure that you vet them properly beforehand, as you don’t want to end up with someone incompetent who’s going to do more harm than good. Unfortunately, these people exist in the SEO world as well.

Have Reliable Partners

No business can survive without a good support network, and having the right partners to work with on each individual task can mean a lot. Outsourcing is sometimes a necessity, and when you’re involved in a business like IT consulting, you might need to do it more often than you’d think. Specialists like Nelia Kovbasa have established themselves on the market at this point – in this particular case through projects like GTM+ – and it’s in your best interest to familiarize yourself with the opportunities available to you in terms of outsourcing and other similar tasks. This will allow you to optimize your workflow to a great extent.

Expect the Best

Be prepared for growth! It might be surprising to learn that growth is actually one of the main factors that contribute to the deaths of businesses led by inexperienced entrepreneurs. If you’re not prepared to deal with a large influx of new customers, finances, employees and the need to expand your offices, you should prepare to go under sooner or later.

Because in the end, you’re striving to grow bigger at any point. But when it turns out that you aren’t properly equipped to handle that growth, this can put a serious spike in the wheels of your progress. Yes, scaling back is an option. You can turn down the pace until things get quieter. But that might cost you many lost opportunities on the market, especially if you’re not careful about timing that pauses right. The bottom line is that you must know how to react when your company suddenly starts growing at a rapid pace.