Overcoming Fear

Two Steps to Starting a Tech Services Business

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We get reached out by a lot of people thinking about starting a technology services/consulting business. We get asked a lot of questions which are a variation of where will we find our first customers, but underpinning the conversation is usually one fact and that is the fear of the unknown. We don’t deny the impact of that fear, especially when you have family responsibilities. But here’s the thing: often the fear of the unknown is more powerful than any real, tangible factors that might be stopping you. So we are providing a simple two step guide for overcoming that fear to make the leap.

These two steps are specifically meant for someone trying to start a technology services/consulting business. We strongly believe tech services as opposed to product businesses are excellent businesses for first time founders since they allow founders to learn how to run a business at a lower risk profile. To understand the scope of opportunity better, please read this article. These two tips would not apply on product startups but should still be relevant to other B2B services companies.

Step 1: Attend A Conference And Pitch Your Services

The question that gets asked is where will we find customers but really what’s being asked is, who will ever bring us on as a consultant. The excellent piece of advice that put that into perspective for us was given by Sanjay Patel that people are willing to hire you at high salaries. They will be more than happy to bring you on as a contractor with less commitment. And that perspective was useful, but SXSW was around the corner and we decided to put that idea to the test. We printed out business cards that said “Consultant”, and attended the conference. What we discovered was a world of people willing to engage with us, willing to learn from us, willing to open doors for us, interested in further conversations.

Now none of those conversations materialized into a deal. But what we did discover through that conversation was more valuable, An understanding that the thesis is correct. People are willing to give us a salary. That means people will be willing to take the smaller risk of bringing us on as a consultant. So you should attend a conference. Although learn from our mistakes and do the following:

1. Prepare a pitch and form an opinion about who your target customer is. You will get to rehearse your pitch 50 times over the conference, and you will get an immediate reaction. So you can very quickly understand what is and isn’t working in your messaging.
2. Pick an event that your target customers will attend. Even better where your target customers would be sponsors because it is easier to approach them at their booths.
3. If you’re making business cards use a good company like MOO. Although now you just need to know how to use the LinkedIn scan QR feature and don’t really need business cards. But the last minute printing from a big box office supply store we did with the misaligned ink wasn’t exactly the most professional image we could carry.

Step 2: Give Yourself Six Months

Step 1 will allay your fear of if someone would hire us. But you may still be telling yourself, “What happens if we fail?” And the answer to that is nothing. To prove it to yourself take a look at your assets and your expenses. Make sure you have a runway of around a year. You may want to add an extra cushion for initial business expenses. It’s a question on your resources but 25k would go a long way. You warm up your contacts, start conversations, see what is clicking and do a few directed outreaches. And give yourself a day to quit your job. If it doesn’t work you can go back and find a better job because you’d have acquired these skills:

1. Learned how to reach out to, talk to, and close customers.
2. Learned how the work you do provides a value to the organization you work for.
3. Learned some basics on running a business.

In addition you would have demonstrated your ambition to the next employer that values that skill. So if in six months you are unable to find customers you can just stop and find a better job.

What is most likely to happen is that you’ll find mediocre success. That may seem like the worst case scenario making it so you can’t replace your salary but it’s not like you have no business. This is still okay. Remember it is a flywheel. With time you will improve and scale your services. Consistent effort can turn a mediocre success into an amazing success.

Conclusion

We understand starting a business can be a scary prospect. With these two steps you can conquer that fear to start your journey into entrepreneurship. And in the process deal with the biggest risk head on, a life with regret. If in step 2 you realize you need seed financing please reach out and we can connect you with seed investors.

Please follow us on LinkedIn so we can continue to be a part of your entrepreneurial journey. We look forward to seeing your application for joining a Vixul cohort (a23–2 starts in August and has the application deadline of May 19).