New Business Idea...

[ksoviero]

Good Luck with your venturing -- as you mature you hopefully will learn that experience has no substitute, Inexperience carries significant cost and risk.

There are many types of Geeks and Nerds and if you can exploit that market segment profitably and consistently THAT would be remarkable and I for one would extend my congratulations.

David Mozer
Information Technology for Home and Business
http://www.itexpertoncall.com/

Isn't that your business slogan?

[mozerd]

Isn't that your business slogan?

Yes, it surely is my business slogan.

David Mozer
Information Technology for Home and Business
http://www.itexpertoncall.com/

[ksoviero]

Personally i think your getting into an over saturated market full of people already doing what you do.

People these days go to OEMs like Dell / HP cause it is cheaper and you can not beat their prices and as said above, that is what matters to %99 of people these days, price.

Also, just to elaborate.

How exactly is there an over saturated market of people providing open source solutions to small/medium businesses? There may be a few, but not what I would call over saturated.

[sky-knight]

Open Source isn't a solution, it's an idea. A solution is a combination of technology, configured and serviced to complete a business objective.

Every IT solution company on the planet is looking at open source / commercial / hybrid options. If they aren't they die.

So yes, the market is very much saturated. That doesn't mean it isn't worth it, it just means you'd better be ready for the fight of your life. Think you've got what it takes?

[ksoviero]

Open Source isn't a solution, it's an idea. A solution is a combination of technology, configured and serviced to complete a business objective.

Every IT solution company on the planet is looking at open source / commercial / hybrid options. If they aren't they die.

So yes, the market is very much saturated. That doesn't mean it isn't worth it, it just means you'd better be ready for the fight of your life. Think you've got what it takes?

"Fight of my life"? I don't know man, I survived high school...

On a more serious note however, I have been using open source on a personal level for several years. I have been setting up and supporting open source based products like OCS Inventory, OSTicket, Debian, FOG Server, and Clonezilla in businesses and schools on a pro-bono basis for the last couple of years.

At this point I just want to start a business so I can make a life out of what I already do.

I am starting to get the idea that people here think I just found out about Linux and open source, and am jumping in head first.

[sky-knight]

Not at all, I'm simply trying to prepare you for reality in this industry.

When people say it's over saturated. They mean it.

Everyone has a brother, son, nephew, cousin, kid down the street, whatever that "does computers". So getting new clients is incredibly difficult. It doesn't matter that those other guys nuke the business half the time... the game isn't about what you know, or even how good you are, it's about referrals and trust.

Now your skill and diplomatic abilities are how you keep customers, for me that's the easy part. It's getting leads on new clients to begin with that kills me.

[lohearn]

I work in a small computer store. The main part of our business is repairs. People go to the big OEMs to purchase, but once that machine is out of warranty they need someplace to go to get their issues fixed. We also provide IT support for small businesses, build custom machines for those willing to pay for good components, web hosting and web design services, pretty much a little of everything.

[Mathiau]

I think I just found my first advertisement...



I don't think the market for what I am doing is over saturated. I plan to cater to the geeks and nerds of the computer market. Nobody else does that in a real way.

Wrong market, geeks and nerds already know how to do this stuff themselves and wont pay someone else to do it.

[f1assistance]

...the game isn't about what you know, or even how good you are, it's about referrals and trust.

Now your skill and diplomatic abilities are how you keep customers, for me that's the easy part. It's getting leads on new clients to begin with that kills me.

amen!