Starting your own business is always a complex and challenging process. When you find the right opportunity though, it also represents a chance to “be your own boss,” structure a company you can be proud of, and — ultimately — profit from it. For those interested in the field, troubleshooting offers just that kind of opportunity.
In the modern world, we are simply so steeped in technology that there is always demand for assistance. Furthermore, we’re continuing to grow more depend on tech with each passing day, which means that demand isn’t going anywhere. So, if you have the interest and the relevant knowledge, a troubleshooting business can go a long way. But there are some steps you’ll need to follow if you’re to set up such a venture successfully.
1. Assess Your Local Market
Before starting any business, it’s important to assess the local market. If you’re looking at troubleshooting needs specifically, this can be a little bit tricky to do, because in some respects you’re serving a universal need. Nevertheless, you can start with a broad approach eyeing the busiest local industries. In our state of Connecticut, for example, this would yield some interesting results. Influential industries in Connecticut include financial services, agriculture and fishing, manufacturing, and tourism and entertainment. From those kinds of findings, you can research and brainstorm as to what types of technology — hardware and software alike — are most relevant to those industries. This in turn will give you some idea as to what you might want to prioritize with your troubleshooting efforts. Offering services relevant to the most commonly used tech in your area is a good way to generate business from the very beginning.
2. Name & Brand the Business
This step is a given, but it’s still something you should spend some time on and consider carefully. Troubleshooting often sounds somewhat vague or generic, which makes businesses in this category blur together as often as not. So to avoid becoming just one more vaguely understood company in the space, try to come up with a catchy name and brand that convey what makes you valuable or unique. It can be virtually anything depending on your main business focus. But we recommend coming up with a few options and testing them out with some brief surveys (or conversations with friends and family, if they can be objective).
3. Register with Your State
To make your business official, and equip it with an air of legitimacy that future customers will appreciate, you should register it with the state as soon as you’re ready to launch. Here, you’ll have several options, as there are various types of business entities to consider. You can form a sole proprietorship if you want to keep things as simple as possible, or a corporation if you’re set on significant growth and robust corporate structure. But the most suitable option for a lot of new businesses these days is a limited liability company, or LLC. The benefits of an LLC created in Connecticut include a quick and affordable setup, a fair business tax arrangement, and simple company structure that keeps you in charge. And these same benefits are more or less matched state by state (though the setup process can vary slightly). Once you’re registered, you’ll be ready to do business as an official entity.
4. Highlight Your Offerings
Naturally, by the time you’re launching your business, you’ll want to have set up a website and/or social media channels on which to represent yourself. When you are ready to launch though, you’ll want to make sure you’re using these platforms to highlight your primary offerings. That is to say, don’t just pitch yourself as a general troubleshooting business. Point to what you’re best equipped to help with, be it assistance with mobile technology, help with a given type of software, or anything else of relevance. This will not only make it easier for prospective customers to engage with your platform, but will also position you well for your early marketing campaigns.
5. Research the Future
This may seem like a rather grand idea, but all we’re really suggesting is that even as you’re setting up a new business, you should be giving some thought to where you can take it next. In the context of troubleshooting, this can simply mean keeping tabs on relevant tech trends. To use another local example, Connecticut’s newest 5G network was as of October of last year touted as the “fastest in the world.” This points to the state embracing 5G potentially more rapidly than other parts of the country, which will pave the way for all sorts of potential troubleshooting needs. Preparing to meet those needs is an excellent example of how researching new and future developments can benefit your business.
There are certainly plenty of smaller, more incremental steps along the way to forming your own business. But these overarching efforts will help you to get off the ground poised for success and ready to thrive in the space.