How Do Business Computer Services Compare to Home Computer Services?

Some small IT providers specialize in business computer services – focusing most of their energies on B2B (business to business).

Other small tech providers tackle both business- and home-computer services (B2C).

Is selling business computer services inherently “better” than home computer services? And is there really a “right” answer? That all depends on who you ask!

Why Some Technology Providers Have the Choice Made for Them

Ideally, if you own an IT company, you’d like to have the choice about which target markets to pursue.

For example, if in your previous career you worked as an IT trainer for a major hospital, it makes total sense to leverage that HCIT (health care IT) experience when starting your own IT company and target clients in health care.

But on the other hand, sometimes your current skillset or geographic location forces the issue of whether to market business computer services.

When Your Available Skills Call the Shots

Let’s say for example, that in your previous job, you got very comfortable with installing and supporting desktop PCs, notebooks, and tablets – but were rarely allowed anywhere near a server or other network infrastructure.

So if you were starting your own IT company, it makes more sense, at least initially, to focus on smaller clients (often known as SOHO, short for small office home office) -- where your skill set would fill most of their IT needs – rather than only being able to take care of one piece of the puzzle with larger SMB clients.

Sure, the profitability of much smaller clients, especially in home computer services, will be much lower – both from standpoint of projects and recurring revenue.

But, you won’t need to invest right away in upgrading your skills.

When Your Location Defines the Available Market

So besides IT skill sets shaping whether to pursue the business computer services market or the home computer services market, geography also matters a lot.

For example, other things being equal, larger SMB clients typically have more advanced IT needs than smaller SMB clients.

And, the pool of IT staff that has the skills needed to service larger SMB clients, with these advanced needs, is in shorter supply. So market rates get driven up because of this more scarce resource.

That’s why, in most cases, providing business computer services is a lot more lucrative than offering home computer services.

But sometimes when you put together your business plan and marketing plan, and you assess your overall market size, you find that there just aren’t enough potential clients in your planned service radius.

Population Density and Your Ideal Client Profile

While there usually are plenty of potential SMB clients with 10 to 100 employees, or even 10 to 500 employees, in most major metro markets, population density can make all of the difference in the world.

So if your company is located out in the “middle of nowhere” – in a sparsely populated rural area – with a population of a few thousand (or less!) and the nearest big city is hours away, it definitely changes how you evaluate the relative merits of providing business computer services, as opposed to offering home computer services.

If there are only for example 10 potential SMB clients with 10 to 100 employees, even achieving 100% market share may not create much of a financially viable or scalable business.

Given these circumstances, it may not be practical for an IT provider to only sell business computer services. So immediately the bar, for the ideal client profile, is lowered to any business with any employees – even if on the surface, that business doesn’t seem to need much in recurring outsourced IT services.

In similar geographic compromises, that same IT provider may even conclude that selling some home computer services is worthwhile – especially if the targeting is more deliberately toward residential customers that are decision makers in local businesses or highly-influential organizations.

The Bottom Line

Other things being equal, selling business computer services can be much more profitable, predictable, and scalable compared to offering home computer services. But sometimes you just simply don’t have a choice – if your skills aren’t strong enough to meet the demands of businesses or if there aren’t enough businesses in a sparsely populated area.

Part of being an entrepreneur is knowing how and when to shift resources away from lower yield activities toward higher yield activities. Now that you know how to evaluate the relative merits of B2B clients vs. B2C customers, you can make the best decision for your specific situation.

Does your company offer business computer services, home computer services, or both? And if so, what’s been most important to serving your target market? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below. 

And to follow-through on the tips introduced in this short article, be sure to download your free copy of the special report on How to Start a Computer Consulting Business: 6 Proven Ways to Build Your Initial Client Base. 

Creative Commons Image Source: flickr martface