You might think working in the information technology support field means being tied to your desk in the corporate office, ready to put out network fires and deal with on-site computer emergencies. And while that's true for many IT positions, it doesn't have to be the case. In fact, with an IT office job or computer training experience in your background, you might be qualified to work as a roaming freelance computer consultant. If you prefer house calls to emergency phone calls from stressed-out managers, freelancing is a good option to consider.
That's what Seth Miller did after putting himself through college working in computer labs. "I realized pretty quickly this was a valuable skill that would get me farther than my English degree," he says. While working his first two jobs out of college, in tech support and then as a systems administrator, Miller found his niche. Many of the people he met through his work asked him to help them set up their home computers.
To make extra money to pay back his student loans, he did computer consulting after office hours. "I worked every weekend for a year, and a lot of nights," he says. Soon Miller realized his consulting could be a viable business, and he dropped his day job. Miller, now president and CEO of Miller Systems Inc. in Boston, got his initial clients through those first two jobs. But he says he now gets almost all of his work through word of mouth and networking with clients.
"It's definitely about customer relations and communication," he notes.
Stephen Hunt shares that philosophy. Hunt says the cornerstone of his IT consulting practice is maintaining good relationships with his clients. "It's very simple. The whole business comes from that," he says. "You have to honor that and do right by them."
Hunt took the leap into self-employment when some customers at the software training company where he worked asked him to come to their office to set up a computer system. He realized he preferred the holistic approach of consulting with clients to help them solve their own computer and software problems to teaching people how to use just one piece of software. So he took the plunge and ventured out on his own.
"In consulting, you get to know your clients, and you see that people can apply the knowledge right away," Hunt explains. By contrast, as a trainer, Hunt felt he had to teach everyone the same thing the same way, and the lessons didn't necessarily relate to real business issues.
Hunt says he has never advertised his business, Stephen R Hunt Consulting Inc. of Swampscott, Massachusetts, and that it has grown strictly through word of mouth. It's his focus on clients that made him successful, Hunt says.
"I always put myself in the position as the owner of the company or the client and ask myself, ‘If this were my company, how would I solve this problem?' " Hunt explains.
Hunt and Miller agree that their timing was good. Both started their businesses in the early ‘90s, when desktop publishing and business computer use was booming. "I feel very fortunate I had this opportunity; I was at the right place with the right skills," says Miller. "But you have to be able to recognize opportunity and be willing to work towards that."
It wasn't easy for either Hunt or Miller, but with skills, timing, networking and some guts, they managed to make the transition from office jobs to self-employed computer doctors, making a living out of making IT house calls.
