Just started my new business

[krymson]

So I just started my new business a week ago today. I want to get yalls opinion on it. Basically what I do is Tech tutoring. Teach people computer basics, Windows 8, Microsoft Office, Web Design and more.

Being in a community of small businesses do you feel that this type of company/service could be utilized for your business to teach employees how to become more proficient and consequently more productive to increase revenue. Would it be something you as a small business owner would invest in to make sure people know how to produce quality work if their job heavily uses these technologies. The link is in my signature, the link is Katy Computer Tutors,.

I just want to get other thoughts and ideas.

[iltaj]

Hi Jonathon, great question and congrats on starting your new venture. I think that there is a need for this service however you probably will have to target a very niche clientele. For instance most restaurant, or food places and small retailers will not need your services either because they use a tailored software for their respective business or because the owner works within the establishment and figures they will want to do the work themselves or train their employees themself. There is however a huge market of executives, who are willing to pay for these kinds of services. I know a few who have done so in the past. They want their employees to be more proficient and productive so they are willing to pay big $$. You have to target those clients mostly. EG. executive assistants who want to upgrade their skills, or office staff that need to learn a certain software, I think you will find much success there. The key is to market in the right places. All the best in your business!

[Harold Mansfield]

I think it's a good idea. I already do this type of training for my WordPress clients and it is well recieved.
But for general computer knowledge, pretty much all of my friends are clueless and I'm really tired of them calling me as if this is what I do.
Unfortunately, they are so bad that I can barely get them to understand how to work Go To Meeting or Skype, so I always have to go to them...which is a pain.

I personally wouldn't use it, because I do my own stuff, but there is definitely a need.

[KristineS]

I think there is a need for this sort of thing, but you'll have to target your potential customers carefully. Companies without IT departments would be a good bet.

Also, make sure you proofread your website. I saw at least one spelling error on the front page.

[vangogh]

Congrats on the new business Jonathon. I wouldn't need your services myself, given that tech tutoring isn't something I typically need, however I doubt I'm your market. In general I think this makes sense for lots of small businesses and I can see it working as a business for you. I do think there will be some things to consider though to make it work.

You mention on your site it's one on one tutoring. I have a feeling a business would rather it be a one (you) to many (their employees) kind of tutoring. By many I only mean more than one. In that case you'll probably want to increase your rate. I'm thinking of a job I had about 12 years ago. The first week on the job was training. I think there were 6-8 of us in a room sitting around computers, while an instructor led us through the basics of the job. Much of it was simply using Word. I can see a similar set up for you where you'd be teaching to multiple people instead of just one. Of course it depends on the size of the business you're targeting.

One on one will probably work better for micro businesses where there's only going to be one person who needs the help at a time.

Since this kind of business is probably local, you might want to think about how to become a teacher in some continuing education programs in local colleges. Even though the goal is to teach the course, having taken some of those courses, it's also an easy opportunity to generate business. Someone learns from you and grabs your card, knowing you can come into their office and teach others or teach other subjects the college isn't offering.

Be ready though. It could be a hard sell to many small businesses. Some of the major reasons they probably need your services are also some of the reasons they may not want to hire you. They might be phobic about technology. They might have little to no time to learn more. They might not be willing to spend money learning. Just some common objections you might encounter. Fortunately you don't need to convince everyone to be in business so maybe your response to the previous objections is to identify those who have them quickly and move one.

[billbenson]

I kind of feel like people who don't know something don't realize how important it is. It kind of parallels people who never went to college and feel its unnecessary. How can they know what they missed when they never went there.

Its far more difficult of a sell to something to someone who doesn't see the need. First you need to sell them on the value and then you need to sell them on the fact that you are the best person to provide the service.

The requirement is definitely there, but its going to be a more difficult sell than other types of services.

[Harold Mansfield]

One thing I noticed...if you just offer lessons, people take note, some who have nothing but time on thier hands will call and try it out, but the rest will put it off forever.
However, when people have an emergency (need to get something done or can't figure something out), they frantically search for someone to help. And finding someone who you can call and they actually pick up the phone and help you, is gold.

I'm not saying to change your format, I'm just saying maybe throw an "emergency services" page on there to entice people to call you immediately during your business hours.

[krymson]

Vangogh: The initial start of the business was to assist end users on learning the basics, well the person actually funding my business ALSO wants to be able to apply to businesses, so there are some minor tweaks i have to make to the site. But our target niche is micro-businesses, and small office type businesses or even big names after I get the right credentials, as well as individuals ages 45-75. I may rewrite some of the content on the front page and separate it into Individuals and business.

Harold: That's why we can charge by the hour, and if it's an emergency, they will of course pay more because I will have to push back appointments but that's on a need to know basis, as of right now, I have a few bookings, being that I just opened lastweek but i figure in about a month after word gets out I'll be busier but for now it's not a problem, but i do see where you're coming from for future reference.

My Main Goal of this post is to see from a small business owners view if this is a viable service so I know whether to push more towards individuals or companies. Right now I think companies is going to be the way to go because believe it or now we're alos offering web design services for small businesses then teach them to manage it. Which I think most small business owners would enjoy this way they can take care of updates in house, and not have to wait on the delays of a outsourced designer.Not knocking web designers because I am one, but all of us real designers have heard the horror stories from clients about how they could never get a hold of their web designer after the site was built.

Anyways I'm glad to see that everyone can see a need for this in the business world and I think I'm going to push for businesses.

[vangogh]

I might not have expressed it well above, but I was thinking of companies being the better market for this than the typical micro-business. I have a feeling you'll see more want for you to come in and teach more than one person at a time. With a micro-business you're trying to reach what's likely one person and the reasons that person hasn't learned probably has more to do with not having the time or not really wanting to learn the software, than it does with not being able to find someone to teach them.

If the company has more than one person looking to learn what you teach I think they'd see it as a greater value to have you come in. However, if you're teaching multiple people I think you can back off the hourly rate and charge per course.

[krymson]

I might not have expressed it well above, but I was thinking of companies being the better market for this than the typical micro-business. I have a feeling you'll see more want for you to come in and teach more than one person at a time. With a micro-business you're trying to reach what's likely one person and the reasons that person hasn't learned probably has more to do with not having the time or not really wanting to learn the software, than it does with not being able to find someone to teach them.

If the company has more than one person looking to learn what you teach I think they'd see it as a greater value to have you come in. However, if you're teaching multiple people I think you can back off the hourly rate and charge per course.

You're right,and that's why I said I will more than likely end up rewriting that bit at the bottom of my home page breaking it up saying we can teach to groups or individuals. I'm taking your advice, i just didnt clearly say that. Because I do feel there is a need for medium sized and larger sized business to have their employees fully trained so that productivity goes as which in turn leads to increased revenue over time.

[vangogh]

And there's no reason why you can't try other sized companies too. Naturally it'll help to focus more in order to bring in some clients, but you should be able to test other markets too.

[A-E]

There is always a great need for companies to train their employees and teach them computer skills.
Although the basic PC skills could be helpful, some training needed by many companies is about managing websites, database and even shopping carts. Some training companies offer only generic courses and not specific for a each business niche.
It would be great if there were affordable companies offering the above. It is usually that "one" person who has these skills in a given business and that runs around like crazy to solve issues for everyone.

Good luck,

[krymson]

There is always a great need for companies to train their employees and teach them computer skills.
Although the basic PC skills could be helpful, some training needed by many companies is about managing websites, database and even shopping carts. Some training companies offer only generic courses and not specific for a each business niche.
It would be great if there were affordable companies offering the above. It is usually that "one" person who has these skills in a given business and that runs around like crazy to solve issues for everyone.

Good luck,

If you take a look at our site, we do offer these services. Like you said I believe this is going to be a valuable service to businesses of any size. The owner thinks mobile device tutoring is going to take off, i feel if it does it's just going to fill people in on how to set up their emails, signatures, among other things. But we will see, we want to cover the whole spectrum. And I think we've got it pretty covered.

[Michael Fied]

I believe it's a good idea if you did the marketing correctly. I can not tell you how many times I have seen great ideas tossed out the window due to their marketing strategy. Or even on the flip side! The most ignorant ideas become very successful due to their marketing. I believe the best form of marketing for you in this venture would be SEO, web banners and most importantly Social Media Marketing. I see that you have all of your social media pages in the footer but they are not optimized correctly. I do not mind helping you at all. Send me a private message if you are interested in some help or would like to discuss some ideas.

[A-E]

I didn't see the website courses before. That's good. I don't see any sql, databases tutorials listed but you might be offering the.
My suggestion, as a biz owner, most employees need to learn to maintain a site and database more than building one. But that's me.
There is definitely a demand for what you offer.

[krymson]

When I came up with this, there is less than a handful of people who do any type of it tutoring, but we're the only ones who go above and beyond the tutoring and focus on elderly (for most individuals) and businesses. So we have separated ourselves from the pack. Right now it's just getting the word out there and getting these businesses to contact us with their wants and needs. So we're in a pretty good Spot. We're here in Houston and on the side of town that developing rapidly. We think it's going to take off and we're starting a new mailing campaign today.