A successful IT consulting business should be focused on selling your consulting services and not selling products. At this stage of the game of starting an IT consulting business, you should not be looking to be a dealer for someone or an authorized solution for someone.

You can get those things if you think it will help your business a little bit, but don't build your IT consulting business around that. It's not a product driven economy anymore. It's about the services. It's about the solution.

If you align yourself with someone and say "Hey I am this dealer." If you put it all over your website and business cards, then you are basically a non-salaried employee of that company. That is the surest way to end up in commodity status.

A Real World Example

In terms of hooking up with a software vendor, for example, those in the medical field, you really have to figure out if that is going to be your IT consulting niche. Do you already have expertise in that area? You should be focusing on getting paying clients first and gaining some expertise in that area.

If you are working full time in a niche right now, ie. the medical field, and currently providing PC support for someone that makes medical practice management software. If you are looking to moving into IT consulting, then of course it makes sense to work with that niche since you already have tremendous knowledge and credibility there.

Gain Experience in your Niche First

But if you are just starting from scratch now you should really look to get some experience in the field you want to specialize in before making big investments with vendors, going to conferences, etc.

Get some clients or get a part time job that gives you some exposure to working in small doctor's offices before you go out and start building a whole IT consulting business around that.

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