Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?
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@Dashrender said
He pushes them all to the cloud. Why does a 1-5 person company need onsite resources? (of course there are exceptions)
Most of them already have them, and are resistant to move.
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@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@scottalanmiller said
But even just friends at home, not ones that I consult for, don't have any needs like these, either.
What do your friends who own small 1-5 person businesses do?
Well, a lot of things, hence the complexity.
But some....
- Put all of their systems on Office 365, including storage.
- Put all of their systems on Google Apps, including storage.
- Use a hodge podge of systems including ownCloud on Vultr, for example.
- Use Azure, DO, Vultr, Linode or Rackspace (yes, all of those in different cases.)
- Use a NAS in house (this is the least of the above.)
- Just store on the desktops. AetherStore can make this viable for business cases easily.
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@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@Dashrender said
He pushes them all to the cloud. Why does a 1-5 person company need onsite resources? (of course there are exceptions)
Most of them already have them, and are resistant to move.
So they aren't looking for consulting, but a reseller to placate them and make them feel like they got consulting. Good place to make a quick buck providing feel good services. I totally get that. I don't have many friends like that, though. Most either don't ask for advice or actually want it.
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We do have small customers (1 man shops). But very rarely are they not fully cloud based for everything. I know we have one that has a ReadyNAS and another with a Synology. But most everyone is fully in the cloud with everything. We have one client that had some local stuff and we encouraged them to go to the cloud for everything. Now they only call to chat once in awhile :). They love the solution and the lack of IT issues they have now.
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@Minion-Queen said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
We do have small customers (1 man shops). But very rarely are they not fully cloud based for everything. I know we have one that has a ReadyNAS and another with a Synology. But most everyone is fully in the cloud with everything. We have one client that had some local stuff and we encouraged them to go to the cloud for everything. Now they only call to chat once in awhile :). They love the solution and the lack of IT issues they have now.
Cloud is definitely the way to go.
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@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@Minion-Queen said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
We do have small customers (1 man shops). But very rarely are they not fully cloud based for everything. I know we have one that has a ReadyNAS and another with a Synology. But most everyone is fully in the cloud with everything. We have one client that had some local stuff and we encouraged them to go to the cloud for everything. Now they only call to chat once in awhile :). They love the solution and the lack of IT issues they have now.
Cloud is definitely the way to go.
But even then, not "always", just most often. There really isn't any single solution. If there were, there would be no need for IT or consultants and we could all quit and go be musicians and painters. It's because every business (and even nearly every family) is unique that IT needs to much knowledge, experience, options and consideration.
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Actually I think that I just hit on an important point...
Once we feel that we can simply select a single solution and just use that (I realize that the goal here was not one solution, every time) IT simple evaporates. IT only exists and only has value when we are providing the guidance as to how to approach problems. If one solution more or less fits everyone, you don't need IT for anything. Once someone is coming to us as IT pros, the bases has to be that they believe that there is potentially value there.
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Of course there is never one solution.
But many things (like cloud for a 1 person company) is usually a fit for a majority of those cases, and a great place to start a discussion.
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@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Of course there is never one solution.
But many things (like cloud for a 1 person company) is usually a fit for a majority of those cases, and a great place to start a discussion.
Yes, it is. It should be considered. But there are many options. Reselling one makes you tend to favour it.
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@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Of course there is never one solution.
But many things (like cloud for a 1 person company) is usually a fit for a majority of those cases, and a great place to start a discussion.
Yes, it is. It should be considered. But there are many options. Reselling one makes you tend to favour it.
So, in your best estimate, out of 100 1 person companies, how many would be appropriately fit to the cloud?
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@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Of course there is never one solution.
But many things (like cloud for a 1 person company) is usually a fit for a majority of those cases, and a great place to start a discussion.
Yes, it is. It should be considered. But there are many options. Reselling one makes you tend to favour it.
So, in your best estimate, out of 100 1 person companies, how many would be appropriately fit to the cloud?
Appropriate? Maybe 80%, maybe even 85%.
Going to do it? Maybe 35-40%.
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@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Of course there is never one solution.
But many things (like cloud for a 1 person company) is usually a fit for a majority of those cases, and a great place to start a discussion.
Yes, it is. It should be considered. But there are many options. Reselling one makes you tend to favour it.
So, in your best estimate, out of 100 1 person companies, how many would be appropriately fit to the cloud?
It's never that simple. If it was I could sell a book on the subject and retire early.
Knowledge and understanding, openness to change, these factors weigh into it more than what is the "right" thing to do.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Of course there is never one solution.
But many things (like cloud for a 1 person company) is usually a fit for a majority of those cases, and a great place to start a discussion.
Yes, it is. It should be considered. But there are many options. Reselling one makes you tend to favour it.
So, in your best estimate, out of 100 1 person companies, how many would be appropriately fit to the cloud?
It's never that simple. If it was I could sell a book on the subject and retire early.
Knowledge and understanding, openness to change, these factors weigh into it more than what is the "right" thing to do.
Yes, but for the most part that group doesn't want that, IMO. They want someone they can trust that just does it for them.
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@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@BRRABill said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
Of course there is never one solution.
But many things (like cloud for a 1 person company) is usually a fit for a majority of those cases, and a great place to start a discussion.
Yes, it is. It should be considered. But there are many options. Reselling one makes you tend to favour it.
So, in your best estimate, out of 100 1 person companies, how many would be appropriately fit to the cloud?
It's never that simple. If it was I could sell a book on the subject and retire early.
Knowledge and understanding, openness to change, these factors weigh into it more than what is the "right" thing to do.
Yes, but for the most part that group doesn't want that, IMO. They want someone they can trust that just does it for them.
But you can't really trust someone if they don't do those things. They don't really want someone that they can trust, they want someone who will tell them that they made a good decision, whatever it was.
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@scottalanmiller said
But you can't really trust someone if they don't do those things. They don't really want someone that they can trust, they want someone who will tell them that they made a good decision, whatever it was.
That sounds Freudian.
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@BRRABill said
Yes, but for the most part that group doesn't want that, IMO. They want someone they can trust that just does it for them.
Which is a big reason why most businesses fail. The really really important stuff gets over-looked/ignored as not being needed.
I need to be constantly open to new ways of doing things and ideas because even if I find the golden goose of making money, it won't last forever and with technology moving as fast as it does, I'd be lucky if that method lasts months rather than years.
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@Breffni-Potter said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@BRRABill said
Yes, but for the most part that group doesn't want that, IMO. They want someone they can trust that just does it for them.
Which is a big reason why most businesses fail. The really really important stuff gets over-looked/ignored as not being needed.
I need to be constantly open to new ways of doing things and ideas because even if I find the golden goose of making money, it won't last forever and with technology moving as fast as it does, I'd be lucky if that method lasts months rather than years.
IT is just part of business, but businesses often hope that they can ignore the hard stuff and treat IT as cookie cutter - as if their business itself is cookie cutter. What a weird thing to think.
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@Dashrender said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
If a customer found out after the fact that you could get paid by the vendor of one of your recommendations to them, do you think they would be OK with that?
Probably not. It assumes no mention of favorites, partnerships or affiliates was ever discussed. It also assumes that businesses, like other in this thread, simply assume if money is involved, there can be ONLY corruption at the highest level and it would be impossible for the consultant to make wise choices, being utterly controlled and clouded by greed.
I guess we can't help how the client perceives the consultant if they know he may receive commissions. Our overwhelming lack of faith in human ethics wins over our assumption that the consultant will still make objective choices.
At the end of the day, as others have said, the consultant typically leaves 2 or 3 possible options on the table, with pros and cons of each. If one of the choices happens to earn commission, it shouldn't be a problem if this is disclosed. I don't see why we have to keep calling the consultant a corrupt person working for two masters. This language is a bit over the top, but that's just me.
The availability of a bonus/affiliate/commission/finders fee/whatever does not mean one "works for" the vendor, the vendor is not their second "master". However, the potential of the bonus may indeed cloud judgement and create bias.
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@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@guyinpv said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@scottalanmiller said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
@guyinpv said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
My view is that some affiliate programs are like picking up money on the sidewalk, it's just there, take it. Then you say, no, because you must take action before the money appears. Yes of course, I have to be walking down that particular sidewalk!
So my challenge is, I'm walking down that sidewalk anyway, I don't feel particularly righteous by stepping over the money and walking on my way.
If I find myself walking down that same sidewalk 80% of the time, some extra cash is a nice bonus.But the other 20% of the time.... what? You truly believe there is zero influence?
No, what I believe is that I can STILL come up with the best solution. Just because bias might exist, it doesn't mean it actually WILL change the outcome.
The 20% of the time the other sidewalk is a better fit, so be it.Now THAT might be true. There IS bias, but is it enough to influence the final decision? Only you can determine that. Only you know how much you will charge, how much you will get a commission and how much it will affect you. You can't argue that there isn't bias, you can only argue how much it biases you. Only you know that amount.
$30k from VMAX sounds pretty tasty!
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@guyinpv said in Home business ideas for transition out of 9-5?:
I guess we can't help how the client perceives the consultant if they know he may receive commissions. Our overwhelming lack of faith in human ethics wins over our assumption that the consultant will still make objective choices.
Well, and given that nearly all people branding themselves as consultants actually resell and actually make reckless "recommendations" that support those sales. This isn't an overwhelming lack of faith, it's an observable fact that this is how the majority work. It's not just a lack of ethics in having a conflict of interest, but a larger problem of selling a service that they don't even attempt to provide.
