Build, Run, and Sell Your Apple Consulting Practice (eBook)

Charles Edge has worked in consulting most of his adult life. He has worked with large, multi-national consulting firms, started consulting firms, worked to sell firms, and helped to develop offerings and business in both large and small firms. He's worked hourly, on retainers, and even converted customers from an hourly consulting firm to managed services. Along the way, he's earned a lot. He has been working with Apple products since he was a child. Professionally, Charles started with the Mac OS and Apple server offerings in 1999 after years working with various flavors of Unix. Charles began his consulting career working with Support Technologies and Andersen Consulting. In 2000, he found a new home at 318, Inc., a consulting firm in Santa Monica, California which is now the largest Mac consultancy in the country. At 318, Charles leads a team of over 40 engineers and has worked with network architecture, security and storage for various vertical and horizontal markets. Charles has spoken at a variety of conferences including DefCon, BlackHat, LinuxWorld, MacWorld and the WorldWide Developers Conference. Charles' first book, Mac Tiger Server Little Black Book, can be purchased through Paraglyph Press. Charles recently hung up his surfboard and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, with his wife, Lisa. Charles can be contacted at krypted@mac.com. 

Table of Contents 4
About the Author 15
Acknowledgments 16
Introduction 17
First, Let Me Talk YouOut of This… 22
Chapter 0: The Joy of Being a Sole Proprietor 24
Chapter 1: Build the Offer 29
Before You Get Started: Take Care of Yourself 30
Research What Should Be in an Offer 32
Pricing 35
Building the Offer 39
The Hourly Offer 39
The Retainer Offer 41
The Managed Services Offer 42
The Fixed-Fee Offer 44
Build the Contract 46
Service Level Agreements 49
Server Uptime 50
Time to Resolution and Average Response Times 51
Net Promoter Scores 52
Remedies 53
Does This Pass the Sniff Test?!?! 54
Funding Your New Adventure 55
Growth Requires Capital 56
Conclusion 57
Further Reading 57
Chapter 2: Beyond Services 59
Reseller Accounts 60
Selling Mobility 62
Should You Sell Cloud Services? 65
If You Do Sell Cloud 69
Evaluating the Security of Cloud-Based Solutions 71
Referrals vs. Selling 75
Providing Hardware and Software 75
Providing Infrastructure Services 77
Further Reading 80
Chapter 3: Hiring and Human Resources 81
Decisions, Decisions 81
Before You Hire 84
Where to Post Your Jobs 85
Writing Job Postings 87
Reviewing Resumes 88
Interviewing 90
Phone Screening 91
In-Person Interviewing 92
Making The Offer 94
Onboarding New Employees 95
Wikis for Onboarding 98
One-on-Ones 102
Training 103
Individualized Learning Plans 104
Layering Training Assets 106
Conferences 109
Meetups 113
Sites For MacAdmins 114
People to Follow 115
Inspiring Employees to Learn 118
Learning to Lead 121
Soft Skills 124
Signs It’s Going to Get Hard to Retain Someone 134
Diversity 137
Outsourcing HR 141
Conclusion 143
Further Reading 143
Chapter 4: Accounting 101 146
The Concepts 146
Buying Accounting Software 151
Accepting Payments 152
Accrual-Based Accounting 153
Hiring an Accountant 153
Doing Taxes 155
Insurance 156
Cash Flow 157
Conclusion 158
Further Reading 159
Chapter 5: Buy Software to Automate the Business 161
Choose Your Tools 162
Device Management 162
PSA, MSA, RMM, and BDR (Oh My!) 164
BDR Software 165
Some RMM, PSA, and MSA Solutions to Consider 166
The App-Based Economy 170
Automation Services 172
What to Expect When Building Software 173
The Customer Scorecard 175
The Balanced Scorecard 176
Financial 176
Customer 178
Internal Processes 179
Learning & Growth
Testing 183
Techie Bits 184
Antivirus 188
Automation Tools 189
Backup 190
Collaboration Suites and File Sharing 191
CRM 192
DEP Splash Screens and Help Menus 192
Development Tools, IDEs, and Text Manipulators 193
Digital Signage and Kiosks 195
Directory Services and Authentication Tools 196
Identity Management 196
Imaging and Configuration Tools 197
Log Collection and Analysis 198
Management Suites 198
Misc 200
Point of Sale 201
Print Servers 201
Remote Management 202
Security Tools 202
Service Desk Tools 203
Software Packaging and Package Management 204
Storage 205
Troubleshooting, Repair, and Service Tools 205
Virtualization and Emulation 208
Honorable Mention 208
Conclusion 209
Further Reading 209
Chapter 6: Make Friends: Develop Partnerships 212
Engaging Customers for Referral Business 213
Finding the Right Partner 214
Structuring a Partnership 215
Quid Pro Quo 216
Subcontracting vs. Partnering 217
Dealing with Problems with Partners 219
Conclusion 220
Further Reading 221
Chapter 7: Engage in Free and Guerrilla Marketing 223
Examples of Guerrilla Marketing 224
Search Engine Optimization 230
E-mail Automation 235
What to Do and What Not to Do 238
The Cadence 241
Social Media 242
Conferences 245
Conclusion 248
Further Reading 250
Chapter 8: Using Public Relations 252
Getting Started With PR 252
Gather All Your Social Properties 253
Publish a Media Kit 253
Gather Local Media Contacts 254
Gather Industry-Specific Media Contacts 254
PR Template 254
Decide What Kind of PR Works Best for You 255
Local PR 256
Haro 257
Press Releases 259
Press Release Tips 260
The Anatomy of a Press Release 261
The Headline 262
The Header 262
The Dateline and Lead 263
The Body 263
General Information 264
Seasonal PR and Marketing 265
Hiring a PR Firm 268
Understand How They Work 269
If It Isn’t Working, Switch Firms 271
Things to Stay Away From 271
Conclusion 273
Further Reading 273
Chapter 9: Advertising 275
The Three Phases 275
Buy Advertising 277
Blogs 279
Buy Advertising on Podcasts 281
Search Engine Advertising 282
Online Advertising 284
Radio Advertising 286
Print Advertising 287
Coupons, Sales, and Specials 287
The Wrong Calls 288
Marketing Development Funds 289
Conclusion 289
Further Reading 290
Chapter 10: The Art of Selling 292
Choosing a Sales Methodology 293
Why Sales Methodologies 293
Choosing a Methodology 294
Target Account Selling 295
SPIN Selling 295
SNAP Selling 296
The Challenger Sale 297
Value Selling Framework 298
Solution Selling 298
Conceptual Selling 298
The Sandler Selling System 299
MEDDIC 300
CustomerCentric Selling 301
Making the Methodology Selection 302
Implementing Your Methodology 303
Working with Big Companies 304
Conclusion 307
Further Reading 307
Chapter 11: Diversifying Your Portfolio 310
What Is a Good Addition? 310
Be Wary When Moving Forward with Initiatives 312
What You Should Do Before Proceeding 313
Are You Overvaluing Your Time? 315
Implementing a New Offering 315
Review the Offer 316
Compare the Offer to the Market 316
Make a Project Plan 316
Make a Sales Plan 320
Fail Fast 322
Dealing with Failure 322
Why Customer Initiatives Fail 323
Why Our Technology Initiatives Fail 323
Dealing with Success 326
Conclusion 329
Further Reading 329
Chapter 12: When to Stop Growing 331
Communicating with Employees 332
Leading (And Retaining) Teams After the Growth Subsides 332
Letting People Go 335
Managing Finances When You Stop Growing 336
Conclusion 338
Further Reading 338
Chapter 13: Sell the Company 340
Who Is Going to Buy the Company? 341
Valuations 343
Multipliers 345
Non-Compete Agreements and Covenants 346
Are You Going to Stay with the Company? 347
Wielding Political Capital 347
Conclusion 349
Further Reading 350
Chapter 14: The Part-Time Owner 351
A Part-Time Job 351
Set an Expectation 353
Put Someone in Charge 354
Find Someone to Run the Company 354
Letting Go 356
When Things Aren’t Going to Plan 357
Don’t Complain 357
The 5 Whys 359
SWOT Analysis 361
Conclusion 362
Further Reading 363
Chapter 15: Buying Companies 364
Make a List 364
What Are You Actually Trying to Buy (or Roll Up)? 365
Approaching Acquisition Targets 368
The Finer Points of Acquisitions 369
Company Culture 370
Merging Operations 371
The Numbers 372
Rather than Acquire 374
Are Assets Transferrable? 375
Don’t Make a Bad Deal Just Because You Can’t Let Go 376
Merge the Companies 376
Conclusion 377
Further Reading 378
Chapter 16: Running a Consulting Practice Inside a Larger Company 380
What Does the Company Want You Doing? 381
Getting the Right Mix 381
Building Service Packages 383
Change Control 384
Operationalize Services 385
Marketing 387
Sales, Sales, Sales 388
Staffing 390
Professional Services as a Service: Subcontracting 391
Conclusion 394
Further Reading 395
Appendix A: Getting into a Rhythm 396
Close Accounts You No Longer Need 396
Remove Duplicate Services 397
Delete Apps You Don’t Use 397
Organize Your Files 398
Remove Old Fonts 398
Clean Up Your Mail 398
Connect Your Apps 399
Remove Old Device Drivers and Devices 399
Rotate Passwords 399
Review Your Device Security 400
Update Your Device Inventory 400
Review the Fees for Every Contract 401
Make More Money 401
Appendix B: Common Apple Terms 402
Appendix C: Sample Managed Services Agreement 408
Standard Services Agreement 408
Appendix D: Using Trendlines In Microsoft Excel 419
Appendix E: Common Job Titles 425
Appendix F: Device Scorecard 430
Access to the Organization’s Network 430
Access to Organizational Resources 431
Cradle-to-Grave Device Management 431
Directory Services 431
Endpoint Protection 432
World Class Support 432
Appendix G: Additional Reading 433
Index 437