I've taken the plunge.

[NSR Mick]

I've finally taken the decision to go fully self employed. Going to be doing IT support locally.

Really need to pull my finger out and do some marketing to get some more customers now.

Could be a little bit scary for a few months.
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If you dont like the way that I ride.......Stop trying to keep up!!!

[Bofh5]

best of luck i tried it a fair few years back but got fed up with all he tax and insurance and odd hours.

however you can make a lot of dosh depending on how many scruples you don't have

Cheers
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(L)users...Disk space is to good for them.

Bikes: Honda 50 / CB125-TDC / 93 CBR600 F2 (Stolen & Trashed) / 2001 SP-1 (Sold) / 95 CBR600 F3

[Dom]

Cool - good luck to you. The only way to work imo.

[bEN_]

best of luck with it, i'm looking for a job in it support so when your successful and loaded let me know.
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2010 Ducati 848 Dark

Lamp Post Enthusiast

[Bofh5]

[Mr Hammers]

It can be tough, but it can also be so very, very rewarding. Given the option, i'd go straight back into it.

Anyway, the very best of luck, and remember word of mouth is your best marketing asset!
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A Guide To Powerbands

[LustyLew]

Could be beneficial if you're willing to do 24/7 support for the self employed.

Used to work for a place that had a premium rate for evening/weekend work for support queries. Made a nice sum out of it too! Just wave goodbye to your social life!
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Like a Yorkie - I'm not for the girls

[NSR Mick]

[Mr Hammers]

Probably not that much use to you, but i've just remembered an article in PC Somethingorother where as an experiment, the author put out an ad where he promised to fix any problem over the phone for a flat rate of a tenner.

If he couldn't fix it, they wouldn't pay, and if he could (and often the problems were incredibly simple to fix) they'd pay the tenner.

He made loads at it, as i recall.

Just a thought
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A Guide To Powerbands

[bEN_]

[tutton]

Good luck chap
with the job market like it is,
youve done something with a bit of initiative.
Hope it works out fine!
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Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

[st3v3]

Same here mick, I'm tying to get into the industry so if you want any help, IT/marketing/anything let me know and maybe it aint that far..... Or catch me on MSN or summat
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Roger wrote: Women don't get damp for clingy puppies. Get some better happy pills, hit the gym & buy a medallion the size of a dinner plate. Job done

[Itchy]

You should target old men at accountancy firms , Julie (male) our IT tech makes an absolute killing off us, since the bosses always think they need the fastest processors masses and masses of ram he charges us something like 15% the price it costs him to buy and since he uses PC world prices and buys them from somewhere even cheaper he well rips us off.


IIRC currectly we run

20 desktops

Dual Core Xeon 5130 2.0GHz thingies , with 2gb of ram 4 in some,

And 10 sony Vaio laptops of some kind

All the desk tops run dual monitors BIG big monitors not 15 inch not 17 not even 19 we run dual 24 inch monitors...... though I went down to 17inch TFT as I felt like I was getting radiation poisoning from them.

All to run some terribly low spec accountancy software a Pentium 1 166 with 256mb of ram (not considering the OS demands) will run our accountancy software easy.


And the bosses are paranoid well paranoid they keep several 100gb of backups stored off site and upload them twice a day....


My old place was even more extreme even though they treated the staff badly all the PCs and tech were very very high, but then they had inhouse IT support....... which was terrible, you would get a tan when you walked past the incredibly hot server...
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[st3v3]

True and fair BUT us younger one's are the next generation. I don't mind admitting that I'm not the fastest processor in the PC knowledge wise when it comes down to in-depth IT stuff but how am I supposed to learn and get into the area when all employers want 5 year qualified with experienced techies? I don't have the time or cash to get the certificates needed by companies to set you on but what I lack on experience I make up for with ambition and enthusiasm.

I've tried applying for pretty much all the support/Helpdesk jobs within a 15/20 mile radius of York but get I letters back saying they gave the job to someone more suiting to their criteria. I even went about trying to get a work based learning scheme set up where I work so go to college 1 day a week or something and work the rest but my current employers weren't interested and said there was no potential anytime soon in their IT dept. I've been screwed enough in(or out of) chances there now, and given up.

Catch 22 for peeps like me these days, the Interwebs world is still building itself up and soon there will be lack of half decent young ones to train up etc, because were being refused the chance to learn now.
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Roger wrote: Women don't get damp for clingy puppies. Get some better happy pills, hit the gym & buy a medallion the size of a dinner plate. Job done

[Itchy]

erm that was directed at Mick actually...


My scummy old company had inhouse IT support , the head tech left recently about 3 weeks ago meaning a junior tech position is open.


From experience with Matt who was the rookie previously they will train you up from nothing , but you have to go do MSCE route, the techs there were fairly useless though in that something messed up? , they'd search on how to fix it online print it out and perform the fix according to the instructions,
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[st3v3]

I know it was Itchy. Mine was generally posted out there.

What does the junior position consist of and where is it? Foot in the door's a foot in the door. That said it's really unlikely I'd ever get in anywhere.
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Roger wrote: Women don't get damp for clingy puppies. Get some better happy pills, hit the gym & buy a medallion the size of a dinner plate. Job done

[chris-red]

I had no experience just or real qualifications just enthusism and self taught knowleadge. I found a helpdesk job within a month or so of looking.

You must be crap at life

[Bofh5]

Warning ! This will be boring

Bought a PC 386sx 20 whilst at Tandy (bit like maplin) in 1992
Self taught all the way.
Got into the business and had a knack for I.T
Moved to Reading working on a helldesk with no qualifications or real experience.
Now i'm the European I.T Manager for a Pharmaceutical Company.

Just goes to show you dont need degrees or mcses to get into the business.

However the ability to develop a pathological hatred of whiney ars*ed users is a must to survive
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(L)users...Disk space is to good for them.

Bikes: Honda 50 / CB125-TDC / 93 CBR600 F2 (Stolen & Trashed) / 2001 SP-1 (Sold) / 95 CBR600 F3

[chrismeister]

yeah same for me, i went to college for 2 years and did well but didnt really actually have any hands on experience except just general self taught stuff, i found it hard getting a foot in the door (searched for about 5 months) but eventually found a Junior IT admin job. Been here for about 4 months now and have learned so much.

Goodluck though!

And good luck with the business! got a bit off-topic there lol.