The IT consulting launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 43 steps in 8 phases, 20 of them specific to an IT consulting. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan43 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
IT consulting makes money by billing expertise, and the form of the engagement decides the .
Typical for one unit is $500,000 to $5,000,000 a year; the owner keeps 15 to 25% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
~50-60% survive 5 years. Roughly half of all new U.S. businesses reach five years.
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: if you can buy a practice with a real pipeline, current certifications, and consultants likely to stay through a transition, buying buys you years. Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
- 02Not started0/5Open
Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
IT consulting is one of the most capital-light businesses to start: there is no and almost no inventory, because the value is the expertise in your consultants’ heads.
The itemized cost to open9 lines
- Laptops, lab machines, screens and phones: $7,500 to $28,500A workstation and screens for each seat plus spare machines for testing
- Printer, network, backup and files: $1,000 to $6,000A firewall, network storage, locked files and an office printer
- Office furniture and conference room: $3,500 to $28,500Desk and chair for each seat and a room for workshops
- Office refresh, cabling and signs: $0 to $23,000Nothing if you start remote or take an office as is
- Certification exams: $500 to $2,500One vendor or CompTIA exam per consultant
- Logo, website and launch marketing: $2,000 to $22,000Case studies and a credible niche are what fill the pipeline
- Insurance first premiums: $3,000 to $20,500Tech E&O, cyber, liability and workers’ comp; limits drive the price
- Lease deposit and legal setup: $4,000 to $13,500One to three months of rent, the entity, MSA and statement-of-work templates
- Initial working capital: $20,000 to $80,000Consultant salaries and float on receivables, 3-6 months
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- SBA 7(a) loan (Up to 10 yr (25 with real estate) · 75-85% government-guaranteed)The workhorse for buying an existing practice or funding a startup’s working capital.
- Seller financing (Often 10-25% of price · 3-7 yr)Very common when buying a practice.
- Working-capital line of credit (Revolving · secured by receivables)A revolving line to float consultant salaries against receivables.
- Equipment financing (Secured by equipment)Modest in consulting (mostly laptops and lab hardware), but available to spread the cost of outfitting new consultants without draining cash.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
- 04Not started0/4Open
Where you will work froma week or two
IT consulting has no storefront: your "location" is the market you serve and the specialization you own.
What decides it for this business: a deep, defensible specialization, mid-market companies with budget, vendor partnerships & certifications, a repeatable pipeline of new projects, not crowded with the same specialists.
Most cities allow a business at home with limits on signage, visitors, employees and deliveries; some HOAs and leases do not. Confirm before you print the address on anything.
A door that closes, the equipment and software the week needs, and a business address (a registered agent or mailbox) if you would rather not publish your home.
A home policy rarely covers a business. at minimum, professional liability if you advise, and the certificate clients ask for.
- 05Not started0/2Open
Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
The lender funds against the quotes and the insurance; the money goes to the vendors and the build.
After:
- 06Not started0/8Open
Permits and registrationstwo to four weeks
IT consulting is lightly regulated compared with the trades (there is no occupational license to pull), but the contracts, insurance, and data-handling obligations are real, and skipping them can sink an engagement.
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:Register your or corporation and obtain any city or county operating license.
State registration where consulting services or resold software are taxable: rules vary widely by state.
Many cities issue a simple permit for a business run from a home; some only need the business license.
Errors-and-omissions coverage protects against claims arising from your advice and implementations; commonly to bid enterprise work.
Coverage for data breaches and security incidents: increasingly mandatory when you touch client systems and data.
Well-drafted MSAs and statements of work that define scope, IP ownership, and liability: the contracts that protect fixed-outcome .
Adherence to client and regulatory data-handling rules: frameworks like SOC 2, HIPAA, or GDPR depending on the clients you serve.
- 07Not started0/8Open
Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
The backbone: tracks billable hours against paid hours, manages engagements, and invoices clients.
A quiet pipeline is bench time waiting to happen.
A dedicated account keeps project, retainer, and resale separate from personal money: essential for clean books and any future sale.
You advise on systems clients depend on.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Monday planning: Staff engagements for the week: match consultants to active... Delivery days: Consultants bill on client work: architecture, implementation,... Pipeline & : Leadership works the pipeline: proposals, scoping calls, and partner...
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
- 08Not started0/6Open
Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
Consultant compensation & bench time; Underpricing and rate erosion; Scope creep on fixed-outcome work.
Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Register as an employer and carry workers’ comp before the first payday.
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
IT consulting practices are sellable assets when they do not depend on the founder.