From $0 to $1 million in only a year

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A colleague and friend of mine has built an IT solutions provider firm from $0 to $1 million this year. Interested in how he did it? Here is how:

1. He prepared to leave his company (where he worked in IT) for a couple of years before taking the leap. During this time, he cultivated some terrific contacts within his company — people who could help refer business his way, and potential business partners. He also stored up some financial reserves.

2. He didn’t leave until he landed his first big client.

3. He focused on people who had worked in his company but then moved on to become IT executives at other large companies.

4. He developed a big solution set, focusing on enterprise-level applications. He set his solutions apart with an extremely agile development approach, something many companies still lack.

5. He partnered up with 3 other people, all of whom brought outstanding technology expertise or a network of contacts and sales ability to his company.

6. He knows how to talk “business” instead of technical jargon. So his solutions focus on real results for companies.

7. He hustled like crazy to get work, meeting with prospects, cultivating relationships, and delivering fantastic results. I cannot underestimate how many hours he has put in this year, including travel time.

Congratulations!

[Added later: P.S. Please see my addendum about 20 posts down, to clear up any confusion about ethics…]

Andrew NeitlichAndrew Neitlich
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