Are you looking for computer franchise opportunities?  Before you start your business, you need to be prepared to build it on a strong foundation. The following 3 tips can help those looking into computer franchise opportunities build a solid foundation for their business and sell more to high-quality clients.

1. Consider Your Sales Cycle for the Average Project. As an example, if you are selling the installation of a small business LAN, and you know it will take between 45 and 90 days from when you prepare a project plan to the time you see a check, you will know you need to work on a plan to bridge cash flow differences.  With computer franchise opportunities, you also need to remember you will have some fees to pay to your franchiser as well as special business expenses like royalties not necessarily attached to other types of computer businesses.  Therefore, you need to be very careful to conservatively estimate when to expect to close sales with your clients.  If you underestimate selling time you can really disrupt your cash flow position.  You also need to create a sales projection worksheet and update it monthly, so you know exactly where every client and customer is in your sales funnel and can plan appropriately for the future.

2. Think About Your Selling Season. When you are considering computer franchise opportunities or any other technology business opportunity, think about which seasons are best for selling.  For example, you may have a difficult time getting clients to commit to starting large projects during July and August due to the slow summer months (in the Northern hemisphere at least) and November and December due to holidays.  These times will seriously affect your cash flow and abilities to build your business.  You need to be prepared to sell very little during those months and engage in more aggressive marketing activities during your prime selling seasons.

3. Be Mindful of Your New Customers’ and Clients’ Credit Histories. As you get into the computer business, you need to know how to weed out deadbeat clients if you want to build a stable business.  The simplest way?  Don’t take them on in the first place.  You need to be able to tell the difference between a potentially good client and a big credit risk.  The best way to do this is to make sure all your new customers and clients fill out a basic credit application.  Then go ahead and verify your new clients’ trade and bank references.  As you are thinking about your clients and computer franchise opportunities, you want to seriously consider, when granting a large credit line, purchasing a business credit information profile from a business reporting company such as Dun & Bradstreet.