NASBA & Consultant's Coach Join Forces

Free Advice & Discounted Educational Material Added for Members to See Explosive Gains in 2010

Some cool news to let you in on. NASBA Executive Director Frank Raimondi and I have entered into a new agreement to supply NASBA members much needed business assistance and education to keep up with the changing economy and needs of their information technology channel clients.




As we slowly come out of a recession, 2010 will show great promise to those in the IT channel that understand what their clients and potential clients want. What they want is a technology savvy business advisor that has positioned and structured their company to be around for the long haul.

That's what these new NASBA member offerings are all about and I'm happy to supply them.

The new services for NASBA members include:

• A free 30 minute coaching/strategy session with me (George Sierchio)

• A special discount on the second edition of my B.Y.O.B- Build Your Own Business, Don’t Be Your Own Boss book


As the economy takes its twists and turns to recovery, this is an excellent time to be a business owner in the IT channel. The strong will not only survive but be poised to thrive and take on the clients of all that have failed to structure their business for success.

Both NASBA and Action Business Partners, Inc. have been committed to providing the support, services and education needed to make this happen since they each have opened their doors. This joining of efforts should prove to be a great asset to current and future members.

I'm looking very forward to providing these new member services to NASBA members and very happy to be working with Frank Raimondi on this.

If you're not a member yet, check them out as it's free to join the largest professional trade association for channel resellers in North America. You have nothing to lose to see what they have to offer IT channel providers.


To Your Business Success-

George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach

Crucial Difference Between Mark-up & Profit Margin

When I markup my break even costs, I seem to not make as much profit as I calculated I would. Why is that?

That's a question I get now and then and I wish I got it more. Why? Because someone asking that question at least tells me that they are paying attention to their financials and associated goals/metrics.




I don't have an accurate number to give you but I would venture to guess that the majority of small technology business owners out there with this problem make what turns out to be a simple math error. This causes profits not to line up with what was expected. It also leaves a considerable amount of money unnecessarily on the table.

Barring the fact that it could certainly be a case of a fixed fee item taking longer than anticipated and also assuming they know their internal costs, most times the answer lies in not understanding the difference between a mark-up on your costs and establishing a profit margin.

Watch this 5 minute video to see what I mean:

Leave any comments or questions below. And feel free to contact me about this or any other business topic as I'm always looking for blog post material.


To Your Business Success-

George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach

Do Your Sights Line Up with Your Targets?

Who, What, Where, How and Why… Do you really have a handle on these items in your business?

More often than not, when I speak to business owners at events, those that have bought my book or those that take me up on my 30 minute free strategy sessions the same picture pops up.

The key components that make up their (and any) business just don’t add up.





Your business vision and execution relies on making sure all of your sights are lined up on corresponding targets. Let me show you what I mean:

Who- This is your ideal target audience.

What- These are the main target services your business is looking to deliver to the Who.

Where- This is the target location of your Who. Are you delivering to a city, county, state, region, national, international? Does your What and Who require a bigger geographic footprint or can you deliver fairly locally?

When- This is your timing target and has 3 parts. Is a main What or an addition income stream What? If a main What should it be used to open doors or after you are already in with the Who with another What? Is it best to be bleeding edge, leading edge or introduced when established in the industry?

How- This is a 3 part target. In which ways and formats will you deliver your What to your Who (project oriented, recurring revenue, reseller, etc)? In which ways will you set things up internally to most efficiently and effectively deliver the What to your Who? In which ways will you be attracting, telling and selling your What to your Who?

Why- This is a 2 part target. For what internal business reasons are you providing your What to your Who in your Where (i.e. high margins, recurring revenue, etc)? And for what reasons would your Who need and want your What (i.e Why are they your ideal Who for your What)?


Can you answer these basic questions for each one of your company’s main offerings?

The sad truth is many small technology business owners can’t. Often times it leads to trying to fit a square peg into a round hole by offering to provide great services and technology solutions to the wrong target audience that just doesn’t see the value in it. In that case, which is wrong? The Who or the What or the How?

Maybe it’s the Where, When or the Why? Are you limiting your business by having a small geographic footprint? Are you trying to add services that your target audience doesn’t want or can’t use? Is it too new or bold to tell the Who about right now?

Thinking these high level items out thoroughly is a huge part of working on the business versus in it. These are executive type planning and decision items.

So I ask you again: Who, What, Where, When, How and Why… Do you really have a handle on these items in your business?

By the way, if you were looking to ask me which of these items comes first, it’s a bit of the chicken or the egg syndrome between Who and What.

If you already have a client base and you are looking to expand offerings to them, then the Who comes first as it already exists and the What should be fit to that. If you are starting a new business or getting into a new area of services, the I would recommend figuring out What you want to offer then the Who and Where that would best fit those offerings.


See you next week with a video blog. If you have any questions for me to answer, you can find me at consultantscoach.com



To Your Business Success-

George Sierchio
The Consultant’s Coach

To Niche or Not to Niche- That is the Positioning Question

I’ve been reading on some forums lately a subject that comes up in many business circles on a regular basis. A true hot topic for those that deliver technology consulting and services especially in a business to business environment.

That topic is about positioning. More directly the conversation is about asking the question “do I really need to service a niche or be some kind of industry expert?”






You might be able to guess my 2 cents on this but watch the quick 5 minute video below to get the scoop.

Leave any comments or questions below. And feel free to contact me about this or any other business topic as I'm always looking for blog post material.


To Your Business Success-

George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach