- Every client engagement is covered by contract law -- whether you write the contract or not.

Your contracts or service agreements are the very definition of the services you offer and the prices you charge. They are the formal definition of your relationship with your clients. There is always the personal side, of course, and that's what keeps small businesses in business. But the basic description of how you operate is defined by your service agreements.

As we look ahead, it is the job of the business owner to anticipate what the market will look like and to position the business to be successful in that market. Here's what we know:

• Managed services will be everywhere.
  As a result, a certain piece of our business will be "commoditized." That is, there will be a large number of chores that anyone can do and they will be farmed out to the lowest bidder.
• Branded technical support will be everywhere.
  Again, that means that certain services will become commodities. It also means that you have opportunities to join a franchise, buy into a licensed brand, join a technical group, start your own organization, etc.
• One-Stop-Shopping from national companies will be everywhere.
  This is really a combination of the previous two that is implemented by a large corporation.

None of these can lead to the demise of small I.T. consulting firms. But you will have to properly define your business for the challenges ahead.

Because service agreements define your business relationships, we think this is a great place to start.

This book has a very simple goal: to provide SMB consultants with a solid introduction to support agreements.

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Note: Karl W. Palachuk is not a lawyer. He doesn't pretend to be one. This book is not intended to provide legal advice or to replace legal advice.

Karl is a successful business owner with more than ten years experience in the technical consulting field. He has developed three successful businesses and in this book he shares his knowledge and experience. That's all.

Every service agreement you sign should be examined by your attorney.

Nuf said.

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And we're hot in Europe, too!

What They Say in Europe About

Service Agreements for SMB Consultants:

"I've found this book to be an extremely interesting read, and it really does a lot more than advising the reader in setting up the agreements as boldly mentioned in the title. Besides going through these different agreements and contracts, the book really is a quick start, blueprint guide to the chores of legally and fiscally setting up a business in IT SMB consultancy, and an invaluable little guide in doing so."

-- Dennes Meeusen

http://feju.creactiv.nl

To read the full text of Dennes' comments, click here.

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