Consulting Firms: Should You Be a Product Reseller?

If you’re trying to decide whether or not to be a product reseller, then you’re among a large group of computer consultants who are trying to make the same decision. We’re going to briefly go over a few schools of thought on the matter.

Pure Computer Consulting Firms

Pure computer consulting firms believe that they won’t make money off product margins, so they choose to leave reselling to others. Instead they work as consultants to help their clients decide what to buy, determine the specs, and direct them to other resellers.

Purchasing Agents

On the other hand, some people choose to work as purchasing agents for their clients. Your firm purchases the products for your clients, and you bill them a couple of hours for your time. This is still much like a pure consulting firm except you will make a little money for taking care of the purchase.

Hybrid Consulting Firms

In the hybrid model, your consulting firm sells some products. These firms often sell PC clones such as non-branded desktops, non-branded servers and in some very limited cases, non-branded notebooks (white books).

Full Reselling Firm

Full reselling firms come in many forms. You’re really making a decision as to where you want to spend most of your time. If you want to consult, then you can’t spend all your time reselling. If you do plan to resell products, then your best bet is to resell the products to clients with whom you have consulting relationships.

Learn more about reselling and how to make the right choice for your firm (link above).

Submitted by Computer Consulting Kit