There are two ways for consulting firms to think about being product resellers.

What is a Pure Computer Consulting Firm?

Some consulting firms are pure consulting firms.  Typically these firms think they will never make money off product margins and therefore should not be product resellers.  These types of consulting firms do not resell hardware, software or any peripherals.  Typically these consulting firms will help clients choose products and give advice on specs and where to buy products.  

Consulting Firms:  The Purity of Purchasing Agents

Some consulting firms decide to be purchasing agents for clients.  If you are a purchasing agent, your firm purchases items for clients and bills them for a couple hours to do so.  Your firm will spend time receiving and reviewing quotes, tracking and placing orders and taking the purchase of products to the end.  These capacities – the referral and purchasing agent role – are other versions of pure consulting firms.  

Consulting Firms:  Hybrids as an Option

A hybrid consulting firm resells some products.  Many computer resellers do white box PC reselling as part of this concept; they sell PC clones.  A computer consulting firm that resells white box systems sells desktops, servers and sometimes notebooks without brand names attached.  

Consulting Firms:  Should You Resell?

When you decide whether or not you should resell, think about how you want to spend most of your time.  Do you want to get some additional profit from product sales?  Do you want your consulting firm to be purely thriving from consulting services?  No matter what you decide the answers to these questions are you can’t start with prospects and customers by offering product sales.

Consulting Firms:  Are Product Sales a Gateway?

New owners of consulting firms often ask if they should sell inexpensive PCs, cheap software and other products to help pave the way to selling consulting services.  Typically, the answer is “no.”

If you lead with selling products as a consulting firm, you are setting yourself up to be a commodity instead of a service provider.  Customers will typically not hire someone that is a commodity broker for true consulting services.

If you really make the choice to be a product reseller, you have to establish consulting relationships before offering products.  Make sure your consulting firm is making enough profit for your time, capital, staff, space and any overhead.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg