To begin your IT consulting practice, there are 21 steps you should take before you hit your first day on the job. In this article, you'll learn about three of the steps you should take before entering the business of full-time IT consulting.

Step Four. Engage Professional Services

You should have an accountant and an attorney before you start your IT consulting business. Sit down with them for a few minutes and tell them about your business plans. Theyll help you pick out what kind of business entity makes the most sense for you - whether it is a sole proprietor, limited partnership, or a corporation.

They can introduce you to the pros and cons of each option and you can do your own research, too. A professional's advice is money well-spent for your IT consulting business. Even buying a half hour or hour of an attorney or accountant's time can help.

To save money, you can file some of the paperwork if you want to. But at least talk with them about where you are in your IT consulting business and your personal financial situation.

Step Five: Open a Business Bank Account

Clients are going to write checks to your IT consulting business; not you personally. They are not going to want to end up with you being called a statutory employee. They want to make sure that they are actually paying a business that they are employing which is corporation to corporation. So you will need a bank account so you can cash those checks.

Apply for a merchant account if you are planning on reselling products or want more flexibility so you can accept credit cards. Discover, MasterCard, Visa and American Express are the big ones.

Step Six: Buy Some Insurance.

Talk to a property and casualty insurance agent about getting commercial insurance for your IT consulting business. General liability and professional liability are good, as well as Errors and Omissions. You want yourself and your business to be protected in case of problems.

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