All businesses / Managed IT for small firms

Fingerprint: capital · hours · speed to income · margin · ceiling. The dashed line is mid-scale.

Start a managed it for small firms: the real numbers

Support and systems on contract. Below is what it actually costs, how long before money arrives, and the part most guides leave out.

Startup capital

€4,000–€25,000

Hours / week

30–55

First income

~14 wks

Net margin

55%

Saturation

medium

Realistic ceiling

€1,500–€12,000+

This ceiling is not a wall

The figure above is what this earns in the shape described — you, running it. Past that it keeps going, but by hiring people or adding units, not by you working more hours. That is a different job from the one you would be starting, and worth knowing before you start it.

What nobody usually tells you

Contracted monthly revenue, clients who almost never switch, and a ceiling in five figures — the best shape of any technical business here. Getting there takes two years of unglamorous cold outreach to firms who already have 'a guy'.

The route, in five steps

  1. Price per seat per month, €40-90, on annual contracts
  2. Twenty-user companies are the sweet spot; big ones have staff
  3. Take over their licences — it locks the relationship in
  4. Monitoring tools let one person cover forty clients
  5. Document everything or you can never hire

What you'll need to buy

These are the categories every managed it for small firms pays for in the first month. We break down what each one actually costs at this size on the tools page.

monitoring and ticketing toolslicencesinsurancevan or travelcertifications

Does it hold up for you?

These numbers are the average case. Whether this business clears your target depends on your capital, your hours and how long you can wait — put them in and see.

Run my numbers → See the tool stack