Entrepreneur Spotlight - Millennium Technology Consulting LLC

Millennium Technology Consulting LLC provides Linux and Open Source Software consulting services for individuals and small to medium sized businesses. In these difficult economic times we can help you save money by extending the life of your existing computers by at least 5 years, thus keeping them out of landfills and ecologically disastrous recycling facilities in developing countries. We can make your computers and network more secure and keep them free of malware, while reducing the power consumption of your computers by up to 12%.

We do all of this with free (as in speech) and usually free (as in beer) Open Source software that is compatible with your current documents and data and which is as familiar as your current software.

Millennium Technology Consulting LLC provides Linux and Open Source consulting services in the Raleigh Durham and RTP area of North Carolina. We can help you find the Free Open Source Software (FOSS) that is right for your business and we provide training and long-term support tailored to your needs and budget.

Q&A

Q. Why did you start your business and what niche does it fill?
A. At any time, but especially in an economic downturn such as we are in currently, saving money is an important component of a survival strategy. While a seeming paradox, IT is one area in which a business can save money while improving performance, security and helping the environment all at the same time. We  use our expertise in Open Source Software to return all of those benefits for a very small investment.

Q. How did you finance your business?
A.Millennium Technology Consulting LLC is financed out of my personal savings. I do not ever want to lose control by allowing outside investors.

Q. Who are your customers?
A. My best customers are individuals or small to medium sized businesses and who are frequently frustrated by their computers for any one of several reasons. These can range from lockups, crashes, multiple reboots to get things working, constant infections of malware or being tired of paying the malware tax - annual subscriptions to Norton or other anti-viris and anti-spyware programs. The most common reason is the desire to get off the upgrade merry-go-round in which you have to upgrade your OS and/or software in order to maintain support, but the hardware needs to be upgraded as well in order to meet the memory, disk and processing needs of the new software.

Q. What are the most critical things you have done to grow your business?
A.I have joined the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, and several on-line business networking sites such as LinkingRaleigh, LinkedIn and otehrs.

Q. How have you used social media tools like LinkedIn to grow your business?
A. I use these sites primarily to grow my network and to make connections that can pay future dividends for all involved. I like to have my blog's RSS feed on LinkedIn and other sites so that people on those sites can see what my current activities and thoughts are. I think this can also be an important aspect of allowing people to see who you really are and what your values are, which is how you and I got connected through one of the discussions.

Q. What are three pieces of advise youwould offer entrepreneurs starting out today?
A. Have a plan and work the plan. Without a plan you have no idea what to do to achieve your goals. I have had more than one person tell me that I should become and expert in Windows and fix those problems for people and then slowly move them to Open Source Software and Linux. That is not part of the plan because I need to concentrate all of my time, skills and expertise on the product I am selling which is freedom from the problems and frustrations associated with Windows. There is no need to sidetrack myself because if my potential customers wish to continue using Windows there are plenty of expert out there who know it far better than I ever intend to. I will recommend a good Windows expert and let them have at it. That is not where I want to be so I am not going there and it is better for my customers in the long run.

Second, be flexible. I love helping people move into Open Source Software which is surprisingly familiar to what they already know, and yet which is so much more secure and with far fewer problems. I really like to see their reactions when they finally "get" that most Open Source Software is truly free as in beer. But I have also had some opportunities to do Linux training for some regional training companies. I like to do training and when the opportunity literally dropped into my mailbox one day to bail out a class that was already half done, I jumped right on it. Training Linux administrators has turned out to be my primary source of income during the very early stages of startup. But this is not the same kind of thing that people are implying when they tell me I should do something that lies outside my business plan and the scope of my business and expertise.

Third be prepared to do things that take you away from what you perceive as your core competency. Most of us start a business because we are very good at our core competency; in my case, Linux and Open Source Software. For me the hardest thing is taking the time from the technical aspects of my job to get out of the office and meet people, talk to them, have coffee and find out about them and their business. The networking aspect. I like meeting and talking to people, but it is an effort to break away from my core competencies to take the time and do that. I sometimes introduce myself as President and Janitor of Millennium just to remind myself that I wear a lot of hats and that I need to wear them all at one time or another.

Q. How does your business "give back" to the community or to society?
A. I do this in a couple ways. First I work with local non-profits outside the aspect of my business. I am currently in the process of interviewing for a position on the board of one local non-profit that I admire very much. I also give time and money to my church, which is very heavily and directly involved in local, regional, and world-wide outreach efforts of various kinds such as Malawi Children's Village and Habitat for Humanity.

I also give back to the Open Source Community. I have an Open Source program that I now maintain which I took over from a Latvian student who no longer has the time to keep up with it. I had found this program to be extremely useful, so when Raivis asked for volunteers to take over upkeep and maintenance, I volunteered. I have made some significant changes over the nearly three years since I took over, and I think  have done a good job of keeping it current with the needs of the community that uses it. I think the more than 17,000 downloads of this software from SourceForge since I took it on is indicative that a lot of people find it very useful.

Q. How and why was it important to base your business in the Triangle area?
A. I started my business here in the Triangle because my wife and I love this area and don't want to move. We have roots here after living in the area for over sixteen years and can think of no better place to start a business.

I would like to offer all members of LinkingRaleighnc.com a free consultation and evaluation. This can be up to two full days and involves meeting with you and your staff so that I can learn about your business and how I can best meet your needs. I will provide you with a short report containing my recommendations and a demonstration of how Open Source Software can save your business money and how much it is like what you are already using. This is a value worth up to $1,600.

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Written by :

Greg Hyer