It is my intention that this post will ruffle some feathers in the IT consulting community.
Over the past (nearly) 20 years of working at IT in one capacity or another, I have been a customer purchasing services and on the other side of the fence as a vendor selling services B2C and B2B.
A perception that has been solidified is this: many vendors still feel that high markups on hardware sales is acceptable. This thinking has to change. Hardware is a commodity. End of story. Take the time to get a reseller account with a distributor (Ingram Micro, Tech Data, etc.) and get wholesale pricing. If the customer pays you less for hardware and software, there will be more money available for labor, support contracts, etc. While you are working on the reseller account, think about how to reduce overhead in your business. How many employees do not generate revenue? Can their tasks be outsourced for less money? Do you REALLY need to high square-footage office? Certainly not once you trim the office staff. Reduce expense and increase the money in your pocket.
Now get out there and build relationships!
– habanero_joe