An IT support business needs no licence and very little kit — a laptop, some remote support software and a first client. The decision that shapes everything else is how you charge: hourly when something breaks, or a fixed monthly fee per user to keep things working. The second is harder to sell and far better to own, and this guide explains why. It is part of our guide to starting a business.
At a glance
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Qualifications | None legally required; vendor certifications help with larger clients |
| Startup costs | Low — laptop, remote support and monitoring tools, insurance, a simple website |
| The two models | Break-fix, charged by the hour, or managed services on a monthly fee per user or device |
| Tool costs | Charged per seat, every month, whether the client calls or not |
| Insurance | Professional indemnity and cyber cover are the two that matter |
| Where clients come from | Local businesses, and referrals from accountants and bookkeepers |
Break-fix or managed services?
Break-fix is the obvious model: something goes wrong, they ring you, you fix it, you invoice for your time. It is easy to explain and easy to start. It has one deep problem, which is that you only get paid when things go wrong. A quiet month is a poor month, and doing your job well — making a client's systems stable — reduces your own income. That is an awkward position to be in with someone who is meant to trust you.
Managed services means a fixed monthly fee, usually per user or per device, in exchange for keeping everything working: monitoring, updates, backups, security, and unlimited or capped support. You take on the risk of things breaking, which is exactly why it works. Now a stable client is a profitable client, and the incentive points the same way for both of you.
For you, the monthly fee is income that arrives whether the phone rings or not, which means you can plan, commit to tools and eventually hire. For the client, it turns an unpredictable bill into a known monthly cost — which is usually what a small business wants far more than a cheap hourly rate.
Most people start with break-fix because it is what they can sell on day one, then convert clients onto a monthly agreement one at a time. That is a perfectly sensible route. Just be deliberate about it rather than drifting.
The numbers, both ways
Take Dev, starting an IT support business in Swindon. These are his figures, for the example — build yours from your own market.
On managed services, Dev charges £45 per user per month. Ten small clients averaging 13 users each is 130 users, so £5,850 a month of sales — sales, which is money coming in, and the word HMRC uses for it is turnover. His tool stack costs him around £12 per user per month, so £1,560, and another £600 covers insurance, his car, an accountant, phone, broadband and software. That leaves roughly £3,690 a month before tax, and it arrives on the first of the month whether it was a busy month or a quiet one.
On break-fix at £65 an hour, the same effort looks similar on paper and worse in practice. Nobody bills every hour they work: travel, quoting, diagnosis you cannot justify charging for and the gaps between calls all eat the week. At a realistic 14 chargeable hours a week, that is about £3,940 a month of sales before costs — but it is lumpy. A quiet fortnight has no floor under it, and neither does a holiday.
Our pricing guide shows how to build your per-user fee from your own tool costs and hours rather than copying someone else's price list.
The tools, and what they cost per seat
The tools are what let one person look after a hundred computers, and nearly all of them are charged per user or per device, every month. The usual stack is remote monitoring and management, a remote access tool, endpoint security, backup for both devices and cloud mail, a password manager, and a ticketing system. Prices vary a lot and most vendors want an annual commitment.
The discipline is simple: know your total tool cost per user before you set your price per user. If tools cost you £12 a seat and you charge £25, you are running a business on £13 a head, and one difficult client wipes out several easy ones.
Qualifications and certifications
There is no legal qualification or licence needed to sell IT support in the UK. What matters is whether you can fix things and explain them kindly.
Vendor certifications — Microsoft and CompTIA are the names you will see most — are worth having, with a realistic view of what they do. To a small business owner a certificate means very little; they judge you on whether the email came back and whether you were pleasant about it. To larger clients, an insurer or a procurement form, they can matter, and some partner programmes require them before you can resell software. Get them for the doors they open, not because clients are asking.
Insurance and data protection
Professional indemnity covers claims that your advice or your work caused a client a loss — a migration that went wrong, a backup that was not running. Larger clients often ask to see it at a specified level before they sign. Cyber insurance covers incidents involving data and systems, and is increasingly asked for by clients under pressure from their own insurers. Add public liability if you visit sites, and employers' liability the moment you take anyone on. Our insurance guide explains the types.
The moment you have administrative access to a client's systems you are handling personal data on their behalf, and that carries duties. You will need a written agreement setting out what you may do with their data, you will probably need to register with the Information Commissioner's Office and pay the annual data protection fee (£52 for most small businesses), and you need to be able to say how a breach gets reported, to whom and how quickly. Our GDPR and ICO guide covers it in plain English. In this trade, being visibly careful with data is part of the product.
Winning your first clients
Small businesses do not shop around for IT support. They ask someone they trust, usually after something has gone badly wrong.
So the first clients come from three places. People you already know — tell every business owner in your circle exactly what you do, and mean it. Accountants and bookkeepers, who talk to dozens of small businesses, see their systems and get asked "do you know anyone for computers?" regularly. Take two or three for a coffee; it is the highest-value hour in this trade. And local search, because a free Google Business Profile with genuine reviews catches everyone typing "IT support near me" at the worst moment of their week. Facebook local business groups are worth watching too — the panicked "our emails are down" posts appear there.
Our guide to marketing a small business covers local search and reviews properly. Want help getting customers? Our sister agency The Fractions runs ads and builds websites for small UK businesses — the pages, the ads and the enquiries behind them.
The admin
Many IT providers trade as limited companies, because clients handing over access to their systems prefer contracting with a business, and because it separates the company's finances from yours. Sole trader is simpler and fine at the start; our structures guide covers the difference.
Get one service agreement drafted properly and reuse it: what is included, what is charged extra, response times you can genuinely meet, notice period, and how the client's data is handled. Bill monthly agreements in advance, by direct debit if you can — it is the biggest difference between an IT business that gets paid on time and one that chases.
Turning this into a plan
An IT support plan is short. Your fee per user, your tool cost per user, how many users one person can genuinely look after, your fixed monthly costs, and how long a new client takes to win. Put those in and you can see how many users cover your own wage, what one client leaving does to the month, and at what point another pair of hands pays for itself.
Create a mini business plan in minutes with Plan.business. Put in your rate, your hours and your costs, and it works out the rest — what you will make, when you break even, and what you need to charge to hit your target.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge for IT support per user? Start from your own tool cost per seat and the hours a client of that size realistically takes, then add the wage you need. UK per-user managed service fees vary widely by what is included. Whatever you land on, know your cost per user first, because that is the number that decides whether the fee works.
Is managed services better than break-fix? For both sides, usually yes. You get income that arrives whether or not something breaks, so you can plan and invest in tools. The client gets a predictable monthly cost and a supplier whose incentive is to keep things working. Break-fix is easier to sell on day one, so many people start there and convert clients over.
Do I need qualifications to start an IT support business? No qualification or licence is legally required in the UK. Microsoft and CompTIA certifications help with larger clients, procurement forms and some vendor partner programmes, but small business owners buy on whether you fix things and explain them well.
What insurance does an IT support business need? Professional indemnity covers claims that your work or advice caused a client a loss, and larger clients often ask for a minimum level. Cyber insurance is increasingly expected because you hold access to client systems. Add public liability for site visits and employers' liability once you have staff.
How do I get my first IT support clients? Tell every business owner you know, and build relationships with local accountants and bookkeepers, who get asked for IT recommendations constantly. Set up a free Google Business Profile so you appear for "IT support near me", and be visibly helpful in local business groups. Referrals carry most of the growth after the first few.
Figures correct as of September 2026. Tax thresholds, fees and rates change; check the linked GOV.UK pages before acting. Prices and costs shown are indicative and vary by area and by what's included.
What is Plan?
Plan is a free business operating system for people starting or newly running a UK business. It walks you, one simple step at a time, from your elevator pitch through brand, product and pricing, to a complete business plan — then uses everything it now knows about the business to help with the basics: logo and brand, marketing, a website, a bank account, funding, insurance, company registration. You can use as much or as little as you want.
Two ways to do this
Do it yourself, free. Plan walks you through the numbers — your fee per user, your tool cost per seat, how many users you can carry — one short question at a time, in your browser. Do just this bit and stop there if that is all you need.
Or get help being found. When you want more enquiries than referrals alone bring, our sister agency The Fractions runs ads and builds websites for small UK businesses — the pages, the ads and the enquiries behind them.