How to start an IT company with no IT experience

I do not have solid IT experience, such as in development and delivery of IT enterprise solutions/projects, but I do have experience in developing small applications. I have experience in Hardware, Graphic Design, Sales and Marketing experience. I have a few friends who have a lot of IT experience in various technologies.

It is possible, yet highly risky. Let me elaborate:

• First - you need basic awareness of the field. Otherwise, as often happens, it is possible to provide some seemingly genius product, that has already tons of version already out. This is essential.

I remember few years ago, at least 10 people "had an idea" to make a review site that was, practically a version of Yelp!.

• Second - you should partnership with someone adept in the field. He will be your filter on different topics and ideas to see how reasonable they are from his perspective. Make sure he is objective, as no matter how proficient, he is still a human. Of course, you can still use their advice without partnership, but they may not be so involved in the whole topic.
• Third - Trust here is more important than competence. Don't get me wrong - competence is vital, yet if you can't trust your IT advisor, things can mess up pretty fast.

The difficult part in the whole endeavour is to draw the line between their competence and your decision making. When you don't know the field - the line is almost invisible - you don't know what is possible and on what cost (technology related). And the fastest way to lose credibility before your people is to criticize them on something you don't know jack about.

I am speaking from (successful) experience. Co-founded a Web Dev company as non-IT guy. But we managed to attract highly proficient developers who are very healthy in their mindset. There were situations where those guys took the initiative and this saved the situation.

It might not be a definitive answer, yet it might shed some light.

It’s better to start with freelancer work first and once you start getting experience you can set up your own office with the help of virtual office (virtual address for business meeting).

I would say either only provide the services you know that you could provide immediately or look at working closely with your other friends to gain the necessary added experience to feel competent. Providing services that you are not qualified, either formally or informally, could lead to many legally issues and impact both your personal and the sectors credibility