Before I get started I just wanted to let you know that posts on this website are going to continue to be few and far between.  The project that has put this website on hiatus has been plagued with delays and other things that I was not anticipating.  That being said, I still plan on posting when I have a spare moment here and there.  If you’re still subscribed to my RSS and email list, thanks for sticking here with me! I promise this website is going to continue forging ahead, I have some great plans for it’s future!  Meanwhile, I hope the archives of past articles and links have helped you in your journey!

On a positive note, this part-time business of mine is slowly, but steadily, growing.   This is due in large part to a successful hyper-local marketing campaign that I implemented in my immediate community.  There have actually been times when I’ve had to stop advertising so that I don’t get overwhelmed with too many service calls!

One of the key ingredients in growing my business in my spare time, without affecting the quality of my work, has been to develop processes around what I do. This allows me to consistently provide the same level of service to all my customers without having to reinvent the wheel every time I do it.

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It’s that time of year again.  The warmth is overtaking the cold and people are crawling out of their caves to enjoy the outdoors.  That could mean less business for us computer repair folks, as people are spending less time in front of their glowing CRT altar.

One marketing trend that you can take advantage of is the tried and true “Spring Cleaning” ritual that many folks go through this time of year.  While cleaning out closets and scrubbing floors is fresh on your customer’s minds, why not remind them that their computer can get rather dirty too (literally and digitally).

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In this series of posts I will weigh the pros and cons of the three basic means of preparing yourself for a career in tech: certification, formal education, and experience.  For each category I’ll give separate advice for those seeking a corporate career versus those seeking to start their own computer business.  Drawing from my own experiences, as well as my observations of other successful people, I hope to give a realistic look in to what it takes to break into tech.

Often those who are planning on beginning a career in IT, either finishing school or changing careers, will wonder if paying money to get certified is worth it.  The reason this question is asked over and over again is that there is no one right answer.  One person can point at their own experience as an independent technician and say that all it took for them to be successful was proper experience, while another might say the only way they were able to compete in the job market was with a certification or two under their belt.  There are a myriad of experiences and no two are alike.

Earning an IT certification is the most focused and least time consuming of the three categories I’ll be covering. There are numerous industry standard certification’s out there ranging from the basic PC comprehension shown by passing CompTIA’s A+ to elite advanced certifications like Cisco’s new Certified Architect program.  Whatever your specialty, there’s a certification you can earn to prove your understanding of it.  Lets take a look at how certification can help you in a corporate career versus a consulting career.

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One of the many reasons  I’ve been missing in action from blogging is that I recently purchased and moved into a new home.  It’s an exciting milestone in my life, as I’ve never owned a home before.  It also proved to be a hidden gem for finding new, loyal customers for my business.

It’s important to always be looking for new opportunities to spread the word about your business. After receiving a notice from my new homeowners association that they had a community message board, I fired up the computer to check it out and sign up.    It didn’t take long before I realized this would be a perfect opportunity to plug my services.

This is what’s known as hyper-local marketing: a very ambiguous buzz-word that I take to mean targeting advertising to the area immediately surrounding your business. In this case, my target is my new neighborhood.  Methods used for hyper-local marketing can be anything from fliers in the doorway to web-ads targeting local community websites.  An HOA forum is a less-intrusive way to find a couple extra customers, but considerations must be taken to ensure you maximize your potential.

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In an early post on this blog, I established a 5-year plan for taking my computer consulting business from a wistful idea to a part-time side-business and finally into a full time career.  After those 5 years, I could leave the workforce with enough experience and financial cushion to be confident with a successful transition to small business ownership.  I admit this was a leisurely time frame, but there was no rush.  I had a stable, well-paying job that I could leverage to make my dreams a reality.

Fast forward to today, and things aren’t so certain.  With the economy  in recovery mode, most companies are still laying off, and my employer has recently tossed around the idea of outsourcing a good majority of the in-house IT staff.  With the possibility of unemployment looming, I decided to buckle down and realistically figure out what kind of business traffic I would need if I do happen to get kicked to the curb before I’m ready.  How many billable hours will I need to log in order continue the lifestyle I currently enjoy, and pay my bills? How does that translate into actual customers?

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This past Saturday, July 25th, marked the 1st anniversary of this blog.   It was exactly one year ago on that date that I published my first post here at Y.F.N.C.G. and began my adventures in blogging and entrepreneurship. It was in that post that post I laid the foundation for what has been a wonderful and challenging year.  A year which saw me plan, and begin running, a part-time computer consulting business.

Although currently this blog is on a temporary hiatus so that I can spend more time on another totally unrelated project, I’m still working hard at starting my consulting business.  Yes, I still consider my business in it’s start-up phase.  I am taking on a limited number of clients, but most of them are friends, or friends-of-friends.  I don’t plan on diving into my business full force for a while still.

So in the mean time, and to celebrate one year on the web,  I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you some milestone posts from this past year:

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In the Website Wilderness Series I will share my experiences and insights as I try to build a successful web site for my computer consulting company.

I’ve reached the stage in the development of my computer business where I think it’s time to start constructing a website. Over the last few weeks I’ve been tinkering around with different layouts for the site.  In doing so I realized that before I bother with the design I really need to pin down the content that I intend to include. The content will then dictate the layout and design of the website.

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If you’re in the computer repair business, you’ve probably heard of Daniel Hand.  He’s known primarily as the author of Computer Repair Business Lessons Learned, a book which I reviewed here previously.  But he is also very active in the computer consulting community as founder of the National Association of Computer Repair Business Owners (NACRBO) and regular participant in the forums on Technibble.

Dan shares my belief that computer consultants should not be lone wanderers guarding their secrets to success.  We all have something to share and we all have something to learn.  He’ filling this void with his many projects and products.

I asked Dan to take a break from his busy schedule to answer a few questions for Y.F.N.C.G.

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I was inspired by a recent article over at Small Business Trends about small business bootstrapping. In the article, the author tells the story of how he has successfully grown his business into a multimillion dollar enterprise with no debt and using no outside investors.

This is the approach I’m taking with my business and it’s great to hear about success stories of others who have gone this route.

One thing I realized after reading that post is that computer consulting fits perfectly into the bootstrapping philosphy.  In fact, other than online businesses, I can’t think of a more frugal business to start than that of computer consulting.

As I’ve been working to establish my business, I’ve learned some things about how to keep expenses low and avoid the burden of credit.  Although tailored for computer consultants, these strategies can apply to most any business start-up.

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In the “Computer Guy’s Toolbox” series, I highlight a product or service that I think will benefit the independent computer tech, with an emphasis on affordability.

One of the unfortunate aspects of running a computer consulting business is the paperwork. Like it or not, if you want to run a legitimate operation and protect yourself, you’ll want to document everything. Work orders, contracts, service plans, waivers, advertisements, customer and vendor tracking, it can all be a bit overwhelming, especially when first starting out.

That’s where the Computer Business Toolkit comes in. Created by Bryce Whitty over at Technibble.com, the kit is simply a collection of useful document templates that a computer consultant can customize and implement in order to run a successful business. It’s available for purchase and download at Technibble.com.  I recently got my hands on the kit and had the opportunity to check out all the goodies it contains.  Being a wet-behind-the-ears newbie computer business owner,  I was curious to find out how useful the kit would be.

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