Warning: If you’re not a computer nerd, you may not fully appreciate this post.  Proceed with caution (and set your phasers on stun).

Until the recent past, the entertainment world has given computer nerds a bad rap. Long have we been eschewed to the ranks of the socially inept, uber-sarcastic losers like Dennis from Jurassic Park or Nick Burns the Company Computer Guy from SNL.  Well, we mouse jockeys finally have someone to root for!

Tonight marks the premier of the second season of the NBC action-comedy Chuck.  The show’s outlandish premise follows the adventures of Chuck Bartowski, a computer repair tech, who had the last remaining copy of the worlds greatest spy secrets downloaded to his brain via an encrypted message sent by his old college roommate who now works for the CIA.  I’ll spare you the full synopsis which you can read here.
(more…)

Business Name Blues is a 3-part series in which I talk about the experiences I had in naming my business and give tips based on lessons I’ve learned in the process. Part 1 explores choosing the business name. Part 2 looks into the online aspect of business naming. Part 3 closes with the legal and tax steps necessary to ensure your business name is protected.  Also, as I go through each part, I will be updating the Resources page with a Business Naming section to assist you with resources and links to help you make the right moves when naming your business.

The Shady Underbelly

Proud of accomplishing the first task on the road to establishing my business by coming up with a good name, the next step I took was to register the domain name for my new company, Jiffy-PC.  In hind sight, I should have waited to do this until after I got the name registered with my State first (you’ll find out why in part 3), but I was excited to get my website registered because I had already had experience with domain name registration.  Finally,  something about starting a business that I knew how to do!  Not so fast!  As it turns out, this would be my first exposure to the shady underbelly of the domain name registration scene. I learned a lot during this process and at the end of this post, I’ll give you some tips that may help you if you ever run into this kind of situation.
(more…)

Business Name Blues is a 3-part series in which I talk about the experiences I had in naming my business and give tips based on lessons I’ve learned in the process. Part 1 will explore choosing the business name. Part 2 looks into the online aspect of business naming. Part 3 closes with the legal and tax steps necessary to ensure your business name is protected.  Also, as I go through each part, I will be updating the Resources page with a Business Naming section to assist you with resources and links to help you make the right moves when naming your business.
(more…)

I decided I’ve collected enough information over the past month or two to finally start fleshing out my Resources page over there in the yellow box to your right.  Since I’m still in the early stages of starting my computer consulting business, there isn’t a whole lot there, but that will change as I continually add links to resources I use.

The following is a break-down of how the page is currently organized. I have tried to organize it in a linear fashion starting with basic information at the top and drilling down to more specific and advanced services toward the bottom.
(more…)

With so much competition out there (I revealed in an earlier article that there are over 150 other computer support and repair companies in my county alone), I’ve started thinking about ways that I can stand out from the crowd.  One crazy idea that I’d like to suggest, as a way for the average computer consultant to find a niche and stand out from the hundreds of other companies out there, is by targeting consumer electronics. How many people do you know own an iPod or other MP3 player? How many people do you know that own one of the three major video games consoles?  These are hot items that are popping up all over the place.  (more…)

Yes, as of 9:01 PM EST, yesterday, September 11th, 2008, I am officially a business owner in the great state of Maryland!  That is the time that I received an email from LegalZoom stating that my DBA and Business License paperwork had been approved and received back at their offices.  It was a process three months in the making, and I’ll talk about why it took so long in my next article.
(more…)

In July, I published an article called Top 5 Reasons Why I’m Starting A Computer Support Business. Being the kind of person that likes to see things from all angles, I decided to take the opposite view and look at some reasons why starting a computer business may not be such a good idea for me. This exercise was difficult, since obviously I DO want to start a business, but I feel it’s good to weigh the pros and cons of any major decision in life.  Starting a business is not going to be all roses and cupcakes, so this list may be a good slap in the face to anyone, including me, who thinks they’ll be able to breeze through a life as a computer consultant.  Here’s my list of the top 5 reasons why I probably shouldn’t start a computer business:
(more…)

My thirties are waving at me from the dock as the good ship ‘Twenties’ slowly pulls into port. That’s right ladies an gentlemen, I turned the big 2-8 yesterday, and while I still have a couple years left in my roaring 20’s, I can’t help but feel a little bittersweet nostalgia as I think to myself, “where did all that time go?”.
(more…)

The “My Inspirations” series is my opportunity to highlight a specific person, book, or resource that has helped lead me to where I am today and inspired me to take on the challenge of starting a computer business. No journey is ever taken alone.
(more…)

Can someone in his mid-twenties with no managerial experience, no bachelors degree, and very little start-up money start his own successful one-man business in the competitive field of computer consulting? Well, if you were to ask Eric Hamm that question, he’d not only answer with an up-beat and positive YES, but he’d tell you how he’s been doing it successfully for 5 years now…and all this before his 30th birthday!
(more…)