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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Lets face it, there are a lot of “computer guys” out there.  It’s no secret that the IT industry is growing and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  The demand is there and the money is good.

However, not every computer guy is created equal.  Just because you have a degree related to computers, you solve all your friend’s computer problems in less than 15 minutes, and you can hack into the pentagon, doesn’t mean you’re cut out to start your own computer repair business.

Since starting my business, many customers I service seem to be relieved when they realize that I’m not out to make a quick buck, and that I can speak to them about their computer in terms that they can understand and relate to.  Some have even related to me the pains they’ve experienced at the hands of some other computer guys that they’ve worked with in the past.  Couple these experiences with the fact that, through interviews on this website and other encounters with successful computer techs, I’ve noticed that there are some characteristics that make certain independent computer consultants really stand out among the competition.

There are many obvious traits that one must posses in order to be a successful independent computer consultant.  You must have people skills, business savvy, and broad technical knowledge.  But that’s just the beginning.

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I’m always thinking about the types of services I’d like to offer for my computer consulting business customers.  Of course I offer the usual PC repair/troubleshooting/upgrading that all computer businesses offer. But I’m always curious about out-of-the-box ideas for services that will separate me from my competition.

I recently came across a post on Technibble that got me thinking.

In the post, a new member asks about the viability of an interesting niche business idea he has. Here’s an excerpt:
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So how did hings turn out with my first official customer as a business owner?

If you’ll recall in my initial post on the subject, a customer was referred to me a bit before I was fully prepared to start taking on customers.  I decided to take the client, mostly for experience, but also to get a bit more money into my business account.  The lady wasn’t too specific about the problem (are they ever?), but I thought it sounded like a corrupt HD.  Turns out that it was.

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Although I don’t think I’m really ready for it yet, I decided to take on my first customer as owner and operator of Jiffy-PC, my computer consulting company.  I say I don’t feel I’m ready for it because there are still a few things I wanted to get settled before taking on customers, like getting a separate phone line established and printing up some business cards.  But my girlfriend approached me with a referral and I couldn’t resist.

I have had numerous customers before this, but they have all been off-the-record jobs, or jobs for other companies. The person I meet tomorrow will be the first official customer that I take on as a business.  How does that differ from my customers before?  Not much.  The only difference, really, is that I will provide her with an invoice after my work is done.  That invoice will contain my company logo and if she pays by check, it will be made out to Jiffy-PC. Other than that, nothing much is different from before.

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Throughout my years in the IT industry I’ve held many positions and titles. Some are fairly accurate descriptions of what I was doing, and some were decidedly very un-acurate.  Now as I start my own business, I’m stuck with the task of giving myself a title.  As it turns out, it’s a little harder than I had anticipated.

Growing Up Geek

When I first fell in love with computers, I was in elementary school.  My parents got a big hunky IBM clone (I don’t remember the brand) complete with two fancy 5 1/4 inch floppy drives.  I loved to play around and find ways to break or confuse the programs.  This started a long love affair with breaking and fixing computers.  At that point, and all through school, I was a true computer geek.  I used computers for the sheer novelty of it.

Flash forward to my time serving in the US Army.   I wanted to flex my computing prowess and volunteered for various computer-centric tasks like creating databases and such.  I then got the opportunity to help network a new office from the ground up.  After that, I was officially appointed the unit’s assistant IMO (Information Management Officer), and was tasked with helping people in the unit with various computer issues.

I loved that job, and found I really had a knack for troubleshooting.  So, after I got out of the army, I took a job as an intern at the Help Desk of a pharmaceutical company.  Within 4 years time I was hired on full time, promoted to a Level 2 Analyst, and promoted again to my current position in the computer industry, Enterprise Systems Analyst.

Every time I was presented with a new position and name (Geek, Assistant IMO, Helpdesk Intern, Helpdesk Analyst, Systems Analyst) I was basically doing the same thing, fixing computer problems.

What’s in a Name?

When I had the idea to start my own computer business, it never occurred to me that I would need to define my job title. In fact, it wasn’t until I started writing this blog that I realized I needed to figure out what to call myself.   So I came up with a list of names that I’m considering using to refer to my position as an independent computer guy, along with how I feel about each one:

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There seem to be two schools of thought when it comes to the best way to run a computer maintenance or consulting business from home.  Some people believe that it’s impossible to do good quality work and get enough turn-over if you don’t take the customer’s computer back to your “shop”.  On the other hand, there are techs that work exclusively at the customer’s home and never bring work back home with them.

Which way is the best way to run a PC repair business?

As I’ve done in the past, I decided to weigh the pros and cons of each scenario and see how they stack up against each other using good old-fashioned reasoning.  Keep in mind, I’m not taking into account the possibility of opening a store front…that’s a whole different ball of wax and I’ll save that debate for a later time.  In the following lists I’ve lined out some of the more important factors that I could think of, drawing from my own experiences.

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If you enjoy figuring out computer problems and have a knack for explaining technical jargon to non-technical people, there are a few places online that you can call home.  There is no shortage of people on the web looking for help with computer troubles.  I’ve taken the liberty of gathering four of my favorite websites where you can practice helping other people with their computer problems.  This is by no means an exhaustive list, it’s merely a personal gathering of the places I’ve found most helpful to not only myself, but to the people seeking help who visit them.  Most of these websites will also allow you to link to your own personal website, thus increasing traffic to your computer support business.
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I’ve stumbled upon a lot of articles recently about computer techs using their powers for evil.  Here are some of my favorites: (more…)