Brand Licensing? Franchising? Reinveting the Wheel?

[ProTech Support]

I talking Micro now which is point A (starting out) and the previous post was the end result point Z. Keep in mind when I say global in the past post I mean global to the organization not global geogrphicly. A global resource is one that all members have access to.


Initial problems:
-------------------------------------------
Lack of recognition from the lack of branding an established brand.
Every owner must do everything on their own
Some owners are part time (who looks after their business when they are doing their 9 to 5)
Lack of buying power for AV/AS solutions and parts

Benefits: Baisc levels
1.) Already designed website to use as your own
2.) Already designed marketing materials
3.) Already designed forms
4.) Professional Phone system (800 number) PBX type
5.) Access to dedicated remote support techs ready to work on machines for you
6.) Mentorship and Traning
7.) Established reseller partnerships
8.) Dispatching services and job scheduleing assistance.


So on a basic level these are some the benefits for adopting a brand as I am presenting it. In this stage the brand is being establised in two ways. 1st by carving out areas of brand influence. Second by lowering overhead with each business member benefiting from the pooling of resources to gain access to these features. The lowering of overhead allows businesses to become more viable but the biggest benefit is a more professional appearance.

With access to dedicated remote support techs the businesses are able to operate in unique ways such as go on site to assess the problem and route the repair to a remote tech for completion while being able to move on to the next appointment. For an existing shop there would be access to labor on demand to help reduce turnaround times and prevent the need to hire additional staff. These are just some examples.

Going Micro still

10 Members at $50 would support the majority of the features listed above. These features would cost more that the $50 if implemented independantly so it is a win/win for every one.

My problem here is you need to have some sort of qualification standard. Are you going to let any "Joe" off the street with $50 represent your company? Who are you really going to attract with this? Maybe it is me, but I am very picky with anyone I would hire to represent my company. They could tell me they will pay me $250,000 a month, that still would not convince me they are a qualified technician who will have a positive effect on my companies overall image and abilities.

 

[Mushin]

My problem here is you need to have some sort of qualification standard. Are you going to let any "Joe" off the street with $50 represent your company? Who are you really going to attract with this? Maybe it is me, but I am very picky with anyone I would hire to represent my company. They could tell me they will pay me $250,000 a month, that still would not convince me they are a qualified technician who will have a positive effect on my companies overall image and abilities.

I am very picky as well when I hire.. A screening process would be completed. This goes without saying. In fact the any "joe" off the street providing computer services is exactly why something like this would help out. There are just too many "Me too techs out there..." and they hurt all of the good independants.

Keep in mind that most of what is being discussed it at a high concept level. The details are how everything gets tweaked out and not all details are written here becasue it would just be information overload. Still if you have a question please ask rather than assume.

Also keep in mind that this is not an employee/employer relationship. The members are business owners with accoutablity to their business. You see they are in essence the brand. As with Geek Squad the employees are the Brand. Sure the employees don't create the marketing and uniforms and all the other stuff Geek Squad but Geek Squad sells the services that the employees perform.

Think of it like this... Replace the Geek Squad Employee/Employer relationship with a Brand/Business owner relationship. Since business owners have more of a stake than an employee would they tenr to put in much much more effort because if they perform well they make more money.

As we all know with the employee/employer relationship the goal of the employee is to do the least amount of work for the most amount of money. The employer wants the employee to do the most amount of work for the least amount of money.

 

[Iconic]

This overall topic has been broached in the past, not necessarily on Technibble but in the industry as a whole. Case and point is a company called "Nerds On Site" (http://www.nerdsonsite.com/). Although their branding fees are higher then what is being proposed and they take a percentage of your individual job profits, the concept is the same.

The system you talk about has a large likelyhood of succeeding since here is presidence however if you are serious and this is not just "idle talk", they you will have a lot more research to do.

I looked into Nerds On Site extensively before deciding to go on my own, so I see similarities to what you are propossing in comparison to what they offer. The one big question/hurdle you have to consider is how to convince the small business owners such as everyone on this site, that they WILL prosper under a single brand with very little drop in business or credibility in the beginning.

I agree that a International group of individual companies banded together under one name/focus would shake the repair business in a way that has never been done before. Specially if the right marketing was done in the public media with the right spin, however you are asking the business owners that have already built their local brand to agree to take a leap akin to the one they took when they first started up. Hedging all bets on a new name and identity, that although they can leverage their past reputations to keep business going, will still have a period of uncertainty in their business potentials.

Also individual shops, although not widely known or recognized by all potential clients, have the advantage that they are self contained and responsible for their own actions only. They do not have to worry about the actions of a tech in another state/country and how it will effect their local business image.

I can get into more particulars and details about the business structure of NOS but I know I have already spoken too much for one post and there will be others that will want to talk about what I have said most likely.

 

[Mushin]

This overall topic has been broached in the past, not necessarily on Technibble but in the industry as a whole. Case and point is a company called "Nerds On Site" (http://www.nerdsonsite.com/). Although their branding fees are higher then what is being proposed and they take a percentage of your individual job profits, the concept is the same.

The system you talk about has a large likelyhood of succeeding since here is presidence however if you are serious and this is not just "idle talk", they you will have a lot more research to do.

I looked into Nerds On Site extensively before deciding to go on my own, so I see similarities to what you are propossing in comparison to what they offer. The one big question/hurdle you have to consider is how to convince the small business owners such as everyone on this site, that they WILL prosper under a single brand with very little drop in business or credibility in the beginning.

I agree that a International group of individual companies banded together under one name/focus would shake the repair business in a way that has never been done before. Specially if the right marketing was done in the public media with the right spin, however you are asking the business owners that have already built their local brand to agree to take a leap akin to the one they took when they first started up. Hedging all bets on a new name and identity, that although they can leverage their past reputations to keep business going, will still have a period of uncertainty in their business potentials.

Also individual shops, although not widely known or recognized by all potential clients, have the advantage that they are self contained and responsible for their own actions only. They do not have to worry about the actions of a tech in another state/country and how it will effect their local business image.

I can get into more particulars and details about the business structure of NOS but I know I have already spoken too much for one post and there will be others that will want to talk about what I have said most likely.

All very very good points.. This is a very good model for what we are talking about here. In a brief look I did not notice what the fees were.

Also true about being self contained and not having to worry about the someone really messing things up somewhere else. Still this is nothing new to businesses. (Franchises)

An Independantly owned and operated statement does two things for a situaltion like this (although not 100%) It lets customers know that they are dealing with someone that has authority and it helps to deflect issues that may crop up across the state. A good PR out and a good way to remove someone from the branding agreement.

 

[Iconic]

A short highlight of the basic "NOS" structure

NOS is an overall brand started in London, Ontario. Its main focus is to have 1 "Nerd" per 10,000 people in any populated area. Each "Nerd" is their own individual business owner with complete control over their own marketing/pricing/clients, however they must stick to a set of rules and regulations such as a Price Guide and all the visual banding.

Each "Nerd" pays a yearly "licensing" fee which allows each one of them to use the branding, backend payment system, education center which offers all levels of certification training hosted by fellow "Nerds", nerd-to-nerd communication system and several other items.

To join "NOS" you must first pass a technical aptitute evaluation before receiving and invite to join. From that point fees are an initial $3500 payment which takes care of your welcome pack (business cards, shirts, marketing mail drop in local area, and your account on the NOS backend system). After that point there are two directions of being paid. Each job you do goes into the NOS system and depending on if you have the branded VW Beetle or not, you get paid a determined percentage.

Basically if you have the VW Beetle (you purchased/leased it and NOS paid to put decals on it) you are paid 40% of your individual job income with a potential 10% bonus depending on customer satisfaction survey results. If you do not have the VW Beetle it is 30% plus 10% respectively.

Each year your licensing comes up for renewal in which you pay about $200 to renew your license.

The NOS company itself provides a single international contact number in which customers call in and become either Leads or repeats. If the customer is a repeat the lead goes to the original tech to service that customer however if they do not respond to that lead within a certain amount of time it goes into a pool where any of the area "Nerds" can pick it up to take the call. If the customer is a brand new caller their lead goes into the same pool and is picked up by the first "Nerd" to respond to it. They do this to keep response times to a minimum and prevents callers from waiting for more then an hour from a tech they dealt with in the past.

NOS prides themselves on being in the top 90% on their pricing guidelines and either charge the same and in some cases more then GeekSquad does. They justify this by saying that each "Nerd" is his own business owner and when you hire that one tech, you get the entire NOS team as a resource pool. Akin to the Verizon wireless network commercials, one visable "Nerd" with a knowledge base that can be easily accessed through an inter-communication system so that fellow "Nerds" can help each other out.

I could keep going however you can see why, when it came to deciding to go on my own or joining up with NOS, I choose to go on my own. Specially when my last employeer offered me to take over their customer list and phone number (that had been established for 12 years) if I went on my own.

 

[Mushin]

A short highlight of the basic "NOS" structure

NOS is an overall brand started in London, Ontario. Its main focus is to have 1 "Nerd" per 10,000 people in any populated area. Each "Nerd" is their own individual business owner with complete control over their own marketing/pricing/clients, however they must stick to a set of rules and regulations such as a Price Guide and all the visual banding.



To join "NOS" you must first pass a technical aptitute evaluation before receiving and invite to join. From that point fees are an initial $3500 payment which takes care of your welcome pack (business cards, shirts, marketing mail drop in local area, and your account on the NOS backend system). After that point there are two directions of being paid. Each job you do goes into the NOS system and depending on if you have the branded VW Beetle or not, you get paid a determined percentage.

Basically if you have the VW Beetle (you purchased/leased it and NOS paid to put decals on it) you are paid 40% of your individual job income with a potential 10% bonus depending on customer satisfaction survey results. If you do not have the VW Beetle it is 30% plus 10% respectively.

Each year your licensing comes up for renewal in which you pay about $200 to renew your license.


NOS prides themselves on being in the top 90% on their pricing guidelines and either charge the same and in some cases more then GeekSquad does. They justify this by saying that each "Nerd" is his own business owner and when you hire that one tech, you get the entire NOS team as a resource pool. Akin to the Verizon wireless network commercials, one visable "Nerd" with a knowledge base that can be easily accessed through an inter-communication system so that fellow "Nerds" can help each other out.

Well that sums things up quite well. So the initial up front is quite high and the percentage take is high.. Even higher than a franchise typically would be. Essentially very similar to my overall concept. Take the pricing tiers that were discussed and you have something that is quite workable.

I assume that each "Nerd" gets a 1099-misc for the payment they recieve which would keep them off the books as an employee and each Nerd would have to register their business according to local and state laws.

To be successful and recover their licensing fee they have to hit the ground to generate business. Tell me about this... does NOS provide all credit card processing or does the individual have to take this on, and what do you know about cash or check payments made to the Nerd?

One more question.. Does a nerd have the ability to open a store and hire employees or it is just for on site work. (Sounds like just on site work) I'm looking at a competitive advantage with being able to have shops and also alow owners to hire employees. Otherwise you just own your job and not your business so to speak. There also appears to be no room or avenue to grow beyond what the "Nerd" is able to do personally. Again you just own your job... Better than a job but not as good as having full control to make business decisions on where to expand etc.

 

[Iconic]

I assume that each "Nerd" gets a 1099-misc for the payment they recieve which would keep them off the books as an employee and each Nerd would have to register their business according to local and state laws.

Each Nerd does have to register their own business in which ever fashion they choose (incorporation, sole propietor etc...) The NOS corporate policy is that they do not advise Nerds on legal matters at all, each Nerd is responsible for his own business. Although they do provide group E&O insurance.

To be successful and recover their licensing fee they have to hit the ground to generate business. Tell me about this... does NOS provide all credit card processing or does the individual have to take this on, and what do you know about cash or check payments made to the Nerd?

NOS does all the payment processing, basically each individual Nerd would enter in the invoice into the NOS back end system and print off the invoice from that system and give it to the client. Then all payments would be collected/tracked by NOS corporate and once paid by the client, would be paid to the Nerd as to their percentage. To help new Nerds hit the ground running they do a 10,000 flyer mail drop in the area of the Nerds choosing and will send a senior Nerd (P.O.D. Leader) to assist a new Nerd in negotiating their first commercial contract.

One more question.. Does a nerd have the ability to open a store and hire employees or it is just for on site work. (Sounds like just on site work) I'm looking at a competitive advantage with being able to have shops and also alow owners to hire employees. Otherwise you just own your job and not your business so to speak. There also appears to be no room or avenue to grow beyond what the "Nerd" is able to do personally. Again you just own your job... Better than a job but not as good as having full control to make business decisions on where to expand etc.

Each individual Nerd, although running their own business, is not allowed to have anyone under them in any fashion other then the set hierarchy that NOS has in place. Basically each geographic area has one P.O.D. Leader that is in charge of coaching and tracking the other Nerds in his area. For doing this he gets some other incentives but each individual Nerd is not allowed to have a store front or employees. They consider their VW Beetles their office and all work is done on-site or remotely using an internet stick and pre-installed software on the clients servers/computers.

 

[DonsTechnology]

I don't believe he was talking about franchising. when I read his post, I got the idea of a national service of computer repair businesses. Kind of like a listing in which we all must qualify for, proving that we are the best (not THE best per se, but worthy, and better then GS and other crap nobodys). Maybe have some core values in common to list.

It would be like an advertisement on TV for nationally recognized computer repair shops in your area, you can then go online or call a number to find one of its member businesses in your area.

For instance some sees the add and instead of going to geeksquad, they go here, and want someone at or near the campus of FIU, they would then see a listing including my name if a became a recognized repair business.

Of course we would have to contribute some monetary value to this organization (if you will) so that after becoming qualified we would reap the benefits of national advertising, and being backed nation recognition/ qualification.

 

[basic]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm still waiting on the eventual post where you say "My SiteTech business is great and I want to start having franchises. Who on the boards wants to buy my brand from me?".

 

[MrUnknown]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm still waiting on the eventual post where you say "My SiteTech business is great and I want to start having franchises. Who on the boards wants to buy my brand from me?".

hes pretty much said that when he mentioned wanting to expand his brand.

 

[basic]

hes pretty much said that when he mentioned wanting to expand his brand.

Must've missed that. Well then, honestly, all these posts just seems like an attempt to get people hot for the idea of buying his brand so he can make money. Not saying his brand isn't good or he's not good but....meh.