Getting Started (TIPS)

[BigpappaJ]

I am not sure I totally agree with this. I think it really all depends on how you market it. If your site and all your adds are aimed at the working family that does not want to take time off of work to either call you or come into your shop or wait for you to show up and pickup the PC. Then you will get those types of people calling. I would love to be able to have to cable guy come over to fix problems after hours and not anywhere between noon and 5 PM.

Will you miss some people? Sure you will. Not everyone has the luxury of having a retail shop or the funds to quit their job and do just this from scratch. Do what you can to get the customers you are looking for now. Get good word of mouth going and let it grow. It will be a little slower than doing it full time but it will grow if you do it right.

I must say that this is all theory and may be totally of base as its my plan as well. I also plan on having my wife answer the phone just to schedule appt and get a basic idea of the job and then I will call them back.

My very last client left a v mail for me and I did the work. It does happen.

I'm fortunate enough to live in an area where options are very limited for computer repair, and I have heard negative comments about the 2 other shops in town as well.

I'm not worried about the business exploding at first as you mention, and am willing to allow it to slowly grow.

You may very well be right, and perhaps people won't leave voice mails... and Ill change how I operate things if that shows to be true.

 

[BigpappaJ]

Hey everyone, I am in the planning stages of getting my own tech business going, figuring out which services to offer, what programs to use, how to go about getting things (Business licenses), etc.

I was wondering if the more experienced people in this area would like to share some of there invaluable information.

Tell us if there was something you did when starting up that was very helpful, or something you wish you knew when you started that would have been a great help.

Thanks in advance for your tips

-Jake

 

[ddpc]

Read threw the forums completely, their is a ton of knowledge to be had. I suggest starting here in the business and legal issues and read. Rules and Regulations very depending in the State (and Country) you plan on working in.

 

[Martyn]

Spend a week trawling the forums on every subject you want info on then come back with some questions. Most will have already been covered.

 

[Kitten Kong]

as well as the suggestions above read all the articles on the front page.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

as above, read everything on the forums and front page

and then read them all again

 

[BigpappaJ]

Well I'm not actually asking any specific questions.... I have read through a ton of the forums. I was just wondering if there were any little gems of knowledge anyone thought it would be beneficial to share to those just starting out.

-Jake

 

[Martyn]

Well I'm not actually asking any specific questions.... I have read through a ton of the forums. I was just wondering if there were any little gems of knowledge anyone thought it would be beneficial to share to those just starting out.

-Jake

So you want us to read the forums and list the little gems hidden in there?

Seriously have a look around and ask specific questions that are not covered.

 

[Jeffreynya]

This thread is great. Read it.

http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20603

 

[BigpappaJ]

That looks great, Ill read over it. Thanks a bunch.

Sorry about the thread... just hard to look for things when your not really sure what your looking for.

Feel free to close it if deemed unnecessary.

 

[Eddie]

Honestly, read the forums. At the start you're going to have a lot of free time to spare so read the forums, listen to podcasts (podnutz, mike tech show, tech vets etc) and read some business/marketing books.

 

[BigpappaJ]

Honestly, read the forums. At the start you're going to have a lot of free time to spare so read the forums, listen to podcasts (podnutz, mike tech show, tech vets etc) and read some business/marketing books.

I appreciate the response, but my free time is very limited as I currently work full time as an assistant systems admin. And will continue to do so while my business gets off the ground, doing jobs at night and on the weekend... but i will look in to what you suggest. Thanks.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

That thread is probably the single best thread to get you started. As you actually do open your store, and have immediate questions we will all jump in and answer them.

Are you going to start from home or open a shop? either way how are you going to take the calls from clients during the day while you are at your full time job?

 

[BigpappaJ]

That thread is probably the single best thread to get you started. As you actually do open your store, and have immediate questions we will all jump in and answer them.

Are you going to start from home or open a shop? either way how are you going to take the calls from clients during the day while you are at your full time job?

Yeah i took a look at that post and it is really great, I was happy to find out that I was already considering most all of the pitfalls and doing a lot of the things he did well. But I did notice a couple things I will look into as well.

I'm going to be starting from home, and the job is fairly laid back, so I shouldn't have any issues with that... not like the phone will be ringing off the hook at first Plus, although not ideal, voicemail is a wonderful thing.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

Yeah i took a look at that post and it is really great, I was happy to find out that I was already considering most all of the pitfalls and doing a lot of the things he did well. But I did notice a couple things I will look into as well.

I'm going to be starting from home, and the job is fairly laid back, so I shouldn't have any issues with that... not like the phone will be ringing off the hook at first Plus, although not ideal, voicemail is a wonderful thing.

FORGET VOICEMAIL.

No one with a problem will use you if you make them leave a message on voice mail.

Think about it as a customer. You have a problem, whether its an emergency or just something that you put off for a week and are now getting around to calling on. The ring the first guy,. he quotes his rates and they either contract him or ring up another to compare prices. The ring the 2nd guy who has a very nice polite sounding voice mail.

They keep calling the next phone number in the phone book or next website on google.

No one will wait for you to get the message and call them back, unless they are already a customer.

I answer my calls even when I am at another customers site. I take their name and tell them I will call them back or schedule to go there directly from the next appointment.

If you cannot do this, they will keep shopping for a tech.

 

[Jeffreynya]

FORGET VOICEMAIL.

No one with a problem will use you if you make them leave a message on voice mail.

Think about it as a customer. You have a problem, whether its an emergency or just something that you put off for a week and are now getting around to calling on. The ring the first guy,. he quotes his rates and they either contract him or ring up another to compare prices. The ring the 2nd guy who has a very nice polite sounding voice mail.

They keep calling the next phone number in the phone book or next website on google.

No one will wait for you to get the message and call them back, unless they are already a customer.

I answer my calls even when I am at another customers site. I take their name and tell them I will call them back or schedule to go there directly from the next appointment.

If you cannot do this, they will keep shopping for a tech.

I am not sure I totally agree with this. I think it really all depends on how you market it. If your site and all your adds are aimed at the working family that does not want to take time off of work to either call you or come into your shop or wait for you to show up and pickup the PC. Then you will get those types of people calling. I would love to be able to have to cable guy come over to fix problems after hours and not anywhere between noon and 5 PM.

Will you miss some people? Sure you will. Not everyone has the luxury of having a retail shop or the funds to quit their job and do just this from scratch. Do what you can to get the customers you are looking for now. Get good word of mouth going and let it grow. It will be a little slower than doing it full time but it will grow if you do it right.

I must say that this is all theory and may be totally of base as its my plan as well. I also plan on having my wife answer the phone just to schedule appt and get a basic idea of the job and then I will call them back.

My very last client left a v mail for me and I did the work. It does happen.

 

[Rosco]

Ive found that every question i was going to ask is answered somewhere on this site. A lot of questioned i didnt even know i needed answered! I have never could have imaged such a resource. Happy computing

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

I am not sure I totally agree with this. I think it really all depends on how you market it. If your site and all your adds are aimed at the working family that does not want to take time off of work to either call you or come into your shop or wait for you to show up and pickup the PC. Then you will get those types of people calling. I would love to be able to have to cable guy come over to fix problems after hours and not anywhere between noon and 5 PM.

Will you miss some people? Sure you will. Not everyone has the luxury of having a retail shop or the funds to quit their job and do just this from scratch. Do what you can to get the customers you are looking for now. Get good word of mouth going and let it grow. It will be a little slower than doing it full time but it will grow if you do it right.

I must say that this is all theory and may be totally of base as its my plan as well. I also plan on having my wife answer the phone just to schedule appt and get a basic idea of the job and then I will call them back.

My very last client left a v mail for me and I did the work. It does happen.

I'm not saying you can't make the phone ring once or twice, I am saying that you will miss the 8-9 calls that hang up.

I spend $1500 for an ad I hope to make $1500 best case in new customers. If I know I am loosing 80% of my calls because I am not going to be open (lets say 4th of July weekend) I will cancel that ad until I know i am going to be there. otherwise I just made my ad budget 1/8th or 1/4 as effective as it otherwise might be. In stead of 8 new customers for $1500 I only get 2. That gets pretty expensive.

I'm saying try to work it out so someone answers the phone. Doesn't have to be you but it sure would be nice if they actually knew something about how you operate so they can answer questions about your pricing and when you can look at it, when they might get it back.

You are going in the water with one hand and both feet tied behind your back if you cannot answer the phone and answer the customers questions when they call you. Do some call at 4pm or 5pm? Yes, some do. a very small minority of calls come in that late. Most calls come in 8-10am every morning. I'd love to open at 10am and close at 6pm that fits my lifestyle better but it doesn't fit the over whelming most of my customers.

PS: I love most of my competitors who let their phone go into voice mail. I just love them. I really love them.