Has your business died?????

[River Valley Computer]

Boy - I don't know about you all but we had blazing hot Jan thru May business but June is DEAD. We have only checked in five computers all month. Sure a good thing the previous months were stellar. I guess we could clean up the shop.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I'm having a better June than I've had any other month this year, but I've been dead for the last year. So it's all relative.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Steady increase for over a year....just keeps coming and coming....

 

[nlinecomputers]

Dead here too. I know a lot of people are on vacation. Vaccinated and hitting the road.

 

[britechguy]

I know a lot of people are on vacation. Vaccinated and hitting the road.

I can't say I've seen much change, but since this is a side gig for me that's unsurprising.

That being said, I know that there are a huge number of people who've been chomping at the bit as far as getting out of the house and going somewhere for a change of scene, or going to visit parents or other relatives, that haven't been able to do so for over a year. Now that the vaccination effort is really very much underway and so many are fully vaccinated, I expect that summer is going to be very dead for a lot of us when those folks make their getaways.

 

[GTP]

I've been struggling since May last year (2020).
I was getting payments through the "Job Keeper" program the Govt had going but that ended in December 2020.
Business as been very slow for me.
June is normally a busy month with business's upgrading before the EOFY.
That's not the case this month.
I've got some work in but it's a worrying time.

 

[Big Jim]

not dead by any stretch of the imagination but certainly quieter than we have been.

we run a B&M break/fix PCs, laptops & Phones

 

[Larry Sabo]

Currently about 24% ahead YTD on net income (44% for the same month vs last year) and last year was a decent year.

Edit: Bear in mind, this is a one-person, home-based semi-retirement business. Break/fix, residential market, plus data recovery.

 

[Kitten Kong]

Im completely dead. Turnover since Jan is c £4,000. Im usually closer to £20,000 this time of the year.

It's only my managed clients and man av, which is really keeping me open.

 

[River Valley Computer]

Im completely dead. Turnover since Jan is c £4,000. Im usually closer to £20,000 this time of the year.

It's only my managed clients and man av, which is really keeping me open.

I agree - thank goodness we have built a good repour with our customers over the 20 years in business. It is them that are keeping us solvent right now along with a limited number of MSP customers.

 

[Kitten Kong]

Same here, 16 years in business.

Feels like I've just started up from scratch.

Im seriously >< close to closing my doors.

Have lost the passion for the work now.

 

[britechguy]

Have lost the passion for the work now.

And that means, provided you can afford to do so, it's time to move on, regardless of exactly what "move on" might mean for you.

I have learned the hard way that continuing to do work that you have zero desire to do, and even more so if you hate the very thought of having to get up and face the day to do it, is soul crushing. And that's no way to live.

 

[phaZed]

I have been on an increase, myself.. so much work it's been hard to handle. No less than a dozen appt's for drop off today alone. Ugh. I'm happy to have the work but it is stressful.

 

[Diggs]

Summer (after schools are out) has always been a big drop in business for me. This year is no exception.

 

[cypress]

Last year was pretty tough when COVID hit, only thing that kept me going was the couple of MSP clients that I have since I still doing some break/fix still.

This year it was tracking for the same but since May things I have started to pick up again. June has been the best month I have had in the past year and it has rejuvenated me. I had lost the passion not gonna lie. This is my side business so I am still continuing to work on it steadly but more so I am putting more money into improving things and growing my craft.

Right now as it stands through June I have exceeded what I made through August of last year, so definitely trending in the right direction.

 

[Philippe]

June is always a very slow month over here... kind of pre-vacation for me...
I think people are enjoying the beginning of summer & leave their computer behind...

 

[GTP]

Im completely dead. Turnover since Jan is c £4,000. Im usually closer to £20,000 this time of the year.

It's only my managed clients and man av, which is really keeping me open.

I agree - thank goodness we have built a good repour with our customers over the 20 years in business. It is them that are keeping us solvent right now along with a limited number of MSP customers.

Echoed sentiments from me.

 

[GTP]

And that means, provided you can afford to do so, it's time to move on, regardless of exactly what "move on" might mean for you.

I have learned the hard way that continuing to do work that you have zero desire to do, and even more so if you hate the very thought of having to get up and face the day to do it, is soul crushing. And that's no way to live.

I love doing what I do and I really have no desire to stop any time soon.
My concern is getting enough to continue doing what I love

The world is changing though. Young people are using phones to replace computers at an ever increasing rate.
Older people find that using a tablet is so much more convenient for sending emails, playing Candy Crush and browsing Facebook.

Laptops are becoming the domain of business only and towers are disappearing to the realm of servers.
The last tower I built was for a business.

Over the last year I've been given at least 15 laptops and about the same or more desktops that are no longer used.
Trying to sell them (especially towers) is difficult.

 

[lan101]

I love doing what I do and I really have no desire to stop any time soon.
My concern is getting enough to continue doing what I love

The world is changing though. Young people are using phones to replace computers at an ever increasing rate.
Older people find that using a tablet is so much more convenient for sending emails, playing Candy Crush and browsing Facebook.

Laptops are becoming the domain of business only and towers are disappearing to the realm of servers.
The last tower I built was for a business.

Over the last year I've been given at least 15 laptops and about the same or more desktops that are no longer used.
Trying to sell them (especially towers) is difficult.

Most of my buddy's in their 30's don't even really use computers at all. They do all their daily BS through their phones. Towers are still liked by the businesses that I service. Most of those folks are 50's and 60's though. Once they all retire it'll be interesting to see where things go from there. In another 10 years I think most all vendors stuff will just be all completely throw away. It'll be interesting to see if the "business class" refurb stuff will still be viable. From what I'm seeing it doesn't look overly positive with soldered on ram etc etc.

The older folks like 70's and 80's some still like their tower or laptop but many have adapted over to ipads or some sort of tablet. I just recently upgraded a dell 7010 tower for a lady almost 90 years old. I put a samsung ssd in so it's much faster. She had been using a samsung tablet that she liked better because the computer had gotten too slow. I told her I might give her a call in a month and see how she's getting along since the tower is much faster now.

 

[lcoughey]

Currently about 24% ahead YTD on net income (44% for the same month vs last year) and last year was a decent year.

Edit: Bear in mind, this is a one-person, home-based semi-retirement business. Break/fix, residential market, plus data recovery.

...and you live in the nation's capital where government keeps getting paid, no matter what.