Is Business Slow There Too?

[River Valley Computer]

Boy this has to be the deadest 4 weeks ever. We are down approx. 40% from last year at this time. Talked to two other computer repair centers in town and they are saying the same.

Time for the three of us to put our Speedos on, go out front and and get some business.

 

[GTP]

It's been a slow year for me as well, although the last 2 weeks have picked up.
It's a growing trend. People are just not using computers like they used to.
Just in the last 3 weeks I've had 4 people tell me they didn't want to renew their AV "because they don't use their computer anymore."
Probably 80% of my clients under 30 don't use their laptop for anything (other than those doing uni study.) Fakebook, Crapchat, Flitter, Instawhatever is all done on their mobile.

 

[Diggs]

Time for the three of us to put our Speedos on, go out front and and get some business.

I can't un-see that and I didn't even see it!

Went from 100 to dead slow about four weeks ago here also.

 

[Porthos]

It's a growing trend. People are just not using computers like they used to.

Probably 80% of my clients under 30 don't use their laptop for anything (other than those doing uni study.) Fakebook, Crapchat, Flitter, Instawhatever is all done on their mobile.

The only people using Windows laptops and desktops....
Older people
Business
Students only when doing homework
And a small amount that don't like using a phone for more then just a phone.

The only chance you see the above as clients is when they get infected, Windows update/upgrade issues, HD Failure or other hardware issue, Or for a replacement computer and or data transfer.

The rest use phone and tablets.

 

[River Valley Computer]

It's been a slow year for me as well, although the last 2 weeks have picked up.
It's a growing trend. People are just not using computers like they used to.
Just in the last 3 weeks I've had 4 people tell me they didn't want to renew their AV "because they don't use their computer anymore."
Probably 80% of my clients under 30 don't use their laptop for anything (other than those doing uni study.) Fakebook, Crapchat, Flitter, Instawhatever is all done on their mobile.

And if Micro$oft goes with subscription licensing of the operating systems - adios amigos.

We actually sold 5 Linux systems last month. We're using Zorin Lite and people seem to like it and accept. We tried Linux Mint but seemed a little too much for our clients in general.

 

[sapphirescales]

The only people using Windows laptops and desktops....
Older people
Business
Students only when doing homework
And a small amount that don't like using a phone for more then just a phone.

The only chance you see the above as clients is when they get infected, Windows update/upgrade issues, HD Failure or other hardware issue, Or for a replacement computer and or data transfer.

The rest use phone and tablets.

Anyone that actually needs to do anything other than consume content uses computers. Want to write a document? Computer. Want to send an email that doesn't read like a SMS text? Computer. Want to watch Netflix with a big screen and maximum flexibility? Computer. Do you work somewhere that actually pays a living wage? You need a computer to do your job. Students, people working at Walmart and other dead-end jobs, and old people that only need to check email and look at recipes are the only ones that don't need a computer. If those are your target market, you're in trouble.

There are plenty of people that NEED computers. Phones and tablets just aren't an option. And even if they could do everything a computer can do, their form factor reduces productivity and people quickly go back to their computers after they realize that what used to take them 10 minutes now takes over an hour.

My target market is professional people making at least $75,000/year and small businesses. I have some regular people, sure. But they can't afford anything anyway and they're a small part of my client base. I would guess that the percentage of my clients that work minimum wage jobs is less than 1%. These people don't need (and frankly can't afford!) a computer. People with more money generally have more disposable income. Even if they primarily use their phones and tablets, they still maintain a computer.

And think of it this way. Smartphones and tablets have been around for 10 years now (8 if you only count the iPad). Those that were going to switch have already switched. It won't get much worse than this.

 

[River Valley Computer]

Anyone that actually needs to do anything other than consume content uses computers. Want to write a document? Computer. Want to send an email that doesn't read like a SMS text? Computer. Want to watch Netflix with a big screen and maximum flexibility? Computer. Do you work somewhere that actually pays a living wage? You need a computer to do your job. Students, people working at Walmart and other dead-end jobs, and old people that only need to check email and look at recipes are the only ones that don't need a computer. If those are your target market, you're in trouble.

There are plenty of people that NEED computers. Phones and tablets just aren't an option. And even if they could do everything a computer can do, their form factor reduces productivity and people quickly go back to their computers after they realize that what used to take them 10 minutes now takes over an hour.

My target market is professional people making at least $75,000/year and small businesses. I have some regular people, sure. But they can't afford anything anyway and they're a small part of my client base. I would guess that the percentage of my clients that work minimum wage jobs is less than 1%. These people don't need (and frankly can't afford!) a computer. People with more money generally have more disposable income. Even if they primarily use their phones and tablets, they still maintain a computer.

And think of it this way. Smartphones and tablets have been around for 10 years now (8 if you only count the iPad). Those that were going to switch have already switched. It e in general a lot less than that won't get much worse than this.

I'm not sure where you live but it's sure not typical of where we live. We live in an area where people make a lot less than that. And even our business customers serve these same customers. You are obviously lucky to live in a more affluent area. We live in Arkansas and sorry - won't move out after living here for 18 years.

 

[GTP]

I've got 2 SMB's here that have gone from 5 x laptops and 3 x laptops to 1 x laptop and 4 ipads and 1 x laptop and 2 ipads respectively.
Doing the same work they were before.

 

[PBComputer]

It's been our second busiest month. with the second best turnover (I know turnover is not everything) I'm booked up until Next Thursday with projects planned. I guess in 4 hours time Thursday and Friday will be gone too if things carry on how they have being going.

 

[lan101]

I've got 2 SMB's here that have gone from 5 x laptops and 3 x laptops to 1 x laptop and 4 ipads and 1 x laptop and 2 ipads respectively.
Doing the same work they were before.

What kind of work and apps/programs do they use? Just curious. My main businesses I serve in my area are car dealers/body shops, cpa's (tax preparers) and others that run the typical office/quickbooks or peachtree setups. A few hotel/motels that all use just web-based applications.

 

[GTP]

These are reps for companies that go to businesses and count stock levels that are then sent back and processed into orders for those businesses for resupply.
Not sure what they use because I don't have anything to do with the iPads.
They receive the data from the ipads into a custom database similar to TeamDesk.

 

[sapphirescales]

I've got 2 SMB's here that have gone from 5 x laptops and 3 x laptops to 1 x laptop and 4 ipads and 1 x laptop and 2 ipads respectively.
Doing the same work they were before.

That ought to be a productive company now. I've talked to MANY employees of many different companies. NONE of them were happy that their company switched to tablets because it takes much longer to do the same thing on a tablet than it does on a laptop. There are a few notable exceptions of course. My chiropractor uses iPads for his patients to sign in and describe their symptoms. They don't have to type anything, just select from what type of pain and select the area of the body where they're feeling said pain. But behind the front desk and in his office, you bet they're using computers.

Any good business will notice a sharp decline in productivity after switching over to tablets and will end up switching back. Unfortunately there are a lot of business owners with their heads up their a$$es that don't pay attention to the data. It's my job to make sure that if a company switches over to tablets that it actually IMPROVES productivity, or at least doesn't negatively affect it. I also have to make sure that it doesn't balloon their IT budget. There are very few instances where it makes sense for a business to use tablets over computers. The only time it really makes sense is if the tablets are for your customers / patients to use and not your employees.

LOL. I recently did work for a car dealership that had switched everyone over to tablets. It was an absolute NIGHTMARE! The average check-in time for service went from 3 minutes to 12 minutes, and productivity for the office went down by over 70%. I crunched some numbers and found that the owner was losing approximately $1,200/day from his switch. Not to mention all the negative reviews he had gotten from slow service to lost records due to his crappy tablets. As soon as I showed him the numbers, he started crapping his pants and immediately had me quote him on replacing all the tablets. All the employees there love me now. I've gotten so much business from his employees it's unreal.

It is YOUR job as a technician to handle all the IT related stuff for whatever business client you have. You need to make sure their employees are productive, that they have good quality hardware, and are running software that meets their needs and results in good productivity and minimal training. You're basically a business consultant focusing on IT.

 

[cypress]

I was just looking over my numbers from last year at this time and I am down but mostly because I did more project work to start out the year with onboarding a client for Managed Services. Business has been slower this year though, oh so it seems. More smaller jobs this year. New PC Setups, Hard drive replacements. Tune ups here and there.

I am transitioning to a new company next month so I will be doing more IT related stuff than I am doing at my current job which works out. This will give me more exposure to get my side business going more. So I look at it as win win in the end.

 

[Larry Sabo]

I was down 25% YTD to the end of February but am only down 2% YTD at the end of April. Ups and downs, as usual.

 

[Markverhyden]

Overall thing are still slowing down more and more, but this March was one of the slowest I've had in years. Only booked something like 4k.

And if Micro$oft goes with subscription licensing of the operating systems - adios amigos.

We actually sold 5 Linux systems last month. We're using Zorin Lite and people seem to like it and accept. We tried Linux Mint but seemed a little too much for our clients in general.

I've tried Zorin on a couple of consumers and they did not like. Just didn't "get it". And they weren't old folks either.

 

[Mr. Ingram's Computer Repair & Shoppe]

I haven't read everyone elses comments, but my business has sky-rocketed.

about 3 - 3.5 x profit as this time last year.
The last week though, was on the slower side, had enough time to eat lunch.

but I have not experienced any type of slowdown, although I may be the exception, as my competitors are closing up around me.

 

[Porthos]

but I have not experienced any type of slowdown, although I may be the exception, as my competitors are closing up around me.

Since you live in a small area,
Hopefully, your MSP plan takes off and people don't get tired of paying for something they cant justify. You know many wouldnt pay for car/health insurance if it was not the LAW.

The break/fix clients you probably won't see but every 2-3 years if you do your work right the first time. That is my experience here.

 

[River Valley Computer]

Overall thing are still slowing down more and more, but this March was one of the slowest I've had in years. Only booked something like 4k.



I've tried Zorin on a couple of consumers and they did not like. Just didn't "get it". And they weren't old folks either.

Why did you use in place of Zorin? We are just trying to get a way to circumvent the big cash cow in anticipation of possible Windows subscriptions later on. The more I think about it - that could be the death toll for Windows machines. Also doing it to help our customers that can't afford a new computer. We are not as fortunate as Saphirescales to live in an area when the median wage is $75,000.

 

[DataMedics]

Want to watch Netflix with a big screen and maximum flexibility?

Roku.

 

[sapphirescales]

Roku.

I said maximum flexibility, not stuck to a TV or stuck on a tiny little smartphone or tablet screen. I have many clients that like to watch Netflix in bed from their laptops. And the sound coming out of a phone or tablet sucks even worse than the sound coming out of a laptop. You can connect the laptop via HDMI to the TV if you want to watch it on the big screen, or connect via Chromecast or Miracast if you want to connect the laptop to the TV wirelessly. A computer really is the best way to watch TV these days. I personally have my custom built desktop connected to my 75" TV in my bedroom. If it were a laptop instead of a desktop I would have even greater flexibility.