Opening up a new store... Need advice...

[JaredEdelson]

Hello Everyone!

It has been quite a while since I have visited Technibble; it looks like there are some good discussions going on here!

Anyway, I need some advice.

I started my own computer repair business when I was in middle school. It has grown all throughout my high school career. I have a bunch of small businesses and home users that I manage and support via remote and on-site means. I also have a couple of Microsoft certifications. The whole time, about 5 years of business, it has been a one man show: me.

Now, I have moved to a new city and am a freshmen in college. I don't advertise anymore and take on only referral-based clients. I'd like to think I'm at my limit. If I took more clients on, it would severely decrease quality of service to the rest of my clients. I just can't handle anymore.

I really want to expand my business and am seriously considering opening up a shop (retail-style) near school and hiring a receptionist to answer phones, schedule appointments, and receive computers. I also want to hire one in-shop tech to work part time, just a few hours a day. I also want one or two people, more like contractors, that will go to service on-site.

I have been putting together a budget and business plan to include the new venture and am trying to think over every aspect of the business.

I explained to my mentor that I want to open up a storefront. He was a little unsure about the whole idea. He asked if it is really such a good idea to have the overhead of rent and associated costs of opening up a storefront. I agree. I have been very successful for so long without a place of business. Why SHOULD I open up a storefront? Maybe I could just hire people to work from home remotely? Or hire technicians as contractors to go on-site?

So what I am really asking is... Is a storefront really worth it? Does it really bring in a great deal of business?

Also, I found a really nice and cheap OFFICE that is not really visible from streets. It is, however, really easy to get to if a client got directions off google. It's just not in a good location to bring in new customers just by seeing the place. Advertising is the only way I'll be able to get people in. So, another question: Is it really essential to have a good location that is visible or can it be hidden? A more visible place in a good location is going to be 3 times the price.

Any advice, opinions, comments, ect. are welcome!

Thanks!

 

[Quinn06]

Location, Location, Location.

We opened our first storefront downtown from where we are now. There was no parking, very low traffic, and if we would have stayed there we would have died.

Our local mall came and asked if we would move into the mall on the second floor. It increased our rent about $.15 a square foot. But our business doubled since we moved in, because of the walking traffic, and we are on the second floor even.


It really depends on where you are looking to open a storefront at.


Things to ask yourself if you want walk-ins.

1. Front Door Parking(or parking nearby)

2. Is it a high traffic area ( Like a mall or strip mall)

3. Not a necessity but its has increased our business significantly. We moved next to the Internet/Cable provider that we are partnered with. They send all their clients that need routers, electronics setup, or other networking needs up to us. So see if there is something like this around.

4. Don't go overboard with a HUGE storefront, that will eat up all your profits. Get enough space for you what you need, plus maybe a little expansion room.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

My input....I would skip on a store front....as in a retail store front, if that's what you mean. IMO a "store front" is for retail. IMO the money is made on "consulting" and services like that....not on sales of products on a shelf.

There are 4 of us at our place....2x senior engineers....my colleague and I, a 3rd guy that is a break/fixit guy, and a printer specialist. And our office manager girl. We started out with just 2 of us....we often worked from our home, had a tiny office we shared in the back of a specialized ISP/data center. Not to draw people, (nobody really allowed there..key pass to get into that data center)..but just a place to call an office and have deliveries. We were usually on the road though..doing onsites at clients.

We did expand, needed more room. We found a nice office space...3x suites next to each other, that are on the second floor of a little professional center in a storage unit complex. Easy to get to, close to 3x highway intersections...because we're on the road all the time. If we're not around, people or the delivery guys can leave packages with the girl that runs the office of the self storage unit place (main door/first floor of the little professional center building).

We don't walk people just "walking in"..that's why we stayed away from the retail store front thing. Basic office space is a heck of a lot cheaper than retail store front space. Some of our clients will drop off computers us....that's fine. But "walk-ins"...nah, don't want them.....we focus on small business consulting..that's where the money is, not joe home computer user.

And getting business clients has proven to be had by word of mouth, referrals, business networking groups, chamber events, etc. Not walk-ins..not retail store front.

My input...look for single or little office space in a shared little complex...much cheaper, and others around for those times when you're away..onsite...and the UPS of FedEx guy comes for a delivery...can be left with someone else in your complex.

I wanted to be within 3x stoplights of the major highways in our area...for quick in and out. I wanted to be able to park right up by the door to the building...loading servers and big battery UPS and stuff into my Jeep or motorcycle (OK..small stuff on the Harley saddlebags).....and I did want ground floor...we ended up with space that had second floor, but other pluses outweighed that one negative.

 

[callthatgirl]

What energy you have! I'm excited for you and your business plans. Here are my opinions and will try to answer your questions the best I can.

Should you do: Office, storefront or remote only.

Hard to tell with the college kids.

Office is best for you in my opinion and do "by appointment only", keep it as just you for now and find another college student to work for you PT when you need them (like, the marketing has struck and you are now "too busy" to do it all)..... You are not set up yet for manning a store for the needed storefront hours and for you in college, it's something you can get next year maybe after your lease is up in the office and you have a clientele built up.

I would do this:
Set up your website to take tickets online. You can do so much of your interview process via email, we do it all day that way. Once you get a ticket, email client and figure out what method is best for them. Remote, drop off at your shop or you pick up. Then you can tell them, "we do your cleaning at 8:00 tonight or meet me at the shop at 6:30". No need for receptionist for awhile, until you have proven the office is paying off. Once you see a need for them, you should be able to pay for them.

I don't see why you need much of a budget or massive overhead for an office set up. Rent, internet and utilities. That's how I have my office in Minneapolis and it works out great.

The worries I have with storefront now (i have 2 real stores), is that for it to work, you have to be open every day with hours. If you want people dragging in a laptop for repair and you're not there, it's not good. It's not the money...all we pay is rent, util and internet, it's the staffing. And if you don't have enough to pay a FT person now, they might sit all day surfing Facebook because you're not busy enough for them to "stay busy" all day.

Use storefront as a goal for next year, use the office now to get you in the next level from where you are now.

Just my opinion.

 

[JaredEdelson]

Thank you all for the advice!

After pondering over these new ideas...

I think it would be better to get an office for a third of the price of a storefront and to work with that.

I also see that having people work for me from the beginning would be a huge waste of money because I suspect there won't be enough business, at the beginning, to keep everyone busy, all the time.

I suppose I will invest in the tools, hardware, and some furniture for a little office for now and work on an appointment only basis. Once business grows, I can hire people to work FT or PT from the office.

Just a few things...

What do you think of an answering service for now? If someone calls, I want someone to answer. Working a one man show for so long, I know that I cannot answer the phone all the time and it could be hours before I can return a client call. Ideas?

I am going to have my website redone professionally as well as new business cards, letterhead, envelopes, ect. Once complete, I am going to start an aggressive marketing campaign. I have already found some great advertising opportunities on campus and I am going to advertise online on Google and Yelp. Do you have any other marketing/advertising techniques or suggestions? Like I said, I want to start an aggressive advertising campaign once I have the new website, designs, and am set up with the office.

Thank you all for your help!

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

Absolutely not, the store front does not and will not bring in any business. What a store front does, is it gives you a tiny bit of credibility that you are who and what you say you are, over the next guy out of Craigslist.

YOU still need to advertise and get your phone to ring. I do not get more phone calls because of the shop, I do get more of the people who call me to finally make the decision to use my services.

If you want to experiment with $1000-2000 per month that you would have to use for rent, then use it to buy more advertising. But first make sure that you have all the other acrutiments of credibility.

Do you use a uniform with Company name and logo on it?
Do you have a logo-ed car or van?
Do you have professional business cards?
Do you have dedicated phone number for the business answered professionally?
Do you answer the phone on the first or second ring every time?
Do you speak clearly and not studder or use hum and ha a lot?
Do you have most of the inventory that you might need to do a repair in stock in your van/car? (PSU, Ram, HD, DVD/CD's, MOBO for intel and amd, keyboard, mouse or anything you might upsell on an outcall)

I wouldn't' spend money on a storefront until I had all this worked out and my sales were approaching $10k per month.

Hello Everyone!

It has been quite a while since I have visited Technibble; it looks like there are some good discussions going on here!

Anyway, I need some advice.

I started my own computer repair business when I was in middle school. It has grown all throughout my high school career. I have a bunch of small businesses and home users that I manage and support via remote and on-site means. I also have a couple of Microsoft certifications. The whole time, about 5 years of business, it has been a one man show: me.

Now, I have moved to a new city and am a freshmen in college. I don't advertise anymore and take on only referral-based clients. I'd like to think I'm at my limit. If I took more clients on, it would severely decrease quality of service to the rest of my clients. I just can't handle anymore.

I really want to expand my business and am seriously considering opening up a shop (retail-style) near school and hiring a receptionist to answer phones, schedule appointments, and receive computers. I also want to hire one in-shop tech to work part time, just a few hours a day. I also want one or two people, more like contractors, that will go to service on-site.

I have been putting together a budget and business plan to include the new venture and am trying to think over every aspect of the business.

I explained to my mentor that I want to open up a storefront. He was a little unsure about the whole idea. He asked if it is really such a good idea to have the overhead of rent and associated costs of opening up a storefront. I agree. I have been very successful for so long without a place of business. Why SHOULD I open up a storefront? Maybe I could just hire people to work from home remotely? Or hire technicians as contractors to go on-site?

So what I am really asking is... Is a storefront really worth it? Does it really bring in a great deal of business?

Also, I found a really nice and cheap OFFICE that is not really visible from streets. It is, however, really easy to get to if a client got directions off google. It's just not in a good location to bring in new customers just by seeing the place. Advertising is the only way I'll be able to get people in. So, another question: Is it really essential to have a good location that is visible or can it be hidden? A more visible place in a good location is going to be 3 times the price.

Any advice, opinions, comments, ect. are welcome!

Thanks!

 

[papuchazo]

Do you use a uniform with Company name and logo on it?
Do you have a logo-ed car or van?
Do you have professional business cards?
Do you have dedicated phone number for the business answered professionally?
Do you answer the phone on the first or second ring every time?
Do you speak clearly and not studder or use hum and ha a lot?
Do you have most of the inventory that you might need to do a repair in stock in your van/car? (PSU, Ram, HD, DVD/CD's, MOBO for intel and amd, keyboard, mouse or anything you might upsell on an outcall)

I wouldn't' spend money on a storefront until I had all this worked out and my sales were approaching $10k per month.

Darn even I have had a wake up call after reading this. You're so right Tony, thanks.