What would you do if you had a large amount of money to invest in your business?

[Tony_Scarpelli]

I'll have to respectfully disagree with you Jim. While residential repair is certainly on the decline, I do not see the market totally drying up within 12 months. My business has a good balance of business and residential. We have some businesses on MSP and other that prefer to stay with break fix. There will always be people who don't want an ongoing expense for their computers and would rather just fix them when they break.
Can you elaborate on why you think there will be no more break fix for residential customers?

If I understand Jim, its that the 2 or 3 pcs per house average has already declined to something less than 2 pc's per house with expectations to decline further. Not including (pc) iphones pc's are declining: workstations, desktops, laptops and even tablets will decline.

Since we have capacity to handle the larger amount of pc's (homes, schools and businesses) all those who stay and try to gather more business will be fighting against the tide.

As we all try to get more business server network administration even that field too will get diluted and we will not be able to maintain a lifestyle that was once possible.

What about web development? Many of us will move into that if we can but there are pressures on that as well.

 

[lan101]

I do believe there is a decline in computers purchased/used by the generation of 35 and younger. I am only 27 years old and I still prefer a nice desktop with a big HD monitor to look at. My eye sight issues may play a small part in that liking that setup the best.

A lot of my friends/friends of friends that I know are doing more with the latest/greatest phones. Also there seems to be a tablet craze in my area right now too. Ipads and Kindle Fire for the folks with less money to spend. Also kindle fire is popular for parents to buy their kids now in my area.

I do still think that folks of 50 and older still like the desktop/laptop better than a tablet or phone. This is just from what I see in my area. I've talked with a lot of older people on this subject...such as if they would see themselves using a phone over the computer. Most of them prefer a real mouse and a bigger screen to look at as well.

Of course if/when tablets/phones can be able to plug a big hd monitor in and use a full mouse/keyboard easily and it works as well as a computer..maybe then the older folks will do that down the road. I still see computer repair in the residential field being a decent market at least with older folks.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

How hard is it to sell yourself as a tech consultant to businesses? I've found it relatively easy...

This is true which means this too will be flooded soon.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

If I won $30 million I think I would interview a couple of financial guys from Fidelity and other investment houses. I'd pick two or three and split the money to be invested by three different stock brokerages and have them pay my bills out of dividends and reinvest the rest.

Maybe I would take a bit out first to upgrade my house, car and if I wanted to continue working take another $100k to invest in the shop. Personally I'd not stay in the Computer repair business as I have done that 19 years. I did enjoy it very much but time to move on. Maybe I would really enjoy taking something screwed up like a condemned home and fix it up and flip it. I would get gratification out of taking something ugly and making it beautiful and help the local economy at the same time.

But I would not look to invest a sizable amount of money into a business that I didn't already build to be successful.

There is a saying "a fool and his gold are soon parted." More or less if I ain't smart enough to make $30 million I won't be smart enough to hold on to $30 million especially trying to big man it in IT and go up against Bestbuy, HP, APPLe and others which makes my $30 million a joke. SO I would be very, very, very careful.

 

[TechLady]

I'm wondering if some are mistaking the downturn in the US economy as a sign that people are no longer interested in fixing computers (or even having one). I'm certainly not seeing this.

 

[Maniaman]

Maybe it depends on your market. I don't see the repair market drying up in 12 months around here. I still see way too many people running old XP systems with 256mb RAM in them.. not to mention the few ME systems people still bring in wanting fixed. I do agree that we are likely going to see a decline in repairs from home users as many of them shift to tablets and smartphones. However, I still think that is quite a long time away.

Business will eventually start adding smartphones and tablets, but the desktop and laptop will still be there for years to come. Even more reason to go after businesses and get them on service agreements.

 

[Rosco]

I am in my mid 20s so i would not want to retire. I look forward to getting new cases and learning new things. I really love what i do. I have been dreaming of owning my own shop for a long as i can remember! I would not give up my dream because of money. I would invest and cultivate my business with the money.

I would spend a ton on advertising. Get a new van for work and wrap it. Upgrade all my tools. I mean 30 million invested wisely while still working would make life a breeze!

 

[SupportCover.com]

I am in my mid 20s so i would not want to retire. I look forward to getting new cases and learning new things. I really love what i do. I have been dreaming of owning my own shop for a long as i can remember! I would not give up my dream because of money. I would invest and cultivate my business with the money.

I would spend a ton on advertising. Get a new van for work and wrap it. Upgrade all my tools. I mean 30 million invested wisely while still working would make life a breeze!

Don't forget staff! No point having the best of everything but so much work that you can't handle it alone

 

[Rosco]

Don't forget staff! No point having the best of everything but so much work that you can't handle it alone

yea that would definitely be part of it.