Expanding my computer repair business

[oshunluvr]

Re: Expanding my computer repair business

I would think gearing name and storefront toward the type of customer you want to attract is paramount.

My Wine Bar was placed in a district called The East Village and we wanted wine drinkers so our name was "The Village Tasting Room."

If you're looking for business or commercial customers, I would think "Geek" might be a bit of a turn off and you'd want a very professional facade and decor. If you're thinking the home market, then bright colors (to attract attention) and slogans geared towards their needs.

Are you opening in Ault? That's a small enough place that everyone will know what you offer soon enough anyway, right?

[Detonate]

Re: Expanding my computer repair business

Ault is only Pop. 1500. I am looking at opening in Greeley which is 90000 and only 10 miles south of me. While you guys are thinking about the name, and nothing has really caught yet, I also need a logo.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Expanding my computer repair business

Here is some of your competition in Greeley:

Greeley Computer Services
3810 West 10th St., Greeley, CO
(970) 304-1315 () · greeleycomputer.com
"Where do you go when nothing seems to work on your computer? ..." -

Computer Repair of Greeley <---- This store may be gone, or its tech is... ?
816 35th Avenue Court, Greeley, CO
(970) 373-4502 () · computerrepairofgreeley.com
"Wow! I cannot believe he's gone! He was a GREAT computer tech! ..." -

RadioShack
3632 10th Street, Greeley, CO
(970) 351-0030 () · radioshack.com


Lewan & Associates
801 8th St # 220G, Greeley, CO
(970) 330-3003 () · lewan.com


Office Depot
2825 35th Avenue, Greeley, CO
(970) 339-8600 () · officedepot.com


OfficeMax - Greeley
4759 W 29th St, Unit 1, Greeley, CO
(970) 330-6173 () · officemax.com


MDI Greeley Computer Repair and Recycle
815 10th Street, Greeley, CO
(970) 584-3234 () · mdipcrepair.com


Best Buy - Greeley
4210 Centerplace Drive, Greeley, CO
(970) 392-4139 () · stores.bestbuy.com


Hill's Computer Repair
1213 12th Street, Greeley, CO
(970) 352-1439 ()


Allco Computer Specialists
4103 West 9th Street, Greeley, CO
(970) 378-6610 ()


PC-Therapy, Inc.
7251 20th Street, Greeley, CO
(970) 506-1116 () · pc-therapy.com
"I prefer to bring my computer into a local shop versus the big box stores. ..." -


Western Computer Support Services, Corporation.
5216 24th Street, Greeley, CO
(970) 351-7118 () · pc-doc.us


Personable Computers
719 36th Avenue Ct, Greeley, CO
(970) 356-5005 ()


Machendries Office Electronics
6380 W 10th St # 12, Greeley, CO
(970) 353-7763 ()


Computer Information Concepts
2843 South 31st Avenue, Greeley, CO
(970) 330-7457 () · cicesp.com


Rocky Mountain Computer Support
119 North 42nd Avenue, Greeley, CO
(970) 395-0720 ()


RadioShack
2812 Greeley Mall, Greeley, CO
(970) 352-5082 () · radioshack.com


Q2E Computer Services
2985 W. 29th St., Unit A, Greeley, CO
(970) 330-7447 () · q2eonline.com


Pc Circuit
2726 11th Avenue, Greeley, CO
(970) 378-0081 ()


Northern Co Computer Spec
805 16th Street, Greeley, CO
(970) 515-6792 ()


Geek Squad
4210 Centerplace Drive, Greeley, CO
(970) 392-4139 () · geeksquad.com


Affordable Computer Repair
1216 33rd Street, Evans, CO
(970) 330-4283 () · affcpurep.com


RadioShack
3247 23rd Avenue, Evans, CO
(970) 339-2497 () · radioshack.com


P L Times
Greeley, CO
(970) 373-3292 ()


Geeks On Site <------- No store? Onsite repair using parts kept in a van?
Greeley, CO
(970) 673-4269 ()

And, there are at least over 50 computer & repair stores in the Fort Collins area.

[Qqmike]

Re: Expanding my computer repair business

Yeah, and (hopefully!) you can successfully differentiate yourself from at least these:
Office Depot, OfficeMax, Best Buy, Radio Shack.

Nice not to see the word "consultant" in that list. Nothing wrong with it per se, especially if you are targeting upscale gov't or blue chip private sector (sub)contractor work and have a staff of credentialed resumes to sell the game. But the word otherwise is way-overblown when targeting the average user who simply wants some trustworthy help. People do not want to buy consulting (= words), associates, technical [services], conceptual [designs] (= more words), and so on. They want to buy real (and friendly) help to fix their problem.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Expanding my computer repair business

Good point, Qqmike.

I also noticed that the word "training" was not in many descriptions, which mostly used the word repair. Also, nothing was mentioned about operating systems or Linux. So, I bet most of those stores are focused on Windows.

There is a company offering SUSE Training to groups of five or more.

There is only three attending the Northern Colorado IT Professionals and System Administrators Meetup. There is room for 17 more at their Sept 20th meeting. Jeff James, Shawn Sweet and Rocky Craig are the current members. Apparently one or more know Linux.


There are no Linux tutors registered in Greeley, Co.

Ah, hah! Here is a Linux store in Greeley that seems to cover all the angles:
Lin-U-Over
821 22nd. St
Greeley, CO 80631
970-396-1502

The website is here.
Their emphasis seems to be Ubuntu.
Time for a partnership?

[Detonate]

Re: Expanding my computer repair business

I do not fear the big box stores. I have already checked out the rest of the competition. I can beat them all on service and price.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Expanding my computer repair business

Lin-U-Over's rates are $10/hr.
That's cheap. I'd never sell my services that low. I usually start at $50/hr and negotiate if needs be, but never below $30/hr. That is, before I retired and installed Linux for free, with support. The catch is that there is usually NO support! But, you knew that!

[Qqmike]

Re: Expanding my computer repair business

Re Lin-U-Over -- They DO seem to have targeted a market segment many of us here would have in mind! Turn-key style. Linux and PCs.

So the point GG makes, opportunities for mutual-referral basis? Go introduce yourself to them (to the owners).

But also, where there's one (or even many), there's room for more (assuming there is a true market for the product/service, in this case offered by Lin-U-Over). In the extreme case, this is why competitors locate their stores nearby each other. Examples abound: Price Club near CostCo. CVS right across the street from Walgreen's. Officemax next to Office Depot. Where's there's traffic, there is competition, and there are live, warm bodies with cash to spend on THAT product/service. Customers are attracted to Walgreen's, for example. What a good location for a CVS! And, fact is, there is usually enough market to share. After all, if Walgreen's is the customer's first choice, and Walgreen's doesn't have what the customer wants, then why shouldn't CVS get the sale (assuming CVS has what the customer wants)? My point is simply that because Lin-U-Over does exist, that in itself may be encouraging evidence that there is a ready market and therefore room for more service providers (like you, Detonate).



"Lin-U-Over's rates are $10/hr.
That's cheap. I'd never sell my services that low. "

Hmmm. That rate IS ridiculously low. Makes no sense. You have to question what they are doing. In any case, you must differentiate yourself from that rate structure.

[ardvark71]

Re: Expanding my computer repair business

Lin-U-Over's rates are $10/hr.
That's cheap. I'd never sell my services that low.

Hi...

In all honesty, Lord willing, nor would I.

Regards...

[Detonate]

Re: Expanding my computer repair business

This is the first time I ever heard of Lin-U-Over. I belong to two computer user groups in Greeley and I don't know of anyone there who has ever mentioned them either. They must be doing it for fun, because you can't make any money with those rates. That does not even pay for your fuel to get to a customer.