Post #136,034
1/16/04 1:21:58 AM
1/16/04 1:57:44 AM
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Getting the band back together
provided I can find the money to do so.
I got an inactive business, learned what we were doing wrong before. My partner who had a heart attack and quit, is recovering and going to college to get IT certifications. Knows some other people with IT certifications, and a student taking accounting. All will graduate in a year. My Business Management degree won't be earned until August 2005 should I pass all my classes.
I figure I can run it and not pay myself until the business does better. Problem is I am broke and will not be able to put up the captial to start the business back up. I have at least one year to find finacial support. Bank Loans are out of the question, business has been out of business for almost 4 years now, and we have no books to show them, the accountant we hired ripped us off and didn't give us a copy of the books. If I can get a copy of all bank transactions I might be able to recreate the books. Problem is somehow the bank statements got pitched out and I cannot find them. I know that I didn't pitch them out. They are not where I left them anyway. Also the accountant took the registration of fictatious name and never returned it. So I got some homework to do. Rebuild the books, reapply for the registration of fictatious name, contact the bank and get the transactions, etc. I doubt anyone will want to give VC to such a messed up company. :)
I plan to maybe run things from home, until we can earn enough to afford an office and transfer the business phone there.
If worst comes to worst, I can always close the business and open up a new one. But that would me a new credit history, etc. I'd rather build on the old one.
Of course my wife thinks if I do a business I should do it all by myself or not at all. Problem is the whole business is too much for me to handle, so I will need help. Chances are I might not start up the business if I do not have the capital to do so.
Edit: It was a computer support business. With the recent epidemic of Windows malware, there is a need for it. I suspect this trend will continue as long as people run Windows. Our past problems included no contract, so clients stiffed us. If clients had paid us what they owed us, we might still be in business and be able to afford a decent accountant to straighten out the books.
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
Edited by orion
Jan. 16, 2004, 01:57:44 AM EST
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Post #136,053
1/16/04 9:15:46 AM
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Re: Getting the band back together
My idea of a van fleet for home repairs would still work. I'm in if this thing is at all viable. I'll do the onsites for not a lot of money.
-drl
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Post #136,086
1/16/04 11:07:01 AM
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I'll consider you
if I do get the company operational and you still do not have a job I will most likely need a Linux expert, I expect to install and support Linux servers with SAMBA to avoid the cost of NT/2000/2003 Servers.
I hope we can put aside our differences and work together. I will teach you management skills that I know, and empower you to make decsions that effect your workplace and job. So you get to decide what tools to use, standards to support, software to reconmend, and whatever language you wish to develop in. I promise you that buy using Organizational Management that it will not be a PHB situation because I will empower you to make some decisions on your own instead of supervising you and making the decisions for you. The reasoning is that you are the expert with more experinece than me in the subject, thus your decsions may be better than mine. This leaves me more time to focus on executive decsions. Can you work that way? This stuff I am learning is going to change the way that people work.
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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Post #136,087
1/16/04 11:09:06 AM
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Re: I'll consider you
Are you asking, do I want you as my PHB? No. Do you want me to make you money?
-drl
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Post #136,092
1/16/04 11:14:22 AM
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We can work it out
I do not want or desire to be a PHB, I am learning how not to be one.
All this is wishful thinking so far, I am going to try to get a client list from a company that a friend of mine used to run, he did Linux support. We can contact the clients who run Linux and see if they need any help or support.
I like the $200 flat fee, $133 to the consultant and $66 for the company. I might use that with other consultants or employees. I believe in sharing the wealth, another concept I learned in Organizational Management.
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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Post #136,094
1/16/04 11:17:32 AM
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Re: We can work it out
This is a standard rate (2/3s) for contractors who work for good proxies.
A key thing to emphasize is remote control administration - a customer could request a remote check-up, allow the remote dude to do things like install OS updates, install software etc. I think this would work extremely well.
-drl
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Post #136,095
1/16/04 11:24:02 AM
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We need to tweak it a bit
There will be a $200 Flat Fee, $133 to consultant and $66 to company. This is good for up to 6 hours of work. After that it is billed at $35/hr with $23/hr going to consultant and $12/hr going to the business.
I think I kept the ratios the same, let me know if I goofed. If this is too little, we can charge a bit more. This will cover it in case it turns out to be an all day job. Otherwise we lose money. If less than 6 hours, the $200 fee is still applied. It is the minimum charge. So you can do 1 or 2 hours of work, and still make $133, and if it goes into overtime, you can earn more too. Deadly if it takes days, but the up to 6 hours and $35/hr afterwords will make up for that.
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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Post #136,100
1/16/04 11:46:03 AM
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Re: We need to tweak it a bit
NOT hourly - the customers will balk and run at hourly. It has to be "per-visit". They can contract for N visits. There would be rules for abiding by contract - as in voiding warranty for self-improvement of system. The customer would essentially turn over maintenance to the company and trust them.
You have to structure the support so that 1) the customers don't get in the way 2) the customers realize they are getting what they pay for and are not being ripped.
Now, there would be analogous situations to a broken toilet that could be charged hourly - but this would not be part of support, it would be a separate, "emergency repair" thing.
-drl
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Post #136,102
1/16/04 11:51:04 AM
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Has either of you priced the competition in the area?
Would be worthwhile so that you dont end up sitting around waiting for the phone to ring because you have the highest prices in St. Louis. Market research is the term, and dont be the cheapest, this will make people suspicious.
thanx,
bill
same old crap, con artists ripping off fools. Ah, hell, Catholic Church it start off that way. They All do. Jesus probably had three walnut shells one pea, then he's dead and can't be questioned,
Gabriel Dupre
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #136,104
1/16/04 11:53:52 AM
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There is no competition
No one goes door to door with a reasonable and worthwhile service. The big shop service is junk.
-drl
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Post #136,111
1/16/04 12:00:18 PM
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yeah, right basic research all done my ass
[link|http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=home+%22Computer+repair%22+St.+Louis&btnG=Google+Search|http://www.google.co...tnG=Google+Search]
thanx,
bill
same old crap, con artists ripping off fools. Ah, hell, Catholic Church it start off that way. They All do. Jesus probably had three walnut shells one pea, then he's dead and can't be questioned,
Gabriel Dupre
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #136,119
1/16/04 12:13:16 PM
1/16/04 12:17:50 PM
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That's not competition
Those places are the usual vague collection of access/hosting/service. A real company would have TV and billboard advertising, and there is none. Those that have attempted it, like Brick.net, had the usual vague collection of access/hosting/service for business/home. This would be strictly targeted at homes, with a mindset that mirrors the home user.
This is close:
[link|http://www.ncw-stl.net/258732.html|http://www.ncw-stl.net/258732.html]
but notjce that it is so vague that the service must be just as vague.
-drl
Edited by deSitter
Jan. 16, 2004, 12:17:50 PM EST
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Post #136,135
1/16/04 1:02:33 PM
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so you called them and asked what they charged
for what service? Let us know what that amount is.
thanx,
bill
same old crap, con artists ripping off fools. Ah, hell, Catholic Church it start off that way. They All do. Jesus probably had three walnut shells one pea, then he's dead and can't be questioned,
Gabriel Dupre
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #136,152
1/16/04 1:25:21 PM
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I have
the prices range from $60/hr to $99/hr for most estimations for a small business. Or at least based on the information I gave them.
Still $200 for 6 hours of work, is cheaper than $60/hr for 6 hours of work. It all averages out.
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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Post #136,151
1/16/04 1:23:09 PM
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I priced competition
all sorts of services ranging from $12/hr for some High School kid to repair your computer, to $75/hr shops that have better trained experts. Many companies have a call for an estimate and the rates differ based on organizational income, or if it is a home user.
My rates were $35/hr which I found out were too low, but not the lowest. I like the idea of a flat fee, no nonsense and you know up front how much it will cost to repair and write the invoice in advance. Then have them sign a standard contract, collect the $200 and we can work on their system. Our marketing ploy is that we hire experts with years of experience, and those experts do not work cheap. That they will get a better quality from our experts than most repair shops. Total Qaulity Management, another concept I learned in college. We won't be flipping burgers, we will be broiling steaks.
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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Post #136,174
1/16/04 2:29:54 PM
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Re: I priced competition
Most problems will be instantly fixable via downloads of service packs etc. The average call might last, say, 2 hrs. Schedule 4 a day per truck would be ideal. Evening hours allow overtime. Would have to carefully demarcate a standard fixup or software install vs. an emergency repair of a totally horked system.
-drl
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Post #136,062
1/16/04 9:38:49 AM
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Start Fresh
an 4yo inert business has no track record in a financial sense. Trying to resurect may be more costly and harmful than starting anew. Have a set hourly rate and invoice for every visit with a 10 day Net for companies and a pay before I leave policy for individuals. Get a ledger and keep it yourself, no need for an accountant until you hit large moneies. Dont hire staff ecept on a commission of 60 to 75% of their billable hours. That is the format that mechanics and plumbers use. They turn in invoices and you pay them their commisions less payroll taxes etc.
Startup costs are 3 ply Invoices $100, ledger $12 business cards $15 business license so you are on your way to fame and fortune for under $500.
thanx,
bill
same old crap, con artists ripping off fools. Ah, hell, Catholic Church it start off that way. They All do. Jesus probably had three walnut shells one pea, then he's dead and can't be questioned,
Gabriel Dupre
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #136,064
1/16/04 9:43:56 AM
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Re: Start Fresh
Easy model:
Visit home for fixed fee of $200, I'd keep $133 and business gets $66. Offer support contract and split this 50/50. I'd pay for gas and manage my own time. You get a fleet of such guys working the city. I get a dream job of being outside doing IT, Norm sits on ass and collects megabucks.
With VNC you can do remote support for key issues.
-drl
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Post #136,066
1/16/04 9:51:03 AM
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computercity will home visit for $95 :-0
same old crap, con artists ripping off fools. Ah, hell, Catholic Church it start off that way. They All do. Jesus probably had three walnut shells one pea, then he's dead and can't be questioned,
Gabriel Dupre
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #136,077
1/16/04 10:28:40 AM
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People know the work will be shite
-drl
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Post #136,202
1/16/04 5:06:20 PM
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You know they work for shite
People recognize Computer City as a major name, they don't recognize you.
This is going to hurt. If Orion's experience with his own home machine and his brother's machine is any guide, it' s going to hurt.
--
"It\ufffds possible to build a reasonably prosperous society that invests in its people, doesn\ufffdt invade its neighbors, opposes Israel and stands up to America. (Just look at France.)"
-- James Lileks
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Post #136,269
1/17/04 5:44:51 AM
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Learning from it all
This is going to hurt. If Orion's experience with his own home machine and his brother's machine is any guide, it' s going to hurt.
Both could have been easily solved with a reformat and reinstall, but I choose instead to try and learn what went wrong. Judgement call, but part of the learning process.
People recognize Computer City as a major name, they don't recognize you.
Agreed, we need to get our name out there somehow. I will be taking a class in marketing. While we won't be as sucessful or well known as Circuit City, we should be able to get enough customers to stay in business. I am browsing the [link|http://www.circuitcity.com/|http://www.circuitcity.com/] web site, I see computer repair services being offered there. [link|http://www.circuitcity.com/cs_contentdisplay.jsp?c=1&b=g&incat=11171|http://www.circuitci...1&b=g&incat=11171] I do not know what they charge. Perhaps you can help shed some light on this subject? Also what about Best Buy? [link|http://www.bestbuy.com/|http://www.bestbuy.com/] they seem to have a repair service, but do not give out what their prices are either. Prices from either company may vary, I've dealt with Circuit City before on camcorder repair. The cost of repairing a camcorder exceeded the cost of buying a new one. If their computer repair prices are anything like their camcorder repair prices, we undercut them.
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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Post #136,325
1/17/04 7:47:35 PM
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around here $95 per hour plus parts
same old crap, con artists ripping off fools. Ah, hell, Catholic Church it start off that way. They All do. Jesus probably had three walnut shells one pea, then he's dead and can't be questioned,
Gabriel Dupre
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #136,437
1/18/04 8:30:51 PM
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Just experienced Best Buy
and Circuit City isn't much different either. It seems when you want to buy something, employees are nice to you. When you have to return something, their attitudes are different. My mother-in-law got a wireless keyboard for her iPaq at Best Buy, a clerk told her it would work with her iPaq, but it did not. The model number of the iPaq was not on the supported models of the keyboard. Someone had lied to her or did not know what they were talking about. Went to exchange the keyboard, had a long line. The lady told us to get a new keyboard, but they were all out of PDA keyboards except for one that did not work with her model iPaq. Inventory control problems, PDAs are being phased out of inventory, come back in 3 days maybe we will have more then. We got store credit, and will return later.
Not a very good experience, I at least expected them to find a keyboard that worked and put it on hold for us. So when it comes in, they will call us.
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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Post #136,704
1/20/04 2:16:31 PM
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Oh BTW I did some searching and there is no Computer City
CompUSA bought them out. I used to shop at Computer City and liked it, only they would not honor rebates and then after the buyout they stopped responding to phone calls on rebate status.
BTW Circuit City is losing business to Best Buy, etc. and is selling off their credit card company:
[link|http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/20/news/companies/circuit_city.reut/index.htm|http://money.cnn.com...ty.reut/index.htm]
CompUSA technical services:
[link|http://www.compusa.com/tech_services/default.asp|http://www.compusa.c...vices/default.asp]
No upfront pricing, all estimates, but they do have a service plan. Last I checked there was a long waiting line to get repairs and upgrades. Not as good as a technician coming out in a timely manner to repair or upgrade something with up front pricing.
I used to work at a company that used Computer City and we bought a system via a lease and instead of billing the leasing company they billed us. We had communicated with several Computer City employees about the fact that we are leasing and the leasing company is paying the bill, but they ignored us and kept billing us. So we went elsewhere. This was IIRC in 1997, maybe things have changed now that CompUSA owns them? No Business Majors there I am guessing that understand just how a lease works?
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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Post #136,110
1/16/04 11:59:43 AM
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Or get a new one for $299
===
Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
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Post #136,117
1/16/04 12:08:57 PM
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Misses point
People want to own computer thing that works, not to have the latest computer thing. People do reglar maintenance on their cars, and will gladly do the same with their computer thing if the service is correctly structured.
-drl
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Post #136,155
1/16/04 1:29:24 PM
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It has to be good service, of good quality
or else they won't pay as much. Sure I could hire a High School or College graduate and pay them $5.50/hr and only charge $12/hr for services and pocket the rest. I can garnendamntee the service won't be the best quality and the PFY will have to return to correct the mistakes he/she made. I'd rather hire an expert like deSitter and pay him more and make sure it is done right and of good quality. This alone is worth the extra money. After all, how much is downtime worth to you when the PFY messes up and leaves the client hanging?
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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Post #138,225
1/27/04 10:04:29 PM
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I have many options
an old friend offered me to join him in the used computer business. Upgrading old systems with new ones, taking the old systems away and collecting a disposal fee, and turning around and selling the old systems to customers that cannot afford a new one. I am covering the SWOT with him now, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. There is of course a risk involved.
My mother-in-law wants me to develop hand held apps for small law firms using my talents I learned at the large law firm. Then using the talents I learned at the medical company to develop hand held apps for doctors and nurses. So far I have not seen any of these apps being developed for hand held units yet, and if they are being developed they are not being advertised enough. She seems to think it might become a million dollar idea. I am more skeptical and will be happy if it ends up being a $10,000 dollar idea, because that is $10,000USD more than we have now and will pay for the development tools I will need to buy and then some. With memory sticks and compact flash cards, 100M databases can be stored on them. Which should be about right for small law firms and small hospitals. Then the desktop app can be designed and synch up with the handheld, the desktop app is the master database and the hand held is the copy. Much better than using a phone line in a laptop to connect to the office from on the road. Just download the info before leaving the office to the hand held. We will cover PalmOS, Windows CE, and Erisson phone devices. The software will check for updated records and new records and only copy what needs to be copied and not the whole database as some information does not change. Each record will store a created date, a modified date, and what user ID modified it last, which can be matched up with the hand held database. The problem is that USB is used for cradle connections and may be slow in updating a bulk of a database.
Two resources that I am lacking to do all this, are time and money. Do I dare quit school to follow my dreams, or stay in school and do it part time but earn less money? I can easily get a personal loan of $5000 to start things up, and hope that I earn enough to pay it back.
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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Post #138,226
1/27/04 10:07:11 PM
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Help here always
-drl
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Post #138,232
1/27/04 10:55:40 PM
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Good to know
and if we can help each other, and turn around a profit. More power to us. :)
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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Post #138,268
1/28/04 7:56:22 AM
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Then it hits me
and I understand why I am still on disability. Even though I got people telling me I can do things and create wealth for the company, I know in the back of my head that I have not yet fully recovered. I wonder if I can handle the stress of working again. This time it will be a different environment, one that I might have more control over. The question remains "Can I handle it?" and I honestly cannot answer at this time.
I got a lot of ideas, know people that can pull it off, but the problem is me and my condition.
Besides whatever company I form will have partners, I will not have total control. Not that I need it, but I cannot make promises without the other partner's ok. So I can suggest who to hire, and make reconmendations but the other partners have to agree on it. What happens if they do not agree to hire deSitter or someone else I reconmend? What if I have no say in any matter and am constantly outvoted? What if this limits the company and causes it not to grow or earn income? What if I get agreed on and what I suggested does not work out?
It all sounds good in theory, and I am still learning business management. I do not even know how to do marketing yet. I would like to wait until I graduate so I can learn how to manage a business better, but it seems my potential business partners want to get started earlier.
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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Post #138,284
1/28/04 10:43:05 AM
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Re: Then it hits me
Like I said, this is a courage problem. In life you suck it up or perish, or become a burden.
You just have to suck it up. Courage is self-reinforcing.
-drl
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Post #138,318
1/28/04 12:15:54 PM
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There are times
when I have the courage and feel I can do it, and then I have times when my confidence is shot and I feel like I cannot.
"Lady I only speak two languages, English and Bad English!" - Corbin Dallas "The Fifth Element"
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