Start Fresh

Post #136,062 by boxley 1/16/04 9:38:49 AM Reply	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]
Post #136,064 by deSitter 1/16/04 9:43:56 AM Reply	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
Post #136,066 by boxley 1/16/04 9:51:03 AM Reply	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]
Post #136,077 by deSitter 1/16/04 10:28:40 AM Reply	People know the work will be shite -drl
Post #136,202 by Arkadiy 1/16/04 5:06:20 PM Reply	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
Post #136,269 by orion 1/17/04 5:44:51 AM Reply	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"*
Post #136,325 by boxley 1/17/04 7:47:35 PM Reply	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]
Post #136,437 by orion 1/18/04 8:30:51 PM Reply	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"*
Post #136,704 by orion 1/20/04 2:16:31 PM Reply	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"*
Post #136,110 by drewk 1/16/04 11:59:43 AM Reply	Or get a new one for $299 === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #136,117 by deSitter 1/16/04 12:08:57 PM Reply	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
Post #136,155 by orion 1/16/04 1:29:24 PM Reply	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"*
Post #138,225 by orion 1/27/04 10:04:29 PM Reply	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"*
Post #138,226 by deSitter 1/27/04 10:07:11 PM Reply	Help here always -drl
Post #138,232 by orion 1/27/04 10:55:40 PM Reply	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"*
Post #138,268 by orion 1/28/04 7:56:22 AM Reply	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"*
Post #138,284 by deSitter 1/28/04 10:43:05 AM Reply	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
Post #138,318 by orion 1/28/04 12:15:54 PM Reply	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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