Ask HN: Have you ever been a one man Geek Squad? (Of course you have)

[deathbyzen]

I'm planning to go into business for myself (a "startup," surely you've heard of them) and providing the local citizens with an alternative to the Geek Squad. For those who don't know, Geek Squad is owned by Best Buy and they provide home installation and support of various electronics. Problem is, they suck. Or, at least, I know I can do it better.

Essentially, I want to be the computer guy for people who have little or no computer experience, but also provide support for people who know what they're doing but don't want to get ripped off by the Geek Squad. You know, a computer handyman with an old-timey-doctor feel. Walking in with my stethescope and big medical bag of tricks, telling the user to use Firefox instead of IE and to drink lots of fluids.

The problem I'm running into is that I know the "What" but not the "How." My starting point will probably be to see what the Geek Squad charges. Then, I'll see if there are any other local computer handymen and what they do and what they charge. Then, when I'm sure how to go about it I'll get the word out.

My question is how did you/would you go about it? If you've done it before, what was the experience like? What problems did you/do you run into? Are there any books/websites that you would reccomend for first-timers managing their own business?

Feedback is much appreciated.

[SwellJoe]

This is not a startup...it's a small business. Nothing wrong with that, of course. A small business is awesome, and generally better for your finances and emotional well-being than working for someone else. But, it doesn't have the same end result as a startup, and the way you build one successfully is very different.

I've done contract work for a few small businesses over the years, similar to the business you describe (though I charged more than Geek Squad, and provided somewhat higher end services...like Linux and UNIX administration, network infrastructure buildouts, etc.). The yellow pages got me two jobs in the two years that I ran an ad (and a helluva lot of crazy people who wanted me to tell them how the government kept finding out what they were doing on their computer, or tell them how to find out what their spouse or child was doing on the computer, and for free). So, that's a non-starter. Advertising on Google AdWords, with very specific targeting might be the ticket. It's how I found the dog walking and sitting service I use, and probably other services.

Check Craigslist for people looking for some work in your areas of expertise. It'll be bigger projects, of course, but it'll help with word of mouth. If you do a good job, it only takes a few customers to kickstart a good career as a contractor. If you always plan to increase your rate and the complexity of services you offer, you can definitely get to $100-$150k/year in a few years, at which point, you can either start hiring other techs and build your own Geek Squad (maybe even turning it into a startup!), or just keep working, and tucking away 20% each year. I know several folks who retired in their early fifties on this plan, and with a couple million in the bank (I inherited a few of their clients).

Personally, I found the work...ummm...frustrating, and draining, and far more stressful than I was comfortable with. I was really good at it, and I kept cranking up my rate until I was making $150/hour, and clients were happy to pay it. But, it just wasn't my bag. You won't know until you try, though.

[deathbyzen]

Thanks, you've given me a lot to think about.

[DanielBMarkham]

Quick Version:

1) Charge at least 45/hour. Yes you can charge less, but no it doesn't scale. I might even go higher. You have to make enough so you can pay all the fun taxes and insurance premiums you need -- even if you decide to skip out of them for a while.

2) Have a minimum hour block. Back in the dark ages, I used to have a 3 hour minimum. So if you had a problem and were willing to pay for 3 hours, I would come (to your business) and fix your computer. Now that I'm in management consulting I charge by the day. If you don't block out your time, your clients will make your life hell.

3) Knock on some doors. Best way to make sales. Go downtown and start knocking on doors. Ten bucks says within the first 20 doors you make a sale. Repeat and rinse.

4) Never work for free. That means NEVER. Even for your mom. Word will get out and you'll end up too busy to work your business.

5) Be ready to refund people's money. I used to have one rule: if you're unhappy in any way, you get your money back. Sure -- I got jerks. But I never dealt with them twice.

6) Enjoy the performance. On-site consulting is like one of those plays where the audience gets to participate. Know your stuff and be good at performance art. Remember to the end-user, they have no idea of what anything is worth. Their stuff is broken and you can fix it. So when you do, do a good job. Do extra work. Ham it up a bit. Tell some jokes. Have fun. People will remember you in a happy way, even if their wallet still stings. <-- That's exactly the way you want to be remembered.

[deathbyzen]

I appreciate it!

[run4yourlives]

My own two cents:

I wouldn't do this because your customers are cheap idiots who don't realize they're cheap idiots.

I personally don't think the small amount of money you make is worth the headaches you will face. I think you'll have better luck targeting small businesses as "outsourced IT" help than targeting home users.

Good luck to you though, regardless.

[bk]

I mostly agree. The single most important thing you have to do when starting a company (esp. without funding) is to choose the right customers.

How efficiently can you reach them? How well can you turn these leads into customers? What is their willingness and ability to pay, i.e. how much would your service be worth to them (e.g. in otherwise lost productivity)?

The last point kills a lot of consumer market segments for smart small business startups, because the ratio of customer acquisition costs and overhead to revenue is too crappy, aka profitability sucks, aka you're in the red too long and growth/scalability are limited.

Good luck!

[deathbyzen]

You've given me some things to think about and I appreciate it.

[deathbyzen]

Thanks!

[jharrison]

It sounds like you haven't ever actually done what you propose to do. I think you'd be better off getting a job with one of the outfits you intend to mimic, first.

Like SwellJoe, I've also been contracting for a number of years.

Early on I went to the homes of computer users and fixed their problems. Let me just say, those were some of the worst experiences of my tech career. Don't get me wrong, if going into a stranger's home, often into their bedroom or other intimate space, and mingling with their pets, breathing their smoke or other noxious odor is your idea of a great way to make a buck (I use that term loosely), then this is EXACTLY what you should be doing. I personally can't stand it and will never do it again. I often get employees of my clients asking me if I make housecalls. The answer is always no.

If you ever intend to make money supporting businesses then you should be employed with a company that does that in order to learn the ropes and truly identify the needs of that market. It sounds like all you have right now is your anecdotal opinion of what Geek Squad is, or does. If you think you're going to make any useful amount of money visiting individual homes, you're likely in for a rude awakening.

The way I did it was to consume all things tech while I had another job and occasionally help friends, family, and referrals with their computer problems. That never did anything but give me occasional lunch money. I then took a couple of MCSE courses because I got them cheap. With those courses and some confidence that I knew wtf I was talking about, I got a job with a company that had a larger company as its client. I worked for that company for a year fixing 5-10 computers a day (I was one of several supporting 800 users). I left that job straight to contracting because I actually knew something then. I had actual experience in the corporate support world.

I was an employed contractor for 3 years after which I went completely solo. That was 7 years ago. Today I (me, solo) support about 80 computers across 4 clients and I do web development as it comes, by referral. My rate is $95/hr. and I've been told I could/should raise it many times.

Hope this helps.

[deathbyzen]

It does and it echoes something a friend of mine told me to do. He said the same thing you did which was to get experience working at the Geek Squad or something similar to see how its all done. Thanks for your input.

[scumola]

I used to love a small business in my local town that used to do this. He sold cheap, korean PC hardware and charged by the hour to fix problems for people. He had a real store front and was in business for at least 5 years before Best Buy moved into town and took his business away. I think that small companies like this are a dying breed and sorely missed. I like Best Buy but only because they seem to be the only game in town. If you do a good job with your little mom-n-pops place, then work will travel around and you'll probably do ok, but the main thing that you need to worry about is losing business to the big-box retailers who do service as a second business.

Perhaps advertise using huge signs on the front of your storefront telling people that you're a better Geek Squad than Best Buy or something would help you out.

Small car repair places still exist and do well against the dealerships in the automotive industry, but they do it via undercutting the service price and doing a good job and advertising using local media and word of mouth.

If you feel like you will get enough clients to support your business, then more power to ya!

[deathbyzen]

Thanks!

[noodle]

i've actually considered doing this.

something to consider is nerds on site, which is basically an international group of contract workers doing what you're doing, but they provide a network of support for the process.

something worth considering is providing the service of at least attempting to diagnose problems via VNC, instead of making house calls like geek squad does. provides the one-on-one support by inspecting the computer, but doesn't incur the cost of making a house call. it'll probably be easy to spin it as beneficial, since one wouldn't have to cough up a house call bill for a minor issue.