Small town techs

['putertutor]

Just curious how many small town techs we have here. I mean small town techs. Don't even bother raising your hand if you count your population in more than 4 digits.

Here in my tiny little corner of NW Montana, we have less than 1,500 people in town. There's barely 10,000 in the whole county and not a single stop light anywhere in the county.

As far as businesses go, I can count on one hand the number in my service area that have a domain based network, or even just a large file server. It's all pretty basic. Nice because I have no experience with servers, but also a bit of a bummer as I would like to get into that.

So, how many small town techs do we have here?

 

[glennd]

The sign says 2000. A network consists of an old desktop and ipad plugged into the same wifi router, a file server consists of an external usb drive plugged into the old desktop. I reckon some of these computers are as old as the 100 year old houses they live in.

 

[jbartlett323]

my shop is based in a town of ~5700. So not tiny, but not big either. Most of my business comes from 12-15 miles down the road in a town of ~5600, of which I am one of that 5600, so that's one sale I'm not getting...
Now on the flip side, we are ~10mi from a major metropolitan area. Although that matters little since very rarely does anyone from up north come down south for services.
Now my county boasts ~32,000. But I would bet that 85% of those are farmers that have little to know idea how to turn a computer on, let alone how to interface with their tractor to get better gas mileage and give it a couple extra horse... But man they should!

So.... Do I still count or is that too big for this thread?

 

[katz]

I live in the area of several small towns, the largest with a pop. of around 5000. This is a very rural area, largest city is 30+ miles away. I think the real comparison is the number of repair shops/pizza techs in the area. My area is overrun with both, shops opening/closing all the time.

I'm struggling badly right now. Three weeks with hardly a call. It was going very good for about the last year and then dropped off almost all at once. I have a few businesses that are keeping things interesting, but other than that - it's bad, real bad right now. And the low population of the towns, combined with the lower incomes in the area are not helping matters.

 

['putertutor]

I live in the area of several small towns, the largest with a pop. of around 5000. This is a very rural area, largest city is 30+ miles away. I think the real comparison is the number of repair shops/pizza techs in the area. My area is overrun with both, shops opening/closing all the time.

I'm struggling badly right now. Three weeks with hardly a call. It was going very good for about the last year and then dropped off almost all at once. I have a few businesses that are keeping things interesting, but other than that - it's bad, real bad right now. And the low population of the towns, combined with the lower incomes in the area are not helping matters.

I've been pretty fortunate with the number of shops in town. Only a couple of pizza techs that tried to get things going but never did. There were two other shops in town with storefronts when I started out - I work out of my house. One of them shut down and at that point I picked up a few of his business customers. That and word of mouth have carried me along. But I am also not doing this as my sole source of income. I think I could do it if I wanted to. A while back a store front space opened up right on main street next to some well trafficked businesses. I know the owner and could have gotten a smoking deal on a lease. But I truly enjoy my other job, so for now it's a juggling act. There are good weeks and bad, but overall the business is growing for me.

Our closest big town is about 90 miles away, so while I don't have any real competition from the big box stores, I also can't always turn on a dime when I need parts etc.

 

[Mike McCall]

My town is still 4-digits, but on the upper cusp. There's a tech 4-miles up the road in the next town, a local guy who grew up here working from home, and a guy from another town working out of the local Radio Shack. I should also count an MSP that's more focused on the medical services feeding off the hospital atop the hill. We're 15-miles from the State Capitol.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

533 people in my town, but I market to a much larger area that is about 30 minutes from here. Also I have family in Seeley Lake MT.

 

[gadgetfixup]

Wow I feel like I'm in a metropolis at 24k. I started in Denver, CO area the first 4 years and moving to Indiana was like going back in time

 

[red12049]

About 5500 people here, and about 29000 in the entire county. 30 minutes to the nearest "large" city.

Rick

 

['putertutor]

533 people in my town, but I market to a much larger area that is about 30 minutes from here. Also I have family in Seeley Lake MT.

Seeley Lake is a beautiful area. Near the south End of the Bob Marshall Wilderness area, yeah? Some of the best fishing in the world around there.

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

growing up we lived in MT a few times, most recently in a little town a few miles off the Canadian line called Richland, about 30 miles from Scolby and 70 from Glasgow near Opheim.... when my family of 8 moved in we doubled the town's population. no joke.

Now I live and work in a midsize town but cover half the state of WI and beyond, even around here we stay heavily diversified and even our retail stores do more mobile than PC anymore.

 

[alluseridsrejected]

I am in a very rural area. The town I am in has a population of about 850. My entire county only has a population of around 16,000. I really wasn't expecting much when I opened a small store front a little over a year ago. I just needed faster internet than I could get at my home. I was working at home for 3 years prior to that and going nowhere. The rent was only $300 a month for my small shop. I have been growing steadily since opening my store and just hired my first employee. He is part time but I think I will need him full time soon. There is currently no competition. There was one other guy working from home, but I hear from my new customers (his former) that he had a nervous break down about a year ago. Managed services is what has really saved my butt. It is giving me $2500-$3000 a month and steadily growing regular income on top of the repairs that are coming in.

 

[PCX]

Not raising my hand as we have about 100,000 between both shops (both shops are within 15 minutes of each other and customers from both areas go to either shop), but we are looking at opening a few more shops within the next 2 years and I wont even consider an area with a population less than 100,000 unless it is a central hub for areas with larger populations. I find it hard to believe that any shop can do well in areas with a smaller population, unless there are no big chains like Best Buy. I guess what I am saying is that for those who are considering making the life change of running a store in a small town or city, consider carefully whether or not your location can support you for the long term, otherwise it just ain't worth the time or money required to sustain the business, much less getting it off the ground.

If I lived in an area with a small population and I really wanted to start a business I would either travel to where the money is (if onsite) or find a much more profitable business that can actually do well and allow me to live a decent life style over the long run. For me personally, owning and running a business simply is not worth the time and money necessary, if I am not going to benefit substantially as a result.

 

['putertutor]

I am in a very rural area. The town I am in has a population of about 850. My entire county only has a population of around 16,000. I really wasn't expecting much when I opened a small store front a little over a year ago. I just needed faster internet than I could get at my home. I was working at home for 3 years prior to that and going nowhere. The rent was only $300 a month for my small shop. I have been growing steadily since opening my store and just hired my first employee. He is part time but I think I will need him full time soon. There is currently no competition. There was one other guy working from home, but I hear from my new customers (his former) that he had a nervous break down about a year ago. Managed services is what has really saved my butt. It is giving me $2500-$3000 a month and steadily growing regular income on top of the repairs that are coming in.

Wow. That much in managed services out of an area that small!? How did you make that happen??

 

['putertutor]

Not raising my hand as we have about 100,000 between both shops (both shops are within 15 minutes of each other and customers from both areas go to either shop), but we are looking at opening a few more shops within the next 2 years and I wont even consider an area with a population less than 100,000 unless it is a central hub for areas with larger populations. I find it hard to believe that any shop can do well in areas with a smaller population, unless there are no big chains like Best Buy. I guess what I am saying is that for those who are considering making the life change of running a store in a small town or city, consider carefully whether or not your location can support you for the long term, otherwise it just ain't worth the time or money required to sustain the business, much less getting it off the ground.

If I lived in an area with a small population and I really wanted to start a business I would either travel to where the money is (if onsite) or find a much more profitable business that can actually do well and allow me to live a decent life style over the long run. For me personally, owning and running a business simply is not worth the time and money necessary, if I am not going to benefit substantially as a result.

I think I could make a run of it in my area - opening a storefront, having it be my sole source of income. But in my case my other job is also a passion for me, so I juggle the two. Even if that were not the case, the 1.5 - 2 hour commute (one way) to a larger area would not be worth it for me. I'd be perfectly content to have a smaller business in a small community than a big business in a big city. that's the trade off for choosing to live in a rural area. I've lived in high population areas most of my life (New York, San Diego, Orange County, Salt Lake City, etc) but you couldn't drag me back to a city half their size now.

 

[alluseridsrejected]

Wow. That much in managed services out of an area that small!? How did you make that happen??

Many local businesses are signing up with me. Businesses start at $50 month per PC with full service including data backup checks included. I sign up individuals for $15 month for one PC + any backup charges. I have also signed up local police departments and city halls, Police departments need their data and dash cam videos protected. Water companies need their billing data protected. I have 1 volunteer fire department, 1 library and local town history museum, but non-profits get discounts (no discount for police & city halls). A small Drug store. Multiple farming operations. I have yet to loose a business customer. There are only 2 or 3 individuals that have discontinued service. I do have a few business customers in a larger town about 50 miles away, but their owners all live in my town. Word is starting to spread in other small towns 15-20 miles away. Servers are $150-$170 month of which there are several around and most on my service. I also have a few untangle boxes I charge $29 month for supporting as well.

You would not believe how receptive people have been. Incredibly easy sale. Very friendly people. Very few people try to haggle with me (always a few exceptions though). Nothing like the people from big cities like where I am from. The technical skills of my customers are very low. They are mainly farmers and don't want to know anything about computers. Older customers are the best of which there are plenty here.

I NEVER WANT TO MOVE BACK TO THE CITY! Moving here after living all my life in the city was kind of like the feeling you get when you are trapped for a long time in a crowded sky scraper elevator. Then you get that huge relief when you finally get out of it. It just seems to me like so many people in the city are going absolutely nuts and have gotten incredibly rude in recent years. Almost everybody you pass going down the road here waves at each other and the don't have their middle finger up while they are doing it and they are not trying to see how close they can come to your bumper.

 

[carrcomp]

The town that I grew up in has a population of less than 2100 according to Canada census.

The closest computer repair shop is over an hour away.

Rent for a retail store is less than $1000/month. Remote support could be done in town, but the population includes the farming community who all have dialup.

I'm sure that someone could make a living in a town like that if they had a shop, did some retail and ran an internet cafe (yes, that town would actually make money off of it because of the lack of high-speed internet)

Unfortunately, my brother decided that web design was going to be his field. Otherwise I might own a shop out there right now and have him running it.

 

[PCX]

I think I could make a run of it in my area - opening a storefront, having it be my sole source of income. But in my case my other job is also a passion for me, so I juggle the two. Even if that were not the case, the 1.5 - 2 hour commute (one way) to a larger area would not be worth it for me. I'd be perfectly content to have a smaller business in a small community than a big business in a big city. that's the trade off for choosing to live in a rural area. I've lived in high population areas most of my life (New York, San Diego, Orange County, Salt Lake City, etc) but you couldn't drag me back to a city half their size now.

The problem that I see is that the break/fix shop model is a high volume, low profit business model. In other words, in order to make a decent profit, you have to have a high amount of volume. Obviously, with a smaller population you are going to have less volume than an area with a higher population. Also, areas with smaller populations are usually more depressed, which means you can't charge a whole lot more to make up the difference in volume. Low volume and low income = usually equals low profits, at least for our industry.

 

[ohio_grad_06]

I am in a town of about 10,000. I have my day job in IT. But I do the other as a side business. My wife has a resale store, so we have it set up where she takes my drop offs etc. The nice part about here is the community is a bit more upscale. IE a lot of people in town have money. So I can charge my rates and still make decent profit. Have had weeks where I made more than 2 weeks in my day job. But on the other hand, have had months on end of crickets where I get maybe 3-4 calls in a month. Picking back up lately though.

 

['putertutor]

The problem that I see is that the break/fix shop model is a high volume, low profit business model. In other words, in order to make a decent profit, you have to have a high amount of volume. Obviously, with a smaller population you are going to have less volume than an area with a higher population. Also, areas with smaller populations are usually more depressed, which means you can't charge a whole lot more to make up the difference in volume. Low volume and low income = usually equals low profits, at least for our industry.

Almost all of that is true. But the fact is that while I know I don't come close to your revenue, my business is profitable, and growing though slowly. If the choice came to close up shop and stay here, or move and have 4 storefronts, I'd stay here. Period. It's that important. I know almost everyone, even those I don't I know would help me out if needed. It's honestly more important that I keep this lifestyle than I build an empire.