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Ask The Readers: The One Piece of Advice You Wish You Could Have Told Your Past Self
I havent done an “Ask The Readers” post in a long time and its about time for another one. We always end up with tons of amazing answers in our comments so I would love all readers to take part in this because the more you put in, the more you will get out of it.
Everyone has that one main piece of advice that changed their life/business that they wish they knew when they were first starting out. So, I want to ask the readers:
What is that one piece of advice you wish you could have told your past self as a Tech/Business Owner?
Your comment can be as long or as short as you want and as always, you dont need to sign up to anything make a comment and you can even reply anonymously if you want.
To the people reading this via emai, RSS or any other non-site: Please leave a comment on the site here. I want everyone to be able to read your response.
Look forward to hearing your responses!
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I’ll start. I’d tell my past self to pay attention to your 80/20.
80% of your income will come from 20% of your sources.
What this means is that you will probably find that a large part of your income comes from only a few of your clients.
What you want to do is focus on duplicating that high profit 20% and eventually phasing out your low profit 80%.
Also, dont get into the habit of being “busy”. Rather, be effective. Order your To-Do list by what will be most effective/what will make you the most money and do those tasks first. Of course, there are always little niggling things that you need to get to eventually on your to-do list, but its better to push those off to the next day rather than pushing off the thing that will make the most change/money.
Don’t get married . . . TWICE!!!
I would have said, “listen to your mother”> My mother used to go on about how important it was to take a course on financing…Oh, Mom! You were right– again…I never did & now as I try to get a business off the ground, I am ruing not heeding her advice.
I would have to say, set your prices off at an achievable level. Don’t start off with the bottom feeders. If anything start high, then if needed lower them slightly.
Also don’t be afraid to say No. Be it clients who expect the impossible with an extremely unrealistic timeframe, to suppliers who want your business.
Then, there is no shame in asking questions. We have all started off with nothing, and from nowhere. The only stupid question, is the one not asked.
Finally, read, read, and read every article on Technibble. There are hundreds of awesome articles, which cover possibly everything to do with starting and running your business.
As a computer repair business owner i can suggest you to “try to explore you and your company in a ways of all possible web marketing to expand the marketability of your services, Ex. Facebook, Linked in, meetups,Google+, you tube because we never know who, when, where require our services, and Strongly believe Mouth marketing Happy customers references, as whitty says your 80% of income from referral and satisfied clients only.
I would have said pay attention more to marketing and more attention to the market itself. I would have invested more in the technology and more in the marketing efforts. Hemanth said 80% of income comes from referral but and satisfied customers. He is correct but you also continually need new customers to make it, so I wish I would have marketed more.
Invest in a good repair tracking system to start with!
I spent way to much time manually recording everything on pieces of paper and then manually producing invoices and receipts for customers, spending around a fifth of my working day on admin. Once I bought into an effective repair tracking system (PC Repair Tracker BTW) I wondered how I ever managed without it!
Don’t be afraid to turn some jobs away!
I used to chase every job that came my way, often running myself into the ground for little or no profit.
I’ve since learned to recognise which jobs or customers are likely to be grief or return little profit, and I happily turn that work away now.
It can be just as profitable to spend time and resources on more lucrative work and save you money or sanity chasing fools gold.
Focus on what you do best, get someone else to do the other stuff!
I used to stress myself out for around 4-6 hours a week trying to remember what I’d spent where, what money I’d taken in, who bought what etc.
PC Repair Tracker took much of this hassle away from me anyway, but I still had the concern of presenting it all to the accountant in a format that would save me a huge bill from him. I now have a very clever bookkeeper who takes all my paperwork away once a month, puts it into Sage, reports back as to the financial position of the business, and charges me around £60 a quarter! The guys a whizz, and he does in an hour what used to take me a day!
This is going to be hard work!
Need I say more?
Delegate. Learn to share the work to others. Learn to let go when clients abuse you and does not value your time. Learn to charge everybody the same- If they are your true friends they will understand. Learn to adjust your business for the times. Make sure your employees are giving the best image of your company. Pay your techs what they worth- Stop turnovers as much as possible.Reward when your techs when they meet certain goals.
Don’t fall into the trap of playing “Big Business Playhouse” and spend money unwisely on inventory and equipment that do not fit your business needs. Identify your real customers and devote the majority of your attention to those. I agree with the earlier 80/20 comment, and you have to be able to fire those customers that take advantage or are just not worth the time needed to service them. Not everyone that calls or walks in your door are a customer. Finally, for physical and mental health’s sake, figure out a strategy on how to cope with the stress of running your own business on as this business is intense.
Keep the bookwork up to date, It is really hard to back-track with poor records.
DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. Create or adopt a system of documentation for all your jobs. The more detail, the better, but don’t get caught up in the minutiae. Keep it concise, but clear. What you worked on, what the problem was, what you tried, and what worked. I’ve been HORRIBLE about it, still struggle with it, and it bites me every day. The better your documentation, the more old notes you have to rely on for quick fixes to more unique problems that, if not documented, mean you have to re-research the problem and solution every time (you can’t remember EVERY fix). Save yourself HOURS of headache-inducing reading and research… DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.
Jerry,
You are right on. Keeping accurate, concise notes on the repairs is priceless and will save a lot of time down the road. I’m trying to do that better too.
Very simple:
Learn to say no occasionally.
Make sure that you bill for every minute you spend trying to help customers remotely. Initially I used to provide free remote support call only if it was a first time customer and the call would not last more than 15 minutes.
The problem is that customers start asking questions and one thing leads to another and by the time you’re done troubleshooting the first problem, you already spent 2 hours on the phone.
When I deliver a computer or provide on-site support, this is how I close my visit –> “If there are any problems please remember that I can also provide remote support. My rate is $$ hourly”.
Buy Apple stock during the Newton days.
I agree with the 80/20 rule, although I don’t have any just one or two customers that make up most of my money. Obviously the business customers are a priority and they bring me in more money than residential. My biggest ones are only bringing me in a couple thousand a year.
Also letting people know that there are no freebies ahead of time is good. I’ve had a few (usually residential) that said “cant you just fix it quick remotely” If I just worked for them within the last week or two I will tell them I will take a quick look, but if not then they are going to pay via credit card for any services.
My wife’s Dad gave me this advice (a little late, but very useful) and I wish I would have done it early on:
“Don’t be afraid to charge what you’re worth.”
In starting a business, in an effort to be competitive I kept my prices a bit too low. It certainly brought the business in, but at the cost of me working harder for less money.
Don’t under value your labor, and markup parts, even if purchased at retail, maybe not quite as much, but add something.
The client you feel like saying no to may be the client that refers you to others.
Always put extra business cards with the invoice.
Fun mousepads (make them attractive enough for people to keep on their desks) with your name and number on them cost more than magnets but are in front of the client when they need you.
Google is not the best advertising for a computer repair service.
Buy domain names and direct them to your main site: yourtowncomputerrepair.net and the like.
The picture of you on your website should be friendly and techy. Hands inside a computer while making eye contact with the camera.
Every once in a while, give a regular one on the house. This technique has worked in bars for centuries.
if had keeping the focus all those years and keeping my work documented, if i had scheduling my tasks…..
1. Certification – It took me more than 8 years to realize that being certified is serious while working on any IT field. Being not able to apply or being under-qualified for an important job position does not feels good, worst when you don’t have a steady income.
2. College/University Diploma – Same as #1.
3. Documentation – I’ve learned from the begining (THANK GOD!) but when I didn’t use documentation in a daily basis, I entered in a Trial-and-Error loop while configuring or troubleshooting systems. It has to be the most important thing before even touching a system. Always ask for documentation. If exists, read it, use it. If not, then do it yourself, get anything you can from that system. It will save you headaches, and weekends. Believe me and others, when we say “DOCUMENT FIRST!”
4. Jumping from one job to another – Sometimes we were looking for a promised land. Sometimes you look the grass at the other side, and looks good, even better that your current place. Then you jump, and that grass isn’t even fair. And you got stuck for a while, or years without improving. Then, when you want to go back, at the other place, things are worst. And you have nowhere to go. Well, breathe, take a deep breathe… and improve yourself. Try new things. And slowly, you’ll get what you really need, and that change will lead you to a better place.
I think the change started with the instability at companies like Gateway and Dell.Buy cheap office 2013.
1. Don’t underprice your services and when people negotiate your price, stick to your guns. My test these days with clients is that if they have a problem with my price from the beginning then that’s a big red flag. They don’t negotiate with the plumber, why you?
2. Taxes, get a good accountant, and pay them more than you’d like because if you don’t you’ll pay for it.
3. Make a tasklist and prioritize– (as bruce mentioned earlier) see the clients that pay your bills the most first.
4. Don’t give away your services for free. (5 minutes is fine but after that they’re paying a minimum).
5. Keep track of your time, ALWAYS. Otherwise you end up with a lot of lost money.
6. Don’t be afraid of saying “I don’t know” and research it, then get back to them with the answer.
Majestic
First… I would have implemented a customer database with useable name, address, phone and email address and I would have stayed in contact with every customer at least once a year.
Second: During the years that I started making a LOT of money, I would have spent less time at the lake and more time consolidating and growing my field services team.
Third: Don’t partner with people that you are told up front that they are crooked. 14 years in, I partnered with someone to build a training facility and to deploy Smart Home technology. We survived… Barely….
You are not as smart as you think you are… Your riskiest time is after you have fought your way into a little bit of wealth. You think you are indestructible and cannot make a mistake you cannot come out of.
Fourth… Stick with your strengths.. don’t go out and build townhomes because your buddy wants to sell some lots. (I did that in 2006) We borrowed 1.1 million… Built and sold 8 of 16 townhomes and made money.. The economy crashed. The bank decided they were no longer in… We only lost about $$80K each 50/50 and did a short sale.
Stick to what you know, don’t get greedy and think you can do everything.
The economy went to dirt, my new training partner was a slick thief, the bank turned out to be…. a bank… and… on top of all that…
I got sick… I got a muscle disease that put me into bed for a year.
We survived and are now thriving again, but it has taken 7 years to dig out. Business is like playing the game of Risk… conserve… wait.. strike at the right time.. do to much too fast and you are kicked off the planet. Play it right and… you will dominate the world.. (not that I really care for much of what is in this world really)
That’s what I would say to myself and what I say to you.. yes YOU who are planning on making this your life’s work. You better…. make it your life’s work I mean. It’s not a hobby or a job.. If you want a job, go get one.. If you are and entrepreneur with lots of entre and tons of preneur lay everything else aside and throw yourself into this, work 7 days a week and until you cannot stand up any more, and make the customer the most important thing in your business and if your spouse or significant other complains that you work too much, have them read this: “Your SO has decided to undertake the herculean task of being in the IT business, perhaps even the retail IT business and they will have to work non-stop for several years before they can comfortably take that vacation. Either get involved with the business (you can remote in if you are a caregiver to those young or old) or spend enough time at the business to understand the enormous pressures your SO is under and the task that they face. Or…trust them and leave them enough time to tame this beast we call the IT business or they will fail and you will bear some of the blame. My wife used to burn the phones up complaining that I was not home, when was I coming home… That was before she came to work in the business.. she is a half owner btw.. She NEVER says anything like that now.. NEVER… I don’t say this tritely or to stir things up, .. I mean it.. you cannot run a business like this with a SO that does not trust you or understand.
On the OTHER hand, if you are spending every other Saturday staying up ALL night with the crew and a half dozen customers, drinking vodka and gaming, then your spouse has something to complain about. If you have an assistant that is good looking and you end up at the bar with them on the way home because you have to “wind down”, then your spouse should take your favorite gaming mouse and run over it a few times to get your attention. Its cheaper than a divorce lawyer. If you have finally established your business and CAN leave, but choose NOT to leave to spend time with your kids, then you are addicted to your business (not uncommon) and you need to find a way to learn to relax. That’s the whole point, right? Make a sustainable living, right? Yes, I spent 7 days a week, probably 80 hours a week for the first two years and that might seem unreasonable when you have four kids at home. On the other hand, I had ONE child when I founded my company, now I have four children, the last of which is headed to Northeastern College and FOUR retail locations and I stayed home today for the second day because I have a slight fever because I can. I would make more if I went in, but at some point you have to strike a balance.
So, if you are going to do it… do it well… get a partner you trust, because you will need them. Get your life partner on board with the plan… Now, go spend ten thousand hours working hard, be smart, get good advice and don’t think that technical skill is the only skill you need. It’s one part of a very large puzzle..
Good Luck
Charles L Kelly Jr. President, Augusta Computer Exchange, Inc.