Setting Up A Storefront, The Right Way.

Guest Contribution by Terry Moon of Computer Pro Inc.

There comes a time in every aspiring tech’s life whether or not they should open up an actual storefront. There are some big pros and a few cons that one should consider before embarking on such an endeavor. Every year we see brick and mortar computer stores popup but only a small percentage make it past the 5 year mark.

Pros of Operating Out of A Storefront

The biggest pro would be the possibility of a steady influx of customers. Notice we said “possibility”. There are a few factors that must be met before this becomes more of a sure thing.

When it’s done right there is nothing better than unlocking the door in the morning, turning on the open sign and greeting the new customers as they arrive. The term “If you build it, they will come” can be a reality if it’s all done correctly. So what is “done correctly”?

The Right Way Versus The Wrong Way To Do It

Location, location, location. This is a popular real estate phrase, and for good reason. The right or wrong location can make or break you quickly.

Our first location fell into the “wrong” way to do it category. Back in 2002 we moved into our first location. We are in a medium sized city that is fairly close to 2 other cities that are roughly the same size. All three cities are collectively known as the TriCities and are approx a 30 minute drive from each other. In the center of the TriCities is a small village that seemed to be growing the last couple of years. We did work (from
our home) for a few clients in all three cities.

Our main city (where we did the most) and every now and then a client or two from the other two cities. Moving in the center of all the action would give us equal distance and time to service all 3 cities which would be great! Was it great? Actually no. Being central to everyone also meant being not very close to everyone also. Every single customer from any of the 3 cities would have to drive outside of their city to visit us. It wound up being not the best strategy.

After several years there “surviving”, we decided to move to our main city, the one where we did 80-90% of our service. We chose a location on a main highway in a suburb of the main city. This location was key. We would be very close the the main city, a 10 min drive or less for most people. But we dominated the small suburb that we were in. There was one other smaller shop located on the same highway and a few ‘work out of their house’ guys but other than that, we were it. This immediately brought in foot traffic. We were located amongst some major fast food chains, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Taco Bell etc. So visibility was terrific.

The best recipe for us: Find a large major road/highway, in a nice suburb or area on the outskirts of the city. Especially if the city has several of your competitors. You’ll wind up owning the suburb (unless its already dominated by a large shop) and you’ll pull from the neighboring city once word of mouth starts happening.

Branding. ​Yes its true. Most techs while awesome at their craft, are less than stellar in business and marketing. We run in to many businesses today that do not have an actual logo (they just use their name, like attorney’s), no color scheme, no taglines, no branding at all. There’s a reason why all the big companies do it, because it works!

• Have a logo​. With companies like Fiverr and other crowd bidding logo houses its not that expensive anymore. I’ve seen many techs post their prospective logos on Technibble forums for other techs’ input. That’s a great idea, and its free!
• Color scheme.​ We see this all the time too. A small PC shop where a generic logo is say Blue, the shop walls are white, the counters are mismatched wood and every tech is wearing a different color t-shirt, usually of their favorite rock band. Did you ever notice when you go into a major store like say Target, that their ‘red’ theme is present all over the store? All the employees wear the same red polo shirts. You can spot an employee among a crowd of people from 50 feet away. Always use your color scheme in addition to your logo. It will help you stand out from the “average” mom and pop PC shops.
• Signage. ​Go big or go home. That’s usually how we roll when it comes to signage. By spending a little more upfront you will save big in the long run. We do no TV, radio or billboard advertising whatsoever. No Google Adwords (although we are looking into that). Just basic SEO and good signage.

We have 2 big awnings that have nothing but our logo and our name. That way the letters are as big as possible. The one mistake we see a lot are signs that include way too much text. Some try to include what they offer such as:

John Doe Computer Repair

• Virus removal ­
• Networking
• ­ Laptops ­
• Desktops
• ­ The list goes on

There’s a place for extra text and listing the things you do, but your main storefront sign is not one of them. Just take a look at the big guns signs what do they have?

Best Buy, Target, Office Max, WalMart, etc.  Just a huge name. They don’t list what they do. The more letters you have on your sign, the smaller the letters must be to fit. You want your sign to be read from hundreds of feet away. Cars driving by aren’t going to read the smaller, extra text anyway.

It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t mention any Cons of operating out of a storefront. Of course there are a few.

Double the expenses. You open your mail, great the electric bill is due! You get to the shop and find the exact same letter, only its for your business and its much more! Double rent, utilities, phone, taxes etc. Also don’t forget about insurance, monthly alarm charges, cleaning etc. The list goes on.

No more rolling out of bed, crawling to your work area, pouring your coffee while watching your favorite morning show! Now you have to get ‘properly’ dressed, race around to be “on time” to open the shop. In other words you have an added responsibility.

The moral of the story is if you decide to do it, do it right. Doing it for the wrong reasons will eventually lead to disaster. Getting an ‘office’ space because your house is overcrowded is a risky venture. Unless you’re going to follow all of the above, just renting ‘extra’ space is an added expense with little or no additional revenue aside from the ability to house more systems.

To us having a storefront is definitely worth it! To others it may not be. If you decide to take the plunge, please take note of the above tips as they have helped us to become one of the most successful and highest volume service shops in our area.

Terry has been in the computer tech field since 1997 which eventually let to the founding of Computer Pro Inc, one of the largest privately owned computer service companies in mid ­Michigan. His expertise includes computer repair, laptop service, networking, servers, web design, service shop setup and design and more.

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