So You Want to Start Your Own Business?
The Rise and Fall of Computer Joey: Part Two – The Storm
The car accident rattled me. I had gotten into other accidents before, but this was the first time I was hurt. The airbag burned my arms, chest, face and it was hard to bend and twist – but I knew I was lucky to get off with the injuries I got. As expected, I didn’t sleep much that night and had to ask my mother for a ride to the store the next morning. My mother is the extremely nervous type so she didn’t do much to settle my mood. I walked in to find Anthony, Heather, and Ryan decorating the store for the 4th of July. They were very concerned and went easy on me that day. Having Ryan around certainly made it better because he is the cheeriest kid there is.
The next week I had a vacation scheduled to Mexico (which was booked before the grand opening date was set). I was on the fence about going, but after the wreck, I needed some time to relax and I didn’t want to loose the money I spent on the trip. When I got back the sheer amount of work between the day job and the store was overwhelming. I could tell Anthony was pissed that I was gone (a recurring theme), and they couldn’t do much to dig me out of the hole because they were not technical.
It was around this time that I noticed suggestions and ideas that I had for the store were getting written off as impractical and Anthony was just making decisions on the fly. I really didn’t mind as the decisions were being made, but when I stopped to look at the actions as a whole, I could see we were just reacting and didn’t have a strategy. I understand their lack of patience (to develop a plan): Matt and Anthony were running three businesses and dealing with the property itself. I had my job and the store. There were no brain cells to spare and we just kept…reacting. A perfect example is when Anthony asked his super-talented artist friend to design a logo for us. Anthony had his heart set on a baby smashing a computer with a hammer. I didn’t like the idea, but I kept getting steamrolled. In the end I figured Marc would come up with something clever because the guy is a really good. What we ended up getting was a baby who looked like he shit himself. I was embarrassed at the logo but Anthony loved it and I was stuck with it.
Things continued this way for a while. I was getting accustomed to being at the store more and incorporated it into my life: “using it as a clubhouse” as Anthony used to say. We used the work space for business meetings, social functions, and even a few community gatherings. It wasn’t perfect, but everything was coming together. I started to detect things between Matt and Anthony weren’t right (I am not going to get into the whole story because that is their business). Needless to say, the split focus was taking a toll on their partnership.
In hindsight, it was clear we were trying to do things to make the other person happy instead of doing the right thing. There were a lot of small arguments about how things were handled, misplaced paperwork, misplaced computers, and vacation time. I would come up with improvement idea and it would get shot down – Anthony would always say “Show me first” and he was right to do so. Anthony would have an idea and I would say it wasn’t financially sound (buying equipment that my customers weren’t asking for, etc) and he would say I always negative about the business.
The reality of the computer repair business was starting to dawn on me. It is damn near impossible to make a decent living doing computer repair:
1. The big companies make computers so cheap it is almost pointless to attempt to repair them at a certain point.
2. My customer base had old systems that should have been replaced, not repaired. I had to constantly undercharge so they would use my service.
3. Selling equipment was hard: I could not make systems as cheap as Dell. Even coming close would cause problems because I used low grade parts that would require repairs (which ate into the bottom line).
4. On average we made $85 per PC that came in the store. I figured out I would have to fix about 600 computers to make 50,000 dollars a year. We had about 10-20 customers per week.
I tried to focus the store into more of a service-based enterprise, but time once again was not on my side. Service involved someone being at the store to provide the service at peak hours. I wasn’t able to do that. Over the next months we flirted with different people coming in to help: We had my friend Bill (who was going through some personal issues), my friend Mike (who just got laid off and realized there was no easy money so he quietly ditched us), a few local repair people that panned out to nothing, and then we hired Todd, a college kid who was great, but didn’t have a lot of time. My issues with finding reliable help pushed me into thinking that I couldn’t trust anyone but myself to get the actual work done.
By the end of 2004, Computer Joey had taken its toll on me. I was definitely not the same person I was getting into it. I was quick-tempered with just about everyone in my life. I didn’t like that I couldn’t make a decision stick with my own business (which prompted me to hire an artist to create a new logo which turned into a HUGE fight again). I could not stand the site of my customers. I was unfocused in every area of my life:
· Girls were coming and going at a rapid pace – I couldn’t even keep track of their names
· I just bought stuff without thinking – I didn’t have time to do the research which over time took a toll on my savings
· My relationship with Anthony was terrible
· My other career was suffering because I just burnt out
At this point we still were not making any money and the expenses of the building and keeping the store going were rising (oil heat was killing us), but we were still in the black. Matt and Anthony had an issue with someone renting the third storefront that added even more pressure on our already tense situation. Fights were breaking out between us more frequently and we would go for long stretches without talking to each other.
Early in 2005, I met my soon-to-be-wife Allison. When things starting getting serious with her, my mind started doing the math and I realize that something would have to go eventually because I could not keep all the balls in the air much longer. In November of 2005, I went to MCSE Boot Camp for my day job. I would be gone for 2 weeks doing hardcore studying and testing. This was good for my career and for the business because it opened up more consulting options. I left my friend Bill and Todd in charge of repairs while I was gone. Anthony and Matt kept the stress off me telling me everything was good. When I got home, nothing was done. By Christmas 2005, I had met with one of Anthony’s good friends (let’s say he is an productivity expect for lack of a better term). He suggested getting rid of the physical store, cut off the repair business, and focus on service only, my head started to spin.
Cutting the physical connection to the store opened questions around the partnership I didn’t care to answer. If we didn’t have a store and rent, what does that do with the partnership? I wanted to avoid the discussion so I tested the waters and asking Anthony questions to see how he would react, the tests failed. Looking back I was mentally and emotionally preparing myself for the hard questions and talks that would need to happen, but it would be another 6 months before it all came to a head.
(To be concluded…)
Click Here for Part Three
