PC Anytime - Solving Tech Problems Profitably

Dave Thompson is a man of many talents with an eye for opportunity. Having spent 11 years as an aircraft engineer in avionics, he travelled around the world for a couple of years before returning to work as a professional musician. ‘I played Irish music up and down the country for five years before building props and sets for TV and opening my own recycled furniture shop.’

But his technical skills came to the fore again in the 1990s as people and companies became more dependent on their computers. With computers come problems and, spotting a gap in the market, Dave started a new business offering fast, effective technical support. ‘The work flowed in easily as word spread,’ he recalls. ‘We started as a home-based business, but before long we had to take on premises to house the three technical staff who were required to fulfil the workload. That’s how the PC Anytime brand was born and became a byword for excellence around Christchurch.’ Now Dave is looking for computer-savvy franchisees to take the service nationwide.

‘I always planned to franchise the business and actually consulted a high-powered franchise lawyer ten years ago to see what he made of it,’ Dave says. ‘He told me that I simply didn’t have anything to franchise yet, so go away! That was absolutely what I needed to hear back then and over the next few years I concentrated on building up an extensive clientele by ensuring the quality of work and advice was absolutely first class. We built the brand and, vitally, created a business model that enables others to repeat our success. We made some mistakes, of course, but we learned from them and by being hands-on at every point we have a created a flourishing – and now replicable – business.’

Working Efficiently Increases Income

PC Anytime offers a mix of mobile-based services. ‘One of the keys to profitability in computer repairs is efficiency. For example, it takes around 90 minutes to run a proper virus check on a computer, but if you are sitting in a client’s offices waiting then you waste a lot of productive time. Instead, we bring machines back to our workshop where we have a lot more facilities and can work on several computers at the same time while carrying out the checks.’

PC Anytime is a business aimed firmly at the middle of the market. ‘We have a big mix of clients from the larger corporates to single home users, and our goal is consistent performance and hassle free repairs every time. Establishing what is wrong with a client’s machine in the first place is a major key to efficiency. We spend a lot of time on the phone to clients determining how we can best use our time and theirs to put repairs in place. This requires clear communication, and is the most important part of PC Anytime – the ability and need to communicate with people about technical things in language they will understand. We even have a section in our manual dealing with the language to use when handling frustrated people who just want to get on with their work!’

Turning Technicians Into Business Owners

‘The PC Anytime franchise is designed for people who are first and foremost computer technicians but need help on the business side of things,’ states Dave emphatically. ‘We can provide you with the skills, the systems and the benchmarks you need to win the confidence of clients and operate profitably. We’ll show you how to market, recruit, account and manage your business. We can also help you cut through the difficulties of communication to the nub of each problem so you provide a solution quickly and efficiently every time. And with our support team here, everything you need to know to grow will be just a phone call away.’

PC Anytime is looking for suitably-qualified computer technicians keen to run their own business in all parts of the country. The franchise fee is $65,000 and includes four weeks full-time hands-on training at the company’s Christchurch premises, together with the manual, systems and experience that will help build a successful business in a growing market.

‘Some franchisees may start operating from a home base while others will establish a separate workshop straight away,’ Dave suggests. ‘It’s important to remember in this business that if you were solely a mobile repairer, you would be limited in the amount of work you could do and the amount of money you could earn – you’d be unlikely to get round more than five or six jobs in a day at $100 a time. By bringing work back to the workshop, and employing people as your business grows, you have the ability to earn many times that.

‘So if you have the computer knowledge but not the business experience, or you’re tired of working for someone else and watching them make all the money, invest your skills with PC Anytime. Call us today and take the first step of the rest of your life.’

This advertorial is taken from Franchise New Zealand magazine Volume  19 Issue 2 

Contact details for PC Anytime

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