Month: August 2012

Automating Your Computer Business For Profit

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Authors: Guest Writer

Guest Post by Chris Michalec:
You are sitting up late at night working to finish up the computers on your bench. You’ve been running around all day, and you are exhausted. How do you create more hours in the day? Through automation! Automating the common tasks you do every day gives your business something the high priced consultants call “leverage.” That means bigger profits for you while spending less time working in your business.

I’m a little late to the automation game. Shockingly, despite working at 3 computer stores over a 10 year period, I never had anyone use automation to any great extent. No scripting, no slipstreamed Windows installs, no nothing. However, since I have begun doing my homework, and a big thanks to those on the Technibble forums, I’ve found automation cuts the time I spend actually standing at a computer by as much as 90%! If you want to grow your computer repair business, you can’t afford not to automate.

There are a ton of ways to automate, but let’s look at some of the most popular ones.


1. D7 – I have to say that Nick, aka FoolishTech, has created an awesome tool. That is why I am putting it first. Unlike other options on this list, D7 is easy to learn and quick to setup and use. For those of us who don’t want to or can’t spend hours scripting every little thing, Nick has created a turnkey product to perform your most common tasks. Using D7, we can perform our “PC tune ups” and malware removals in a very short amount of time, and do it the same every time. If you aren’t using D7 I’m going to make a bold statement – you are holding your business back.

2. RMM Scripting – This one is for you managed services providers out there. The RMM (remote management & monitoring) software you use can be very powerful when used with some basic scripts. For example, we have every one of our weekly and monthly maintenance tasks scripted. They go out on a set schedule, and we only need to “touch” the system when the script fails. This means that we can deliver our service at a lower price and still have a higher profit margin (remember that from my last article?).

3. Windows Automated Installs – This next one has cut the time it takes us to install Windows from hours to about an hour. With one USB flash drive and a couple of clicks at the start, we can install Windows XP, Vista, or 7 with all the drivers, updates, and usual software. I can’t tell you how nice it is to insert a USB flash drive into a computer, boot from it, confirm the install, and then wait about an hour to be at the desktop and activate Windows. Creating these automated installs can take some time to initially setup and get the kinks worked out, but software like nLite and Microsoft’s Deployment Toolkit make it much easier. While the learning curve can be steep, it is worth it in the end.

4. Automating Software Installs – If you find yourself installing the same software over and over again, you can use a service like Ninite to automate these installs. Ninite is a website where you choose what popular software to install and will then give you a single executable to download. This executable downloads and install all the software you previously chose with one click as well as opting out of any toolbars and other nasties that tend to get packaged with software installs.

The Pro version of Ninite now supports Active Directory where you can easily manage software over an entire domain.

5. PXE server – Using a PXE server (Preboot Execution Environment) in your shop can mean you never have to mess with booting from CDs, DVDs, or even USB flash drives. You can store and update operating system images on a centralized server, and never have to wait to copy a CD or update a USB flash drive. I haven’t setup a PXE server yet, so I’m not going to delve into this topic further. The Technibble forums are your friend for learning more about this.

6. Bench Computers – Having a computer or two that you just use for testing and repair procedures is a great idea that can save you hours on repairs. Have a slow PC that you need to scan for viruses? Take out the hard drive and hook it up to your bench computer for a rapid scan. Even better is that you can usually do scans and tests on multiple hard drives using just one computer. We did use bench computers extensively in my previous jobs, and I rely on them in my own business. If you don’t have the money to put together a new one, just use the parts you have lying around. Whether running tests or scans, bench computers make things easy.

7. Your Business – You shouldn’t stop at automating your technical work. Why not automate your billing, marketing, and other common, repeatable tasks? There are a ton of services that can help you do this, making even one person businesses look like they have a large team. We have automated our billing, and this means that our service agreement invoices go out each month automatically to our clients’ email. Even many of our payments are directly debited from our clients’ accounts now. Can you imagine? No more chasing down a slow player!

The most important thing you can do is, once you find an automation method that works, add that to your procedures manual. You don’t want to hire someone and have them make the same mistakes that you did when you first learned how to automate Windows installs! Make sure to document what works. You would be surprised how much even you will forget, since you won’t be updating these automation routines every day.

It is all about making the best use of your time and maximizing your profits. Time spent at your work bench takes time away from marketing, networking, & learning. With automation you can work on more computers simultaneously and this means bigger profits for your business. Automation is worth the time you will invest in learning how to do it right. That feeling that comes from finishing a Windows install in an hour, and you only spent 5 minutes of your time on it, is incredible!

Guest Post by Chris Michalec: Chris is the owner of Parkway Technology Solutions, a managed services provider serving small businesses with 1-15 employees in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He started Parkway Tech in 2008 after 10 years of working for several computer repair shops as a technician and manager.

© Technibble – A Resource for Computer Technicians to start or improve their Computer Business
To get started with your own computer business, check out our Computer Business Kit.

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Take the National Contractor and Service Platform Survey

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Yes, it’s the first of its kind, and it is here at last. It’s The Force Field 2012 National Contractor and Service Platform Survey.

If you do any contract work for companies such as Barrister Global Services or Endeavor or web-based service platforms such as OnForce or Work Market, here is your chance to rate them according to best and worst. The results will be included in an upcoming article and an episode of The Force Field Podcast this fall. Survey respondents will remain anonymous, however you can opt in to leave your name and/or the name of your company with comments in The Force Field Forums if you like.

I don’t think anything like this has been done before. So far the response has been great but I would like a sampling from as many techs as possible for the best and most accurate ratings. Based on the number of responses so far, this is one hot topic among techs.

The survey is open to all techs. Although you can register or log in to The Force Field portal if you want, it isn’t necessary to access the survey. You can access it directly at The Force Field 2012 National Contractor and Service Platform Survey.

The forum discussion Topic 2012 National Contractor and Service Platform Survey is open if you would like to leave longer comments (both positive and negative) and stories (inspiring, enlightening, funny and scary) for inclusion in the article and on the show.

And yes, it’s in the public forums, because it’s for all the techs, it’s a public discussion and that is where it should be.

Take the survey!

Please keep the comments and stories factual and family friendly.

Pricing In Your Computer Business – Why Margin Matters

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Authors: Guest Writer

Guest Post by Chris Michalec:
How do you measure success in your computer business? Is it the number of customers you have? Maybe how much profit you make each month? Or maybe you go by the revenue you bring in. Properly defining success in your business is critical for sustainable growth and a very profitable business that will support more than just you. If you never grow out of a one person business, then you haven’t created a business; you have just created a job for yourself.

Another question that frequently comes up, whether you are just starting out or launching a new service, is how to price it. Obviously you want to look at what others in your area are charging, but this shouldn’t be the only way you determine what to charge. Let me give you the one way to measure success that will also help you competitively price your services every time and give your business room to grow – margin!


Having the right margin, also called profit margin, is the difference between success and failure in business. Let me give you a real world example. Right now, there are several different mobile phone manufacturers. The big players are Nokia, HTC, Samsung, & Apple, at least with smartphones. Apple has the largest share of profit by far, with Samsung coming in second. HTC sells a lot of phones, but isn’t making any money. Now, if you judged by revenue or number of customers, HTC might rank high. However, which business would you rather have? Apple or Samsung’s, right? HTC isn’t a profitable business right now, so who cares about their revenue or number of customers. You are in business to serve your customers, but also to make money!

Now, you might be saying that profit is the best way to judge. However, you probably have several services, and in terms of the dollar amount they provide, very different numbers. Your actual dollar profit isn’t always the best way to judge success. You want that to grow, but $5,000 profit working 80 hours versus $2,500 profit working 10 hours is a big difference. Your margin is higher on the $2,500 because you are working fewer hours, and therefore have lower costs. You don’t want to work yourself to death. All profit isn’t created equal.

When you are setting prices for something new, margin is a great way to figure out what you should be charging. For example, we have some of our cloud services that in actual dollars, don’t bring in as much profit as our managed services. However, our margins are very healthy on our cloud services so I know that I have priced them right. If I set my prices on pure dollars, I would price myself out of the market. Instead, I make good margins and plan to make up the rest on volume.

Calculating your margin isn’t difficult at all. All you have to do is take your revenue, whether it is on a customer, service, or your business as a whole, and subtract your costs. Then divide that by that same revenue number. Convert that to a percentage, and you now have your margin. For an example, let’s say that you sell a service at $150. Delivering this service costs you $50. You would have a 67% gross margin. Here is how the formula would work.

$150 – $50 = $100
$100 / $150 = .67
.67 x 100% = 67%

Knowing your gross margin (just the costs for delivering the service) and your net margin (all your costs included) is very important. When pricing your services, you want to focus on gross margin. But looking at your business as a whole, don’t forget net margin. Net margin will include rent, utilities, salaries, insurance, etc. Your gross margin is just going to include the actual costs of delivering that particular service or providing service to a specific customer. For example, for managed services, you would include your RMM tool costs and anything else, like antivirus software, that you include in your managed services plan.


In order to grow your business, you need sufficient margin. Otherwise, you won’t be able to afford advertising, to hire employees, or even to move to a bigger office. I like to keep my gross margin around 60%-70% for most of our services, with some having to be lower due to market prices. In our market, I have found that this keeps us nicely profitable, but still very competitive on deals. My margin also varies based on how complex it is for me to deliver the service.

When you are judging your business success, remember that not all growth is good growth. Margin matters; and, when you get it right, you’ll have plenty of cash in the bank with which to grow your business.

How are you measuring your success, and what margin do you aim for? Let me know in the comments.

Guest Post by Chris Michalec: Chris is the owner of Parkway Technology Solutions, a managed services provider serving small businesses with 1-15 employees in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He started Parkway Tech in 2008 after 10 years of working for several computer repair shops as a technician and manager.

© Technibble – A Resource for Computer Technicians to start or improve their Computer Business
To get started with your own computer business, check out our Computer Business Kit.

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