Update: May 26, 2021

It's hard to believe that I wrote our first pandemic update almost fifteen months ago with the expectation that this change in operations would last only a few months. Here we are, over a year later... how naive I was back then! Now that there's finally what seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, I suppose it's time to reassess and look to the future, and to speak to you all candidly and honestly about the course we're going to take as we go forward.

When the pandemic first started to become a major feature in all our lives, we shifted our business model dramatically. We went from a primarily housecall-based service to a service that operated on drop-off/pick-up and free remote servicing only. It was a big adjustment, for both myself and my valued clients - but it's been a successful shift overall. At the same time, I also stopped treating this business like... well... a business. Rather than focusing on income and profitability, this business was treated more like "hobby income" or a public service, operating on a "pay what you want/pay what you can afford" basis and generally just trying to do our best to be good neighbors and help those around us so we could all get through these troubling times together. I still think that this was the right decision.

As we look forward, like all things, this pandemic too must end. All members of our household are now fully vaccinated, as I hope are the majority of my clients. We could probably resume regular operations at this point and go back to treating this like a business, to be honest - but for a variety of reasons which I'll go into here, I don't think that we're going to do that.

The pandemic changed things, undeniably. And one of the many things that it changed is that our business, as such, has "closed" permanently. I admit that I have not been transparent about this, as I have still been trying to figure out the path forward for us and how to explain these changes to all of you, but at the end of 2020 I officially shuttered the shop and reported the business closed to the IRS and the State of New Hampshire. To put it succinctly, there is no "business" anymore.

That doesn't mean, however, that we're done helping people out, or that our mission to make computer ownership and repair more affordable is over. In fact, just the opposite. I've been very pleased with the success of this new model that we adopted during the pandemic, and bolstered by its success, I think we'll just keep it going. So, are we a business? No. Will we still help people get their computers fixed? 100% yes. Will we make a lot of money doing it? Probably not, and that's just fine with me!

Here's the truth, friends: I'm not getting any younger. I'm old, and I'm tired. I have more responsibilities at my day job, and have to spend more time focusing on those duties. I just don't have the time, energy, or inclination to run this "business" any longer, with all the time demands and stress that being a "business" entails. But I do very much still have the inclination to help the people around me and to do right by my clients. So while I no longer feel that I can commit to running the repair shop as a business, it's still a fun and enjoyable hobby that I can do during my (more limited, these days) free time.

What does this all mean? Basically that the pandemic model that we adopted for the last year will remain our permanent model going forward. I don't want to return to spending my weekends making housecalls and working non-stop, missing out on time with my wife and my daughter that can never be replaced. So we will continue taking work through drop-off/pick-up, and we will continue providing FREE (yes, really, free) remote support for our clients whenever it is possible to do so. Sure, I might make a housecall every now and then when it's truly justified and required, but that will be the exception and not the norm.

This also means we're going to continue treating this as "hobby income" and offering our services on a "pay what you want/pay what you can afford" basis. One of the best things about doing this has always been that it was NOT my main source of income, and I didn't have to charge people an arm, leg, and the kidney of their firstborn. Now that it's not a business and I don't have to worry about being profitable, I can offer more free support and more flexibility in charges and payment arrangements. I like that.

What does this mean for you, our clients and friends? Well, to start with, you can expect the same quality service that you've received in the past - my commitment there to providing the HIGHEST quality service at the LOWEST prices remains unchanged. And you can expect smaller bills, and more services performed without a charge at all, especially if they can be performed remotely. It might be a little harder for me to respond to "URGENT! NOW!" requests but I'll do my best, and to be honest the speed of service overall might drop a tiny bit based on my time demands and my desire not to work myself into an early grave - but throughout the past year or so there's really been little change in how quickly we turn most jobs around. The vast majority of jobs are still done in under 48 hours, or even under 24 hours with same-day turnaround. 

I truly believe that everyone wins with this new way of doing "not business" that we've pioneered over the course of the pandemic. So many of you have taken advantage of our services during the past year, and offered glowing support of this model, and I truly thank you all for your invaluable feedback and for coming along on the ride with us as we reshuffled our normal course of business and forged a new path. As I've said before, this model has worked for 99% of our clients in 99% of situations, and you guys have really proven to me that it's a sustainable model that offers the best value for you, and the best flexibility and quality of life for me.

It's been a crazy ride over the past decade building this business up - we never once advertised, and never actually even intended to start a business! This all started because I got sick of constantly seeing my local library with all their patron computers displaying "out of order" signs and offered to fix them up for free, and it was all word of mouth and helping people out that got us to where we are today with a client list that tallies well into three digits. I can't thank you enough for your support as we grew together, and I look forward to continuing to serve you all - not so much as a business now, but more simply as a friend, a neighbor, and a fellow human being. I really think that this change will be for the better.

The past year has shown us that we can be together even with distance between us, that technology has reached a point where it can enable us to work remotely and still be productive, and together we ARE getting through these hard times. No doubt there will be other hard times in the future again, and I feel confident that we will get through those as well. Because pandemic or not, I truly believe that we're better when we're all in it together: working together, helping each other out, and putting people before profit.

Let's be better, together. ✌
-Seth