Providing service

A few days ago I made an agreement with a local internet cafe. They need a network andministrator, and I need some money. So that part is good.

The other part, however, concerned me for a period of time.
Making such an agreement would mean I'm going back to 'working for uncle Joe', right? They have a problem to solve, so they pay me some amount of money to solve it. That's not my problem, and I don't generally enjoy the process. To tell you the truth, the only computer-related thing I hate more than system administration is hardware.

So, at the first glance I am beaten back by my life into an employee state.
However, my attitute towards my current job is quite different from 'make this - get that much'.
First of all, I can come any time suitable for me, and perform my duties in any order and in any way I like it. They care for the result.
Second thing is that I'm not going to do this forever. My vision is different now, after almost half a year of self-employment. I seek a possibility for starting a business.
And I think I have found one there.

There's quite a lot of organizations working with computers on a daily basis. It's not necessary internet cafes or game clubs. Almost any commercial firm uses computers to some extent, starting with a single machine to store the documentation and some CRM/ERP system, to having quite a big network of computers.

Yet, there's still very little service provided to them. Computers hang, software starts to glitch, network doesn't work for unknown reason, etc.
What do they do when they face such a situation?
They call a 'computer' friend.
Or, if there's no such friend, they call a firm that sold those computers to them and ask nicely to come and solve the problem. Usually nobody comes.
Or, they hire an administrator to watch for computers.

Neither way can always be available, and neither way can always be suitable.
A 'computer' friend can be busy with his problems.
A computer selling firm can explain that they deal with the hardware problems, not software ones.
An administrator.. for, say, 1 or 2 computers? Bleh!

So the idea is to open a small firm dealing with software-related problems.
You can either bring your 'broken' computer to us, or call our specialist to your place. You can even make an agreement that our man will come every week to check whether everything is ok, and solve any upcoming problems.
You can be sure that we can deal with anything. Call us, and it is not your problem anymore. We will make sure everything is fixed up and working.

Basically, we do:
- accept your problem, if it is a computer-related one;
- seek the root of the problem, and decide what measures are needed to solve it;
- either solve it at once, or..
- explain in simple terms what should be done, how long will that take, and how much will that cost, and if our client agrees with our solution
- we solve the problem.

We do NOT:
- solve any hardware problems ourselves. However, we always know the right people who DO. We won't charge our client more than the cost of fixing the hardware. Yet, that's still OUR problem, not our CLIENT's problem;
- teach our clients 'how computer works' or any other stuff. We're not teaching courses, we're providing service;
- sell hardware. As beforementioned, we don't deal with hardware ourselves. We're outsourcing these problems to our partners. However, if you wish us to give you an advice on what to buy - that is possible. I'm not sure yet whether we should charge money for this.

The differences between a 'network administrator' person and a 'network administrator firm' are:
- we are always available. Physically, one man can administrate from 4 to 6 different places with a number of computers from 3 to 10 at each place. In reality, nobody actually deals with more than 3 places. Just imagine - you're at once place, providing a routine profilactic, making sure everything is fine. And you get a distress call from another place, because their computers 'all broke down' and 'they lose money every minute' and on and on. You have to come there ASAP. And while you're on the road, a third client calls and mumbles about 'somethingswrongwithmyserver' - perhaps that problem can be solved by pressing the right 'any key', or perhaps that's something serious, he can't tell. That's not a rare situation, actually.
On the contrary, when you are one of the guys in a computer service firm, you can be sure someone will substitute you if such problem uprises. Your work becomes more efficient, and the amount of clients becomes closer to your 'physical' ability.
- we won't disappear right when you're in a middle of computer chaos. Even if somebody gets ill - there is always someone to come and fix your problem.
- we can always make our agreement transparent. If you want a 'black' agreement, with no documents at all - it is possible. If you want a 'white' agreement, with all those papers, contracts, bills and signatures - it is possible either. Whatever suites your needs best.

So, that's what I'm thinking about, and that's why I'm learning all possible problems while I work at those cafes. I will need to understand the nature of problems myself, and I will need to hire people who understand that too. Or teach them.

Alas, my mind have changed quite a bit since that first time the idea of starting my own business have come into my stupid programming head.. :)