Wired for success

Mike Pilsch and Jason Hubbard have been running Spokane-based Geeks on Wheels for about a year. Like the name says, they’re geeks and they’ll drive over and fix someone’s computer for $65 an hour.

The two were working as sales reps at a Spokane Office Depot store until 12 months ago. They were also repairing and servicing computers on the side. After talking about starting a business together, the two finally made the change last October.

Geeks on Wheels is one of several Eastern Washington and North Idaho firms that make on-site visits to businesses and residences to deal with computer problems. That same service is also provided by national office equipment retailers, such as CompUSA, Best Buy and Circuit City.

Hubbard, who’s 32, said he’s been fixing his friends’ and family members’ computers for many years. A brother told him to start a business and use the word “geek” in the name.

“I didn’t do it. For one thing, I didn’t like the word ‘geek.’ Now I wish I had had the courage and done it much sooner than I did,” Hubbard said.

The pair manage about 25 service calls a week. They’re charging less than the industry standard to attract business.

“Most of our work comes through word-of-mouth. Or being in the Yellow Pages,” said Hubbard.

Pilsch, who’s 28, said the plan is for Geeks on Wheels to build customers gradually. “I’m sure we can handle 30 or more calls per week,” he said.

“People will develop a relationship with us the way they do with their car mechanic. They’ll stick with them and maintain the relationship,” said Pilsch.

The two recently installed a backup system for Career Search International, an employee recruitment firm with three Spokane locations.

Company owner Tom Krustangel said Geeks on Wheels surpassed his expectations. “They’re better than the four or five other (on-site repair) firms I’ve used to perform work for us. They’re quick; they bill reasonably. They’ve made our whole office system work better,” he said.

Pilsch said he and his partner had a limited notion of how easy it would be to run a small business.

Added Pilsch: “I was thinking, man, we’ll get $65 an hour and that’s the most I’ve ever made. But then you have to realize that there’s all this administrative work. You suddenly find out that you’re accountable for everything, 24 hours a day.”

The partners are shooting for $1,600 a week in revenue but haven’t reached that target, Hubbard said.

“Not yet. But we should be able to get there by next year,” he said.

The three most common problems they’ve found are: viruses and spyware clogging a PC; software issues caused by device drivers or bad installations; and drive errors due to hardware problems or file system meltdowns.

They typically visit a customer’s home or business and decide if the job can be done there or more easily at the company’s office in downtown Spokane.

“We don’t need to spend two hours there at their house if we can do the same thing at the office while doing two or three other machines,” Hubbard said.

They’ve realized many customers prefer an at-home visit from a technician rather than taking a bulky PC into a repair shop.

“I’ve found a lot of people don’t want to unplug their cables from the back of the PC,” said Hubbard.

“And it’s sometimes better for us to be there and look at the computer in the home or right there at the office. For some problems it helps to see exactly what else, like a printer, may be connected or if other circumstances explain” what’s going on, said Hubbard.