Thinking of jacking in my business in

Bless you RickyC!!! How about coming to France and I'll happily build you an extension to your house.

A quick message to AmazingTrade: how about some replies to the points made and advice given. We are all on your side but I certainly would appreciate some feedback, just to be able to help you.

On a happier note blue skies and temperatures of mid-twenties forecast for this weekend - plus our son is popping over to see his Ma & Pa. Great.

A bientot,

Dave

 

AT - wireless networks is a good thing to get into, everyone wants one nowadays, AOL etc are advertising them on tv etc etc.

my suggestion would be to prepare a leaflet explaining the pros and cons e.g. solid brick house equals high signal attenutation therefore solution is to add in extra wireless access points / extenders etc.

you could even prepare this leaflet as your site survey, and put ticks and crosses as you see fit when you check out their property. i would be impressed as a customer to get that find of feedback. the end of the leaflet can give recommendations and pricing.

also make it clear to the customer that wireless networks can be fussy / drop suddenly, that kind of thing. maybe add in some kind of guarantee - free return during 7 days after installation, £x within 30 days. after 30 days, no liability - that should help.

AT, bottom line is - getting into pc / wireless networks / those kind of technologies - things fail suddenly, and can be a right PITA to get working again. but it can also be a lucrative business if you provide good customer service. as you gain more clients, you will get more through word of mouth, not through your own advertising.

all the best.

 

Ummm, I think AT may be busy sorting out someones wireless network.

 

Have a look at the HomePlug devices AT. Available in 14 & 85 Mbps speeds at the moment and shortly to be 200Mbps.

I have been having endless wireless problems in my flat across multiple hardware configurations so I got a few of these and set them up today. Basically they allow you to network over the mains, you need one at the router end then another at every mains point you want a connection. Seems to work flawlessly so far. Not done any network file transfer to test speed but they are meant to be somewhat faster than wireless.

You can get wireless bridge variants which may be useful with this particular client. You pay a slight premium for them, the three ethernet only versions I got off ebay were £110 total I think, if they carry on working like this though they are worth every penny.

I would definitely suggest looking into these, all the configuration could be done by you at home before visiting the client also. They are virtually configuration free, you just need to specify a private network name which provides 56-bit encryption to stop anyone else plugging an adapter into the mains ring gaining access.

If you want any other info let me know.

 

Have you listened to your hi-fi since you got them? Think of all that mains noise

 

...but that's where your second business comes in.

 

Indeed I have installed a couple of home plugs in the past, great products.

Thanks for all your advice, and yes I have learnt a big lesson, never do a job just because their customer thinks they want it. The lesson I have learnt with this mess (3 wifi problems in one week) is to make sure the customer knows exactly what is involved in a wireless network and the problems they incure. I produced a 4 page booklet on them a few months back, that did solve the come back problem until now.

I either have to change things, get laywers to draw up policies etc and move on or get a 9-5 and I hate 9-5 .

 

I havent read all this thread as i dont have the time. But this is the main reason why i dont go into that exact same business myself, everytime i think i might get into it for some extra cash i have to remind myself why I dont. The solution is as some have mentioned - use the mechanic or similar analogy, or if its simply too much hassle to continually explain to the dim-witted and to have people trying it on then call it a day. Good luck.

 

You don't need a lawyer to draw up your procedures or agreements. You need to sit down and document:
- title of the service you are defining
- definition of the service
- what are the included deliverables
- what is excluded (here you might want to detail caveats regards WiFi and houses)
- what is required from the client to enable delivery (access to the site, light, power, etc.)
- what is the definition of completion
- what are the terms of the agreement (the parties involved, start date/time and end date/time, applicable law, payment, etc.)
- what is the procedure for reporting problems after service has been delivered and what is the expected response (here you may want to refer to a separate document which highlights typical WiFi problems).
- what is the remedy procedure for problems - this is the section where if the warranty on devices/products becomes the responsibility of the manufacturer, that you describe this fact. Ie. you installed my router and now it doesnt work: you define that you will attend to check the setup but if the router is dead that they must contact <netgear> regards warranty fulfilment.
- some other stuff
- signatures

This migh be OTT and you might just want to take the obvious bits, but the above is, in basic terms, what our clients have to sign and return at least 48 hours before we will visit their site.

I realise agreement in advance would probably be v difficult for you and might make doing your kind of work impossible, so I would say you need them to read and sign the agreement (make it as friendly as possible) at the point you arrive. If they can't agree then you have to decide whether you're prepared to take the risk of doing the work.

 

Only just seen this, I did this a few years ago, it did turn out to be more hassle than it was worth, dealing with individuals is hard work, they always want work done for nothing and think that as soon as you touch their pc you are contracted to work on it for life for nothing, I had this without accption on every job I did, oh and they also think they can ring you up anytime of day or night for advice, again for free.

You'll not get rich this way, you'll just go grey.

 

AT, did your degree course offer modules on how to start, run and make a profit from a small business? If not then that might be contributing to your woes but if they did then I'd be tempted to ask for a refund

 

AT, how is your business running after all this advice?
Are things any better and do you have a bit of free time to use for a life?

 

yeah - AT hasn't been on here for ages...hope everythings going well tho...

 

Things have changed a lot, my dads had a nasty accident was in hospital for two weeks, the jist is my parents are now having to sell the house.

On top of that I've had a really busy few weeks with my business and trying to fix that in with my girlfriend is difficult. This is the first day off I have had for a while and I am spending it with my girlfriend this afternoon and my mates this evening.

Been doing decorating this morning, (my dad had his accident falling of a ladder while doing the decorating).

 

AT, I'm almost sorry I asked but rest assured you have my good wishes and I am sure those for many other members to see you through this trying time.

 

Ditto, my thoughts are with you.

All I can say is setting up a business seems to bring out the worst luck you can imagine.

I went out on my own 4 weeks ago and after a series of annoying hiccups, failures, etc. it was topped off by a rather serious accident at one of the sites I am working on and I have been left immobile for 4-6 weeks (heavy oak door frame fell on the back of my leg and cut it to pieces, ouch).

Stick with it is the only advice I can offer.

 

Hope things improve on the home front.

With regard the business, why not take the same approach as bt? If there's a problem that's due to something you've done then maybe you should fix it for free for goodwill or liability reasons. If it's not, then charge a hefty call-out fee.