MicroAge Prince George

3691 Massey Drive

Prince George BC V2N 4E6

Phone:  250-564-3778

E-mail:  service@microagepg.com

Many things happened after Mike and I purchased Computime Computers and took over the operations in March 1997. We were located in a fairly new building on Second Avenue in Prince George. The company was comprised of three distinct areas, Sales, Service & Training.

The downturn of the economy, major layoffs and shutdowns at the local mills, the introduction of big box stores (London Drugs, Staples, & Costco) selling computers and related items at less than our cost had us looking at different ways to provide the sales and services to our clients.  As the "Big Box Stores" moved in and our small business competitors closed their doors, the pressure increased. The public was saying, "Why should we support a small local business that may not be here in 6 months". Yet they wanted the support that small business gives and knew they wouldn't get from the big box stores. We started carrying less inventory and specializing in what we did bring in, ordering custom systems for our clients.  Still that wasn't enough to compete on a level playing field.

In March 1999 we joined the MicroAge network (a Hartco company).  As a franchise:

• we were able to purchase inventory at less costs than before, 
• we gained access to information and management techniques
• our technicians had more resources available to them (over 800 technicians across the country)

Looking into the future at this time we realized that competing with the big box stores was not something we wanted to do.  Selling "stuff" at less than or barely above cost was not conducive to making profit.  Administration costs, rent, wages, freight charges, etc. could not be covered if we kept selling "stuff".  We had to sell or provide services to our clients.  

We tried to get the idea across to our sales staff that we had to sell more services and fewer products. This was difficult for a few reasons:

• our existing staff found it much easier to sell tangibles
• the clients expected or wanted the services for free
• with the economy on a big downturn, people were holding onto their money

Prior to our taking over the company, the classrooms were filled with students (mostly EI sponsored recipients that were upgrading their skills in order to get back into the workforce).  In April, HRDC changed their way of sponsoring recipients and the Provincial government insisted that all training was to be done at Provincial institutions, ie. the local college and a new provincial training centre.  Because of that we were forced to change our direction and train people who were already working but still needed to upgrade their skills or learn specific tasks.  Customizing computer training for businesses became our focus and has remained that way.

Like all businesses, we had to make changes.  First we cut all possible expenses, then in November 2000 we changed locations and moved into smaller quarters.  This proved to be the best thing to do as it forced our staff to concentrate on selling services as we had very little space for the retail items we had carried at the larger location.

At the end of December 2000 local businessman, Tom Steadman, was called upon to mentor us and help us determine what to do and how it was that we were going to do it. We spent several nights going through our financials. Using an Excel spreadsheet, we did a breakdown of our past performance, analyzed our mix, and drew on Tom's experience. We then changed our product mix and set goals based on what we felt were realistic targets. On paper it all looked fine. We had to make it work. 

Once we had our targets in place we called a staff meeting. We put the numbers on a large whiteboard showing both the past numbers and our targets. We explained how, if we changed the product mix, we could actually sell less in a month and make money. We showed them how even a small percentage in one of the areas could make a large difference on the bottom line. We explained to them how valuable their time was and how we needed them to be more accountable for it. Lastly, we told them if they did not believe in the model it would not work. We all had to work at it to make the changes necessary. The theory and preparation was now in place but we had to see if we could actually put it into practice.

Our target numbers were designed to change our product mix to such that it would decrease our revenue but increase our margins. This was to be done by increasing service and training revenues, sales of service parts, and decrease our dependence on the sale of computers and peripherals. 

Concentrating on providing the best services to small business became our focus.  We wanted to help them become successful, more productive and profitable.  By doing that we would also make money.  Partnerships - meeting with clients to explain that we wanted to help them become successful by planning for their future with the use of technology and creating a proactive, rather than reactive, network environment. We told them that we are committed to: providing service over and beyond what they were used to; hiring the best technicians in Prince George, and assuring them that we could solve their problems by calling on the MicroAge network of support and knowledge if our in-house personnel were not able to come up with a solution in a timely fashion.

Our next 3 quarters showed a dramatic turn-around. We developed some very good contracts over the past 1.5 years and continue to do so.  We are very pleased with the results. 

Our goal now is to continue partnering with our clients, by concentrating on providing computer network solutions that will help them move forward through the 21st century.