Sunday, March 14, 1999
Quick-fix for computers
PC On Call clearly saw how to build a company
BY MIKE BOYER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Fixing computers might not seem to have much in common with buying eyeglasses, but fledgling PC On Call has borrowed some of the techniques used to build the national LensCrafters eyewear chain to expand its mobile computer repair business.
Started in 1996 with one service van by entrepreneur Steve Pollak, PC On Call, which recently moved to a larger building in Sharonville, now has 16 vehicles and 30 employees in Cincinnati. This month, the company expanded to Columbus, and it hopes to add Dayton later this year.
Paul Cashen, PC On Call's chief executive, said the company wants to expand to eight to 10 markets next year and eventually 40 cities nationwide.
Mr. Cashen, a former senior vice president of operations at LensCrafters, said comparisons between PC On Call and the Cincinnati-based eyewear retailer aren't entirely out of left field.
“We share a lot of the same philosophies,” Mr. Cashen said.
“We believe in treating our people right, and we believe in customer satisfaction.”
And like LensCrafters, PC On Call is investing heavily in building a brand identity through print, radio and TV advertising.
PC On Call also dresses employees in uniforms with the company logo, a look that Mr. Pollak jokingly calls “computer casual” to reinforce the image.
The privately held company won't disclose revenues, but Mr. Cashen said the company's long-range plan envisions sales growing to more than $500 million. The company completed a private equity placement late last year to fund its growth.
Mr. Cashen said advertising is the company's second-biggest expense after its vehicles, which cost about $50,000 fully equipped.
“This isn't rocket science. This is really a first-in market opportunity,” Mr. Cashen said.
“It's all about branding.”
In that respect, the company is a lot like Rotor-Rooter, the Cincinnati-based plumbing and draining cleaning service.
“When people have a plumbing clog, they think of Roto-Rooter,” he said. “When they have a computer problem, we want them to think of PC On Call.”
The company has taken the comparison with Roto-Rooter a step further by modeling its dispatching capabilities after Roto-Rooter's.
In most cases, Mr. Cashen said, the company, which receives between 100 and 150 calls daily, responds within 24 hours. But emergency service is available on shorter notice.
“Just as people think of LensCrafters when they think of eyeglasses in about an hour, we want them to think of PC On Call when they need computer service,” Mr. Cashen said.
There's another parallel of sorts between PC On Call and LensCrafters.
LensCrafters was the first eyewear chain to put its lens grinding operations in the store — in effect bringing the service to the customer. PC On Call brings its repair labs to customers' homes and businesses.
A lot of computer repair services offer on-site service, Mr. Cashen said. But what sets PC On Call apart is that its trucks — which it calls Mobile ServiCentre vehicles — are repair shops on wheels.
“After other repair services send someone to your home to diagnose your problem, one of two things happens,” Mr. Cashen said. “A — they either don't have the part they need, and they have to leave and come back. Or B — they can't make the repair on site and have to take the unit back to their shop.”
PC On Call's air-conditioned vehicles are computer labs on wheels with their own electric generators, table-top workspace and enough components to assemble three computers from scratch.
After a technician diagnoses a problem, he or she takes the unit to the truck, does the work and reinstalls the unit for the customer, usually in about two hours, Mr. Cashen said.
Mr. Pollak, who handles the technical side of the business, said each technician has a cell phone so that if he encounters a problem he hasn't seen before, he can instantly draw on the expertise of the company's other technicians in the field and at the company's headquarters.
An industrial engineer by training, Mr. Pollak started a computer repair business called the PC Upgrade Shop in Sharonville in the 1980s. That business became part of PC Upgrade — a short-lived computer service in Forest Park that also modeled its in-store lab after LensCrafters.
Mr. Pollak left PC Upgrade in 1995 after it was acquired by Blockbuster's parent, Viacom, and before Viacom subsequently closed the business.
Mr. Pollak said the idea for a mobile computer repair service came to him out of the blue.
“I thought, "I could do this,'” he said. “We were immediately accepted (by customers). It was fun and easy to do.”
Mr. Cashen first encountered PC On Call in early 1997 when he called PC On Call when the CD-ROM on his home PC was giving him problems.
“I thought it was a wonderful concept,” he said.
Although Mr. Cashen and Mr. Pollak didn't know each other then, they had some mutual business acquaintances, including Strategic Creative Services, a Cincinnati company that was developing the logo and marketing for Mr. Pollak and had worked with Mr. Cashen at LensCrafters.
Later in 1997, Mr. Cashen and Mr. Pollak got together over breakfast, hit it off and shortly thereafter crafted a business plan.
Mr. Cashen, who joined the company a year ago, said the growing popularity of PCs and the explosion in home-based workers and businesses is fueling demand for PC On Call's service.
He compares it to the early days of television when home TV repair was a thriving business.
He said about 60 percent of the company's calls are from home computer users and 40 percent from small businesses, but on a revenue basis, “it's just about the inverse of that.”
Mr. Cashen said PC On Call, which offers service contracts for business customers, has gotten calls from businesses whose PCs are still under warranty by the manufacturer.
“They're especially dependent on their systems and don't want to wait for service from an 800-number,” he said. “For many, without their computers, they're out of business.”
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