On June 21, 2019 at 13:09, buzz said...
Yes, but the market that will appreciate our services is shrinking. In the 1980’s there was a growing market for custom building and supporting personal computers. There were a number of small businesses doing this. At this point it is mostly DIY. While there is a small, but vibrant market for the hardware, not so much for mom and pop builders and installers. I’m not saying that our market will disappear, only that we’ll need to dig a bit harder for customers — especially for the smaller projects.
The thing that never changes is that time is more valuable than money. There are people who don't want to mess with this stuff, no matter how DIY it may be. Those are our clients. They will always be around. The quantity of this work of course is driven by the vibrance of the economy - better economy, more money to spend on toys.
BTW, you could make a decent list of "DIY" stuff that is still not DIY for many of our clients. It is only DIY for certain types of people. Some of the things I install most frequently may be DIY in your book. Doesn't matter - it is a bona fide solution and makes people happy when you make it work for them.
Our job is to keep our ear to the ground and make sure we have reliable products and not stuff that may or may not work. Then you make sure it's installed right and installed neat. Last, you make sure that your service is good after the sale, keeping everything working. That gets us referrals and keeps the wheels turning.
