| Ben Thomas started Simple Act Computers six years ago as a one-man show. At the time the company focused mainly on support with a retail element, including online sales through the company’s web site. For the first few years Thomas ran the company from the kitchens, living rooms and garages of the homes where he lived — not an ideal working space when you’re trying to configure multiple computers for a business client.
Although still a small company, Simple Act Computers has grown every year since its inception and today it boasts a roster of more than 350 active clients, including Windermere Real Estate, Northwest Design Center and Furniture Gallery, Prowse and Company, CFA Northwest Mortgage, Castlewood Builders and John L. Scott Real Estate.
Recently Simple Act Computers moved into its new home, a 1,500 square foot shop in central Kitsap with plenty of dedicated space to store equipment and computers, and workspace that can accommodate up to eight computers in various states of disarray, as well as a server.
“We use our shop as our home base,” Thomas said, rather than as a storefront. The vast majority of work the company does is onsite at its clients’ business locations.
Additional changes have taken place that are helping to poise the company for new growth. Thomas’s former business partner, Shea Anderson, who joined the company in 2004, officially left Simple Act Computers in March and is currently in the Philippines pursuing other interests. Anderson and Thomas are old friends, but despite that friendship Anderson was not a good fit for the company, Thomas maintains.
“I was getting negative responses [from customers],” said Thomas, “which you can’t have in this business.”
Thomas is quick to point out that the split was amicable.
“He’s still my best friend and I want only good things for him,” Thomas said. “But he won’t be coming back to Simple Act.”
With Anderson’s departure, Thomas is confident that customers will see a renewed dedication to integrity, customer service and responsiveness, elements that Thomas strives to maintain at the highest levels for the company, but which he admits were tarnished during Anderson’s tenure.
To replace Anderson, Thomas hired Jeff Damschen, a longtime associate of Thomas’ who takes customer service very seriously. Although only with the company a few short weeks, so far Damschen appears to be learning the ropes quickly.
“It’s a lot of road time,” said Damschen of the work, “But we take pride in our work and what we do.”
Simple Act Computer’s services include advanced repairs and system migration, as well as hardware, software and security support and ongoing maintenance contracts. The company’s business is split roughly in half between sales and support, but the retail component of the business has been eliminated.
“We didn’t want to try to compete with Best Buy and those places,” he said.
Instead, Simple Act Computers sales efforts focus on helping its clients select and buy the right equipment to meet their needs.
A typical job for Simple Act Computers involves ordering equipment for a client, configuring the systems at the shop, installing the systems at the client site and providing ongoing maintenance services.
“There’s a lack of business-oriented, onsite support in Kitsap County,” said Thomas, a gap that Simple Act Computers is happy to fill.
Point of sale systems are a growing niche for Simple Act Computers, and the company’s retailer client base is expanding, meaning a full day of work for Thomas and Damschen is often followed by a long night installing systems while the client’s store is closed.
“It’s lots of after hours work,” said Damschen.
The company is a certified partner of Microsoft, Novell and Cisco, but Thomas doesn’t place too much stock in formal training and certificates.
“There is a lot of ongoing training,” said Thomas. “But this business changes so fast that certificates and diplomas mean nothing. One year in the field will give you more experience than training or degrees.”
Thomas will use this philosophy when looking for a new employee, which he expects to have to do in the next few months. He’s more interested, he said, in a potential employee who is able to look at a problem and come up with a solution quickly than one who has a number of certifications but little in-field experience.
“Most people in this industry have a passion for it, they’ve lived it,” said Thomas.
Simple Act Computers does not offer Web design, software design or programming services. “I couldn’t code my way out of a box,” said Thomas.
The company also does not work with Apple computers. “We just don’t have the knowledge for them,” Thomas added.
Business appears to be booming for the small company, but Thomas has even bigger plans for expansion. His financial goal: to become a $1 million company by the end of 2006.
“Last year we did a quarter million and we’ve already passed that,” he said.
“We could have easily turned into a tiny storefront,” said Thomas, “but that’s not what we wanted. We want to be something big for businesses.”
Thomas’s ultimate goal is to grow large enough to be capable of providing services for national corporations and retailers.
“We don’t want to be a mom and pop computer store,” he said. “If McDonald’s or K Mart calls up we want to be able to say, ‘sure, we can help you.’”. | 