Opening up your own business (Columbia, Lexington: home, buy, subdivision)

[heartuvfire]

Hello Eveeyone! My family and I are moving into the Columbia area in early 08.My husband is co-owners of a small computer repair store here in our home town.My husband would really like to open his own store doing the same thing once we get into an area in Columbia but I being the cautious one is a bit worried of his idea.Any thoughts good or bad on this? Does anyone have any idea how a computer repair store might do? Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.Thanks =)

[waccamatt]

I would see most people taking their computers to Best Buy or Circuit City, but if you located in-town, where there are no BB's or CC's, and marketed yourselves well, you might find a niche market.

[Brandon Hoffman]

There are many computer stores/repair shops around Columbia. I do not know how well they do or how many there are so I would be hesitant to give any advice. I can say I believe the competition would be very tough, but that is only my opinion.

[Chi2Midlands]

There is franchise called Computer Renaissance, which offers service, repair, warranty, etc. along with used/refurbished computer sales. They have one location in the Columbia area in Northeast Richland County along Hard Scrabble Road. I had them look at my old laptop when the hard drive crashed. They couldn't fix it, but they were very helpful & friendly, tried their best, and charged me just a reasonable $25 diagnosis fee.

The chain used to be associated with the Winmark Corp. which owns other used/refurbished product chains Play It Again Sports, Plato's Closet, Music Go Round, and Once Upon a Child. They have no other locations in the Columbia area - I don't know where a good area would be - my guess is that you'd either have to go deep into the city or far out into the suburban/exurban fringe (i.e., areas which don't compete too directly with the Best Buy/Circuit City repair facilities). So I would consider either in-town Columbia, assuming rents are manageable. Or I would try the fringes of subdivision development towards Dutch Fork/Chapin up I-26 or Lexington/Red Bank out on I-20. The Computer Renaissance in NE Richland is in a new strip center near newer, large master-planned communities, while being much closer to those communities than the Circuit City and Best Buy along the busy Two Notch Road commercial corridor.

Of course, you can try to strike out on your own without a franchise and also try other areas - but I agree that you may want to avoid being too close to a Best Buy or Circuit City.

[heartuvfire]

Thank you so much for the help and great advice.Looks like its going to be a hard decision.Im so glad i found this site and very grateful for all your help.