{"id":2544,"date":"2022-10-26T02:55:15","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T14:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kiwibusinessheroes.co.nz\/awards\/?page_id=2544"},"modified":"2024-09-17T21:53:02","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T09:53:02","slug":"easy-pc","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kiwibusinessheroes.co.nz\/awards\/easy-pc\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy PC"},"content":{"rendered":"

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11 years\u00a0in business<\/b><\/p>\n

Location<\/b>: Auckland Region<\/span><\/p>\n

Contact Name:\u00a0<\/strong>Alex Grant<\/p>\n

Website: www.easypc.co.nz<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Business mission and vision<\/b>:<\/div>\n
To take the pain out of IT through clear and friendly communication without all the technical jargon and to focus on customer satisfaction.<\/div>\n<\/div>
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Vote<\/span><\/a><\/div>
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\u201cWe provide a full range of IT Support throughout Auckland for residential users and small-to-medium businesses.\u201d
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<\/i><\/i><\/span>What sets you apart from your competitors?<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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We go the extra mile for our customers and keep them in the loop the whole way, we take ownership of issues and see them through to the end and we treat them with the respect they deserve.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Please provide details of any business awards you have won.<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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<\/i><\/i><\/span>Please describe why you decided to go into business for yourself.<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
I started Easy PC after working for several other IT companies who didn’t focus on the customer. Their customers were always frustrated at being talked down to, bounced around from person to person and not getting clear communication. I thought their must be a better way!<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Please describe some of the challenges you needed to overcome to get your business off the ground.<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
I had to juggle a full-time job initially alongside Easy PC whilst I grew my customer base and gradually invested in all the aspects of setting the business up (branding, website, accounts setup, various software systems, etc). I was doing all the work after hours on top of my full time job until I had enough business to go into Easy PC full time which meant some very long work days!<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Please tell us about an example where you managed to overcome a significant challenge that stood in the way of your business success.<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
Signing our first business customer onto a Service Level Agreement was a real challenge as I had to figure out pricing and put together the legal contract for it having never done one before. I found every possible example\/template that I could online and adapted them to fit New Zealand’s laws, ran them past some friends who work in IT and ran them past a lawyer. It took a lot of work and fretting that every detail was right but it worked, we landed the customer!<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Please explain how perseverance or overcoming adversity has been necessary for you to make a success of your business.<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
It is quite common for us to get a new customer who has come to us after reaching the limit of their frustrations with their existing IT provider. When this happens they are usually very stressed and have already spent a significant amount on trying to resolve their problems with their exisitng IT provider without a solution. We have to try to give them a good solution whilst being sympathetic and understanding. These situations call for dedication to reach a result and we often give discounts to make this situation more palateable for them. Usually this results in them loving our work, continuing to use us for their IT and word of mouth. These opportunities are critical to gaining new customers.<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>What business success have you achieved to date? <\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
We have started several side-businesses offering Web hosting and domain names, Vocie Over IP (VOIP) business phone systems, web development, and graphic design & branding. Our top success so far though is our customer satisfaction and the word of mouth it results in.<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>What are you most proud of in relation to your business?<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
Our customer satisfaction. We get so many good testimonials and reviews and it results in great word of mouth. All of this leads to a much less stressfull work environment when your customers are happy!<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/i><\/i><\/span>How many people does your business employ?<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
EasyPC only employs myself but I have contractors I use for overflow. The aformentioned side-businesses have a contractor in each of them except the web hosting which I have an equal business partner in. Aim is to continue to grow and emply someone full-time in EasyPC<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>What contractors do you regularly use in your business?<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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IT Support contractors for overflow, a web developer in the web development business and a graphic designer in the graphic design and branding business.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>What training opportunities have you provided to the people you employ?<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
I had an employee for about a year who had to quit due to illness. During his employment I sent him on a several training courses and conferences for common industry software we used, trained him in all the systems EasyPC uses and acted as a bouncing board for all the jobs he worked on with daily check-ins on each of his jobs and brainstorming about how he would tackle any issues he got stuck on. He told me he was very happy with the support he had when he needed it whilst still having some autonomy in his role.<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>What positive reviews and testimonials do you have from happy customers?<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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Many!!! There are a few listed on my current website but my previous website had many more. See here: https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220126170900\/https:\/\/www.easypc.co.nz\/about\/testimonials\/<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Apart from the potential financial benefits, what other benefits do you get from being a business owner?<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
I love getting to deal with different people from different walks of life (often in person) every day and the satisfaction I get from their appreciation when I provide them with solutions. Additionally, I’m always learning as IT changes very quickly and every job is different so I get a lot of variety.<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Please describe any community involvement or sponsorship your business is involved with.<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
We support several charities (The Devonport Peninsula Trust, NZ Riding for the Disabled and The Devonport Community House), we are members of the NZ Institute of IT Professionals (IITP), we sponsor North Shore United AFC football club as a whole and two teams within it and Alex is the Vice President of his weekly BNI networking group.<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>What other ways do you - as a business - give back to the community?<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
On a case-by-case basis we regularly provide discounts to students, new businesses starting up, people in extremely frustrating circumstances or where a degree of understanding\/sympathy to their circumstances or financial ability seems appropriate.<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Please outline any other information you think is relevant to this entry.<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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[totalpoll id=”2561″]<\/p>\n<\/div>

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