What’s Wrong with Break-Fix?

Everyone needs an IT Shop. If you work in IT, you already know 9/10 people can hardly even turn on their computer and sometimes it is a miracle if they can even do that. So things go wrong. That's when you get the call.

When things go wrong, these crazy router breakers dig into the web to find an IT Shop who is available to solve their problem. Every problem is fixed by a different technician than last, or on occasion, relationships are built, it just depends on who has the time to fix the broken router when the call comes in.

Sometimes you have time, sometimes you don’t. Even if you don’t have time, you probably end up working extra just to service that one mother who always call you for help. Because. Well, she always calls you. You don’t want to let her down, plus who knows what type of work next month will have in store.

Unfortunately, these clients, the ones with the broken computers, never seem to believe their computer will break and they surely never think it will break a second time. And they hate spending money. They don’t listen to your preventative recommendations for their network and instead they bet on the good fortune of the universe to bring them well-being in all of their technical affairs until they forget to install a driver to their wifi adapter, then, hell breaks loose.

And you get another call.

Fortunately and unfortunately for you as the technician, everyone calls you. When their things break, you make money. But the problem is, you don’t know when their things are going to break. You want to foster powerful relationships with your customers and give them the best service but at the same time if they don’t take the preventative measures it just means they'll probably be calling you up again sometime soon with more business to fix their new problem.

Except this time they’ll blame you for not preventing it. The irony.

Your business model, well-being, and food for the week are all betting on the same hand of the universe, that their technology will or will not break. Your well-being rests upon their misfortune.

Predicting broken technology is difficult. You find times of business when you are hell-raising busy. Money is moving but at that point, you don’t care. The money in the industry is good but if that’s what you really wanted you’d go work for some big asshole corporation. They're not all assholes, pardon my french.

The point is -- you don’t want six layers of management. You wanted lifestyle and freedom. Money and overtime is not why you do what youo do, but when you have equally dry periods of your business, you don’t have an option because who knows when lots of things are going to break again and bring you income.

This makes your life within break-fix hard. Hard is okay. A challenge is fun, but when you find it difficult to budget, plan how to pay your staff consistently, and plan for the future, this challenge is less than appealing, it's actually stressful and plain out just a pain in the ass.

The Broken Fundamentals of the

Break-Fix Business Model

To be more explicit than above, in break-fix you are paid hourly, this means there is actually an incentive to take longer and do a bad job that will make something break so you have more business. You don’t do this… probably… but think about it, it makes no sense.

There is uncertainty in your work. When you’ll have work. How much work. Where the work will be and who it will be with. You make money in erratic patterns but you have to pay all of your bills and employees a consistent, predictable wage.

Without being able to actively monitor your clients’ network, you can never prevent errors. You can fix something and have an entirely separate issue arise one month later. You might be doing a world-class job but all your client sees is this guy isn't fixing my stuff well. They start to question you, relationships get rocky.

People start to wonder if you aren’t good at your job. Not only is this bad business, but it just sucks!

As an IT pro, you know all of these things. None of the above listed may be new to one, maybe one or two points, but you have been around the block. We are not here to tell you how to run your business, but you clicked on this article for a reason, you are considering making the switch to Managed Service Provider.

Whether you are scared of client buy-in, don’t have the time to make the big change or are unsure how to tackle pricing, we are here to be a support system and a resource in allowing you to make the right decision.

Let’s investigate the logistics of the MSP business model before moving on.