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A Geek Goddess
By Taylor Mallory

After 12 years in telecom at Acterna, Laura McInerney, 38, left in 2003 and opened her own franchise business with Geeks on Call, a leading on-site computer service company. Today she owns 19 territories (i.e., franchises) from the Pennsylvania border through northeast Maryland and down the D.C. beltway. She boasts the most Geeks on Call franchises owned by a woman – only four fewer than the top man – and her businesses brought in $1.9 million last year. She expects they'll hit $2.1 million by the end of 2006. McInerney tells PINK how she became a Geek goddess.


Why did you open a Geeks on Call franchise?
I left telecom because the industry petered out. I looked around for a couple different types of roles, but many companies wanted someone 50 to 60 hours a week – too much time away from my three children. I wanted the independence of owning a business without having to put the time and money into building a brand.

How did you finance?
With some personal investments and bank loans. We initially bought two territories [which usually cost about $60,000 for one territory, with discounts for multiples] and then added on. At this point, I have about $300,000 of my own money invested and about $350,000 in bank loans, including financing for our vehicles. In addition to the initial cost, I pay royalties – 11 percent of top-line revenue – and an advertising expenditure [$275 per week per territory] which goes to fund TV and radio spots and a Yellow Pages listing.

What would you do differently?
The only big mistake I made – which I corrected early on – was not doing employee background checks. My very first hire was a con man with a record. Checking him out would have saved me from getting scammed out of $10,000. That almost crushed us as a startup. I now have 21 full-time employees I know I can trust.

What is the smartest thing you did?
As we've grown and updated our procedures and policies for hiring, training, deploying and customer service, I've documented it all. We have a 5-inch-thick binder with procedures and policies for everything, including hiring, firing, health benefits and training. It makes it so much easier to delegate since it's not just in my head anymore.

What advice do you have for women thinking about buying a franchise?
If you can, visit the franchise company. Try to understand all the back office requirements – what a typical day or week is like. It's a lot of work at first because you can't afford to hire someone right away. Make sure you understand time requirements. I only work about 25 to 35 hours a week now, but I started at 70 to 80. Now I can work from home and be with my children, but at first I had to forego family vacations and miss school functions.

What have been your best resources?

Talking with people who know things you don't is really helpful. Particularly my insurance brokers. They know and have seen all the pitfalls in my business. And they're happy to help prevent them because they don't want the claims. And my accountant. When you get set up early and correctly, it's much easier to do your taxes.

 

What's your business success secret?

Knowing how to hire good people. As an owner, you can only be in one place at a time. If you can communicate your philosophies to someone you trust who understands and shares those philosophies, they can fill in for you.

 

What's the funniest thing that's happened to you?

We don't like to talk about customers but when you work with clients, you are such a hero to them. We seem brilliant but it's not really rocket science what we do. One client got a new computer and her mouse wasn't working. When we got there, we realized she was trying to use the mouse on the monitor.

 

What's the most innovative business development strategy you've used?

I love parades. We once had 16 different cars simultaneously participating in seven different Independence Day parades in seven cities from Harford County to Annapolis. The Geeks had a blast decorating the PT Cruisers in red, white and blue fanfare and wearing their Geek glasses. And the crowd loved it!

 

Where did you get your experience?

I have an undergrad degree in technology and graduate degree in marketing. At Acterna I took management/HR classes, the best being risk management. They taught us how to think like a CEO, always anticipating what can go wrong – and the "ART" [an acronym for "avoid, reduce, transfer"] of risk reduction.