|
|
The store won't open until Oct. 1, but Johnston said for the grand opening he will offer free flash drives to the first 25 patrons and discounts on services for the remainder of the year.
Johnston said he feels he can offer the discounts because of the demand for his services.
When he started the work on the side earlier this year, Johnston said he the demand was overwhelming.
"People started saying they wanted someone they could trust to get it done fast and right," he said.
The Cisco, Microsoft and CompTIA certified specialist has an associate's degree in network administration.
"It's something I've been wanting to do for 10 years or more, own my own business, and I just never had the opportunity," Johnston said. "I came across a good location and a good group of people to help me and things just fell into place.
"I've been doing it for other companies for over five years and I really wanted to get out on my own," he said.
With the help and support of family and friends, the store will open at 1987 Highway A, Suite 300, right outside the Washington city limits, as a Cisco select certified partner and a Microsoft certified partner.
Both qualifications mean WASH PC will already meet the requirements from both companies to have employees meeting a certain level of knowledge and skill with their software products.
All employees will be A+ certified, a certification offered through CompTIA for computer technicians.
Johnston himself also has Microsoft certified systems administrator, Microsoft certified professional and Microsoft certified desktop support technician certifications and a Cisco certified network associate certification in addition to his A+ certification.
While providing in-home and drop-off computer hardware and software services to consumers isn't new to the Washington area, Johnston said he has set his price point to be competitive and "drastically lower than the big box retail stores."
The business will do in-home repairs and virus removal for consumers, or pick up computers and return them when finished, Johnston said.
The pickup service will be offered anywhere in Franklin County, he said.
To separate WASH PC from other computer services businesses, Johnston said he wants to have a 12-24 hour turn around on his work.
"We want to do same day service as much as possible," he said.
Johnston also said he is offering services to small and medium sized businesses who can't quite validate an entire position for an information technology, or IT, person, the person regularly regarded like Johnston is in his current job as the end-all, be-all source for computer related troubleshooting.
Service contracts will be available for those size businesses.
"We want to be available to the small businesses 24-seven," Johnston said.
Businesses and consumers both won't have to worry about varying prices, as labor rates and services will be the same whether it's about one computer or one dozen.
The business also is insured in case there are accidents, Johnston said.
Web hosting services will range from e-mail and Web sites to search engine optimization.
Johnston hopes his ability to get his own Web site, www.washpc.com, into several search engine listings will be proof of how he can do the same for area businesses.
For more information people may visit the Web site or call the store at 636-432-1330.
