Computer Troubleshooters Launches 300th Franchise

VANCOUVER, BC — (MARKET WIRE) — 04/23/2004 — Computer Troubleshooters announced today that this 6-year-old IT Support Company has launched its 300th franchise worldwide.

The company provides a full range of computer services, including hardware repair, networking, software consulting and diagnostics, via a strong market focus on small businesses and homeowners.

Chris Aconley – Regional Director for British Columbia and an IT expert himself, is pleased to represent 4 franchisees thus far in BC, and is in talks with numerous prospects for additional growth throughout the Province.

“Our 300th franchise is in quite a unique location, a town called Mt. Isa in outback Queensland in North East Australia,” said Wilson McOrist, who, with wife Suzanne, founded the company in Australia. “The town has fewer than 1,000 businesses and is hundreds of miles from any other town of any size.”

Computer Troubleshooters was named the top tech support business franchise company in 2004 by Entrepreneur magazine in its annual Franchise 500 rankings. The company was also ranked the #231 franchise overall.

McOrist said he never imagined this lofty level of success.

“When Suzanne and I started the business in 1997, we planned for possibly three to four new franchisees to start each year,” he said. “We have grown at a rate of about 50 per year, and see no reason why we will not continue to grow at this rate for the next five years.”

Aconley attributes the company’s success to a combination of factors:

Computer Troubleshooters is unique because of the business model used. Instead of a corporate centralized model, a regional director is used in each country or region. This allows the director flexibility in implementing local market-driven considerations. Also contributing to the company’s success is the ever-growing need for standardized services.

“We bless Bill Gates for putting Windows into every PC,” Aconley said. “This worldwide standard operating system is wonderful; for us it means a Computer Troubleshooter in Johannesburg, South Africa, can communicate with a Computer Troubleshooter in Vancouver, and share knowledge that is common to everyone.”

“We are growing rapidly here in B.C., and we are looking for quality people with technical skills who want to run their own business,” Aconley added. “Our franchisees are never alone when running their business. They get training and ongoing support in many forms.”

The company’s true calling card is the personal service it delivers.

“I like helping people with computers, I get satisfaction and joy from sharing the knowledge that I’ve accumulated over the years with others,” Carl Constantine, a franchise owner based in Victoria, B.C., said. “I enjoy the challenge of solving new problems and passing on the solution to others.”