Ryan Dickerson lost his job and then lost his next job. At home he was simply not busy enough and "going crazy" when he got some advice to visit Michigan Works! He looked into what he would need to do to revitalize his career and found out the answer was more training.
Michigan Works! provided the $5,000 he needed for a short, intense training program that could put him back to work. He became an information specialist 2 trained in Sysco devices and soon Dickerson opened
R-Tech Guys. The company today has five employees, counting Dickerson.
The list of work the company does is long, but installations and repairs are among the services that keep it busiest.
Dickerson says the niche his company has carved out is providing a middle ground for companies seeking tech support. His company does not provide the most expensive or the cheapest solution for its customers. Instead it works to find the best solution at a reasonable price.
One of the "problems" the company has experienced is that its customers are not calling for repeat business because the work R-Tech Guys does stays fixed. On the other hand, those customers are referring others to the company. Dickerson says word of mouth has been the greatest marketing tool for the fledgling company, bringing in about 80 percent of its business.
Today customers come from Kalamazoo, Plainwell and Grand Rapids and other communities.
Dickerson recently was among
those recognized by Michigan Works! for his efforts in returning to work and employing others. Not to mention Dickerson was also named the Kalamazoo area entrepreneur of the year.
Perhaps one of the most satisfying parts of owning his own business? R-Tech Guys client base recently surpassed that of his previous employer who had been in the field for 10 years.
Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave
Source: Ryan Dickerson, R-Tech Guys
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