USA News

Chip Reaves , USA Director , was invited as a guest speaker to the SMB Nation conference in Seattle , Washington . Reaves spoke on - Working Together: Successful Partnering with Franchises & Associations.

The 4th Annual SMB Nation Conference hosted individuals from around the world. Participants included those who work with Small Business Server, those who are Small Business Specialist, and those who are potential IT consultants in the SMB space.

Harry Brelsford, CEO SMB Nation, recently interviewed Chip Reaves, USA Director of Computer Troubleshooters for the SMB Partner Community Magazine . The interview was taken in Atlanta - home to more franchises than any other city in the world.

Wayne Rickert of Pennsylvania joined the Computer Troubleshooters team in September and completed his training at CTUSA headquarters. Welcome Wayne !

We are excited to welcome Wayne to Computer Troubleshooters and we look forward to seeing his business prosper.

As the summer winds down three new Computer Troubleshooters trained at the CTUSA headquarters in Decatur , Georgia . The 2006 Computer Troubleshooters' August class included Darryl Ryder of Telford , Pennsylvania ; Stuart Young of Stoneham , Pennsylvania ; and Alan Whiteman of Lakewood , California . Computer Troubleshooters is excited to welcome these new franchisees to the team!

Computer Troubleshooters makes August issue of SMP Partner Community Magazine

Computer Troubleshooters is featured this month's issue of SMB Partner Community Magazine. The SMB Partner Community magazine is written specifically for Small Business Specialists by Small Business Specialists.

In March, Computer Troubleshooters USA was named the top technology franchise and the #7 company overall by Franchise Business Review.

Franchise Business Review is a national franchise market research firm that performs surveys of franchisee satisfaction and franchise buyer experiences.

“This recognition is significant because it shows that our franchise owners are highly satisfied, which means great results for customers,” said Chip Reaves, national director for Computer Troubleshooters USA.

Computer Troubleshooters was also recently recognized by Entrepreneur magazine in its 27 th annual list of the 500 hottest franchises, as well as:

Chip Reaves, Computer Troubleshooters' USA National Director talks with Franchise Business Review on the upcoming changes in technology and the methods behind the growth of the Computer Troubleshooters franchise.

Several new Troubleshooters, from around the country, began operations in July. Training for Utuz Logigan of Georgia, Reza & Tammy Ahadi of Pennsylvania, Raymond Pope of Mississippi, Paul Parrie of Colorado, Greg Rose of Texas, and Kenneth Waites & Brian Groff of Connecticut was held at the Computer Troubleshooters' National Office. Welcome new Computer Troubleshooters. We look forward to seeing your businesses prosper!

June was a busy month for Computer Troubleshooters with seven Troubleshooters completing training and beginning operations. Training at the Computer Troubleshooters' National Office in Decatur , GA hosted Alex Morrison of Florida and Fred Givham of Texas . Computer Troubleshooters also held a training session at this year's North American Conference in Chicago . The Chicago training welcomed Rory Morgan of Texas , Roy Seney of Washington , Simone Bauer of Louisiana , Kim Passalugo of Massachusetts and Karl Brosius of Michigan . Computer Troubleshooters is excited to welcome all of these new franchisees to the team!

Computer Troubleshooters' annual North American Conference Chicago 2006 is a roaring success. The event brings hundreds of Computer Troubleshooter owners and operators together from across the United States , Canada and Mexico to review business practices, maintain technical expertise and more.

We're excited to welcome on board our newest Troubleshooter, Farzin (David) Attarchi, who began operations in May. David trained at CTUSA headquarters in Decatur , Georgia and he is located in Carmel , California . We welcome David and look forward to seeing his business prosper.

This month Computer Troubleshooters' franchisees from Canton and Akron , Ohio joined with the non profit organization event Hammer and Nails “Hands and Hearts”. Computer Troubleshooters provided one of 10 teams that assisted disadvantaged Stark County home owners with home and property improvements.

Computer Troubleshooters' April training sessions indoctrinated five new Troubleshooters. The National Office in Decatur , Georgia hosted Ashok Patel and Greg Vergho of California , Chris Mathis of Texas , John Ropp of Arizona , Erik Eckel of Kentucky , and Dale Heye of Colorado . Welcome new franchisees! We look forward to seeing your businesses grow.

The first month of spring 2006 brings seven new Computer Troubleshooters to the team. The training session at the Computer Troubleshooters' National Office in Decatur , GA hosted Dennis Meek of California , Phil and Laurie Janulewicz of Nebraska , William Lowry of Alabama and Susie Chow of California . The New York training session welcomed Alexander Falkov, Joel Wachtel and Edgar (Ed) Gonzalez of New York. Computer Troubleshooters is excited to welcome all of these new franchisees to the team!

Computer Troubleshooters today announced a national alliance with The UPS Stores. Customers who don't need our world-class onsite computer services can now drop off their computers at participating The UPS Stores locations around the US.

The service is still provided by our highly trained local Computer Troubleshooters. See press release here, or visit our UPS page @ www.comptroub.com/theupsstore.

Computer Troubleshooters USA has been named the top technology franchise and the #7 company overall by Franchise Business Review.

Franchise Business Review is a national franchise market research firm that performs surveys of franchisee satisfaction and franchise buyer experiences.

Computer Troubleshooters was also recently recognized by Entrepreneur magazine in its 27 th annual list of the 500 hottest franchises, as well as:

Computer Troubleshooters launch in Romania
Computer Troubleshooters continues to expand around the globe as Computer Troubleshooters Romania officially made its debut. The launch generated an article in one of the most prominent business newspapers in Romania . The article's accompanying picture is from a trip, last November, by Chip Reaves, National Director USA.

Computer Troubleshooters has set an objective to have a local CT presence in every county in Romania within the next two years. We look forward to much success and growth of CT Romania.

Computer Troubleshooters welcomes the new CT who joined us during January

Computer Troubleshooters' hosted one training session in the first month of 2006. Gregory Sacchet, of New York , attended the training session in New York and joined the CT team in January.

BRW Magazine Ranks Computer Troubleshooters #1
It's good news when Computer Troubleshooters is recognized as a franchise and for the service we provide to customers. This month BRW's Issue focuses on franchises, and in its 25 th edition Computer Troubleshooters ranked well in three categories.

Computer Troubleshooters is featured on the SBS Show Podcast
Thursday, January 12 th , Computer Troubleshooters was featured on the SBS Show podcast ( www.sbsshow.com ). The show interviewed Harry Brelsford. Harry is the founder of SMB Nation ( www.smbnation.com ) and is a longtime IT consultant, trainer and author. The SBS Show is the independent podcast of the SBS and Small Business Specialist community.

During the busy month of December, we had a training session at the Computer Troubleshooters' National Office in Decatur , GA and welcomed three new CTs to the team. Joining were Thorin Rehkop , Arizona , Earl Summers, California and Glenn Wiech, Massachusetts . Michelle Kana of South Texas also joined the team in December training in Texas .

We welcome these new franchisees, and we look forward to seeing their businesses grow and prosper in the coming months and years.

In the last year we have taken on a huge project of intensive research, resulting in a worldwide re-branding of all franchise locations, and a fine-tuning of how Computer Troubleshooters operates. With this knowledge many new products have been created to help strengthen the Computer Troubleshooter USA brand and its deliverables. CT has refined its logo and is spearheading a new slogan — “Technology Solved” — to best sum up its service.

There's more to come in the following months, and we look forward to seeing our new branding efforts strengthen and grow our company.

Computer Troubleshooters welcomes the new CT's who joined us during November
Computer Troubleshooters welcomes three new Troubleshooters this month. The November training class included Tony Marzini of Pennsylvania , Rick Cohn of Missouri and Jimmie Gonzalez of Ohio .

Computer Troubleshooters welcomes a new CT who joined us during October

With the start of the holiday season things can get a bit hurried, but that didn't stop us from adding a new franchisee to the Computer Troubleshooter family. In October, Geoff Graue of California joined Computer Troubleshooters.

Computer Troubleshooters Named A Franchise Times' ‘Up and Comer'
Computer Troubleshooters has been named one of Franchise Times magazine's “up and comers” in its October issue.

Since 1999, Franchise Times has published an annual Top 200 list made up of the leading franchise chains based on worldwide sales; heading the list is McDonald's. It also lists another 100 promising companies — the “up and coming” franchises that are just on the cusp of making the Top 200 list. Computer Troubleshooters ranked #255 on this list.

Computer Troubleshooters USA Continues It's Steady Growth Through the Summer Months

Since our North American Conference in New Orleans in May, we've had a lot of new CTs join us and several veteran Troubleshooters have bought second territories, as well. Starting in May and ending with our most recent training last weekend, here are the additions to the United States CT Family since May.

In May at our annual North American Conference, Matt Pearce of Knoxville, TN, Art Scarazzo or Mt. Juliet, TN, Drew Stephens of Jonestown, TX, and Clint Henderson of Tyson's Corner, VA joined us and got to spend the weekend enjoying our conference as new franchsiees. Later that month, Gabriel Constantin of Columbus, OH and Marcus Seehaver and Neil Franzen of Milwaukee, WI added to their businesses buy purchasing additional territories near their first ones.

June was a short month, but we still were able to have two trainings here in Decatur. Marc Lysne of Eden Prairie, MN (our first CT in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes), Scott and Jackie DeCleene of Brookfield, WI, and Larry Jedlicka (with his technician Jeff Keltto) trained with us this month.

During the month of July, we had two trainings at the CT National Office in Decatur, GA and welcomed four new CTs to the team. Wayne Turner of Burke, VA, Roger Canuel of Decatur, IL, Roger Lo of Pasadena, CA, Charlie and Libby Sterbakov of Delray Beach, FL, and Shaun Gregory of Mechanicsville, VA all trained under Bill Schmidt here at the National Training Center.

In August, we had one training in New York, one training here, and we hosted our Regional Director/Assistant Regional Director Conference here at the National Office in Decatur, GA. At the New York session, Robert Marchese of Melville, NY, Matt Hodge of Suffern, NY, Tom & Lisa Lutzi of Bethlehem, PA, and Sergey Shvets of Old Bridge, NJ trained with Jim Greenfield and Sean Magnuson of our Tri-State Office. We also welcomed Ryan & Christy Timms and Bryan Montney of Waukesha, WI and Azhar Qidwai of Fairfax, VA into the CT family at our training center here in Decatur, GA.

This past month, September, three new Troubleshooters joined our ranks, and one added a second territory. The new CTs are Jerry Forde of Quincy, MA, Patrick Kastanek (and his wife Nancy) of Cedar Crest, NM, and Andy and Audrey Pease of Land O'Lakes, FL. Toby Martinez of Albuquerque, NM also added a second territory in the growing northern corridor of his city to accommodate his new service center.

We are proud to have all these folks as franchisees of ours, and we look forward to seeing their businesses grow and prosper in the coming months and years.

Problem solving one customer at a time.
Local Computer Troubleshooter wants to ease computer users’ pain.

Kansas City, Missouri – As an engineer and corporate executive Rick Potter has solved many problems both technical and operational in nature. However, in over two decades working for such industrial heavyweights such as Borg-Warner, Ingersoll-Rand, and locally-based Civacon, a division of Dover Corporation, Potter was still itching to be more involved in solving customer problems.

Now, as owner of Kansas City’s first and only Computer Troubleshooters franchise, Potter, along with wife Diane, will have plenty of opportunity to help customers with some of the more challenging problems they encounter – keeping their computers up and running.

“I most enjoyed those periods in my corporate career when I got to interact directly with our customers. It’s a real thrill to work with customers and help them overcome their specific technical and operational challenges,” added the newly minted entrepreneur.

“Our focus at Computer Troubleshooters is on the small business and home office market, so the degree of contact is really close. That’s why we chose to go into this part of the technical support business.”

Computer Troubleshooters is the world’s largest computer services franchise company, with over 400 locations worldwide, and more than 240 locations in the United States. The company, which was ranked as the top technical support franchise in both 2004 and 2005 by Entrepreneur magazine, has been growing at a rapid pace.

“The increasing number of small and home-based businesses, and the proliferation of home computer networks deployed to support the entire family’s diverse computing needs, have all contributed to ever greater demand for our services,” Potter observed.

Small businesses in particular are vulnerable to becoming distracted by IT issues. “They struggle to satisfy their need for professional IT support within the constraints of limited budgets”, noted Potter. “They need to maintain their focus on making money and growing rather than selecting and maintaining a computing system. That’s where we come in.”

From industrial engineering to customer service
Potter’s path to running his own computer services company in the Show-Me State was neither straight nor narrow, either geographically or professionally. But his varied experience has prepared him well for the challenges of keeping his customers up and running.

Potter earned his mechanical engineering degree at the University of Buffalo, just two hours northwest of his hometown of Corning, also home of the famous maker of Pyrex consumer glassware and other industrial materials. After graduating he went to work for industrial heavy-weight Borg-Warner in Ithaca, New York.

Potter later joined Ingersoll-Rand, which helped put him through the MBA program at Purdue University. After graduating Potter transferred to Ingersoll-Rand’s distribution center in Nashville, Tennessee. It was there that he got his first good taste of working directly with customers.

There he oversaw a team of about fifty customer service representatives, who often needed his help to resolve particularly complex customer concerns. “What a great experience,” Potter enthused “when a customer calls with all sorts of issues, and you successfully untangle them. In most cases, the relationship is stronger after dealing with problems and getting them resolved with honesty and integrity.”

Ingersoll-Rand then moved Potter from Nashville to Seattle and eventually to its New Jersey headquarters for an executive position that took him ever farther away from the customer. “This is when I moved to Kansas City,” he noted. “The headquarters job in New Jersey did not offer the opportunity to be close to the front lines of the business and customers.”

So, Potter took a job heading up the Civacon unit of Dover Corporation which makes valves and electronic control units for petroleum trucks. But, as that business grew, it required Potter to spend more and more time on corporate reporting and other non-core activities.

“I left Civacon in 2004 with the goal of starting my own business, one that would put me right in the thick of it,” Potter declared. Operating a Computer Troubleshooters franchise provided the perfect opportunity, letting him use his business management expertise to help smaller businesses be more productive. Best of all it puts him close to his customers.

Ensuring customers’ business success
The way Rick and Diane Potter see it, there are three core competencies needed in order to ensure their customers’ success: people skills, technical skills, and business skills. And, all of these skills must be embodied in the technicians that Computer Troubleshooters hires.

Diane, a former technical recruiter has become very good at evaluating people for customer skills and integrity. “The cornerstone of our plan for helping customers achieve success”, Diane noted, “is hiring the very best people, both from a technical and interpersonal standpoint.”

Rick added, “We need to combine good business savvy with solid technical people to provide true value to our clients. Our value goes beyond fixing computers to providing effective solutions and tools to make the customer’s business more efficient and profitable.”

“It’s very rewarding to see a customer’s reaction after resolving an issue”, Rick continued. “When folks begin to treat you like a partner rather than just a vendor, you know your adding value. I’m very excited about building our reputation working with small and home based businesses throughout the Kansas City area.”

May 2, 2005
A recent press release about our conference this month:
http://biz.yahoo.com/

April 30 , 2005
Computer Troubleshooters is proud to welcome these new CT's who joined us in the month of April:

April 21, 2005
Computer Troubleshooters has launched a special web site to promote our services on a discounted or donated basis to qualified charitable organizations:
www.computertroubleshooters.org.

March 30, 2005
More New CT's - Computer Troubleshooters welcomes these new franchisees who joined us in the month of March:

February 28, 2005
Computer Troubleshooters is proud to welcome these new CT's who joined us during February:

In addition several franchisees purchased additional territories this month, including Jim Burley in Connecticut, Harry & Ramona Joyner in Virginia, and Taun Chapman in Pennsylvania.

February 10, 2005
Computer Troubleshooters is preparing for our big North American conference, which this year will be held in New Orleans in late May. See www.comptroub.com/conference/ for details.

Over 150 Computer Troubleshooters plus 20 vendors are expected to attend. In addition to the regular 2-day conference, Computer Troubleshooters has partnered with E-Myth Worldwide to create a CT version of their acclaimed E-Myth 1/2 day workshop on the day before the main conference. And our sales training partner DEI will be running a full-day business development seminar on the day after the conference.

There is some room for prospective franchisees to join us for the Saturday session only - if you are considering Computer Troubleshooters and would like to participate, please contact your local Regional Director.

January 30, 2005
Computer Troubleshooters welcomes these new CT's who joined us during January:

January 20, 2005
Computer Troubleshooters is mentioned in this article from Entrepreneur magazine and the Wall Street Journal on "Franchises Go Global".

December 31, 2004
Computer Troubleshooters welcomes these new CT's who joined us in December:

In addition three existing CT's expanded by purchasing additional territories in Michigan, Indiana, and Virginia.

December 21, 2004
Entrepreneur magazine has released their annual franchise rankings in their January 2005 issue on newsstands this week. Computer Troubleshooters ranked as the #181 franchise among the top 500 franchises, and was also ranked as:

#51, Fastest Growing Franchises
#47, Top Homebased Franchises
#45, Top Low-Cost Franchises
#1 in our category (Misc Tech Franchises)

We're very honored to be so well regarded in the Entrepreneur rankings, and we congratulate all our franchisees for helping to make this possible!

December 20, 2004
Steve Bowie, a Computer Troubleshooter in North Carolina, had a nice write-up in the Northwest Observer newspaper:

November 30, 2004
Computer Troubleshooters is happy to welcome these new CT's who joined us during the month of November:

November 3, 2004
Computer Troubleshooters has licensed technology from Global Crossing to produce 1-hour educational webinars for our franchisees. Webinars are held at least once per month and are recorded and stored in Flash format on our private web site for franchisees to reference later. Topics so far have included:

Upcoming topics will review all of Computer Troubleshooters internal resources for franchisee support, including our private web site, vendor discount programs, national account & promotion programs, technical support, marketing programs, etc.

October 31, 2004
Computer Troubleshooters welcomes these new CT's who joined in October:

October 19, 2004
Computer Troubleshooters Australia has won Australia Post's prestigious Small Business Award! See article here.

October 18, 2004
Computer Troubleshooters is featured in the Wall Street Journal's online "Startup Journal".

September 30, 2004
Computer Troubleshooters welcomes these new CT's who joined us in September:

September 15, 2004
Computer Troubleshooters USA has partnered with one of the world's top sales-training organizations to enhance our franchisee training program. DEI Management Group has created a special one-day business development workshop for CT franchisees to improve their skills when talking with and meeting with customers. This one-day workshop is provided free-of-charge to new franchisees, and at a discounted rate to existing franchisees.

August 31 , 2004
Computer Troubleshooters welcomes these new CT's who joined us in August:

And in addition Isaac Ross in Illinois purchased a 2nd territory in August. Welcome Aboard!

August 8, 2004
Computer Troubleshooters will be holding informational sessions for prospective Troubleshooters on the following dates/times:

Tampa, Florida: August 14 (morning)

Atlanta, Georgia: August 28

Philadelphia, late October (TBA)

Chicago, late October (TBA)

If you're interested in attending any of these events and learning more about Computer Troubleshooters, email Glenn Cox or Chip Reaves.

July 31 , 2004
Computer Troubleshooters welcomes these new CT's who joined us in July:

And in addition two existing Troubleshooters expanded by purchasing additional territories:

July 1 , 2004
Two Computer Troubleshooters are featured in this recent article on Yahoo Small Business.

June 30 , 2004
Computer Troubleshooters welcomes these new CT's who joined us in June:

And several CT's are in the process of purchasing additional territories. The following purchases were completed this month:

June 12, 2004
Computer Troubleshooters annual North American Conference in Puerto Vallarta completed today and was a great success. Business topics included business planning (how to build a $100k and $250k business), an analysis of last year's annual reports, Employee Management, "Gotta Have" services, general marketing, National Accounts, Getting Business from Existing Customers, Improving CT in 2005, Making Money with Remote Support, and an awards presentation. Technical topics included Voice-over-IP, Toolkits, Data Recovery, VPN & Remote Access solutions, and Microsoft Small Business Server.

In addition we had presentations from many of our partner vendors & service providers, including:

And last but certainly not least we enjoyed a wonderful keynote speech by Steven Bookbinder of DEI Management Group (see it here). DEI also conducted a great Sales Training workshop for us during the conference, and our initial Franchise Training program is currently being revamped to include a portion of DEI's training systems as well. We're very excited about partnering with the nation's premier sales training organization and the benefits this will bring to all Computer Troubleshooters franchisees.

The last few weeks have seen record growth for Computer Troubleshooters, and we've added 5 new locations with more on the way. Recent additions include:

In addition our franchisee training program has recently been updated and enhanced. 2 new marketing campaigns and 1 new service plan are now included. Computer Troubleshooters uses an ongoing program of feedback and suggestions from our franchisees to constantly improve all of our programs, from the initial training course through to our ongoing support programs.

Trainer Bill Schmidt teaches a new group of Computer Troubleshooters in our Atlanta training facility.

October 25, 2002
More Troubleshooters! Paul Owens has joined our Michigan team in the Holland area, Carl Brown has also joined us nearby in Grand Rapids, and Benonie Andaya has joined our California team in the Valencia area. Welcome aboard! If you need computer service in these or any of our 170 service locations worldwide, visit us at www.computertroubleshooters.com.

October 11, 2002
Computer Troubleshooters were featured in a recent article by Crain's New York Business. The article, titled "Franchise Bug Bites Techies" can also be found online at www.franchise.org.

October 7, 2002
Lots of developments with Computer Troubleshooters recently, including the opening of our new offices in the Dominican Republic. Rafael Alvarez will operate as our Regional Director for the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. Mr. Alvarez completed his training during our recent Regional Director's conference in Detroit. During the weekend of October 5 and 6 our Computer Troubleshooters team in the UK held their semi-annual conference which this time included special guests from the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Chip Reaves, National Director for Computer Troubleshooters USA, participated as did Wilson McOrist, the head office director from Australia, and Paul Anderson from New Zealand. 14 UK Troubleshooters took part in the conference which included presentations on new services and training sessions on business operations. During the UK conference details were finalized to begin Computer Troubleshooters operations in the Middle East, beginning in Kuwait. Details will be posted here shortly.

September 29, 2002
Regional Directors from around the US and around the world participated this weekend in a conference to plan new improvements for Computer Troubleshooters. Our semi-annual conferences are the best way to colaborate on information and ideas, and this weekend topics included:

In addition there was plenty of informal networking around the group, which included most RD's from the US as well as Canada, Mexico, and New Zealand, and also our head office Director Wilson McOrist from Australia, and our new Regional Director for the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, Rafael Alvarez.

September 27, 2002
Computer Troubleshooters of Wisconsin has just become Dell Certified and has begun servicing Dell customers throughout the state.

September 20, 2002
Another new Troubleshooter - Jason Barber has just completed training and will begin operations right away in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. Welcome Jason!

September 18, 2002
Welcome more Troubleshooters! Three new franchisees have begun operations this month: Denny Belden in Ohio, Jason Barber in North Carolina, and Ken Kusher, our first franchisee in the great state of Maine. Welcome aboard!

August 27, 2002
Computer Troubleshooters has given our main service websites a major facelift. http://www.computertroubleshooters.com and www.servicerequest.net, our main websites for promoting the services of our franchisee network, have been revamped with a new cutting-edge design. These websites are heavily promoted to generate additional service work for our 150+ locations worldwide.

August 22, 2002
Growth continues with a new franchisee in Wisconsin and two new franchisees in Mexico. Tom LeBeau joins our Milwaukee team just in time to help deal with a fresh rush of service calls from our new yellow pages ad in that area. Tom joins Larry Prine in Milwaukee who has reported record growth in the last few months. Larry started his franchise earlier this year but has already added staff and is looking forward to sharing jobs with Tom to cut down on his workload. In Mexico new franchisees Manuel Escamilla joins Xavier Llamas to help cover Mexico City, and Oscar Rosas joins as our first franchisee in the city of Leon. They join Luis Espinosa who recently began his Computer Troubleshooters franchise in Pachuca. Chip Reaves, National Director for Computer Troubleshooters USA, flew down to Mexico City to help participate in their training. Welcome Aboard!

August 6, 2002
Computer Troubleshooters added our 150th franchisee in the past few weeks. New Troubleshooters in the US include:

In addition new franchisees have joined in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, making for a total of 152 Computer Troubleshooters worldwide now. In the next few weeks more Troubleshooters are scheduled to complete training for Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Mexico.

August 2, 2002
Now Computer Troubleshooters have more choices when it comes to fashion! Computer Troubleshooters USA has teamed with Lands End to offer Computer Troubleshooters-branded shirts, hats, jackets, and other accessories through the legendary Land's End catalog. Computer Troubleshooters franchisees can now purchase CT merchandise either direct from Land's End, or purchase our own custom-made products through the online store in http://private.comptroub.com.

July 10, 2002
Two new Troubleshooters begin their operations this week. Iruku Makanga, operating in Acworth Georgia, and Denise Farag, operating in Cincinnatti Ohio, both completed their franchise training this week with flying colors. With these new additions there are now 51 active Computer Troubleshooters in the US, plus 6 more in Canada, 2 in Mexico, and dozens more in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UK. Worldwide there are now over 140 Computer Troubleshooters franchisees.

July 2, 2002
As the country gets ready to celebrate July 4th, Computer Troubleshooters is celebrating continued growth with new franchisees in Indiana, Texas, Mexico, and our first location in Virginia. Jim Honn joins our Indiana team as our first franchisee in Indianapolis. Taking the name "Computer Troubleshooters Circle City" Jim brings with him a wealth of experience and an enthusiasm for computers. Kerry Harrison joins an ever-increasing Houston team which now has four Computer Troubleshooters. The close-knit Houston team helps to support each other and build the presence of CT in southern Texas. Computer Troubleshooters USA's Director Chip Reaves recently returned from Mexico where he helped train our 2nd franchisee in that country. Luis Espinosa begins his operations in Pachuca, not too far from Xavier Llamas' Computer Troubleshooters franchise in Mexico City. And last but not least we're happy to report our first franchise in Virginia. Ramona and Harry Joyner join Computer Troubleshooters in Woodbridge, and will be a big asset for us in servicing national accounts in northern Virginia and Washington D.C. Harry and Ramona had visited the Computer Troubleshooters conference last month as guests, and were impressed enough to join the team. Welcome!

June 13, 2002
Three more franchisees completed training today, all joining our ever-expanding New Jersey/New York team. New franchisees Margaret Szabo, Alex Zadrozny, and Vivient Gill as well as new NY staff member Sean Magnuson all completed the standard Computer Troubleshooters training course today and will begin operations next week. Welcome aboard!

June 7, 2002
Three new franchisees completed training today, including Dawn & Larry Pavtis of Mon Valley, PA, Rony Cartright of Miami, FL, and Randy Knapp of Houston, TX. One of the great advantages of running a Computer Troubleshooters franchise is having other nearby franchisees to lean on for extra coverage, local support, etc, and all of today's graduating class of Troubleshooters are fortunate to be opening near established franchise locations. Dawn & Larry are near Jim Long in our Beaver, PA franchise, Rony is adjacent to Patrick Montas in our Ft Lauderdale franchise, and Randy joins a rapidly growing Houston team which already includes Peggy Uhal and Terry Ryan (and a 4th Houston franchise is scheduled for training July 1). Additional franchise training classes are currently scheduled for New York City (June 12-13), Atlanta (June 20-21), Indianapolis (June 25-26), Houston (July 1-2), Atlanta (July 9 & 10), and Mexico City (late June).

June 1, 2002
Wow! The Computer Troubleshooters Annual Conference wrapped up today in Raleigh, North Carolina to rave reviews and generally positive comments from everyone involved. Over 45 people attended the 2-day event including Computer Troubleshooters from Australia, UK, Canada, and Mexico.

Group Photo, 2002 North American Conference

Topics included discussions of marketing and business management techniques, technical topics like Wireless Networking and Data Transfer, plus sales tips, contests, and more. More importantly the conference was a chance for CT's from around the world to get to know each other and to discuss business development and other issues. Because Computer Troubleshooters has locations around the world, an Austral-Asian Annual Conference will be held in Melbourne, Australia in mid-August. Our thanks to Richard and Amy Warren of Computer Troubleshooters North Carolina for hosting this year's event. Next year's North American Conference will be hosted in Toronto by Roy Thorpe (Regional Director, Ontario) and the Computer Troubleshooters Ontario team.

May 29, 2002
Our largest training class ever of new franchisees completed training today. A total of 9 people trained representing 6 new franchise locations in North Carolina, Louisiana, Ohio, New York, and our first location in Boston, Massachusetts. New franchisees Bill Castoro, Tim Thomas, David Stokes, Dave Ward, Jamie Naugler, and Raj Rajendran received their training in a special pre-conference class in Raleigh, North Carolina and were fortunate to benefit from an international team of instructors including Chip Reaves from the USA, Wilson McOrist from Australia, and Mohamed Serroukh from the UK. With other recent addtiions in Singapore and Australia Computer Troubleshooters now has 125 active franchisees in 9 countries, with dozens more scheduled to train in the next few weeks.

May 22, 2002
Welcome our latest Computer Troubleshooter, Darren Chappuies, who joins us in Douglasville, Georgia. Darren provides much-needed service coverage on the west side of Atlanta and will be of immediate help in helping the rest of the Atlanta CT team with their overflow work. Welcome, Darren!

May 15, 2002
Lots of exciting developments for Computer Troubleshooters this month. Our annual conference is coming up in Raleigh, North Carolina on May 31 & June 1, featuring guest speakers from Computer Troubleshooters Australia, Mexico, Canada, UK, and USA. The annual conference is a unique opportunity for Computer Troubleshooters to get together to discuss the past year, share tips and techniques from around the franchise, and set goals for the coming year. This year's key topics include:

In addition we tentatively have a record 10 new Troubleshooters scheduled to join our team during the next month in the US alone. As of May 1 Computer Troubleshooters already had an industry-leading 117 operational franchise locations in 9 countries worldwide, and our goal is 160 locations by the end of the year.

April 26, 2002
Computer Troubleshooters welcomes two (really three) new members today. Gary Krysiak completed training and will begin his franchise operations on Monday in Cleveland. Gary will complement Steven Polakof, our existing franchisee on the opposite side of the city. Also completing training today are Terry and Ann Marie Ryan. This husband and wife team has an extensive background in self-employment having previously run their own pest control business. Although Terry and Ann Marie describe themselves as "risk-takers", they chose to start their new venture through the Computer Troubleshooters franchise system (rather than going it alone) because of the extensive technical support, marketing materials, and business advice available through the franchise system. The Ryans will begin their operations on Monday in Houston, Texas. Welcome Gary, Terry, and Ann Marie!

April 25, 2002
This week's New York Times has an article featuring two Computer Troubleshooters. The article, "Tech Support on Wheels" by Lisa Guernsey, is about the recent boom in the onsite computer services industry, led by Computer Troubleshooters. The article is available online here: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/25/technology/circuits/25DOCS.html
and features quotes and information from Mark Olivier of Computer Troubleshooters Mandeville, Louisiana, as well as Chip Reaves, National Director of Computer Ttroubleshooters USA.

April 19, 2002
Computer Troubleshooters welcomes a new franchisee in Michigan! Mark and Jolene Mitchell begin operations this week in Lansing. Supported by our nearby franchisee and Regional Director Bill MacDonald (as well as their two basset hounds), Mark and Jolene are looking forward to their exciting new career of working for themselves - and also looking forward to their first baby, which is due in June. Welcome Mark and Jolene!

April 16, 2002
Computer Troubleshooters will be holding two free, no obligation informational seminars for people interested in our franchise opportunities this month. The first is in Detroit, Michigan on Friday, April 19, and another is scheduled for New Orleans, Louisiana on Tuesday April 30. For more information and to RSVP for these seminars please contact our national office.

April 15, 2002
Computer Troubleshooters re-expands to San Diego with a new franchise operated by Jonathan La Rosa. The new franchise replaces our former San Diego franchise which closed late last year when the owner moved back east for family reasons. Jonathan has "big 5" consulting experience, working as a consultant with both Arthur Anderson and KPMG, but is looking forward to working with small businesses in his new Computer Troubleshooter role. Welcome Jonathan!

March 25, 2002
Computer Troubleshooters Mexico is officially open for business! Xavier Llamas has joined our CT family as our first franchisee (and National Director for Mexico) based in Mexico City. Xavier has extensive IT experience including several years with Citibank's IT department, and also has experience in running his own business. During Xavier's training last week franchise founders Wilson McOrist (Australia) and Chip Reaves (USA) worked with Xavier to begin converting Computer Troubleshooters advertising techniques and methodologies to the Mexican business environment. The three men also met with 15 prospective franchisees to answer questions about the Computer Troubleshooters franchise opportunity. The Computer Troubleshooters Mexico website is now online at www.comptroub.com.mx. Mexico is now the 9th country where Computer Troubleshooters operates, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, England, Scotland, Canada, and the USA. Although the language and cultures may be different, every country has small businesses who need expert onsite computer service. And in 9 countries (and counting), the best small business computer solution is Computer Troubleshooters.

March 20, 2002
Anthony Pope joins our growing team of Computer Troubleshooters in Georgia. Anthony has opened a new franchise in the Roswell area, increasing our coverage abilities on the north side of Atlanta. Welcome Anthony!

March 16, 2002
The April edition of Entrepreneur magazine is on newsstands now, and lists Computer Troubleshooters in it's "Best of the Best" rankings as the #1 Tech Support franchise. Computer Troubleshooters has also been ranked in the January, February, and March editions of the prestigious magazine, in their "Top 500", "Top 50 New Franchises", and "Fastest Growing Franchises" respectively. In other news our Service Request website (www.servicerequest.net) which works to promote our franchisees' services across the internet, has been updated with our upcoming Mexican locations.

March 8, 2002
Just in time for Spring Break, Computer Troubleshooters opens our first location in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Patrick Montas joins us with an extensive background in networking and e-commerce (he also owns and operates the www.floatinggifts.com websites). Welcome Patrick!

March 2, 2002
Upcoming Events: Chip Reaves, the National Director for Computer Troubleshooters USA will be participating in informational meetings with prospective franchisees on the following dates:

If you're interested in coming to talk with us at one of these free, no-obligation information sessions, please contact us today.

February 28, 2002
New Computer Troubleshooters locations in California and Ohio: Geary Rowe has joined us as our first Troubleshooter in northern California. Based in San Jose, Geary will be providing our usual high quality onsite service for small businesses throughout Silicon Valley.

Also Phil and Mary Ellen Lathrop have joined us in the Canton, Ohio area. Phil and Mary Ellen really did their homework before deciding Computer Troubleshooters was the right opportunity for them, and considered other computer service franchises as well. In the end our combination of outstanding support, business and marketing experience, and positive feedback from our franchisees (not to mention our incredibly low fee structure) won them over, and we're glad to have them on our team.

February 7, 2002
Two more in Jersey! Mike Klein has opened a new Computer Troubleshooters franchise in Cherry Hill, New Jersey (also serving Philadelphia). And Rupesh Trivedi will be managing an additional franchise in Jersey City (also helping to service New York City). Mike previously worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer and has an extensive background in computer service and network support. Rupesh is an experienced entrepreneur who owns several Subway franchises and has already created a team of technicians who will be providing service in his area. With our 100th franchise being added in Australia last week (see head office news), Mike and Rupesh become franchisees 101 and 102 respectively. More new franchisees will be opening soon in California, Ohio, Canada, and Mexico.

January 31, 2002
Updated Private Website: The Computer Troubleshooters private website got a major facelift this month. All Computer Troubleshooters worldwide have access to this site which includes dozens of tutorials, an online store with supplies and promotional items, a discussion board and chat room, our own knowledgebase, email archives from our tech support group, and access to over 500 marketing documents, files, and campaigns. Recent additions also included web-based easy access for our nationwide marketing services, including telemarketing, direct mail, and more.

January 21, 2002
National Sales Promotion: Several Computer Troubleshooters around the country are participating in a rollout promotion for our VIP Service Plan. See our initial press release for details.

January 20, 2002
Get to know us: If you're interested in becoming a Computer Troubleshooter, informal regional meetings are now being planned for Cleveland, New York/New Jersey, and San Jose California in the next few weeks. For more information contact your nearest Regional Director or the head office at info@comptroub.com.

January 19, 2002
Wall Street Reporter features an audio interview with US National Director Chip Reaves this week: www.wallstreetreporter.com.

January 18, 2002
Welcome Milwaukee! Larry Prine joins us as our first Computer Troubleshooter in Wisconsin. Larry has an extensive background in both the computer industry and small business management and will be a great asset for our Computer Troubleshooters team. Welcome Larry!

January 14, 2002
Buenos Dias: Computer Troubleshooters has begun creating internal support systems for our franchisees who speak Spanish or French, in preparation for expected expansion in to Mexico and Quebec later this year. Computer Troubleshooters in Orlando, Atlanta, Chicago, and Union (NJ) who already offer service to spanish speaking customers in their areas have helped to form our first internal tech support group for spanish speaking CT's.

January 12, 2002
Publicity: Computer Troubleshooters has been featured in several newspapers, magazines, and internet news sites recently. The Atlanta Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, Yahoo finance (also here), and Pittsburgh Tech News just to name a few.

January 10, 2002
Chicago opens: Computer Troubleshooters is proud to announce the opening of a franchise in East Chicago, Indiana (serving northwest Indiana as well as Chicago). Luis Arriaga joins us with an extensive background in network administration and database support. Welcome Luis!

January 2, 2002
Online Store: Computer Troubleshooters in the US and Canada can now purchase shirts and promotional items from an e-commerce section of our private website. This online store is designed to give franchisees the flexibility to get the materials they need to professional promote their business without having to purchase in quantity.

December 29, 2001
One more location before the new year: Jim Long joins the Computer Troubleshooters team with a new location in Beaver, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh). Jim brings 20+ years of field service experience to our team, and is already off to a great start with several service calls scheduled this week. Welcome Jim, and Happy New Year to everyone! (update: see article in Beaver County Times)

December 20, 2001
Exciting news! Computer Troubleshooters is listed in the January edition of Entrepreneur magazine (at most newsstands now). This is the 23rd annual "Franchise 500" listing, with the top 500 franchise rankings. Computer Troubleshooters is very pleased that in this "best of the best" ranking Entrepreneur has placed us as the #1 franchise in the "Tech Support" category, and the 277th ranked franchise overall. We also ranked at #12 in the "Top 30 new franchises" listing. Later this year Computer Troubleshooters will also be ranked in the "Top Growth Franchises" and the "Top Global Franchises" listings. Click on the image of the magazine to the right to go to our listing on Entrepreneur's website, or see our press release here.

December 14, 2001
Interested in learning more about Computer Troubleshooters? Free, no-obligation seminars are planned for Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Detroit in late December & early January. For more information contact Chip Reaves at 404-634-4436 or chip@comptroub.com.

December 6, 2001
2002 is shaping up to be an excellent year for Computer Troubleshooters. New franchise locations are in the works for Pittsburgh, Chicago, and other areas. Entrepreneur magazine has confirmed we'll be in at least 3 franchise lists next year, and our other national promotions are going well. Stay tuned for more details!

November 18, 2001
New Sales Manager! Jim Greenfield, also our Regional Director for New York City, has accepted the position of National Sales Manager. Jim's duties will be discussing Computer Troubleshooters opportunities with prospective franchisees and answering questions. Jim can be contacted at nyc@comptroub.com or 1-877-704-1702 option 2, then press 69.

November 1, 2001
New Telephone Support! All Computer Troubleshooters in the US now have access to telephone technical support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Support is available for all major software applications and operating systems, standard hardware, peripherals, and internet connectivity. In addition to improving our own support services, Computer Troubleshooters telephone support can be sold to our customers either as a separate service plan or as part of one of our comprehensive service packages.

October 5, 2001
Our national accounts program continues to improve and increase each month, and the feedback from our national service partners is excellent. Along with the addition of our new single-number phone dispatching system last month, we've added to and improved our email dispatching program as well. Now our national partners can dispatch service calls direct to each Regional Director via phone, fax, or email. Details on the dispatch programs are included in this month's national partner update.

October 3, 2001
Two new Computer Troubleshooters began operations this week, both in the Orlando area. Rey Cesteros and John Thomas create an instant team of CT franchisees to service local Orlando businesses, and we're glad they're with us. Welcome aboard!

September 24, 2001
Computer Troubleshooters is in a few publications this month. We're listed in the new Entrepreneur Magazine's "Be Your Own Boss" special edition (see here). And the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran a brief mention of our downloadable flag page here.

September 18, 2001
A new regional website for California is now online, as well as an update to our Atlanta regional website. See them both on the links page.

September 14, 2001
Many stores have run short of American flags, so Computer Troubleshooters offers this downloadable and printable version here for all who need it.

September 12, 2001
Like so many others, Computer Troubleshooters suffered this week during the cowardly terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Our offices were destroyed, but our people are safe. Many others cannot say the same though. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who is affected by this tragedy.

Our computer services in the NYC area have been disrupted, but will resume tomorrow.

September 10, 2001
Computer Troubleshooters has just upgraded our phone system. Now all CT's around the US and Canada are accessible through one toll-free number. For computer service in any of our 30+ North American locations, just call 1-877-704-1702.

September 1, 2001
New marketing tools: Computer Troubleshooters is constantly upgrading and improving our marketing tools for our franchisees. Our most recent addition is a complete guide to email marketing & set of marketing samples, which was distributed to all CT's this week.

August 22, 2001
Computer Troubleshooters enters the 'big apple' with our newest Regional Director, Jim Greenfield. Jim will administer & support our operations in the New York Metro area (including NYC) from our new offices in the World Trade Center (46th floor, tower 1).

Jim brings with him a wealth of business knowledge and experience, and has already been a great asset for our team. Welcome Jim!

July 31, 2001
What a month! Computer Troubleshooters USA experienced our fastest growth yet during the month of July, with a record 6 new franchise locations trained this month. Our new Computer Troubleshooters locations are now open in Detroit, Cleveland, Long Beach California, Mandeville Louisiana, Peachtree City Georgia, and Colorado Springs in Colorado. Welcome to the CT family Bill MacDonald, Steven Polakof, Keith Chadee, Mark Olivier, Don Brown, and David Jahnke. In addition our next franchisee training class is scheduled for August 27-28 in Atlanta, Georgia, and two additional franchisees are already booked to attend, representing Orlando and New York City. As Computer Troubleshooters grows, so does our value, both to new franchisees and to our national service partners. Negotiations are underway now to greatly enhance our national accounts program, look for more details here next month!

June 30, 2001
More growth this month! Michael Bradley has joined us in North Tampa (our third franchise in the Tampa area, giving us great service coverage in that area) and Charlotte Rosier has joined us in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area. Along with our Hershey, PA location this gives us two Computer Troubleshooters locations servicing Harrisburg. Part of the strength of the Computer Troubleshooters network is when local franchises work together to market their services and provide mutual support. With these new franchisees, Computer Troubleshooters now has multi-location coverage in Atlanta, Tampa, Harrisburg, Newark, Houston, and Toronto.

June 1, 2001
Computer Troubleshooters expands our west coast presence with our first service location in California! Dennis Buenaventura has now completed training and is up and running, servicing Orange County and handling some of our national accounts in and around the LA area. Welcome Dennis!

May 15, 2001
The Computer Troubleshooters International conference wrapped up last weekend to rave reviews from presenters and participants alike. As many as 23 Troubleshooters representing 5 countries traveled to Atlanta this year for the 2-day event. Topics included new service plan programs to build service business and increase recurring revenues per franchisee, taking advantage of lateral opportunities (including promoting a new team of Computer Troubleshooters franchisees who specialize in website development and promotion), and technical topics like TCP/IP networking and internet protection. Plus fun topics like "Horror Stories" and "The Great Debate: Do Computer Troubleshooters need more sex appeal?". Everyone came away with new ideas, new friends, and a re-energized motivation to grow their Computer Troubleshooters businesses together. The conference also had two special visitors from New York City and Los Angeles, both of whom decided to join CT and who will officially become franchisees once their training is completed in the next few weeks.Plans are already underway for next year's international conference. Possible locations discussed are Singapore (which has a great team of Computer Troubleshooters franchisees) and Hawaii.

May 12, 2001
The Computer Troubleshooters international conference is underway this weekend in Atlanta, GA. Computer Troubleshooters from all over the world are here to share new ideas, marketing concepts, and support tools. Among the new support tools unveiled this weekend:

April 24, 2001
Computer Troubleshooters enters the land of chocolate with our latest franchise in Hershey, PA. Kristin Warner has completed her franchise training and will soon begin onsite services within Hershey and nearby Hummelstown. Including another new franchise opening in Hong Kong this week, Computer Troubleshooters now has 18 locations in the USA and 75 franchise locations worldwide. (More are in development and coming soon).