The AJL Mini Hot List: OnSitein60 (Hot business concept)
This is part of our Mini Hot List in the Sep/Oct 2007 issue.
If the Geek Squad were started by a young Jewish guy, his brother and some friends, you might get something like OnSiteIn60, the fast-growing tech support service that promises to respond to your computer crisis within an hour.
Founded in 2001 by 32-year-old Akiva Goldstein, OnSiteIn60's two-pronged objective is to provide tech support to small businesses and to respond to computer emergencies 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. "When you have a network emergency and no one can print, we are on site in 60 minutes, that's the core," Goldstein says.
A consummate entrepreneur, Goldstein launched his first business at age 12 when he began fixing window screens as a summer job. "I got a $100 advance from my grandfather to buy tools," he says of a job he did for five summers. "I have the small business buzz."
He tapped into that experience when conceiving of his current venture. "As a small business owner I can tell you, when things aren't working you're starting to sweat bullets," he explains. "It's not cool."
Initially, Goldstein launched the company with one Israeli partner, which made covering Jewish holidays a challenge since Goldstein doesn't work on the Sabbath. Today, OnSiteIn60 employs nine 20-somethings plus Goldstein, a self-described "old man." Roughly half the guys are Jewish, and among them, they speak several languages, including Hebrew and Spanish, which is particularly useful in New York City, where the company is based.
In May, the company opened its first drop-off repair depot on West 23rd Street in Manhattan. OnSiteIn60 also works with tech support vendors in Miami, Washington, D.C., and London.
In each location, tech support is available 24/7 for any computer emergency. In New York, each man covers a zone and hops into a cab when called. ("Subways are too slow during the day," Goldstein says, conceding that a recent taxi fare hike cost the company a small fortune.)
In his line of work, Goldstein says he rarely turns down a customer, although he sometimes proceeds with caution. "We got a home user call and he said his laptop was running really slow, so he punched it and now it won't turn on," Goldstein says, laughing as he recalls cautioning an employee not to ask the client for money off the bat because he seemed angry.
Another time, he explains, someone called him at 1 a.m. on a Saturday night to see if he sold cans of compressed air. "My wife was not amused," Goldstein says. "I told him to go to Staples for goodness sake."
-- Text by E.B. Solomont / Photo by Chaim Jaskoll
