Matt Edbrooke, founder of FIXIO talks us through how he started the business, cycling around Brighton helping people with their Apple products, how the business has grown to 4 stores with 14 staff, and how he now helps businesses with Professional IT support and tech repairs throughout Sussex and Kent. Offering fast, reliable Apple Mac repairs, PC repairs, iPad/iPhone/phone & tablet … https://fixio.co.uk/
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So good morning everyone welcome to a brilliant businesses podcast my name is Nick Bryant and this morning I’m very pleased to be with Matt edbrook from fixo hello Nick how are you I’m fine thank you you all right yes good good good so anybody people that don’t know
Who fixo are they used to be the macman um based in started off in Brighton now in 7 o and Crawley they offer professional it support and Tech repairs throughout Sussex Kent and S now indeed Matt is the founder of of of fixo um we’ve previously spoken to his business
Partner John John traa um and John has explained his story but it’ be really nice to hear your story because he did talk about how you started on your bike going around Brighton repairing people’s Ms yeah brilliant that was that was the start of it all really on my bike poing
About in the rain yeah um yes so I started out I used to work for an apple um reseller basically and uh people used to come into to the shop and need help with their Apple Care at home basically and that wasn’t something that that they
Were providing at the time so I thought ah there’s something here so yeah after a few months of many people asking me about that option service and and nothing was available I thought I’m going to go out and do it so I slowly uh moved moved out of that role uh and went
To visit people on my bike and fix their computers really and back then it was uh quite simple stuff you know just uh General bit of Maintenance problematic software things like that um and then it kind of uh started to grow from there really yeah so when when was that what
Year was that oh God that was probably about 200 6 seven okay something like that and you just did Apple stuff or did you try and help other stuff yeah yeah really Apple Centric because at the time there weren’t many people out there that were offering an apple service or solution
And um they were reasonably new and a bit different you know they weren’t the windows machines that people were used to so the support wasn’t really there yeah um and and they were cool as well you know the iPod come along and turned it all really cool and um they were
Having a bit of a Resurgence so yeah um yeah it was Apple Centric support yeah okay cuz back then they had um they had the the IMAX had like a big bulb was back didn’t they they still had the different colors and things yeah yeah they were brilliant they were kind of
Part of the whole you know cuz they just looked different didn’t they and they looked so different yeah and they very good at product placement as well so all the films you would see them in the films sitting on the desk um so yeah they looked cool and they they they
Played the part and that was all part of the big Resurgence of Apple really along the iPod very sort of brighten I guess at the time as well it was creative Place yeah absolutely yeah Brighton’s full of trendy creative folk so it kind of worked really well okay um and to
This day it still works pretty well so then so you started doing that you built up a client base um you left the old job yeah um and thought you know you started off on your own yeah um and then how did it how did it sort of evolve from there
Yeah so it’s all very organic really so people would come and ask for repairs on their Maxs and there wasn’t many people doing repairs and so um I you know I I I just gave the service that people asked for really quite straightforward yeah not rocket science so started on to
Repairs which meant I needed a workshop to base myself in to do the repairs and then I couldn’t do everything go out visit people speak to people on the phone and do the repairs so I needed someone to come and man the workshop uh and then you’d have people turning up at
The workshop and you know so it was an organic development really but it it worked really well and a lot of those customers that started using me us back then are still with us now as customers so yeah it’s really good it’s um organic growth but you know sustained organic
Growth really I like that I like the way business grows like that there’s no forced um foress in it it’s just grown through Naturally by offering a good service yeah absolutely repeat custom and then word of mou spreading um because we were talking earlier you don’t really Market the business that
Much obviously you got your website and you do things like this but yeah we don’t as much as we should that is definitely sure um so yeah it’s the same with the shops you know it’s all about customer service really and people come back to us because of great customer
Service and that’s kind of what we provide ourself on okay um and that follows through all the areas of the business really yeah so yeah from the very start that was really important to us yes and um it it works you know people build a relationship with you and
Staff members and and that kind of um Rings through really carries on through doesn’t it great so let’s just go through what you do now and and how you help people yeah Okay cool so I um manage the support side of the business really so the retail shops um John
Handles and I think he spoke about that in the interview he did um so I really head up the support side of the business and that’s really focused on offering um professional IT services to businesses small businesses mediumsized businesses um that maybe don’t want to manage it themselves can’t manage it themselves um
So they will Outsource that to us okay um so that’s kind of my focus at the moment really yeah yeah and you’ve got the the four um different locations as I metion seven Tom bright and cwy you concentrate on those areas yeah we tend to yeah because a lot of the leads will
Come through the shops you know so that that’s often how people find us yeah uh and then they will get in touch and and um so it does tend to be those areas yeah Brighton suss sorry we have London clients as well but yeah it’s the South
Really okay and it’s not just Apple stuff anymore no no it’s not yeah as part of the the brand change um name change we we well we were doing a lot more in terms of Windows support and things like that so uh we rebranded to
Fixo to sort of Encompass that uh so no it’s it’s everything Windows uh Android devices Chromebooks how do you keep up with it all you’re constantly learning on this yeah it’s a constant battle and learning game yeah it is quite full on you have to just be on it and you just
Have to be doing a lot of learning and uh a lot of research all of the time yeah and I guess sometimes you’re learning on the job as well are you something that comes in you to a degree there’s always that element you know you can sometimes only get the the
Experience through doing it you know so and learning and finding out you get a um a machine that’s got of problem you know how to fix it cuz that’s you did that’s what you did on the last Mach yeah sometimes that simplistic you just
Have to uh sit down do it work it out and then you know so yeah that knowledge that you gain through experience is gold uh and um you then have to pass that on to the rest of the team make sure that everyone’s aware so you don’t have to
Repeat those steps but yeah it’s a constant learning game gets quite stressful but that’s sort of part of the fun when you a bit of a geek yeah um now on the website says that you’re now members of the Apple independent repair program that’s something you’ve had to work towards
Yeah it is it’s quite hard work um but uh yes we we are and that basically means that we can uh Source parts direct from Apple without having to worry about sorting them from other places so quality is good uh we know the Heritage and um it also allows us to do uh
Repairs that we wouldn’t have been able to do before so some warranty work things like that yeah um um but yeah it’s a it’s a good good thing for us to do um and uh it’s good to talk about yeah yeah um so talk us through your average
Customer yeah so I mean on the support side of things we we tend to enjoy working with small to mediumsized businesses really yeah often they are the creative types you know the creative Industries media PR film yeah audio those kind of things um the the smaller business is great because they tend to
Grow and then we grow with them really you know um so that’s our sort of sweet spot you know and and we like working with the smaller to mediumsized businesses yeah um because yeah it’s good to grow with them and then you build up a really good relationship uh
With them as well and you grow together ultimately so the sort of businesses that you’re looking for are small to mediumsized businesses as well I would say so yeah I mean you know that that could be anything from five to 30 people yeah um but that that’s where we sort of
Fit in and work nicely yeah and then as they develop we we grow with them yeah yeah do you live and breathe like it sadly I think I do yeah it’s one of those things yeah yeah you kind of do um and uh you know people talk about it
Burnout and things like that because you’re constantly having to learn but I mean really I think if you are a bit of a geek and you’re a bit of an IT guy person you just just you just do it’s natural you just read stuff you want to
Play around with stuff and you want to fiddle about and break things and fix things that’s kind of the technician in in me and and most of our guys you know yeah yeah it’s interesting remember taking a part of my dad’s record player when when I was about eight or something
Like that and he was absolutely fuming but I just had to know how this turntable worked yeah and so it’s sort of always been in me I think you know how many staff now have you got across the uh so I think we’re about 14 15 nice
Okay yeah yeah and do they go on training courses and stuff like that to keep up to dat yeah it’s quite important to to get people keep people up to date yeah so that yeah as much training as we can give them um is it’s really
Important and also making sure that as I said earlier the experience that you gain from being out on site you relay that to your team so not wasting those uh that knowledge okay okay um and what do you like about it the most what do I like about it most what
Do you like working with fixo and um the company and well it’s never a dull moment it’s always a challenge to to have so that troubleshooting thing for me is just is great you know I love fixing we solve a problem yeah I love fixing a problem because that’s just
It’s good isn’t it you you you do it you leave and walk away going yeah that’s great everyone’s happy with that yeah um so that’s always the good good part of it for me um yeah it’s to people as well you know because we do build up really
Long relationships with our clients it you get to know them quite intimately you know and and all of our support team generally manage the same client base so they have a you know a team of of we have each team looks after the specific client you know so they get to know each
Other really well um and and it’s just nice to to be involved in other people’s business and help them through it really and you see them grow you know you see them develop from four five six people to 20 25 people yeah um and it’s nice to
Go on that Journey with them and and that’s kind of what I like and think sets us apart a little bit really okay because we kind of do um cherish that relationship and that’s what it’s all about yeah I I’ve got a um an iMac which
I work on doing editing these things and um I had a problem with it where I I I I started that one day and um it just kept going round and round and round and it was going nowhere and I think I had one
Of these to get out the next day or the day after and I was in panic mode yes and I think a lot of people probably are when the machine doesn’t work properly 100% And um I took it into your shop and um it was repaired within a couple of
Days right um at a price that was a lot lower than I expected so I was so pleased um but I think people may not realize the um how important the reliability of their machines is to them or their business yeah yeah 100% and when you do
That for someone um they are so I was so relieved so you must get that yeah that is brilliant appreciation absolutely yeah that that I forget that but um because generally it’s problem based you know you’re a bit like a doctor people come in they give you all the problems
And it’s like oh it’s always negativity but those moments when you know someone’s very appreciative of of getting them back up and running within a matter of days that’s brilliant yeah it always makes our day really yeah yeah yeah um okay but yeah you’re right people don’t really um look after their
Machines and Equipment best as they should no and I I’m I’m bad because you know I waited for it to go wrong which is I’m sure a lot of people do but classic what everybody does so you offer support packages yes we do yeah so uh yeah we will offer support and maintain
Your machines and you know in a proactive sense um if you uh sign up one of our agreements then you know we will proactively monitor your machine make sure it’s always up to speed and preempt those failures really so you don’t have to go through that stress and uh gray
Hair yeah preempt the failures I like that preempt the failures it’s what it’s all about you know and people love that if you you go in or speak to a client and go did you know this is happening we should sort that out before you know that that’s what it’s all about really
You don’t want to be reacting it’s all about being proactive really yeah and these these iPhones um everyone relies on them so much well not just iPhones Android devices as well but they break and people drop them and um you you drop them in a cup of tea or
Whatever you do you you you just do that sort of normal stuff if you like lowkey stuff oh yeah yeah so yes yeah anything phones Android iPhone whatever it might be we can fix yeah laptops they take a trip down the toilet or whatever you know all anything all sorts of stuff is
It true that you can put them in a bag of rice and it sorts that out yeah well it is true you can do that but it doesn’t necessarily sort them out the idea is that the rice will absorb the moisture and draw it out from inside the
Machine but you know never the same again kind of uh it might it will do it but it won’t fix it you know yeah yeah yeah bit of a myth yeah so um thanks Matt I mean that’s that’s great I mean I’ve heard all I need to hear about your
Story that was awesome so I would to hear that because obviously I heard John’s side um what what’s your typical daylight what you up to today what’s what’s you know you back at all the stores or how do you work throughout your day yeah yeah so uh well generally
Support related stuff um I’ve been in Brighton for the last couple of months just getting things straight there we’ve had a bit of a refit and rejig down there so it’s changeed that’s good but yeah on a day-to-day basis I could be anywhere yeah I could be all over the
Place doing bits and Bobs visiting clients I still like to get out and see people and uh have a chat and get stuff sorted so often out and about and you still see some of the clients you saw back in the day yeah brilant yeah it’s nice great yeah yeah okay well that’s
Cool um if anyone needs any any help um from from you guys on whether it’s Mac whether it’s whether it’s um PC then they can just get and contact you through your website absolutely take one of the machines into your stores yeah yeah or if you want to get in touch
Directly it’s Matt fix. co.uk just ping us an email okay and those sort of small to mediumsized businesses that got 10 20 machines you know they have the sweet spot for you yeah I think so so yeah I mean obviously bigger is is great as
Well and we can handle that um but yeah that that works well people that might have an old server sitting in the cupboard clonking away you know not sure when it’s going to give up yeah uh and want to move to the cloud or whatever you know those kind of solutions we can
Help with excellent uh all of that yeah give us a shout excellent okay well thanks again Matt good to see you thanks and um we’ll see you all for another podcast take care