In the latest instalment of Metro Eireann’s Meet The Boss, SANDY HAZEL speaks to Monica Nugent, proprietor of the Donegal-based MPN Computer Services
Monica Nugent was born in Uruguay, and moved with her family to Australia as a child, before returning to South America to finish her second level education between Uruguay and Argentina. After a later stint in London, Nugent came to Ireland in 2000 and now lives in Donegal town.
Having started at third level in Britain, Nugent continued her studies at Dublin City University, completing her honours degree in Information Technology. “I was able to do distance learning courses,” she explains, “[but] involved several trips to Dublin during each module.”
Nugent now runs the successful Donegal-based MPN Computer Services, trading as Ireland’s PC Doctor (www.irelandspcdoctor.com). The business specialises in IT support for personal and business users, both on-site and remotely.
What inspired Nugent to start out on this path? “Well, I was in the IT sector and when we moved to Donegal I realised that if I was to stay working for someone else, then I would be working for peanuts,” she says. “It’s a combination of having many people qualified to work in IT and in having many companies working in Ireland.
“There were very few jobs going, and those that were had very low pay. There are some large companies, with Govern-ment backing, that are paying ridiculously low salaries to their staff. So I had a choice of moving to a city or setting up on my own.”
Nugent saw that there could be a share of the market available in IT technical support: “I attended a Women in Enterprise course run by the county enterprise board and started thinking of ideas. I looked around and saw that there was nobody in Donegal town doing IT support at this level.
“I had been unemployed for a year at that stage. I was advised to contact the Donegal Local Development Company, which I did. They were helpful with advice and with financial assistance. Because I was on unemployment benefit, I was able to get on an enterprise allowance scheme which let me keep some of my benefit. While I was setting up, all my generated income was going back into the running of the business, so the little bit of extra cash that I had in my benefit helped to take a small amount of pressure off.”
Was there substantial capital investment required by Nugent in the start-up phase? “No, but one of my big start-up headaches was getting credit from other companies. Most distributors and wholesale suppliers won’t give you credit until you have been established for a long time.
“As I was using my credit card, which had to be cleared each month, there was strain then. If a customer bought computers or parts from me then the customer had 60 days to pay me, but I had to pay within 30. I think this is a big problem for many small businesses starting up.”
Chasing up unpaid invoices and bad debts has become part of the job now that Nugent is her own boss. “Sometimes, other businesses were good about paying bills on time, but some personal home users were proving difficult,” she says. “So I had to rearrange my pricing policy, and now if we do a home call and on site repairs then we ask for payment upfront. It is a much more effective method.”
Ireland’s PC Doctor will travel and service computers across a wide area. According to Nugent: “We go all over – Enniskillen, Sligo, Letterkenny and Killybegs. It is a professional service and is reasonably priced at 48 euro plus VAT per hour for a house call. A remote session can be arranged if the client is online.”
However, getting online can be a hassle for some clients. “Broadband coverage in the rural areas can be scrappy,” says Nugent. “Ireland will move backwards if it doesn’t get more broadband coverage. I don’t know if it’s the Government or the private sector that is to blame, but someone really needs to get channels sorted quickly.
“I know one engineer who moved to Lough Eske before he realised he would not get broadband at home. He has to use dial-up.”
Customers are found by word of mouth, as Nugent did not get an effective return on advertising. “I spent large amounts on advertising with nothing to show for it. In this line of service then word of mouth is best,” she says.
“I can really help people with computer problems, but if I can see that it would be a waste of time paying for my time, if their computer is old or knackered, then I will be honest with them and say ‘Listen you are throwing good money away, buy a new one.’ I think that people appreciate the honesty.”
