Guilford-based Nerds To Go Is Really Taking Off

Dave Colella called his company Nerds To Go from the start, even when he was the only nerd on the run.

Colella thought the name would stick and that it would also convey convenience, responsiveness and technical know-how. His company, established in 2002, provides on-demand computer assistance at homes and small businesses with fewer than 100 computers, typically within 24 to 48 hours � faster with a service contract.

He also knew he didn't intend to be alone for long.

By 2006, Nerds To Go had eight operations in three states and about 60 employees, including the all-important field technicians (the "Nerds"), who descend on homes and businesses to zap viruses, install software, prod printers, link computers and generally relieve customers from malfunction-induced madness.

Related links Nerd Car Photo David Colella Photo That year, Colella, whose father owned a New Haven television repair business called David's TVs, began franchising the brand. Today, there are 25 Nerds To Go franchises in 15 states, including eight in Connecticut, plus some company-owned operations.

Colella declined to provide sales figures for the Guilford-based company, which is privately held, but one new franchisee said he expected to gross $200,000 in his first full year of operations. Colella said Nerds To Go would report financial data for individual franchisees to the Federal Trade Commission at the end of June.

Nerds expects to complete another 25 franchise deals this year, Colella said, expanding operations into eight or 10 new states.

The company is also nearing a deal with an as-yet unnamed private equity partner that will enable "extreme" and "exponential" expansion, Colella said, in part because of the partner's experience in national franchising. An announcement could come by summer, he said.

"When I say extreme, I mean thousands" of new locations over time, he said. About 300 would open in the next three years, all in the U.S., he said.

Population growth and the ongoing computerization of everyday life will drive demand, he said.

Other, far bigger companies offer similar services, including national electronics retailers Circuit City and Best Buy, through their firedog and Geek Squad divisions, respectively. But Colella may be the first to offer franchises for a computer assistance business.

He said the franchise model encourages first-rate customer service because owners have a greater stake in the business and because they typically live in the markets they serve. Nerds also is more narrowly focused on computers than its giant competitors, he said. He also suggested that the company's technicians offer more refined expertise.

As adjuncts of electronics retailers, Geek Squad and firedog service not only computers, but also the full range of home electronics. They'll set up entire home entertainment systems, for example. Nerds does not typically sell electronics, other than spare parts, but it has slowly begun expanding its service offerings beyond computers.

Nerds also offers service contracts that will guarantee service for a specified number of computers within four, eight or 24 hours, typically. Contracts cost between $1,200 and $48,000 per year.

The basic Nerds consultation fee is $99. That fee is waived once the customer engages the company for a specific task or project, usually at a flat rate.

For a minimum investment of about $60,000 or $150,000, depending on the size of the franchise, you, too, can set yourself up as Nerds To Go franchise owner, complete with mandatory bright yellow Nerd Car, currently a heavily decaled Toyota Scion XB. The initial investment includes a franchise fee of $25,000 to $50,000.

Matthew Vogt did it, with financial backing from his two fathers, he said, biological and adoptive, one an engineer, the other an actuary.

"They were probably harder than the bank, I tell you," Vogt, 29, joked while sipping a Red Eye at an Old Saybrook Starbucks after a service call at a doctor's office where he followed up on a failed hard drive.

Vogt said he sank about $55,000 into his franchise, which covers a territory from Westbrook to Groton. He expects to gross $200,000 during his first year in business and to take on his first employee this summer, he said.

In Vogt's market, about 70 percent of his customers are residential and 30 percent are small business, he said. Ophthalmologist John Horby is one of them.

"He even looks like a nerd," Hornby joked as the satellite dish-eared Vogt wrapped up one visit. "Perfect." Vogt, a married father of two with a third on the way, takes no offense at the description.

"If the richest man in the world can be one, I think I can humble myself to be one as well," he said, referring to Microsoft founder Bill Gates (whose wealth was recently surpassed by that of investor Warren Buffett).

Colella said the state of the housing market could pose a threat to his expansion plans, because franchisees often draw on home equity for start-up costs, but he stands by his current growth projections.

"If I had my way," he said, "life would be a franchise."

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