With the Community Technicians’ project past the half-way mark, and graduation day only eight months away, some of the Comtecs are looking beyond July 2006 and are starting to plan life as a qualified Community Technician.
Sitting on the veranda and surveying his lifestyle block below, Clint Deckard says his emotions are a mix of excitement and trepidation as he plans the opening of his IT business, which will service the Central Hawke’s Bay schools and towns of Takapau and Waipukurau.
“It’s scary, says Clint with a grin. “You’ve suddenly got public liability insurance, PAYE, GST, contracts and staff….but this is what I want to do.”
‘Doing it properly’ is Clint’s mantra. Time and effort are being put into every aspect of the business, which will be operate on his property out of a secure shed complete with a purpose-built IT workbench.
“I’m never going to undersell myself. I’m not going to compete on price just on quality and service.”
Encouraged by the level of demand for his services already, Clint plans to employ someone locally to take the overflow of work so he can concentrate on his first priority – schools.
“I don’t want to run myself ragged and if I want to maintain a high level of service and quality, I will need to get someone in pretty soon.”
Realising that he is in a more fortunate position than some of his Comtec colleagues, Clint says his previous role as an ICTPD cluster co-ordinator and the lack of competition in the area has given him a distinct advantage in being able to realistically start his own business.
Nonetheless, Clint has occasionally had negative thoughts and has gone cool, albeit briefly, on the idea. He says it will be hard work and slog for the first year at least but the drive for personal fulfilment, and the opportunity to generate a steady income for his wife, teenage daughters’ and expanding menagerie of assorted animals always overrides the doubts and fears.
“I know if I don’t do it, I’ll always be thinking ‘what if?”
With next semester’s study workload alleviated by three cross-credits gained through previous study, Clint’s business planning will step up a gear.
“I’ll do the nuts and bolts stuff like registering the company and getting invoice letterhead so come July, we’ll be up and running and open for business!”
