<!–Saxotech Paragraph Count: 8
–>

For the past 15 years, Marc-Anthony Arena has fixed computers for family and friends. Two years ago, he decided to take on some extra repair jobs after his day ended in the corporate world, a convenient side job that brought in a little extra money.

Then last May, after being laid off and shortly thereafter accepting a full-time position at a telecommunications company, he got a call that his new employer was in the middle of a hiring freeze. He was not to report to work the next week.

Arena panicked, then mailed out business cards to advertise his computer skills and followed up with phone calls, making the decision to start his own company.

That’s when the letter came from New York state, alerting him that he could collect 99 weeks of unemployment benefits.

“So I’m staring at this letter,” recalls Arena, “and thinking, ‘Maybe I should do this. I could just stay home and play video games.’ But I knew deep down that I couldn’t. And I couldn’t move in with my parents because if I didn’t have bills in front of me, I wouldn’t have bothered working.”

With the guidance and support from friends and relatives, Arena launched Teknosophy LLC, which helps computer owners with viruses, spyware, toolbars, spam and scams. He pushed through a slow start and now books at least three appointments a day, driving anywhere from Ogden to Canandaigua.

He can make room in his schedule for emergencies, but is in the process of hiring an apprentice so that he can take on more work — something he is finding difficult to do now.

And he’s looking for ways to market himself. This week he starts teaching a four-week course at the Perinton Community Center titled, “How to Protect Yourself from Your Computer.” He “purposefully ruined” a 2004 IBM laptop by “installing a bunch of garbage” so that he could walk students through the necessary steps to clean it up.

“I’m very happy with how things have turned out,” he says.

Flanigan is a Rochester-area freelance writer.

Article source: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120115/GROUP01/201150316/Layoff-then-hiring-freeze-led-business-launch

Other Posts

Filed under: Daily Layoffs News

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!