Every business enterprise has to start somewhere. It’s always interesting to hear the story behind the startup, especially when it involves a youthful entrepreneur who simply lets his or her mind wander and think about the possibilities.
Take Ryan Stutzman’s story, owner of FlashDrivePros.com. This is no ordinary dot-com.
You’ve probably heard the term flash drive — or thumb drive, jump drive, memory stick, finger stick. These devices were invented to make the life of a computer user much easier. They provide a simple means for transporting digital documents and files in a small convenient clip that plugs in to the USB port of a computer.
It turns out that these devices were never designed to last forever, and in fact they do have a tendency to fail over time. Worse yet, they were never designed to withstand being dropped into a cup of coffee or smashed under a laptop carrying case. Generally speaking, they are quite fragile and when they fail, they can cause an owner to panic.
Many students carry their lifelong learning on just a few flash drives: term papers, case studies, group projects and journals along with many favorite photos. Some students forget (or ignore) the cardinal rule for all computer work: always save your work and always back it up! Not to pick on just the students — many family members, friends and business persons have been known to cut a few corners and fail to save their digital files. So what happens when a flash drive fails?
Stutzman was completing his studies in business at the University of Washington after serving almost nine years in the U.S. Navy. His Navy experience provided great exposure to technology and his advanced training in electronics and computers made him everyone’s best friend when a computer crisis arose.
One day, Stutzman received a call from a friend whose son had lost all of his important documents on a failed flash drive. Stutzman agreed to take a look at the device and found that he was able to quickly recover the files. After returning the urgent files using a file-share website, he decided to do some simple market research.
His first step was to see how many computer users are grieving the loss of a life’s work to a failed flash drive.
Using Google Adwords to determine monthly search volume, he found the phrase “broken flash drive data recovery” was Googled more than 3,000 times in the previous 30 days. Translation: There are customers.
So Stutzman decided to explore if there were services already in the market. While there are ample larger data recovery firms that focus on mainframes, computer hard drives and other memory devices, Stutzman was surprised to see that there were few businesses that provide a fix for a malfunctioning flash drive.
Some of the big-box stores where Stutzman inquired were quoting outrageous rates that made the business opportunity very attractive.
Next for Stutzman was to post a repair service on eBay to recover data from a failed flash drive for a guaranteed fee of $50. The first day on eBay he sold two repairs. Both repairs were successful and the business idea was off to a successful start.
In July of last year, FlashdrivePros.com began selling its repair services. The repairs are guaranteed or the recovery fee is fully refunded if the technicians can’t retrieve the data. The success rate for retrieving data is a respectable 94 percent.
Another strategic move for Stutzman was to add a partner with website talent to increase efficiency and provide a robust platform from which to operate. For a share of FlashdrivePros.com ownership, this cash-strapped entrepreneur was able to land a seasoned web designer and fellow entrepreneur named Cesar Abueg who, in a short time, was able to set the business on a winning track.
“The customers come from all over,” Stutzman said.
With over 90 percent of the business originating in the United States or Canada, they’ve also received drives from China, India, the United Kingdom and Mexico. Some of the customers had entire books stored on their broken flash drives with no backup; others contained doctoral dissertations, a master’s thesis, business tax data and inquiries from law enforcement.
In some casesm FlashdrivePros.com signs strict nondisclosure agreements to protect the data from being compromised. Many of their customers are students being referred by college and university IT departments who need to avoid any potential exposure by trying to repair a failing drive on site. Since Stutzman’s company doesn’t charge if they fail to recover the files, it’s a low-risk proposition to customers.
Business is picking up. Every month, the company handles hundreds of failing drives and also sells flash drive backup and security software. Better yet, the method for retrieving the lost files is quite impressive: an e-mail is sent to the customer with an encrypted link to download the files right from the FlashdrivePros.com servers.
“I love knowing that I am helping people solve real problems by providing a tangible service,” Stutzman said. “And I like the fact that I am able to serve others and put people to work.”
It’s clear from speaking with Stutzman that he is energized by the business. As is the case with many entrepreneurs: Passion is a tremendous motivator.
Pat Sisneros is the vice president of college services at Everett Community College. Juergen Kneifel is an associate faculty member in EvCC’s entrepreneurship program. Send your comments to entrepreneurship@everettcc.edu.
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