The day Kyle Bradley left SolidState in Haliburton was the same day he walked into his new business – TechMedix – at 195 Highland St.
After leaving his former place of employment, he realized, “I’ve been doing this for so long around here, you kind of have to make a crack at this yourself, and here we are.”
That was last fall, and Bradley said it’s been going “really good” ever since.
He’s been into computers since childhood growing up in Toronto. He said his dad, Richard, had been involved with technology for years, including during the age of Commodore. Kyle said he wanted a computer around his first birthday.
“I think where things started turning was about Grade 5 for me, because I built a computer for school. We didn’t have computers all over the place. Not like today,” he said.
He said he didn’t get great marks because he didn’t actually make it. He put the components together.
He said based on his knowledge of computers, he got his first job by, “just being that geeky guy.” Bradley said he wasn’t hired after applying with a resume and having an interview. Rather, the boss said, “you know technology. I need to get my business up and running. We have to look at a website. So, ground floor access at 15, designing logos for a business that had no branding, no anything.”
He recalls the man being a true mentor, showing him the “entrepreneurial bones of life. He showed me something from a very young age when I didn’t realize it.”
Bradley said it taught him to be somewhat of a jack of all trades but master of none. It’s served him well.
He said some of his customers have followed him, and he has gained new ones. He does computer sales, laptop sales, and upgrades. He provides servicing and support when issues arise. He said he has about half to more than half business clients and the rest public.
Bradley added his original intent was to work from home and go out to clients but a friend told him, “if you’re going to do this, you need an office space. That came together in a day. I picked up the keys for this place my last day working for SolidState so literally walked out of the door there and walked in over here.”
He still makes house calls and keeps an eye on pricing. Bradley works with Nicole Freeman, another former SolidState employee. She is the first point of contact while Bradley does sales, service and support.
“I want it at an accessible price. I understand the community we’re in. There are people that have money but that’s not the majority. Some days you’re going to take licks and other days you’re going to win.”
Asked about the challenge of keeping up with technology, Bradley said there will always be new things, such as the current advancements in artificial intelligence, but it is actually easier to stay current than it was years ago.
“Technology doesn’t move as fast as it used to, when, if you bought a system today, in six months it would be obsolete. I remember those times. We’re not there anymore. Through COVID, it opened a lot of people’s eyes to how to stretch something because we went through that silicone shortage for computer chips.
“I had to go from ‘let’s sell you something’ to ‘we gotta’ get through this’… there’s lots of systems that I’ve seen that have come back to me that are 10 years old, that I’ve built, and still going happily.” However, he said he does have to break the news to customers that electronic components do wear out. He said many computers today have seven to eight year lives then need to be replaced.
TechMedix is at 195 Highland St., Haliburton, 705-306-2775, info@techmedix. ca.
