200 subs, 2 owners, 3 employees and profitable... Super amazing fortunate we are.
Josh Luthman Office: 937-552-2340 Direct: 937-552-2343 1100 Wayne St Suite 1337 Troy, OH 45373 "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." --- Albert Einstein On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 7:06 PM, Matt Jenkins <[email protected]>wrote: > Our company has almost 800 customers at the moment and 4 employees and > is profitable! > > Charles Wu wrote: > >> Once you get to say 1000+ customers, things like having the staff for > >> service calls and time to repair for customers are often more important > >> than the brand of radio or the original cost of the radio. We do spend > >> more on payroll than radios, despite deploying lots of expensive gear. > >> Keeping CPE prices down is appreciated and important, but less tangible > >> ongoing management, troubleshooting, and repair costs must also be > >> considered. The reduction in support costs isn't an expection, it's a > >> reality and requirement in many situations. > > > > When you're working as a startup, labor costs are essentially zero (and > if you're asian like myself, you can call on your > kids/relatives/grandparents to work nights and weekends -- the classic > Chinese restaurant business model =) > > > > However, when working with employees (and I don't care how smart / > hard-working / strong willed you are, there's still only 24 hours in a day) > -- labor costs become a bigger factor as the organization scales > > > > So this brings up a more interesting debate -- e.g., one-man band / > mom-and-pop vs. organizational strategy > > > > As an organization, trying to run a WISP with 700 residential customers > is a complete waste of time, however, as a one-man-band -- an 700 customer > WISP can be highly profitable > > > > The problem here is that there's a nasty chasm between what the one-man > band can handle and what an organization needs to support itself (e.g., it > doesn't scale linearly) > > > > The picture looks more like this > > > > 700 customers -- one-man band (or equivalent) -- highly profitable > > > > Then -- they start hiring employees to grow and scale the business > > > > Unfortunately, there's a minimum amount of overhead required, and what > was once a profitable business is now bleeding red ink and needs to reach > 2,000 customers before things get good again > > > > Which creates an interesting question -- if you're such a WISP, do you > just stop and sit tight at 700 customers? Or do you "go-for-broke" by trying > to grow? > > > > -Charles > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of jp > > Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 10:36 AM > > To: WISPA General List > > Subject: Re: [WISPA] Wimax gear > > > > On Mon, Jan 04, 2010 at 05:28:49PM -0600, Wallace Walcher wrote: > >> Having built my WISP from scratch with my own resources and currently > being > >> debt free in my operations, I often wonder who the people are who so > quickly > >> classify Mikrotik and Ubiquity gear as trash. I am making a very good > >> living deploying such "trash". > > > > I'm not ashamed of calling their bluff when they say something is > > "carrier class", and it's not even released yet and then has firmware > > their either sets the timing wrong to the point of destroying the link > > or doesn't do vlans, and the firmware isn't pulled offline because it's > > the best stuff available. > > > > I've got a couple UBNT M links up and like them, and believe it has a > > future. I just can't put my whole business on the line while they refine > > a product. It is wise and irrestible to try the stuff though. > > > > I've got a downtown network of UBNT 802.11 gear, and the nanos and > > bullets just can't handle the interference as I'd like. It was intended > > to be an upgrade from the breezecom FH gear which was slow but reliable. > > The UBNT is faster, but less reliable in the presence of local > > interference. Now, if someone has an interference problem, we > > immediately swap them over to Alvarion 5.4 gear. It is more expensive, > > but we know we'll never have a service call after it's put in unless it > > gets hit by lightning or the customer wants to upgrade. We would have > > been wise to upgrade straight from the old stuff to 5.4. I'd still > > recommend the UBNT CPE for truly rural use. > > > > Then MT is always making something wonky. A couple years ago, you could > > crash the MT with a SNMP query. Now, if you put an N card in and upgrade > > the firmware in your 433ah to 4.4, you might lose the ethernet ports. I > > stay 1-4 months behind on their firmware because it's a mystery what you > > might get. Changelogs show less than half of what they change. I do like > > them for basic routing and also use their gear for a few links. I think > > it's a step up from UBNT for ptp 802.11 based links. I also like MT > > because it's pretty low power use, which has practical value for solar > > sites or sites needing long battery backup. We don't have the time to > > tinker to use it for everything. We tried 900 with SR9 then XR9 and the > > reliability wasn't there compared to what we were accustomed to with > > Trango and Alvarion. > > > > Once you get to say 1000+ customers, things like having the staff for > > service calls and time to repair for customers are often more important > > than the brand of radio or the original cost of the radio. We do spend > > more on payroll than radios, despite deploying lots of expensive gear. > > Keeping CPE prices down is appreciated and important, but less tangible > > ongoing management, troubleshooting, and repair costs must also be > > considered. The reduction in support costs isn't an expection, it's a > > reality and requirement in many situations. > > > > A minor glitch that affects a few customers outside of town is not a big > > deal, but if the glitch requires half a day on the road or requires > > aircraft, boats, snowcats, or sleds, it could cost hundreds of dollars > > and mess up a lot of customers. > > > > I'd fear for my welfare if everything was built on UBNT and MT though. > > > > We use Alvarion 900, 2.4 (not going forward), 5.4, 5.8, Trango (lots of > > 900 installed, but not going forward), MT, UBNT, and now Solectek and > > Radwin. > > > > My WISP is pretty low debt 100% privately owned and financed, and we > > often choose higher end equipment. You do get what you pay for, but of > > course there are diminshing returns the higher end you go. > > > > > >> My perception is they are either people who are not spending their own > money > >> - they are working for the investor, or possibly borrowing or leasing > the > >> equipment, or they are a vendor promoting their own high margin goods. > >> Those that are WISPs seem to have the perception that it is better to > >> install higher cost equipment, no matter what the cost, if it will > provide > >> them an expected reduction in support costs. > >> > >> What I have found in my area is that people who deploy such equipment > have a > >> very hard go of it, mainly because the replacement costs during the > storm > >> season eat their lunch. My operational plan is different than some - I > >> focus on residential customers on the outskirts of town that do not have > >> access to Cable and DSL. Those focusing on business accounts in cities > >> would understandably have a different perspective. But I feel very > >> fortunate to have a sub $200 total CPE cost (sometimes sub $100) with > the > >> Mikrotik-type solution. > >> > >> > >> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> WISPA Wants You! Join today! > >> http://signup.wispa.org/ > >> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> > >> WISPA Wireless List: [email protected] > >> > >> Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > >> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > >> > >> Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > WISPA Wireless List: [email protected] > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wireless List: [email protected] Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
