The History Of Ubermac – 20th Anniversary

Founding & early development period

On January 2, 2005, Cobalt Computer Services was registered with the Michigan Department Of Corporations (Or whatever it was called at that time).

From 1995 to 2003 I had been working with my father at our family car dealerships in Grand Rapids, MI. When my father passed away suddenly in June of 2003, I continued to run the main dealership, and my 2 sisters were incorporated into the day to day decision making of the business, as we were all 3 equal owners now.

Not long after that, I decided that being a car salesman was not my passion. I realised that I never liked “selling” anything. I did not like the retail part of the industry or being a part of sales in any way.

So, knowing that our family owned a building at 5990 South Division Ave. in Kentwood, MI, and that is was vacant, I decided to open a computer repair company. I named it Cobalt Computer Services.

My reason for starting a computer repair company was that, I was into computers. Windows computers to be exact. Back then I despised Apple computers and even the “nerds” that used them. And with that last statement, you need to be aware that Windows computer users didn’t like Mac people, and Mac people thought they were “too cool for school” for us Windows users.

So because of my love of computers, everyone would call or come to me for help with upgrading their computers, removing viruses, and things like that.

I was the guy. So that’s why I did it. I just figured, “Hey. There are enough people getting viruses that I could start a company and make a living doing this, instead of having to sell cars to people.” So I did.

But little did many of them know, that the person that got me started on computers in the first place was my childhood friend (that I’m still friends with to this day), Michael Hall. He was my mentor when it came to computers. He, in fact, the first person to show me “the internet”. He was the person that upgraded my computers, took my annoying calls about “why isn’t this game working” and “how do I install this sound card & driver”. My buddy Mike is the whole reason why I am in the industry and career that I’m in right now. He now has a consulting company in Grand Rapids, MI called East City Consulting, and is doing well.

My Uncle Phil also gets credit for being the one that introduced me to computers when I was in the 5th grade. He had a computer called a Kaypro 2. Look it up. It’s a relic.

So anyways………that’s how I got started. And now, the story continues…….

A Name Is Chosen

Why did I choose the name Cobalt Computer Services?

Well, the story goes like this.

In 1946, my grandfather flew with the Blue Angels. And he……….

I’m just kidding.

I wish I had a really cool story for you, but I don’t. I chose the name because I liked the color blue, and I thought that particular color, and the name of that color was cool. That’s it.

So after I chose that name, I opened our initial location.

No More Snow

In June of 2005, I decided that I needed a change of scenery, and that I wanted to move to Florida, as I had friends that lived in Jacksonville.

So on August 1, 2005, I moved there and built a house.

For the next 5 years, Cobalt Computer Services would be only somewhat active. I did minimal advertising, and performed minimal work, mainly because I was pursuing other interests in music, etc.

But in June of 2007, my girlfriend started talking about this iPhone that Apple made that was coming out, and that she wanted me to drive her out to the St. Johns Mall to buy it. And that’s where things changed for me.

Where It All Changed

In June of 2007, I brought my girlfriend at the time to the St. Johns Town Center to buy this “stupid” iPhone. (Those were my thoughts at the time, because everyone was talking about this damn phone, and I was a Microsoft Windows guy.)

So the line when we got there was, annoying to say the least. It was long. Like, REALLY long. And it’s June in Jacksonville Florida. So it was like REALLY hot out.

So as she waited in line, I wondered into the Apple Store (which I had never been in one before). I walked around and I walked up to these iPhones. I picked ojne up and played with it for about 1 minute, and an Apple associate walked up to me and said “What do you think?”. And I said “This thing is pretty cool.” Then he said “Do you want one?” And I said “Sure!”

So I buy it, and walk out to where my girlfriend is standing in line and I show her what I bought. We had a good laugh about that fact that I, Mr. Windows guy, got an iPhone before she did.

And THAT was my introduction to Apple and the iPhone.

A week or 2 passed by, and I was obsessed with how this new iPhone worked, it’s ease of use, it’s design, etc. And I remember saying to myself, “Man. If their computers work like this phone does, that would be a game changer.”

So about a week later I bought a new Windows laptop computer for myself. I brought it home, loaded my data onto it, and went to simply sort a column of music by alphabetical order. A very simple, mundane task to ask a computer to do. But this new computer had the newest version of Microsoft Windows on it. It had JUST come out. So when I clicked to perform this simple action, I remember watching this green progress bar appear. And it just sat there at the top of the screen. Barely making progress. And I say there. And sat there. Then after about 2 minutes, I slammed the lid on that computer, drove to Best Buy, and bought my first Apple computer.

I bought a black Macbook. It was not a pro, and the MacBook Air didn’t exist yet. I bought it because it was the chaepest Mac they had and I didn’t know if I would like it or not.

When I got it home and started my new Macbook up, I couldn’t even figure out how to use the trackpad or buttons to vavigate because Macbook’s only had one single trackpad button, but all of my windows computers had 2. So I struggles for an hour or 2. But after that, that was all she wrote.

I became completely obsessed with everything about this computer. I had to know more. I wanted to buy more of Apple;s products. And every product I bought, worked incredibly.

So, I decided to “Come to the darkside”, and totally convert to Apple. And that was a great decision because it has provided me with an amazing career so far.

The “All Things Apple” Sponge

For the next 2 years, I would take a deep dive into Apple products and how they worked. I became obsessed with all things Apple.

I then decided that this company, Apple, was the future and that they were going to take a huge chunk of the home computer market. So I bought essentially all of their products, and used them. I studied them. First my black MacBook. Then a Mac Mini, Then a 27″ Apple Cinema Display Monitor with a seperate iSight Camera. Like I said, I bought everything.

And then I got pretty good with Apple products, so I decided to start to advertise help with Apple products, in a very minimal way while I was living in Jacksonville, FL.

But it was strange.

The majority of my calls were for Windows computer issues. Almost no Apple calls. It was like 10% Apple and 90% PC. But I did start to gain some ground after a little while, because NOBODY knew anything about Apple in my area of Florida.

But then the housing market crashed. I remember looking down my street with all of the brand new homes that had been built, and out of the 15 homes on my one single street, 3 of them had green lawns, and mine was one of them. The rest were becoming dilapidated. It seems that almost everyone in my neighborhood gave a “stated Income” to the mortgage companies, and almost every house was foreclosed.

And then I started watching people break into houses and steal washers, and dryers, and refrigerators, etc. And I started seeing cars on jack stands in driveways, missing wheels.

But the last straw was the day that my wife and 1 year old son were walking in front of our beautiful, newly built home, and a car full of pretty bad dudes, started cat calling her, hanging out the windows, hooting and hollering. While she was with my son. They apparently turned around at the end of the street and came back again, and she ran in the house with our son.

I remember walking out into my front yard right after that, looking up and down the street at our neighborhood, and I said to myself, “This is not what we signed up for.”

So I spoke to my wife, and we remembered that my family had a condo in Jupiter, FL that no one had used in years. It was just sitting there. So we got in the car and drove down to Jupiter to take a peak at it.

The first night we were here, my wife and son and I went to, what I believe was called the Crab House where Harpoon Louie’s used to be on the Jupiter Inlet. I remember that we walked to the docks and the sun was setting. The sunset that night was amazing. I remember saying to here “We have to move here”. And I think she may have agreed as well, right on the spot.

We stayed the weekend, came back home, and immediately told all of our friends we were moving to Jupiter.

Paradise Found

Many people don’t know this, but I have been visiting Jupiter Florida since I was born. Almost every year for 1 to 2 weeks until I was about 16 years old.

You see, my grandparents were “snowbirds”. We were all from Michigan, so the visits were something I’ll never forget. I remember the smell of the air and the humidity hitting my face when I would step off of the airplane. That’s when I knew I was in Florida.

So I remember the dirt roads. I remember Jupiter before Tequesta became it’s own incorporated town. I remember when my grandmothers area code changed to 561. The original low height US-1 bridge. Burt Reynolds Ranch. Eating at Harpoon Louie’s and my grandmother pointing at the big house in Jupiter Inlet Colony and saying “There’s Perry Como’s house.”

I remember a lot.

My grandparents decided to buy a townhome in Tequesta in a brand new development in 1979. The paid cash for one of the first townhomes to be built in the community on County Line Rd. This is the condo / townhome that our family still owns to this day, and this is where my sisters and I grew up and had great times on our vacations from Michigan.

So anyways, fast forward to 2009……….

In anticipation of our decision to move to Jupiter, I took it upon myself to rent a Mailbox at the UPS Store in Tequesta while we were there. I did it the minute we decided to move here. So I went through the process of updating my business address from Jacksonville to Jupiter.

And once Google Maps grabbed onto that address in Jupiter, my phone started ringing off of the hook.

I had no idea why I was suddenly getting all of these calls from Jupiter of people asking for me to help them with their Apple computers. And then it took me a little while to realise it but, it turns out there is a lot of money in Jupiter, and because of that, people can afford to own Apple computers. MUCH more so than where I was living in Jacksonville.

So I had to do damage control and explain to these callers that I wasn’t there yet but that I would be in a month or 2. And I started scheduling people. So, something was happening……..

The New Beginning

After moving to Tequesta, I started my business up again. At the time, I was charging $35 per hour. And there was no 1 hour minimum. AND I was trying to build this business, so I would take any job that I could get. I would even drive all of the way up to Hutchinson Island for a 15 – 30 minute job. Anything I could do to get my name out.

Then one day my wife broke her iPhone. She said that she remembered seeing an iPhone repair place in Tequesta, and I did too. So I went in there and talked to the guy and he said for $100 he’s fix the glass. So I dropped it off, came back and picked it up. Good to go.

So over the next few days I was starting to get people questioning me about the fact that I needed to take their computer with me to fix it. Many people were not comfortable giving me an expensive Apple computer because, who am I after all. They don’t really know me.

Then I thought to myself that if I got storefront, it would legitimize me more, and people could drop their computers off and be more comfortable. So I thought about the iPhoneFix guy. I remember the place he was renting was like 2000 square feet, and he only used the front 200 feet. So I stopped in and explained to him what I do, and that I thought that it would be a good compliment to his iPhone repair business. I would send him my clients, and he would tell his iPhone repair people about me. And we would both be in the same office together.

He liked the idea, and we decided to split the rent, so I went for it.

It was a good call. I was starting to get more computer repairs, and I am a workaholic so I was there at 6am and I would leave at like 9 if it called for it. I’ve never been afraid to work.

But the other guy? The guy fixing the iPhones? He was never there. So people were coming in asking where that guy was because he had their iPhone and they needed it. Or “he promised it would be done today.” Then I also had people calling yelling at me that the iPhone guy was never there and he had their phone.

It was starting to make me look bad.

So I remember watching this guy roll in around noon most days, he would meet people to pick up their iPhones, would only accept cash, and I would see him make like $800 in 2 hours and leave again. I was both impressed, and annoyed. Annoyed because he had no work ethic and was making all of that money and at the same time hurting my reputation because of his lack of work ethic.

So one day I said to him “Hey, how about you teach me how to fix the iPhones, I’ll fix them, give you 80%, I’ll take 20% and you don’t have to worry because you’ll come in and there will be money here for you.” For me, it was all about not haveing customers upset or angry, and not having those bad experiences be associated with me or my business.

So about 1 month into our rental space partnership, I had the idea to offer to buy him out of his company, iPhoneFix. When I offered, at first I thought he was mad, but then he was ecstatic, and practically THREW the business at me for the few thousands of dollars I offered him. Because he really didn’t care. He didn’t want to work anyways. All he wanted to do was fish because he was a salty dude. That was his true love. He wanted to be a boat captain and fish. So, I hope he is doing what he loves.