Musician composes business out of love for technology

Former songwriter and keyboardist Mark Duff in second career with computer repair company

By Darren Greenwood, Auckland | Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Mark Duff spent a decade as a songwriter and performer before starting out in IT.

Duff, originally from Nelson, began training as a musician at age 7, and joined his first band at 16. Three years later he moved to Christchurch where he made his musical debut.

Duff, somewhat the autodidact, sometimes regrets not going to university. As a child, he taught himself Pascal and BASIC, back in the days of the BBC micro and ZX Spectrum personal computers.

His main interest, however, led to a career as a songwriter, keyboardist and percussionist, playing in five-star hotels throughout Asia and in Spain.

“I transitioned from a musical career into the IT industry in 2004 for a number of reasons, but mainly because I loved technology and the challenge of solving complex problems. Also it was a way of supporting myself and making a move from late nights and smoky bars,” Duff recalls.

Duff launched OhNo! mobile computer repairs as a part-time business in 2004, going full-bore in 2008.

OhNo! employs three staff, selling and repairing PCs and Apple computers, and repairing other electronics on and off site, a service Duff says is unique in Christchurch. Eighty percent of Duff’s clientele are consumers, with businesses comprising the rest. Supplies come from Synnex, Dove and Altech.

Though not an authorised Apple repair agent, Duff says he extends the working lives of many Macbooks and iMacs. Being an Apple fan means such repairs a labour of love. Duff says the company delivers a more elegant build and design than the typical PC, and that OS X offers better usability over Windows.

OhNo! faces competition from bigger service companies like Geeks On Wheels and PC Anytime. Duff says customers can be fickle, conservative or thrifty, making business a challenge and keeping him from growing complacent lest the work dries up. Duff believes size helps makes his company more flexible.

“Simply put, we work pretty long hours to make sure our customers are happy, get answers quickly and do not have to wait weeks to get computer issues solved,” he says.

OhNo! has built a reputation for building custom systems tailored to audio recording and graphics. Duff is abetted on this side of the business by technician Kelvin Mallard, who used to perform with him. And while repair work is its bread and butter, the company has also ventured into web design, with plans in the works for hosting and SEO services. Duff is also planning an online store for PC and Mac upgrades, accessories and custom-build systems. He’s also looking at remote access services for clients in Japan and Malaysia where Duff made contacts in his musical career.

“We have noticed an increased demand for reliable offsite backups and cloud-based computing strategies. People at least in Christchurch now understand that local servers and external harddrives can become stuck in offices, or worse, destroyed, and there are now more reliable and affordable ways to tackle this problem,” Duff says.

This trend also means OhNo! will also offer advanced data recovery.

When the February quake struck, Duff was outside in the carpark of his business, which is situated at the bottom of a seven-story apartment. The office was a mess afterwards but work was able to be transferred to his brother’s place at nearby West Melton for a week or so, until the office had been cleaned-up and power restored.

“We count ourselves lucky our building is perfectly fine and we were back in business, albeit in a limited way, the day after the quake. In fact, we rescued many of our current off site repairs from our office and completed them at our temporary digs in West Melton,” he says.

However, some customers have been forced to move, mainly to the suburbs, which has added to journey times when visiting them, especially on the bumpy roads, and five percent of customers have left the region altogether.

Describing business in 2011 as “steady”, Duff expects the winter “doom and gloom” will subside as people envisage a new Christchurch, something he is committed to.

“I am hoping Christchurch will become a hub of creativity and vision with a focus on safe inner city entertainment and I personally hope it will become much more cycle- and walker-friendly,” he adds.