Business: DPC Repair Corp.
Address: 1163 E. Ogden Ave., Suite 709, Naperville
Phone/website: 331-226-2997, www.dpcRepair.com
Owners: Donald Solm, 60, and Mimi Solm, 58, of Aurora; General Manager: Kyler Solm, 21 of Aurora
Years in business: 16
What does your business do? “We repair any type of computer,” Donald said.
Kyler Solm fixes a computer at DPC, a family-owned computer repair company based in Naperville. (Steve Metsch/Naperville Sun)
What repairs are we talking about? “Broken computers, malicious viruses, security. We do all the malware, screen replacements, preventive maintenance. … If you have pets, we see dog hair, cat hair in computers. … We try to clean them before they go bad. We probably change a battery a day,” Donald said.
“We also do upgrades. People come in. Everyone wants better performance on their computer,” Kyler said.
Why did you start this business? “I was a gamer and we custom built our own computers to make them the fastest. We had really good times. People started calling, ‘Build one for me.’ So, we starting building computers. Then we started selling computers online from our basement,” Donald said.
Why do computers start running slow? “Slowness can be a lot of things. It can be dust. It might be overheating. You may have a lot of apps running in the background. Or you are almost filling up your hard drive. Hard drives have so much storage. If you get close to the end, the computer can start stalling,” Donald said.
How do you fix that? “We can turn a hard drive into something bigger. We can double the space on your hard drive. … Hard drives have a limited time. It’s like a battery on a car,” he said.
What else do you offer? “We can transfer data from your old computer to your new computer. Taxes, papers, documents. … We try to give the clients what they need. … What makes a computer faster is transferring their old hard drive into the new, solid-state drives,” Donald said.
Is there enough business these days? “Not really. Unfortunately, we’re barely making it. The reason is computer parts are getting more expensive, but the computers themselves are getting cheaper. A repair can be $200 and a new computer can be $300,” Donald said.
“We like to keep the prices reasonable for people, but now it’s getting harder to balance the two,” Kyler said.
Do you have a lot of competition? “There’s not a whole lot of us. … We’re residential, not commercial,” Donald said.
Is this a good location for business? “Actually, we’re thinking of moving because this shopping mall is dead,” Donald said.
How did the virus impact your business? “I had COVID (in 2021). I was 92 days in the hospital. Lost $71,000, from there to now. I’m tired of putting money in. … We’re in a little bit of a pickle. … But we do have the best record as far as repairs. We won Best in Naperville six years in a row for computer repair. Also, the Google reviews have helped us a lot. So, we’re doing a good job,” Donald said.
What about before you got sick? “We were doing great. Actually, a bit after COVID we also made a lot of money because more people were working from home” he said.
Why stick with it? “People tell me, ‘If we don’t have you, where do we go?’ I don’t know how to explain it. People need us, but we’re not well rewarded.”
Any future plans? “Kyler is going to end up taking over the business. I’m working on that now, trying to pass the presidency to him. I’m getting old for this. He’s learning about the new computers. I can’t keep up any more. It’s crazy, the amount of stuff that comes out,” Donald said.
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “You have to do your research, a lot of research. That’s important. … But if you pass the second year, you’re good. … I used to work from 9 o’clock until midnight. But now, since my son is here and we have another worker, I can take two days off (in a row). That never happened before,” he said.
“It takes a lot of work and effort,” Mimi added.
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. If you know of a business you’d like to see to profiled in Down to Business, contact Steve Metsch at metschmsfl@yahoo.com.
