5 Questions with Experimac-Longmont owner Andrew Zimmerman

Andrew Zimmerman has turned over a new leaf. After spending 22 years in corporate America, mostly working remotely from home, Zimmeran began to miss the warmth of human interaction. With help of his father, a savvy finance man, he began researching potential business opportunities. And soon he zeroed on Experimac, a franchise for selling pre-owned Apple devices, and repairing and upgrading them for customers. Franchise owners also buy used Apple products and can arrange for a trade-in, and offer a range of accessories.

“The investment wasn’t huge, and it tied with what I did. I didn’t think coming into this I was an Apple expert,” said Zimmerman, who last month opened Experimac-Longmont. The business is located at 436A Main St. in downtown Longmont. A formal ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled Tuesday.

Zimmeran said he is glad to have found a spot in Longmont. “It’s friendly and welcoming,” he said, adding a lot of casual drop-ins at the store were pleasantly surprised to see a Mac store in Longmont. “It makes us happy that people want us here.”

We recently met Zimmeran to find out about his plans to grow his business.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

1. What does it mean to be a business owner?

I think it’s an incredible feeling to be working in one’s own store. You’ve a sense of pride and responsibility. I know if I display a bad attitude, it’ll affect my employees. I really have to accentuate my strengths. I’m here 10 hours a day, or even more, but I don’t know how time flies away. There’s always something to do in the store, like researching the inventory, helping the technicians, or cleaning the store. The most fun thing is to work with customers to help them find what they need: I don’t want to give grandma a Ferrari, or Mario Andretti (a champion racing car driver) a go-kart.

The meat of this business is inventory management.

2. As an Experimac franchisee, what kind of training did you receive before launching your store?

The company, United Franchise Group, which owns the Experimac brand and numerous others, including Signarama, a sign and graphics franchise, trained me and my wife, Diana, for two weeks in West Palm Beach, Fla. They taught us how to run a store and be a positive influence on others. That was something I never thought about before.

We also learned how we can be partners in technology with the Longmont community. The company helped with the design and set up of the store, supplied us with inventory and all the necessary equipment to get us started. I pay a monthly fee to the company. We have them as a lifeline. It’s very comforting to know we aren’t alone, if we are stuck.

3. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

My strength is motivating others. It comes naturally to me. I’ve been a hockey coach to both of my sons.

I’ve got to work on improving my patience. I know there’ll be good days and bad days. You just have to stay the course. You’re not going to recover your investment in a day. Eventually, we’ll achieve our goals.

4. What was your reaction the first time you saw the inside of an Apple product?

It’s unbelievably easy to break a part while repairing it. Apple devices have tiny parts, batteries that need adhesive, all of which require tiny specialized tools to tinker with them. They get worn out pretty quickly.

Recently, I changed the battery on a customer’s iPhone. I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty.

5. What are the challenges ahead of you?

I need to figure out what this market is shopping for. We’ve been open for a month now, and we’ve sold many iMacs and MacBooks, but we haven’t sold a single iPhone. I wonder what’s behind that? We need more time to understand the market, and people need to know about us. We’ve been advertising on Craigslist. A lot of customers have walked through the doors of our store to browse.

We want to tell consumers the benefits of shopping for pre-owned Apple devices at our store, compared to online marketplaces; that our products come with a warranty.

Another challenge is to figure out the level of inventory we need to keep in store.