Supporting Their Community, One Device at a Time

Michel Elias wants to offer better support and coverage for his customers’ devices. What started as two friends helping their own friends and family grew to opening a store front in 2010 and has now become a trusted hub for tech support in their community. 

“We fix and sell computers, tablets and phones for personal customers and businesses. One of the most important services we provide is data recovery and migration to new devices,” explains Michel Elias, owner of Tech Mania since 2019. “With my engineering background, I have also been able to add some more services to the business like software, website development and website hosting.”

Michel operates with the philosophy that a great business takes the time to understand its customers; he wanted the same experience from his financial institution. He likes CUA’s core values, including caring, integrity and accountability, and its presence in the community.  “Our Commercial Account Manager at CUA is always there to answer my questions,” describes Michel. “They are great at what they do and are close by.”

He explains how having access to responsive financial support has helped the business grow and invest in new opportunities, including purchasing its building and expanding the services it provides. “We got a business credit card, and later a mortgage when we expanded to purchase the building where we operate.”

Michel is also very well-versed in cybersecurity, an increasingly hot topic as more people encounter scams and online threats. “We have had lots of customers come visit us because they lost money to scams,” Michel reveals. “One customer lost $2,000 because he was using free wi-fi and accessing his private accounts.” 

Tips to keep your devices safe

Given their impact and increasingly common occurrences, we asked Michel for cybersecurity tips on how people should be cautious online to avoid a scam or fraud. His top tip is to check every link before you click it.

“Make sure you look at and confirm the link before you click it,” says Michel. “Even when installing a printer, visit the official company website to find the installer there instead of just using a Google search.” 

Individuals should also pay careful attention to where and when they enter their personal information on a website, explains Michael.

“Scam links usually ask for additional information or want you to complete an action. For example, a message asking you to confirm a delivery by clicking a link.” Most major shipping companies, such as FedEx or UPS, will send you a tracking link by email, but don’t require you to confirm it. Additionally, consider if you have placed an order recently. If you haven’t, that’s a good clue that the link isn’t legitimate.

If you do happen to click a link that didn’t take you where you were expecting, or think your devices might be compromised, Tech Mania can help.

Dealing with Compromised Devices

Some signs that your devices have been infected by a virus or malware include unusually slow performance, or unexpected changes in speed and behaviour, even when no new software has been downloaded.

“Come get it checked, we can clean the computer to make sure there’s nothing there and see where the threat happened,” says Michel. “We also have software that can detect if someone is trying to look at or access your computer remotely. These can be integrated into your browser, so it is completely covered.”

One piece of advice Michel wishes everyone used when purchasing technology: “Make sure you have a good warranty and support for the products you use. Sometimes a new computer has a great graphics card, but it might not have enough storage for your needs. At Tech Mania, any service we do has a warranty and parts are coming from a branded supplier.” 

The Importance of a Business Plan

We finished up our discussion by asking Michel if he had any advice for business owners who are just starting out.

“Make sure you have a good business plan that covers all expenses and salaries,” advises Michel. “Prices are changing monthly. AI is affecting many industries’ production, changing how things are done and getting more expensive. Take time to consider market changes in your business plan.” 

Michel loves that he can keep devices locally and help customers in shorter time frames than some of their competitors.

“We can turn around many repairs quickly. Our customers trust us and we’re focused on building honest, long-term relationships and taking the time to solve issues together.”