Rent-A-Nerd started in a one-bedroom apartment on November 1st, 1997, when I realized my phone number spelled N-E-R-D. Computer users in the New Orleans area were fed up with the lack of knowledgeable and honest computer consultants, and I decided to start my own company with the following goal: to provide fast, affordable, and reliable computer service.
I borrowed $300 dollars from my Mom (thanks Mom!), posted flyers around the neighborhood, and Rent-A-Nerd was born. The response to the flyers was great and I quit my 'real' job. I had to call in a friend to handle the overflow. Rent-A-Nerd was growing fast, and my apartment was small to begin with, so I moved into a house and converted the front into an office.
On January 1st, 1998 Rent-A-Nerd was incorporated. Later that year we hired our first employee, and Rent-A-Nerd outgrew my house. On November 1st, 1998—exactly one year after founding the company—we opened our first "real" office on Metairie Road. By August 2005, Rent-A-Nerd had been featured in numerous news broadcasts, newspaper and magazine articles, interviews and photo sessions, and we had grown to twelve employees. We were STILL growing fast and still providing fast, reliable service to the New Orleans Metropolitan area.
On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina and a failure of the levee system devastated New Orleans and scattered the Nerds. Our staff was cut in half, with two of us (myself included) forced to relocate to Baton Rouge. Rent-A-Nerd was down but not out. The Metairie location was spared the flooding, and we were able to resume operations almost immediately, aiding our customers as they returned to the city. In Baton Rouge we took an even greater risk: opening a second location and expanding our service coverage across southeastern Louisiana.
The years since Katrina have been ones of optimistic outlooks and steady growth. I've moved back to Metairie, the Metairie shop is back to its pre-Katrina strength and settling in at its new location on Focis Street, and the Baton Rouge location has exploded onto the scene and is making a name for itself in the state capital. If all goes well, Louisianians will be renting Nerds for years to come.
— Darrin Piotrowski. |
