In a far away galaxy, a long, long time ago…
Well, Bexley, in Southeast London, in 2017, actually! This is where the humble beginnings of Fruit Geek took place. After several years of opening and working at the Bromley Apple Store, I became increasingly frustrated with the significant disparity between Apple’s device support and repair services and those offered by high street vendors. Moreover, there was also a price difference, as well as a lack of customer experience and limited options for people in Bexley, who are almost equally distant from Bluewater and Bromley. In response to these challenges, Fruit Geek was launched to provide Apple-level customer service and experience, offering greater value and increased accessibility to those seeking Apple advice or repairs for their Mac, iPhone, or iPad.
Over the next five years Fruit Geek moved to an office and workshop in Bexley village, gaining a steady stream of new customers, hiring several staff and venturing into the world of IT Support, specialising in supporting businesses that used Apple hardware. During this time, many of the Apple Mac computers in service started to slow down due to the increase in demand from more sophisticated software and the increased adoption of cloud computing. Upgrading the internal, spinning hard drive to a much faster solid-state drive with no moving parts and increasing the computers memory (the RAM), provided a well needed shot in the arm to the Macs we looked after, increasing their lifespan and making our customers very happy.
With the launch of the M1 Apple Silicon chip in 2020 (that would go on to replace the Intel processors in all Macs over the next two years), and all new Macs shipping with solid-state drives, the end was in sight for the golden era of upgrades as a new dawn beckoned. While other repairs would continue to be offered, accessing the expertise and parts required to complete these grew sharply following the Pandemic, so with overall demand thinning and margins being squeezed, a new direction was sought.
Joining forces with Inception Support
I met Paul from Inception Support in 2017 not long after he’d founded the business, through a mutual contact. After an initial meet-up, we stayed in touch over the years for the occasional bit of brain-picking and moral support (independent Apple tech specialists are few and far between, so it can get lonely at times, lol). As Paul was based in Croydon and I was located in Bexley our paths (and likely customers) rarely crossed, since although not being far as the crow flies, they are hideous places to commute between by almost any means of transport. This helped foster a sort of working relationship with gilded suspicion of how the other was doing, then, following the isolating years of Covid, we met up again in early 2023 to see how each other was getting along.
What transpired is that we could both see the Apple repair and upgrade business going to hell before our very eyes and the demands of businesses using Apple technology rapidly changing, with the continued adoption of cloud services like Microsoft 365 and more staff working remotely, meaning a greater focus on MacBooks, iPhone and iPad than ever before. It was also clear that we both had a similar mix of home users and businesses with varying needs; from the occasional bit of remote support, to a virtual, outsourced IT department, able to supply an array of technical disciplines. Much chin and head-scratching was done before we concluded that two heads could be better than one, and so we began our journey to merge Fruit Geek and Inception Support, in a first step towards total World domination, muwha-ha-ha-ha-haaa! Er, no.
Where we go from here
Over the last year and a half Paul and I have set about reimagining and relaunching both Inception Support and now, Fruit Geek. Inception Support is now defined as an Apple focused IT managed service provider (MSP), caters for teams of around 10 or more who require unified security, device management and data management, and working with organisations primarily in the creative and tech startup sectors. Fruit Geek exists in the vision of an extension to the Apple Store, with home and small business owners firmly in its sights.
At the heart of what Fruit Geek offers is an affordable, subscription based service plan, enabling anyone with one to several Apple devices an opportunity to discover how to get more from the Apple ecosystem or have expert help on-hand if trouble strikes! Furthermore, for small businesses an array of knowledge and advice is available to guide you through topics such as email management, cyber security, backups and lots more besides. They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and as an ex-apple employee and founder of Fruit Geek, I’m passionate about about customer experience and fully intend to build the business on these foundations.
To find our more about the new and improved Fruit Geek offering, use the link below and feel free to contact us with any feedback or questions, as we’d love to hear from you.
This article and associated image was created by a human.
