advice for startup purchases

[Slartidad]

I am starting up a computer shop in approximately 45 days and will have about 2 to 3 thousand dollars to put into it.

As a result of the move to Northern Virginia, I have discarded most of my tools, ALL of my stockpile of used computers and parts. (I had a small shop where I lived last and as a charity, rebuilt old PCs into Ubuntu boxes and gave away to homes with school aged children)

I am now comfortably moved in and am going to start up again this time in style as I have a couple grand at my disposal.

I have perused the site and found LOADS of useful tools to download (I wish I had discovered this site earlier it ROCKS!)



Right now I only have the following:
An nice big empty room with it's own outside door 12x17ft
MSI i5 8gig desktop

What I want:
UPS
PC testing tools
Network Testing tools

any suggestions?

[Trusted IT Solutions]

I asked a similar question here a few months back and got some really great answers. Here is a link to the thread.

http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34536

[drpcfix]

That thread is good, the key things we use when we open a location:

Power Supplies, for bench, and for sale

like 3 of those USB to SATA/IDE drive adapters

a few 8GB USB sticks to put bootable linux and tools on

and a synology 4 bay, 411j - gigabit network storage with 4x 2TB drives.

We backup customer data to that when we move it to new computers, and do recovery imaging to that..

lights, screwdrivers, etc - the usual..

[aggieg33k]

I am setup as a mobile repair company with a workbench in my home office for off-site repairs.

I started my business with some self-made Avery perforated business cards from Walmart, flyers & and simple website.

Aside from that, my recommendations are:

• Develop a solid business plan, and after printing out business cards, go test the market before buying a bunch of tools
• Cellphone w/ google voice
• Network with people at every opportunit
• Create a good spreadsheet to store client contact information for followups
• Amazon Prime/Ebay/Monoprice for parts
• Office Desk/Bench
• Comfortable chair (you will be sitting a lot)
• Good Desk Lamp/Overhead Light
• A workstation to handle all of your backups/imaging
• At least least one LCD monitor to start out with
• Several Can's of Stoners Invisible Glass (Aresol can) - for cleaning monitors/lcds/dirty keyboards/cases
• Microfiber cloths for cleaning
• Universal Laptop Power Adapter
• Dual Drive USB Dock
• KMV Switch
• Both PS2 and USB mice and keyboards
• Anti-static wrist-strap & pad
• Good Storage Container/Toolbox
• Precision Screwdriver Set(s)
• Tweezers & Needle Nose Pliers
• Magnifying Glass
• Magnetic wand & Magnets
• Soldering Iron, solder and accessories
• Heatgun & Heat-shrink tubing
• Mulitmeter/voltmeter
• Cat5e Line Tester
• USB Hub
• PSU Tester
• Spare RAM
• Spare Powersupply's
• SATA & IDE to USB connectors
• Spare CMOS Batteries
• Artic Silver Thermal Paste
• Spare Hard Drives
• Spare Cables: IDE/SATA/VGA/DVI/HDMI/Ethernet
• External usb cd/dvd drive
• Air-compressor or computer vacuum/blower
• Several thumbdrives
• Windows 7/Vista/XP x86 and 64 bit versions
• Hiren's Boot cd may be helpful (I have rarely used it over the past year, but it has come in handy a few times.
• Malwarebytes & MSE are your friend
• Excel or Quickbooks for Accounting
• Teamviewer, Screenconnect, or other remote software
• Scansnap S1300 w/ evernote or dropbox is nice if you want to go paperless (pricey though)
• Good Laser Color Printer
• Facebook page, google plus page and twitter along with local business directories (google, yahoo, bing, yelp, angies list, foursquare, etc..)
• Tripod & HD Pocket Camera for customer testimonials (not necessary, but I've found that people like/trust video reviews)
• Become an affiliate with Gillware for data recovery, they've always done a great job for my customers
• I usually setup/refer most clients to a FREE drop box account as a means of backup/storage for their word/business docs and such (you could offer paid backup software like mozy or carbonite, but I do not use them)
• ipad/tablet w/ 3g/4g is nice to have when you are mobile
• small netbook/ultrabook/macbook air is nice as well for mobile jobs
• IFTTT.com for syncing up twitter, google plus and facebook
• Car Magnets/Vinyl Wrap/Rear Window Acrylic Lettering w/ Contact Info
• Remember always to put the customer first, keep them happy and give them realistic expectations and you will benefit immensely.

That's all I can think of right now, but if you don't include luxury items like the laptop/tablet/scansnap... start-up costs are not much. You can typically start off with no tools, and buy as you go (this is what I did for the most part.)