I started a few months back doing repair on the side. I am kinda letting my company take care of it self, for I am not trying to make this a full time job. I found out last week that I really do not care to work on computers from 8-5 at my full time job, and then come home and have to work on residential machines till 11PM+ at night. So after last week where I had several machines, I am very content with the trickle of machines I do get, and really not caring to get a whole on onslaught on business going.
That's too bad. It's funny how a job can ruin a passion. Have you ever thought about just doing your computer business full time? That way you wouldn't be burned out. I know you've spent quite some time getting this going. I gotta tell you, it's rough but I couldn't be happier being my own boss.
Now, as far as this thread's discussion goes:
I started up my business in March. I worked out of my home with basically word of mouth and door to door business advertising. I was only doing a job hear and there. It was really discouraging. I moved into my office about 6 weeks ago and that was about as slow as it was from home. Up until last week. Since last week I've been getting 1-3 computers in the shop ever other day or so. Seems I've been quite busy and the cash flow is starting and it feels good. The people that have came in have been happy and spread the word, which is how everyone seems to be finding me now. There is no other shop in town and people just didnt' realize I was here. My phone book ad doesn't come out till October so I didn't expect much until then. I worked on my website SEO and I'm number one in Google for my area. Once you get a couple good clients who know a lot of people, your name spreads quick. These are people who have had a virus or something for a long time because there was no one around to fix them.
It's very encouraging to start seeing multiple computers on the bench and going to the bank every other day to deposit checks. I was barely holding on. Barely keeping gas in my car and behind on all my bills. I was kind of worried when I told my first customer that it would be $99 to de-virus his computer. I had always done it for around $40-$50 before. I wanted his business, but I also wanted to make enough money to survive. What a huge relief I felt when he said ok like it was nothing. When he came to pick up his computer he dropped another one off for the same thing. That is the kind of customer I was looking for. I stuck to my guns about my price, even though I was really nervous. This week and last week have brought me in enough money to catch up on most of it and put gas in my car. I even got to go to Subway and get a Steak & Cheese sub!! mmmmmmm
From the day I moved into my office I have treated this like a job to stay focused. Even though there were no customers for a long time I was still in the shop during my business hours. I spent that time refining my processes and forms, preparing my software tools, creating my office's "feel", preparing literature regarding my business, working on my website, and working on advertising. The past week & a half has really energized me and boosted my self confidence. All the sacrifices I have made and the rough struggles are starting to pay off. Keep at it. Most computer business fail because they either charge too little or can't stick out the slow start.
PS. I love hearing stories of startups too.
