Do you have a computer shop?

[redmon]

Today I make about 80 to 100K a year before taxes and overhead.

The big question, how much is your overhead?

this year we project $250,000 - $270,000 in gross sales, with expenses as high as 60% to 70%(combination of parts and fixed costs).

 

[bdoggman]

The big question, how much is your overhead?

this year we project $250,000 - $270,000 in gross sales, with expenses as high as 60% to 70%(combination of parts and fixed costs).

wow that's awesome! what is your main stream of income? I'm only a one man shop.
my overhead is about 15,000 a year

 

[aweston]

We've been talking about moving locations to a store front. Though, I'd miss my neighbors, and the free security guard protection. But we are looking at 1) moving to something bigger, and something more high visibility to attract customers. 2) We are in the process of looking for another tech. Though my heart is sold on someone who can just do a storefront.

It's a big decision. I'm going through the books, seeing what we can do...and trying to see if it is something we can afford. Storefront costs more than a office.

I know how you feel. Years ago I decided "go big or go home". Getting an office space was a terrifying proposition. What I learned was to have full intent and absolute trust. "Build it and they will come".

Well, the rest is history. If you plan on being comfortable, you will never be successful. The biggest piece of advice I can give you at this point is this:

$50 tip for success: "All the magic happens outside of your comfort zone."

Good luck with it. If you need any help, PM me.

 

[frederick]

I know how you feel. Years ago I decided "go big or go home". Getting an office space was a terrifying proposition. What I learned was to have full intent and absolute trust. "Build it and they will come".

Well, the rest is history. If you plan on being comfortable, you will never be successful. The biggest piece of advice I can give you at this point is this:

$50 tip for success: "All the magic happens outside of your comfort zone."

Good luck with it. If you need any help, PM me.

We are in the process of getting rid of our start up and current location debt. Not much left. After that, all credit can be applied to profit/new location. The workbench I built is designed to be taken apart, and relocated. So that saves some monies. It's not about leaving our comfort zone, it's about where we want to go. A larger location would help with the fact we need more space to work. It's getting cramped. Moving will take up time which equals money. So we have to plan on that. Servers are going to have to be taken down (which we do not like the idea of) and then relocated. So we are looking at setting up a hot location for the move, that way, nothing is disturbed, and there is no impact. It's not just money, it's man power, logistics, etc. while still operating.

 

[redmon]

wow that's awesome! what is your main stream of income? I'm only a one man shop.
my overhead is about 15,000 a year

What your doing is awesome! That impresses me. You are making as much as my 3 man shop is doing(as a one man shop, I was making about 40,000/year). You are keeping 80 cents of every dollar you bring in compared to me keeping 35 cents of every dollar we bring in. My pretax income is probably similar to yours even with almost 3 times the sales. Seriously, what you are doing is great! You may be running a smarter business than I am.

We do mainly 80% residential repair, 20% business (I am just guessing on that ratio). Of those total sales, about 1/3 products or parts: new computers, refurbished computers and parts used in repairs. Last year we spent $45,000 on product and sold it for $80,000

The advantage to my shop is, it has the potential to run without me, possibly be sold for real money. I can leave for a week and still bring in an income. More flexibility with my time.

It has many disadvantages also, to many to get into at the moment

 

[RoseburgHelpDesk]

On my end I share shop space. I pay $250 a month and get power and internet. I don't have this for walk ins but it can be used for drop offs. This is next to a appliance shop which I currently work at as freelance. This helps me build my business while still getting an income and have time to do what I want when I need to. All in all this works but need to expand the customer base.

 

[CyberJourn]

I am in the same building as a printer repair and sales company. We have been doing a trade now for the past few years and it has worked quite well. I do their computer support for their office and they give me space in their building. I have a small area in their service area to work on computers but I have a very large finished area in my garage at home where most of the repairs are done. The great thing is that their employees will take in drop offs and handle all the outgoing machines including payment so I don't need to pay anyone "man the shop" since I am usually on-site most of the day.

Both of our businesses compliment one another nicely since they don't do any computer service and I don't do printer service. They pass a lot of business my way as I do for them. Their shop is in a very busy area, so just having this location with some signage has been very helpful.

One area I am lacking though is answering phones and scheduling. Does anyone have good recommendations for a virtual receptionist type service that can answer phones and take appointments?

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

just bought another company so we now have 3 retail stores... didn't hit the 1 million in sales in 2013 but definitely should easily for 2014... brought on a biz manager to get some paperwork stuff straightened out and stay on the ball tax and compliance wise.

The retail end does ok, we are working on making it more profitable... still sinking most of the profits back into it... but it's young

 

[Moltuae]

I work from home, though a few years ago it would've been more accurate to say I 'live from work'.

A large part of my work is electronics -- inventing and designing/developing circuit boards -- so, in addition to all the space needed for computers and computer related stock, I have to stock a lot of electronic components.

My work took over just about every room in the house, until a few years ago when my girlfriend moved in and she insisted on having things like bedrooms and a kitchen (women ... what are they like, eh!? ). In the end I gave in and let her have a few rooms, so these days less than half of the rooms contain stock or work areas.





PS: I selected "No, I work out of my home and I pick up from customers" in the poll, bringing the total for that option to 42. Considering my username is Moltuae (= Meaning Of Life The Universe And Everything), I thought that was a pretty cool coincidence and worth a mention for the HHGTTG fans