Starting a new computer repair business

[Wheelie]

... I've been doing this for free for years now. It took me a while to gain peoples trust which is probably the only reason I even have business period right now...but I'm really looking to get out of my current client loop and expand ...

When your PC repair skills become exceptional you should target high-end clients. Learn to be a problem solver that arrives quickly (within 24 hours) and provides fast relief for whatever problems they have. Ignore "price shopping" tire-kicking clients that could care less about you or your abilities. You can never win with them, they won't refer you, and rarely offer any repeat work. They are thieves that suck your emotions, your time, and they take you away from your goals. I have a built-in ignore switch for them.

High-end clients refer you to their friends, call you back 4 or 5 times a year, and are willing to pay $100 to $300 per visit. They are a gold mine of sorts. They have no problem paying for someone they trust, someone they can rely on and someone that gets fast results. This is psychological warfare. When you can develop a high-end client base like that you will be richly rewarded with very happy customers that refer you for free to all their friends. Also - there are a lot of high-end clients that operate businesses from their homes ... and they have no IT department! A win-win situation for sure.

Ref: http://www.technibble.com/forums/showpost.php?p=84263&postcount=16

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[joydivision]

+1. I'm already making what would equal to $20 an hour calculated by my time I consider myself in business to now versus the total profit made so far. Although I'm really looking to setup legally now and to get insurance. For now my waivers will work- but I would really love to get rid of them

My only expense is gas for my car- right now I'm going off of word of mouth. Although my advertising cost will not be zero starting by the end of the month

I Am not sure how it works in the USA, but don't forget to declare the tax on the income you have already made, if you don't in the UK you can get locked up.

 

[JosephLeo]

I Am not sure how it works in the USA, but don't forget to declare the tax on the income you have already made, if you don't in the UK you can get locked up.

Well, yeah taxes are a serious issue. Which is why my family has been using a really good (but expensive) tax lawyer for over 20 or 30 years now.

When your PC repair skills become exceptional you should target high-end clients. Learn to be a problem solver that arrives quickly (within 24 hours) and provides fast relief for whatever problems they have. Ignore "price shopping" tire-kicking clients that could care less about you or your abilities. You can never win with them, they won't refer you, and rarely offer any repeat work. They are thieves that suck your emotions, your time, and they take you away from your goals. I have a built-in ignore switch for them.

High-end clients refer you to their friends, call you back 4 or 5 times a year, and are willing to pay $100 to $300 per visit. They are a gold mine of sorts. They have no problem paying for someone they trust, someone they can rely on and someone that gets fast results. This is psychological warfare. When you can develop a high-end client base like that you will be richly rewarded with very happy customers that refer you for free to all their friends. Also - there are a lot of high-end clients that operate businesses from their homes ... and they have no IT department! A win-win situation for sure.

I don't see people as dollar signs. I treat everyone with the same amount of respect as each other. If a bum off the street came to me or Bill Gates came to me I would treat them on a first come first serve basis. Of course, I will tread lightly in the less fortunate areas in town. But people are people, not ATM machines. I also don't expect referrals from anyone without incentive which is why I have something up my sleeve.

As for my skill- I would say I am equal to the level of most of the Technibble community. I still have a little learning to do in some niche areas, but I'm definitely no pizza tech (not by a long shot). One of my main advertising goals will in fact be "Same-Day Service" meaning most problems will have a solution by the end of the day at the very latest.

 

[joydivision]

You're being naive with a same day service. Things go wrong and you often get stuck in traffic or a simple job ends up taking half a day.

There is too many things out of your control.

 

[Tom from Cleveland]

LOL - I would not like to be locked up They have quarterly payments here in the US. Luckily, I'm already paying those on another business venture and at least familiar with taxes.

I'm very happy I found this forum. So many people have contributed good advice: thanks to JosephLeo, Wheelie, Joy and all the others who contributed.

One of my concerns was a lack of field experience. Would my startup capital be better spent hiring/partnering with someone who has experience? The problem here is that I don't have any technical friends that are out of a job. My feeling is that even 1 employee would be too much complexity at the beginning.

I might be better off doing a money back guarantee if I can't fix their problem. This will eat into profits, but it might be a stopgap solution while I'm learning.

 

[JosephLeo]

One of my concerns was a lack of field experience. Would my startup capital be better spent hiring/partnering with someone who has experience? The problem here is that I don't have any technical friends that are out of a job. My feeling is that even 1 employee would be too much complexity at the beginning.

First off, thanks for the compliments. There are members on this forum however that are tons more helpful than I am. I too am here for the same reason you are- Believe it or not, I've only been here for less than two months now...I'm just a forum rat really.

Hiring even just 1 employee will require SO much more money than you think. This is advice coming from a guy with a family of entrepreneurs. So yes, your thoughts on having an employee will complicate things far too much for someone just opening their doors. Your money is best spent on advertising. I can't say it loud enough- advertise, advertise, advertise.

However, instead of partnering up with someone. Why don't you become a broker instead? That was my original idea- to be a broker for computer repair companies. I still get the benefit of working on my own time, being my own boss while still making the money I want.
I opted-out of that idea though based only on pride alone since I am not doing the work myself, thus meaning I'm not sure about the quality of the work. But for someone like you this would be a great route.

Also, money back guarantee's are traps for us. Say you go to someones home for a virus removal- and the only way (by some odd means) to remove the virus is to actually replace the hard drive and the customer doesn't like the sound of that and then after all is said and done, you're forced to do all that work for free.

You can offer a warranty and that's about as far as I would go. OH and my "Same Day Service" actually comes with a charge...so does my "24 Hour" service. My normal schedule is next-day to second-day.

 

[JRoss]

I'm in the start of year 4 and things are finally starting to click. I spent a year and half in college and then 5 years working in some really cool network environments before starting on my own. I learned so much in my early years from others I worked with. Sometimes the IT team was 160 strong so I learned a lot quickly.

Of all the exams I have ever written, the A+, hardware, software and network were by far the easiest. Microsoft and Cisco exams make them look like child's play.

Get some old computers, routers and switches and play with them. Set up a domain and play with that. Infect a few machines intentionally and get rid of the critter. Learn to subnet and a get a solid understanding of TCP/IP networking.

If you have a liking for it, perhaps consider some form of formal schooling or experience.

Having said that, I would have rather had more experience before staring my business but necessity is the mother of invention. The bigger part of the puzzle for most techs is the business end of it which you appear to have some experience with which is good. I had minimal experience myself and learned a lot of things the hard way in terms of running a business.

If you are sharp, you can re-invent yourself when you want a change in your life. I have. It just takes a lot of extra work.

 

[Wheelie]

...I don't see people as dollar signs. I treat everyone with the same amount of respect as each other. If a bum off the street came to me or Bill Gates came to me I would treat them on a first come first serve basis. Of course, I will tread lightly in the less fortunate areas in town. But people are people, not ATM machines. ...

Agreed. But when you get your business to the point where you are repairing 4 to 6 PC's per day you will learn to become selective in the type of work you choose to take on. If you did all that work for people that couldn't or wouldn't pay or they beat you down on your price for every job you may rapidly lose interest (maybe not though. You did say "I've been doing this for free for years now" ). I don't know about you but I have to have a carrot out there making it worth my while. I'd rather get my $150 asking price for a certain task rather than negotiating the job and taking it for $80 or $100. So I have learned to "cherry pick" my work taking it from folks who are more likely to pay what I'm worth. There are people that will gladly pay your asking price for the satisfaction of getting what they ask for.

Bottom line is this: wouldn't you rather make what other professionals make in this business? (and it's not the $20 an hour you claim you're making). The market for a talented professional in my area is $80 to $120 an hour. Just trying to help give you some pointers on what to do to accomplish that.

I also don't expect referrals from anyone without incentive which is why I have something up my sleeve ...

What? You'd rather pay for a referral than a free word of mouth referral?

 

[Wheelie]

I'm in the start of year 4 and things are finally starting to click. I spent a year and half in college and then 5 years working in some really cool network environments before starting on my own. I learned so much in my early years from others I worked with. Sometimes the IT team was 160 strong so I learned a lot quickly.

Of all the exams I have ever written, the A+, hardware, software and network were by far the easiest. Microsoft and Cisco exams make them look like child's play.

Get some old computers, routers and switches and play with them. Set up a domain and play with that. Infect a few machines intentionally and get rid of the critter. Learn to subnet and a get a solid understanding of TCP/IP networking.

If you have a liking for it, perhaps consider some form of formal schooling or experience.

Having said that, I would have rather had more experience before staring my business but necessity is the mother of invention. The bigger part of the puzzle for most techs is the business end of it which you appear to have some experience with which is good. I had minimal experience myself and learned a lot of things the hard way in terms of running a business.

If you are sharp, you can re-invent yourself when you want a change in your life. I have. It just takes a lot of extra work.

You have a bright future ahead of you. Your approach will serve you well.

 

[MobileTechie]

If you are inexperienced but want to go ahead anyway I would suggest a few things:

Vet your customer problems to ensure you are likely to be able to solve them. Don't accept jobs you have little chance of doing well or you'll look bad and feel even worse.

Get lots of information in advance so you can looks stuff up before you start the job. This has served me well on occasion. I've got detailed info and looked it up on MSKB and come with an obscure answer it would have taken me ages to come up with on my own.

Try to take as much work as possible home. If you are tech savvy enough, have the right tools and have access to Google, you are likely to be able to fix most problems.

 

[Wheelie]

If you are inexperienced ...Try to take as much work as possible home. If you are tech savvy enough, have the right tools and have access to Google, you are likely to be able to fix most problems.

That is some of the best advice I've heard yet for someone starting out in this business.

Even for a veteran it is good advice, but for a different reason though. A veteran can get a heck of a lot more work done (read $$) in his shop than doing hand-to-hand combat out in the field one at a time.

 

[Tom from Cleveland]

good suggestions

If you have a liking for it, perhaps consider some form of formal schooling or experience.

Having said that, I would have rather had more experience before staring my business but necessity is the mother of invention. The bigger part of the puzzle for most techs is the business end of it which you appear to have some experience with which is good. I had minimal experience myself and learned a lot of things the hard way in terms of running a business.

JRoss: Are there any school programs you like in particular? The ones I looked for around northeast Ohio were very overpriced for traditional classroom/lab education. The best known school around here wanted $7,000 for a 4 month A+ cert course. Internet based instruction was around $1,500, but I need some hands-on practice not just a study guide.

I liked your suggestion about rigging a test network. At this point, I feel that some equipment would be a better investment. Once I finish with A+, I'll try getting some traditional IT temp work to supplement the biz. I'm almost finished with A+ and I agree that it's simplified. Are any of their advanced courses like Security+ or Network+ worth anything? I don't see many people flashing those credits around.

 

[Wheelie]

... I need some hands-on practice not just a study guide ...

I think you are right about that but it really depends on what aspect of "computers" you want to pursue. If you want to start a computer repair company that serves residential and small businesses then you should probably try working for someone that is already in that business. That way you will be put right into "in the trenches" so to speak. You'll get the fastest experience that way (if the guy you're working for knows what he's doing). No certification required for that (unless he wants you to have your A+).

However, if you are looking to go into the "IT Industry" in some capacity (it is very large and very broad) you will probably want certification matching your dream job. Be careful if that is your path though. That industry is somewhat depressed in certain areas of the nation/world. I ran an add for a $12 an hour contract part-time bench tech with no benefits and got about 50 applications from laid off IT managers of Fortune 500 companies. Wow. That was a shocker

 

[JRoss]

I liked your suggestion about rigging a test network. At this point, I feel that some equipment would be a better investment. Once I finish with A+, I'll try getting some traditional IT temp work to supplement the biz. I'm almost finished with A+ and I agree that it's simplified. Are any of their advanced courses like Security+ or Network+ worth anything? I don't see many people flashing those credits around.

I don't flash my credits around. In the end they don't mean as much as your ability. I know folks with my certification who got them in boot camps and having worked with a few, it becomes painfully obvious that they don't know what they are doing. They (or their employer) paid 3 grand plus travel and expenses for a two week course to acquire an MCSE. Not a good idea and a total waste of money regardless of who is paying.

I believe any course is worth something if it teaches you something. My course was about 12 grand in canuck bucks plus accommodation and living expenses as it was 4 hours from my home turf. We covered A+, network, security, hardware, software, MCSE, and Cisco CCNE certification. It was a great investment. I paid off my student loan in about 6 months because I scooped a really sweet job where I really started my learning.

I'm glad you are open to some training. You need a good foundation to build on. I have seen some college courses that turn out people who have dabbled in a lot of stuff but mastered none of it so you need to be careful that you are going to have something to use. As Wheelie pointed out, the trenches are a great place to learn....and get paid, even if it isn't a fantastic wage. If you do go the employment route, people pick up on keen people (which you apparently are) and if you build good relationships with co-workers and employers and they see some potential, they can teach you a lot.

The key skill you need to do the work is the ability to troubleshoot situations in a logical manner. Experience helps with troubleshooting, but it is a mindset too. In terms of equipment to play with, try and scoop old dead computers and turn them into working units. Our classroom test boxes were old Dell P3, 1.3 GHz boxes which we constantly flattened and reinstalled because we had screwed them up. It is a great way to learn what not to do. A computer can work as a router/firewall, server or pc, dependent upon the OS installed. If you must buy them, try off-lease units. You can use virtual machines to play too if you have higher powered units.

 

[JRoss]

Be careful if that is your path though. That industry is somewhat depressed in certain areas of the nation/world. I ran an add for a $12 an hour contract part-time bench tech with no benefits and got about 50 applications from laid off IT managers of Fortune 500 companies. Wow. That was a shocker

So I guess shooting for a position as an IT manager is a bit questionable.

It is a bit sad that all a former IT manager can dream up is applying for a bench tech job.

I moved to Fort St John, BC to avoid that fate. (Google Map it, you'll see how much I did not want to work as a bench tech. ) It is a great place with some of the friendliest people I have ever met and my bosses were the coolest I have ever had but it is far too close to the arctic circle for my liking. In the dead of winter, the sun comes up at 10 am and goes down at 2 pm. In summer, there is light 24 hours of the day. The sun sets, but only in a very half-assed manner. They sell a lot of tinfoil and tape there which is used to cover windows so people can sleep.

In northern BC, if you are breathing a willing to move there, you're their man. A bit of an exaggeration perhaps but you get the idea. I imagine there is a place like it in every province/state/county/country/whatever in the world. Good pay, long hours, stand-by hours, lots of overtime. A field of opportunity if you are willing to live there and get dirty in the trenches. I was single, more or less, at the time and could fit most everything I needed, except larger toys like snowmobiles and ATVs, into a half ton pickup with a canopy and a 5' X 10' covered trailer. If you have that kind of flexibility, consider moving for the best job. It may seem like a big step but the first one often is.

 

[Wheelie]

... It is a bit sad that all a former IT manager can dream up is applying for a bench tech job ...

It appears they were unemployed trying to do anything to mitigate financial problems.

 

[coolnezz]

is this kind of business still profitable?
can you still make a good living off it?
i live in san francisco, calif.

 

[Wheelie]

is this kind of business still profitable?
can you still make a good living off it?
i live in san francisco, calif.

Yes.
Yes.
Very nice Love m/c riding up north of there in the Napa area

 

[coolnezz]

Yes.
Yes.
Very nice Love m/c riding up north of there in the Napa area

thanks, that's encouraging!
nice wheelie! (motoGP fan here)
Highway 1 is excellent for m/c riding

 

[Tom from Cleveland]

... Be careful if that is your path though. That industry is somewhat depressed in certain areas of the nation/world. I ran an add for a $12 an hour contract part-time bench tech with no benefits and got about 50 applications from laid off IT managers of Fortune 500 companies. Wow. That was a shocker

The horror. The horror.

I definitely do want to open a SMB computer service business. I've learned through hard experience how disposable employees are in mid-to-large sized corporations. It doesn't really surprise me that a manager could end up as a bench tech or working in retail. No guarantees in corporate life. That's why it's so important to have some control over your business.

Anyway, I'm gonna keep working on the b-plan while looking for jobs.