Starting a new computer repair business

[Tom from Cleveland]

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about starting a new computer repair business. I've spent the last six months studying for my A+ certification and am close to finishing. Now, I always intended to start my own business, but the challenges look very formidable at this point. My hope is that other people here faced some similar problems in the past.

I live in the US (Cleveland, Ohio) and have a business background in marketing. In the process of doing my business plan, I have come across so many competitors in the local area. It's also not just the local businesses, but national repair chain franchises are popping up too. My concerns are:

1. Hourly rates for repair services are going to fall to slave wages. Some telcos are even providing free troubleshooting services and charging them off to a marketing expense in an effort to sell broadband.

2. It looks like the big players in the industry are trying to roll-up the small businesses - similar to what happened in the residential plumbing industry a few years ago. It takes a lot of marketing expense and investment to create a trustworthy brand. My concern is that more is needed today than just a toolbox, a truck, and a business card.

Does anyone else have similar concerns/solutions? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[JosephLeo]

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about starting a new computer repair business. I've spent the last six months studying for my A+ certification and am close to finishing. Now, I always intended to start my own business, but the challenges look very formidable at this point. My hope is that other people here faced some similar problems in the past.

I live in the US (Cleveland, Ohio) and have a business background in marketing. In the process of doing my business plan, I have come across so many competitors in the local area. It's also not just the local businesses, but national repair chain franchises are popping up too. My concerns are:

1. Hourly rates for repair services are going to fall to slave wages. Some telcos are even providing free troubleshooting services and charging them off to a marketing expense in an effort to sell broadband.

2. It looks like the big players in the industry are trying to roll-up the small businesses - similar to what happened in the residential plumbing industry a few years ago. It takes a lot of marketing expense and investment to create a trustworthy brand. My concern is that more is needed today than just a toolbox, a truck, and a business card.

Does anyone else have similar concerns/solutions? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom

I live in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Land of some of the most cheapest labor and lowest salaries in America. In my local area (10 mile radius) there are approximately 3 Best Buys, 25 Computer Repair Shops, and a few 100 pizza-techs on craigslist.

I am not worried about any of that. Sure I took it into consideration. But then I realized that it's better for me since I just have to look at all my competitors pricing and advertising strategies to understand where the market it at. And competitively set my prices up.

As an ex-graphic designer I don't have to worry about my personal branding, but without a doubt a good logo and website are the bare minimum you will need since almost all of the local techs have sub-par advertising and branding.

Currently I'm in the process of getting setup and I can tell you that it isn't easy, but it's a generally fun experience. My words of advice to you are to are keep your goals simple, keep your eyes on them and the second you start to lose focus- get back on track immediately.

If you're goal is right in front of you it will only take one turn to make you lose sight. Setup your goals early on and then you'll figure out how to reach them as you go.

 

[Tom from Cleveland]

much appreciated

Thanks JosephLeo.

The process has been generally fun so far, and I'm looking forward to opening my doors.

I liked your advice about keeping simple goals. Over the years I've seen other startup owners get overextended. It's easy to talk about other people's mistakes and miss your own sometimes. My goal for the next calendar year is to make a decent salary for myself and learn about the local market.

 

[JosephLeo]

Thanks JosephLeo.

The process has been generally fun so far, and I'm looking forward to opening my doors.

I liked your advice about keeping simple goals. Over the years I've seen other startup owners get overextended. It's easy to talk about other people's mistakes and miss your own sometimes. My goal for the next calendar year is to make a decent salary for myself and learn about the local market.

If you're self employed, I don't think you have to put yourself on a salary. Maybe on paper you have a salary, but you don't literally need a salary until you start hiring staff.

Also, my goals have a pseudo time-line.

Right now I'm doing In-Home repairs only and for really complex issues I bring the customers computer into my home.
Within a month I hope to be legally established as a business with insurance.
Within two months I'm going to buy an 800 number and begin advertising in the local phone directories.
Within 3 months I'm going to begin advertising on small local radio stations.
Within 4 to 6 months I will become A+ and Network+ certified so that I may begin working in business environments.
Within 8 months to a year I will want to move into an office or small retail space. This is my ultimate short-term goal.

My long term goals are a little ambitious. I want to open franchises in the South Florida area...so I am not focusing on it until I setup all my previous goals. I tend to plan ahead- but play things out day by day, hour by hour on a moments notice.

 

[PCSupportGlasgow]

If you're self employed, I don't think you have to put yourself on a salary. Maybe on paper you have a salary, but you don't literally need a salary until you start hiring staff.

Also, my goals have a pseudo time-line.

Right now I'm doing In-Home repairs only and for really complex issues I bring the customers computer into my home.
Within a month I hope to be legally established as a business with insurance.
Within two months I'm going to buy an 800 number and begin advertising in the local phone directories.
Within 3 months I'm going to begin advertising on small local radio stations.
Within 4 to 6 months I will become A+ and Network+ certified so that I may begin working in business environments.
Within 8 months to a year I will want to move into an office or small retail space. This is my ultimate short-term goal.

My long term goals are a little ambitious. I want to open franchises in the South Florida area...so I am not focusing on it until I setup all my previous goals. I tend to plan ahead- but play things out day by day, hour by hour on a moments notice.

All very admirable babystep goals. One thing i would say though is move the office/shop/workshop further up your list even if its only a converted garage or outbuilding as actually going somewhere else to WORK allows you to keep th distinction between homelife and worklife and allows the downtime everyone needs. Plus computer stuff spreads like a plague of locusts throughout a house and before you know it 1 room turns into 2 rooms then most of house starts to turn into a workshop with small projects scattered everywhere, which leads to very unhappy wife/gf/partner

 

[JosephLeo]

All very admirable babystep goals. One thing i would say though is move the office/shop/workshop further up your list even if its only a converted garage or outbuilding as actually going somewhere else to WORK allows you to keep th distinction between homelife and worklife and allows the downtime everyone needs. Plus computer stuff spreads like a plague of locusts throughout a house and before you know it 1 room turns into 2 rooms then most of house starts to turn into a workshop with small projects scattered everywhere, which leads to very unhappy wife/gf/partner

My closet has transformed into a place for old computer parts- and my clothes now prefer to hang out under my bed...if I ever need a suit I have to literally pick up my bed, boxspring and rails in order to get to them. So I know what you mean.

My apartment is actually a studio. No kitchen- no living area. Just a 14'x11' bedroom, 6'x4' closet and 6'x7'bathroom.

 

[MobileTechie]

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about starting a new computer repair business. I've spent the last six months studying for my A+ certification and am close to finishing. Now, I always intended to start my own business, but the challenges look very formidable at this point. My hope is that other people here faced some similar problems in the past.

I live in the US (Cleveland, Ohio) and have a business background in marketing. In the process of doing my business plan, I have come across so many competitors in the local area. It's also not just the local businesses, but national repair chain franchises are popping up too. My concerns are:

1. Hourly rates for repair services are going to fall to slave wages. Some telcos are even providing free troubleshooting services and charging them off to a marketing expense in an effort to sell broadband.

2. It looks like the big players in the industry are trying to roll-up the small businesses - similar to what happened in the residential plumbing industry a few years ago. It takes a lot of marketing expense and investment to create a trustworthy brand. My concern is that more is needed today than just a toolbox, a truck, and a business card.

Does anyone else have similar concerns/solutions? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom

Other than doing an A+, what is your experience with computer support and repair? The A+ is a nice thing to have but doesn't really give you anything other than some pretty basic background knowledge on PCs. If you don't have real-world troubleshooting experience then you're likely to find things tough I would say.

 

[bsd13]

Other than doing an A+, what is your experience with computer support and repair? The A+ is a nice thing to have but doesn't really give you anything other than some pretty basic background knowledge on PCs. If you don't have real-world troubleshooting experience then you're likely to find things tough I would say.

Gotta agree. Certs of any kind are like icing on the cake. If you don't have the rest of the cake (experience in this case) certifications won't do you much good alone.

 

[joydivision]

In this job you will deal with so many unusual requests or have to deal with some very unusual symptoms that only experience is the way to solve them.

I don't have any A+ but I do have a computing degree and about 12 years of repairing PCs. I have been running this business for four years now. I did find it very tough at first but find things a lot easier now.

One of the hardest things is dealing with new clients, when I first started out I would have a few problems with them but I know exactly how to deal with tricky customers now.

 

[JosephLeo]

Gotta agree. Certs of any kind are like icing on the cake. If you don't have the rest of the cake (experience in this case) certifications won't do you much good alone.

Mmm, cake. I never thought of equating tech to cake. I usually equate it to cars.

For example- I would say that experience is the engine whereas certifications are the engine cover since it isn't needed, but it makes the engine look so much nicer....branding is the chassis.

 

[bsd13]

Mmm, cake. I never thought of equating tech to cake. I usually equate it to cars.

For example- I would say that experience is the engine whereas certifications are the engine cover since it isn't needed, but it makes the engine look so much nicer....branding is the chassis.

Cake, cars... They all taste the same. Right?

 

[JosephLeo]

Cake, cars... They all taste the same. Right?

So long as you Blend them properly.

 

[Tom from Cleveland]

That's a good point - reading about repair is a lot different than doing it.

Well, I 've always done my own repairs on PC and Mac - mostly software problems and some hardware upgrades. I just repaired a bad inverter on my display. At my last corporate job, I ended up doing a lot of my own maintenance - IT support there was awful. People in my department ended up asking me how to use applications and fix the printer - even though my job was in marketing! Also, I do have a technical undergrad degree so I can tear things apart and rebuild if necessary.

Maybe working at Geek Squad would be a good experience builder. Then again, I've seen professionals in other careers have years of experience and they still don't know what to do. The manager of the IT guys I mentioned earlier had 15 years experience and the network was always down. Anyway, Best Buy already turned me down.

I think if I wait for a corporate entry position, I could be waiting a long, long, long, long, long time.

 

[JosephLeo]

That's a good point - reading about repair is a lot different than doing it.

Well, I 've always done my own repairs on PC and Mac - mostly software problems and some hardware upgrades. I just repaired a bad inverter on my display. At my last corporate job, I ended up doing a lot of my own maintenance - IT support there was awful. People in my department ended up asking me how to use applications and fix the printer - even though my job was in marketing! Also, I do have a technical undergrad degree so I can tear things apart and rebuild if necessary.

Maybe working at Geek Squad would be a good experience builder. Then again, I've seen professionals in other careers have years of experience and they still don't know what to do. The manager of the IT guys I mentioned earlier had 15 years experience and the network was always down. Anyway, Best Buy already turned me down.

I think if I wait for a corporate entry position, I could be waiting a long, long, long, long, long time.

Knowing how to fix a printer and knowing how to do some complicated stuff like removing a virus that won't let antivirus software run, or repairing a hard drives file system, or even diagnosing whether a motherboard is dead or not is a world of difference.

I appreciate the fact that you knew how to open up your laptop though and replace the inverter. So maybe you are on the right track. But don't dare think for a second that computer repair is simple. It can be down right frustrating even for the most veteran of computer technicians.

 

[basic]

Good luck with endeavor. Just make sure you have the mentality that you are in this for the long haul and you might not become profitable for a couple years. If you can persevere and have realistic expectations, I think you will be fine.

 

[Wheelie]

I love this discussion. Keep doing all those things and one day you'll turn around and smile at your achievements.

The nice thing about this business is that it has a very low cost of entry. Your knowledge and skill is the main thing here. What JosephLeo said is so true: "But don't dare think for a second that computer repair is simple. It can be down right frustrating even for the most veteran of computer technicians."

Improvement comes from learning from the mistakes you will make. I look at how I did things 5 years ago and how I do them now and it really makes me smile.

I have learnt a lot in those 5 years

 

[Wheelie]

Good luck with endeavor. Just make sure you have the mentality that you are in this for the long haul and you might not become profitable for a couple years. If you can persevere and have realistic expectations, I think you will be fine.

Actually you can become profitable in just a few weeks. If you are working from home, have no employees, and you already own a car your profit margin will be in the 60 to 80% range right off the bat. I replaced my corporate salary the first year. Selling yourself is the hard part. You need to focus on low cost advertising. Spending $10,000 to earn $12,000 will not work. $1,000 to earn $12,000 will work very well. It's there right in front of you if you can put the puzzle pieces together

 

[JosephLeo]

Actually you can become profitable in just a few weeks. If you are working from home, have no employees, and you already own a car your profit margin will be in the 60 to 80% range right off the bat. I replaced my corporate salary the first year. Selling yourself is the hard part. You need to focus on low cost advertising. Spending $10,000 to earn $12,000 will not work. $1,000 to earn $12,000 will work very well. It's there right in front of you if you can put the puzzle pieces together

+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

 

[basic]

Well my mistake. I just made the assumption he was setting up a storefront and all that jazz...but I guess he never said that. Still, I think for most people, just starting out, they would have to tighten their belts and wouldn't make serious money for a while until their client base grew.

 

[JosephLeo]

I think for most people, just starting out, they would have to tighten their belts and wouldn't make serious money for a while until their client base grew.

Indeed. 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.

Right now I'm making enough money to eat, pay rent, and enjoy myself a little once in a while- but by my standards that's a "tight belt". I'll admit to being spoiled...This recession is the best thing that ever happened to me believe it or not since I learned the real value of a dollar (figuratively, not physically since that value is dropping...oops, lets not turn this into a debate )