Thinking about getting in to the computer repair business

[snak10]

Hey everyone, I have been thinking about starting a computer repair business and trying to do some research before hand. I am curious:

• What are the most painful problems you come across
• What are the most profitable or favored services that I should target
• What are some of the least profitable services that I should avoid

Thanks!

 

[Markverhyden]

Nothing personal, but have you bothered to read the various threads about this. TN has been around for over 10 years and, being a site dedicated to building and running a computer repair, IT service, etc business, that question has been asked more times than any of us can remember. Maybe spend some time reading the threads and then come back with questions.

The first thing you need to do is make a business plan. Your local SBA office can help - https://www.score.org/

 

[lan101]

Most Profitable: Recurring Revenues
Least Profitbale: People who want the world for nothing lol

 

[sapphirescales]

Most painful problems: Mostly Apple hardware repair. Ever tried to replace the bare LCD panel in a Macbook Air? My advice is, DON'T. Buy the whole upper assembly and save yourself the hassle. Apple people are willing to pay, so don't be afraid to do things you'd never get away with with PC's. AIO PC's (including the iMac) absolutely SUCK! If the client has any hardware problem other than RAM or HDD, I get them to trade it in for a traditional tower/monitor setup. Gaming laptops (ASUS, MSI, Alienware, etc.) can be a big pain too. Especially when the gamers that own them expect them to be cheap and easy to upgrade like a desktop. Again, if it has any sort of major hardware problem, I try to get them into a gaming desktop and a nice business class laptop if they need portability as well.

Most profitable: Hard drive replacements and/or SSD upgrades. Seriously when you factor in the markup for the new SSD, transferring all their data and such over, and reinstalling software, you've got a good few $100's worth in profit. It's easy as pie too. Replacing Apple laptop screens is easy and profitable too. Like I said before, Apple people are willing to pay through the nose. So long as I'm cheaper than Apple (not hard to do), they're happy. I just replaced the LCD on a Macbook pro for $400. My cost was under $100. I purchased the entire display assembly for $90 and had it installed in 5 minutes. Apple quoted them $600, so they were happy to pay $400.

Least profitable: Smartphone and tablet repairs (excluding Apple devices). iPhone and iPad repair is easy as pie and is a GREAT revenue generator. However most other tablets and smartphones are a real PITA. My advice is, hire a dedicated tech to take care of the "device" BS and put your efforts to better use. If you're doing it yourself, focus on Apple device repair only. It has the best markup, the parts are easy to find, and you won't be wasting 2 hours trying to fix a $70 throwaway tablet that the client probably isn't going to pick up when it's done anyway. Virus removals also suck. They're time consuming and not very profitable. Getting $80 for 2 hours of work is terrible. And EVERY problem the client has from there on out will be YOUR fault. "It worked great before I took it to you to remove the virus! Now my printer won't work!" Or they blame you when they reinfect themselves. I do everything in my power to prevent my clients from getting infected. I hate doing virus removals.

 

[pcpete]

@sapphirescales where are you sourcing lcds so cheaply? I think we paid about $400 for our last one, if I recall it was for a newer macbook retina. We did the job for $700, but it not a fun quote to give the client. Even the older ones I recall csot quite a bit.

 

[sapphirescales]

@sapphirescales where are you sourcing lcds so cheaply? I think we paid about $400 for our last one, if I recall it was for a newer macbook retina. We did the job for $700, but it not a fun quote to give the client. Even the older ones I recall csot quite a bit.

Retina's are still pretty spendy. The 13" models are about $250 and the 15" ones are $300, so not much better than you're paying. I have good relations with some eBay sellers that are willing to sell to me directly without involving eBay. They're used so they can afford to sell them for less to the right person. So long as I don't go behind their back and try to resell the stuff on eBay, they're fine with it.

You may have reservations about selling a used part to a client, but these are in great condition. They look brand new. I tell the client they come with a 90 day warranty and they're usually okay with that (my seller gives me a 6 month warranty, so I'm not worried).

Your best bet as a technician is to make good relations with part suppliers. I use eBay as a means of finding these resellers, then I introduce myself and contact them outside of eBay to see if we can cut a deal. Most sellers are willing to work with you so long as you buy from them consistently.

Oh, and when I say "outside of eBay," I'm talking about Googling their name and contacting them directly through their website. If you can't find their website, contact the eBay seller and ask if they have one.

 

[amktechsolutions]

Here are my thoughts based on my experiences...

Most Profitable: Virus Removals, LCD Screen Replacements, HDD/SSD Upgrades, Managed Services/Recurring Revenue
Least Profitable: RAM upgrades, Tune-Ups (unless it leads to Virus Removal), Smartphone/Tablet repairs (unless you know how to fix them)

 

[snak10]

Nothing personal, but have you bothered to read the various threads about this. TN has been around for over 10 years and, being a site dedicated to building and running a computer repair, IT service, etc business, that question has been asked more times than any of us can remember. Maybe spend some time reading the threads and then come back with questions.

The first thing you need to do is make a business plan. Your local SBA office can help - https://www.score.org/

Yes I have been looking around and a lot of varying answers so have been trying to get the most research I can. Thanks for the link I'll check that out, very helpful! No offense taken

 

[snak10]

Most Profitable: Recurring Revenues
Least Profitbale: People who want the world for nothing lol

Haha..yes like your family members and their friends
Are you setting up monthly fees for general repairs and maintenance and is it mostly corporate businesses or home users and at what rate?

 

[snak10]

Most painful problems: Mostly Apple hardware repair. Ever tried to replace the bare LCD panel in a Macbook Air? My advice is, DON'T. Buy the whole upper assembly and save yourself the hassle. Apple people are willing to pay, so don't be afraid to do things you'd never get away with with PC's. AIO PC's (including the iMac) absolutely SUCK! If the client has any hardware problem other than RAM or HDD, I get them to trade it in for a traditional tower/monitor setup. Gaming laptops (ASUS, MSI, Alienware, etc.) can be a big pain too. Especially when the gamers that own them expect them to be cheap and easy to upgrade like a desktop. Again, if it has any sort of major hardware problem, I try to get them into a gaming desktop and a nice business class laptop if they need portability as well.

Most profitable: Hard drive replacements and/or SSD upgrades. Seriously when you factor in the markup for the new SSD, transferring all their data and such over, and reinstalling software, you've got a good few $100's worth in profit. It's easy as pie too. Replacing Apple laptop screens is easy and profitable too. Like I said before, Apple people are willing to pay through the nose. So long as I'm cheaper than Apple (not hard to do), they're happy. I just replaced the LCD on a Macbook pro for $400. My cost was under $100. I purchased the entire display assembly for $90 and had it installed in 5 minutes. Apple quoted them $600, so they were happy to pay $400.

Least profitable: Smartphone and tablet repairs (excluding Apple devices). iPhone and iPad repair is easy as pie and is a GREAT revenue generator. However most other tablets and smartphones are a real PITA. My advice is, hire a dedicated tech to take care of the "device" BS and put your efforts to better use. If you're doing it yourself, focus on Apple device repair only. It has the best markup, the parts are easy to find, and you won't be wasting 2 hours trying to fix a $70 throwaway tablet that the client probably isn't going to pick up when it's done anyway. Virus removals also suck. They're time consuming and not very profitable. Getting $80 for 2 hours of work is terrible. And EVERY problem the client has from there on out will be YOUR fault. "It worked great before I took it to you to remove the virus! Now my printer won't work!" Or they blame you when they reinfect themselves. I do everything in my power to prevent my clients from getting infected. I hate doing virus removals.

Thanks so much for the advice! I'll have to go on eBay and check out some sellers

 

[lan101]

Haha..yes like your family members and their friends
Are you setting up monthly fees for general repairs and maintenance and is it mostly corporate businesses or home users and at what rate?

I have some smaller business offices on some monthly plans. Rates highly very depending on location of course, but it's basically $25/pc and that covers patch managing, updates, minor things that can be fixed remotely. Pretty easy stuff. Not working with any advanced servers. Frankly don't really want to until I'm more comfortable with them. I try to learn and do things on my own as I get time.

 

[Atra]

I find the biggest problems I come across are the people, most of the time they want everything for nothing and sometimes it feels as if there needs to be a PITA Tax.

The most profitable of course is Managed services for businesses, whereas the least is the opposite, services for residential customers.

If you do residential services just remember that you WILL get nasty customers regardless of how well you do a job, and you should do your best to brush it aside and move onto the next job.

 

[mr m]

Hey everyone, I have been thinking about starting a computer repair business and trying to do some research before hand.

Don't lose sight of being a smart businessman. Obviously, you have to be able to fix and understand networks, hardware and software but you also have to fix and understand the clients. I was nervous about being able to fix whatever issue I walked into when I first started my biz not realizing the real hurdle were the customers.

I've been lucky in that I had 5 years experience repairing computers in a manufacturing environment and I also had 15 years in field service. I was used to dealing with hospitals, banks and businesses with crashed mainframes losing crazy sums of money every second. But that was with a company with 140,000 employees with tons of resources. Now it's just you and your name is on the shingle and so you alone get to enjoy all the pressure and the monetary rewards which is why we all are here.

Speaking of money, don't be the cheapest shop. Do you want to encase your head with a $10 helmet or do you want a $600 model for when your leaning your 500 triple into a 90 mph turn? You don't want the client that shops on price alone and there are plenty. You need to understand value and convey that to the client.

When talking money look them right in the eye and give them the price. Don't blink, stammer or negotiate. You are the pro the customer has approached. When you exude confidence and experience they pick up on it as they do when you're giving them a line of crap. You are the expert so you always control the situation, not them.

Really listen to the clients when they speak. Be patient when they clumsily try to describe their issues. Be punctual, honest and get it done and word of mouth will be your best advertising.

 

[L3T]

Most profitable: Good managed service customers. They pay every month and the money is good.

Least Profitable: Break fix residential customers who want the world for free.

 

[lan101]

Most profitable: Good managed service customers. They pay every month and the money is good.

Least Profitable: Break fix residential customers who want the world for free.

I agree. At the same time I still think working with residential can be a good way to get started and bring in some revenue. It might be hard to get any business deals going with no experience or prior history.

 

[skardos]

I agree. At the same time I still think working with residential can be a good way to get started and bring in some revenue. It might be hard to get any business deals going with no experience or prior history.

Ditto.
If you can get enough managed service customers then you can cut down on the home user support. However, as lan101 says, the home user support is a great way to get revenue and of course experience dealing with difficult people. They can be tough.

 

[lan101]

I think it depends on your area too. I'm in a pretty friendly rural setting type area. Most people are pretty pleasant to deal with. That can make a big difference in your attitude when working with residentials.

 

[jlois]

Retina's are still pretty spendy. The 13" models are about $250 and the 15" ones are $300, so not much better than you're paying. I have good relations with some eBay sellers that are willing to sell to me directly without involving eBay. They're used so they can afford to sell them for less to the right person. So long as I don't go behind their back and try to resell the stuff on eBay, they're fine with it.

You may have reservations about selling a used part to a client, but these are in great condition. They look brand new. I tell the client they come with a 90 day warranty and they're usually okay with that (my seller gives me a 6 month warranty, so I'm not worried).

Your best bet as a technician is to make good relations with part suppliers. I use eBay as a means of finding these resellers, then I introduce myself and contact them outside of eBay to see if we can cut a deal. Most sellers are willing to work with you so long as you buy from them consistently.

Oh, and when I say "outside of eBay," I'm talking about Googling their name and contacting them directly through their website. If you can't find their website, contact the eBay seller and ask if they have one.

Same! They blame you for everything especially after the virus removal part!

 

[drnick5]

Most painful problems: Mostly Apple hardware repair. Ever tried to replace the bare LCD panel in a Macbook Air? My advice is, DON'T. Buy the whole upper assembly and save yourself the hassle. Apple people are willing to pay, so don't be afraid to do things you'd never get away with with PC's. AIO PC's (including the iMac) absolutely SUCK! If the client has any hardware problem other than RAM or HDD, I get them to trade it in for a traditional tower/monitor setup. Gaming laptops (ASUS, MSI, Alienware, etc.) can be a big pain too. Especially when the gamers that own them expect them to be cheap and easy to upgrade like a desktop. Again, if it has any sort of major hardware problem, I try to get them into a gaming desktop and a nice business class laptop if they need portability as well.

Most profitable: Hard drive replacements and/or SSD upgrades. Seriously when you factor in the markup for the new SSD, transferring all their data and such over, and reinstalling software, you've got a good few $100's worth in profit. It's easy as pie too. Replacing Apple laptop screens is easy and profitable too. Like I said before, Apple people are willing to pay through the nose. So long as I'm cheaper than Apple (not hard to do), they're happy. I just replaced the LCD on a Macbook pro for $400. My cost was under $100. I purchased the entire display assembly for $90 and had it installed in 5 minutes. Apple quoted them $600, so they were happy to pay $400.

Least profitable: Smartphone and tablet repairs (excluding Apple devices). iPhone and iPad repair is easy as pie and is a GREAT revenue generator. However most other tablets and smartphones are a real PITA. My advice is, hire a dedicated tech to take care of the "device" BS and put your efforts to better use. If you're doing it yourself, focus on Apple device repair only. It has the best markup, the parts are easy to find, and you won't be wasting 2 hours trying to fix a $70 throwaway tablet that the client probably isn't going to pick up when it's done anyway. Virus removals also suck. They're time consuming and not very profitable. Getting $80 for 2 hours of work is terrible. And EVERY problem the client has from there on out will be YOUR fault. "It worked great before I took it to you to remove the virus! Now my printer won't work!" Or they blame you when they reinfect themselves. I do everything in my power to prevent my clients from getting infected. I hate doing virus removals.

I wish i read this post 2 weeks ago. I tried one myself and holy crap, those things are NOT designed to be repaired. Ended up having to get the whole screen assembly, which was SIGNIFICANTLY easier to swap out. I learned my lesson. I just turned down a job replacing a hard drive in a newer imac because it has a similar type glued on screen. (client needed data recovery, wanted me to pull the drive, have them send it out, then reinstall the drive once it came back... once I looked up the steps to remove the drive, I passed)

 

[drnick5]

To actually answer OP's question. If you are going into this thinking you'll fix computers for residential, I honestly wouldn't bother. The residential business is eroding pretty quickly in my opinion. There is still work to do in that sector, and you'll find some clients that are more than happy to pay what you ask to help them out. But there are many clients who don't value your time and want to pay as little as possible, while wanting it fixed as quickly as possible. (the rule applies here, "Good, Fast, Cheap, pick 2").

If you're looking to make an actual go of it, I'd focus on business support. Even with this, many really small places (5 users and less) are similar in mind set to a residential customer.... they want it fixed NOW, but want to pay very little. Most are very opposed to any sort of contract, and don't fully understand what actually goes into having a properly run IT set up for a company. (things such as security, user auditing, email retention, etc.) Not to mention if they happen to fall under and sort of compliance.... I've walked into a few doctors offices that have TONS of HIPAA violations (i.e. using a yahoo email account as their main email, no passwords on machines, no offsite backup, etc.). Yet when these are brought up, they pass on any sort of remediation.

2nd, and might be the most important piece of advice, charge what you are worth! Don't try to get in with a cheap price, with the idea that you'll raise your rates later. Everyone hates price increases. You're better off charging average rates for your area then trying to undercut everyone else.