Thinking of setting up a computer repairs boot on school campus.

[Haroon92]

Hello everyone. Hope all are fine.

Has anyone ever setup a booth on a school campus before? I'm going to use this a marketing tool to bring in more customers. I would like to service their machines on campus for a month or so, and afterwards let them come by me for repairs since they already know a computer technician (me). Let me know what you all think. Peace, and thanks in advance.

 

[dgoglio]

Might be a good idea if you cater to home users. The words " college student" doesn't make me think of dollar signs.

 

[Haroon92]

Might be a good idea if you cater to home users. The words " college student" doesn't make me think of dollar signs.

But a lot of students repair their computers on a regular basis. They'll find the cash, because they have to get their assignments done, and it's a need to have a working mobile computer to get this done.

 

[Haroon92]

Thanks.

 

[HCHTech]

I'll bet the college might have something to say about it as well. If you can get approval, then part of the intake process might be to get their parent's credit card information!

 

[nerd2u]

Expect them to want everything for next to nothing.

Or they will simply want to pick your brain so they can attempt to affect the repair themselves.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[GTP]

They'll ask you "what do you think it might be?" then go Google the How To.

 

[HCHTech]

They'll ask you "what do you think it might be?" then go Google the How To.

Hey, who said you could post my repair procedures?!?

 

[Your PCMD]

One thing you forget is that for college students, Google and YouTube are their go to repair centers and they are cheapskates and basically want servicing for free.

Also, I don't know about Jamaica, but here in the states, any college worth anything (very few now-a-days sadly) have their own on premise computer repair centers. Personally, I would not waste time on it. Good luck however in your endeavor.

 

[sapphirescales]

But a lot of students repair their computers on a regular basis. They'll find the cash, because they have to get their assignments done, and it's a need to have a working mobile computer to get this done.

I concur. Students will pay good money to fix their computers...but their parents are the ones that will actually pay for it. Remember this and make sure you can take credit cards over the phone.

They'll ask you "what do you think it might be?" then go Google the How To.

Not in my experience. Millennials are lazy and entitled. They'll take their computer to you because their parents MAKE them. They would prefer to have their parents just buy them a new one. But if you can give a repair quote that's cheaper than buying a new one, their parents will jump at the chance to save even $50 vs. buying a new one. When you're paying for your kid to go through college, every little bit you can save helps. These entitled Millennials don't give a d*mn about saving their parents any money. It's not even worth their time to Google how to fix it.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Don't expect to get in. Most colleges have their own on-campus IT service for students to use. You might be able to do this at a community college but a large major college or University will have their own service and not want the competition.

 

[labtech]

Indeed, larger colleges have their own "IT Department". You could however have a conversation with the right person and find out what type of repairs they do not carry. Maybe there is a (profitable) niche. In this manner, you are transparent with them and they know what you are doing and allow you to operate in their environment.

 

[timeshifter]

Nothing from stopping you from setting something up on the other side of the street on the edge of campus. I can think of several locations that would have been good where I went to school.

 

[nlinecomputers]

If I was going to do this I would also look at phone repair as well.

 

[fencepost]

It's been a long time since I was in college and at the time personal PCs were few and far between (the only one I can think of offhand was an Amiga....) but I can't imagine that campus computer services is going to want to do work on privately-owned student PCs. I suspect there could be a definite market for some level of repairs and even more for data recovery and transfer, but I'm not sure that being directly on campus would be that important.

I also suspect that there's already competition on the ground in terms of computer repair around campus.

 

[nlinecomputers]

It's been a long time since I was in college and at the time personal PCs were few and far between (the only one I can think of offhand was an Amiga....) but I can't imagine that campus computer services is going to want to do work on privately-owned student PCs. I suspect there could be a definite market for some level of repairs and even more for data recovery and transfer, but I'm not sure that being directly on campus would be that important.

I also suspect that there's already competition on the ground in terms of computer repair around campus.

Depends on the campus. College is anything for a buck these days. When I went to school all we had in the Student Center was a cafeteria that was slightly better than what you had in High School. Nowadays the Student Unions have McDs, Burger King, and Starbucks in them. Many have a computer/phone repair shop as well. Some places franchise that out just like the Burger King, others run pay for service shop operated by the University that is often an extension of the campus IT department and/or computer school on campus which could be under Math or Electronic Engineering again depends on the school.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Which doesn't mean you can't compete. After all, you can advertise your experience vs the likely students that would be the techs in an on-campus shop.

 

[lan101]

I concur. Students will pay good money to fix their computers...but their parents are the ones that will actually pay for it. Remember this and make sure you can take credit cards over the phone.



Not in my experience. Millennials are lazy and entitled. They'll take their computer to you because their parents MAKE them. They would prefer to have their parents just buy them a new one. But if you can give a repair quote that's cheaper than buying a new one, their parents will jump at the chance to save even $50 vs. buying a new one. When you're paying for your kid to go through college, every little bit you can save helps. These entitled Millennials don't give a d*mn about saving their parents any money. It's not even worth their time to Google how to fix it.

I agree. I'm technically an older "millennial" at 33, I haven't met too many people under 25 that I particularly cared for lol. All seem entitled and think things should cost them next to nothing. When I get one of them that calls me I generally know it's a waste of time. In the future, it makes me wonder how supporting businesses or even working for them as residential customers will be. Seems like it will be a race to the bottom for the cheapest prices. When all of our good "older" clients like 45-50 and over start "going away" as the years pass, it makes our current business seem like it will be completely gone. Hell it could be gone anyway in 10 years, hard to say with the way things change.

 

[timeshifter]

When all of our good "older" clients like 45-50 and over start "going away" as the years pass,

Haha, that's funny, reading that as a 54 year old

Most of my clients, residential and business are in their 60s or higher.

Anyway, I wanted to comment on the 25 year old's being a waste of time, etc. I don't necessarily buy into the notion that they all want something for nothing - forever. I remember being that age and thinking that any company I came into contact with needed me to give them feedback to help make them better. I lacked the wisdom to understand several things.

One, not every employee at every company cares about excellence and doing a great job. Two, most businesses aren't really going to change to suit you. Better to put on slippers than carpet the world. Three, as people age, they mellow out. They understand that they don't really need it yesterday and that it's not reasonable to expect it yesterday. They reserve those demands for when it really is needed yesterday. Finally as people progress through the decades they tend to have more money and are wise enough to pay others to help them instead of trying to figure out and do everything themselves.

 

[lan101]

Haha, that's funny, reading that as a 54 year old

Most of my clients, residential and business are in their 60s or higher.

Anyway, I wanted to comment on the 25 year old's being a waste of time, etc. I don't necessarily buy into the notion that they all want something for nothing - forever. I remember being that age and thinking that any company I came into contact with needed me to give them feedback to help make them better. I lacked the wisdom to understand several things.

One, not every employee at every company cares about excellence and doing a great job. Two, most businesses aren't really going to change to suit you. Better to put on slippers than carpet the world. Three, as people age, they mellow out. They understand that they don't really need it yesterday and that it's not reasonable to expect it yesterday. They reserve those demands for when it really is needed yesterday. Finally as people progress through the decades they tend to have more money and are wise enough to pay others to help them instead of trying to figure out and do everything themselves.

I sure hope so lol.