Very hard to find even one client

[spetsnyc]

Hello Guys,
I have been working hard trying to get even one client.
I live in NYC and I started "working out" on my marketing ideas a while ago. I have been giving out business cards everywhere, coffee shops, libraries, small businesses. I placed advartisement into the news paper but so far no calls. None. Looks like computer repair business in NYC is over saturated with techs. I am still trying. Next step I will try car magnet.

Thank you

 

[carrcomp]

Can I ask what you're advertising?

Hello Guys,
I have been working hard trying to get even one client.
I live in NYC and I started "working out" on my marketing ideas a while ago. I have been giving out business cards everywhere, coffee shops, libraries, small businesses. I placed advartisement into the news paper but so far no calls. None. Looks like computer repair business in NYC is over saturated with techs. I am still trying. Next step I will try car magnet.

Thank you

 

[spetsnyc]

Sure, very simple:

Computer repair and tune ups
Virus removal
Data backup and recovery
OS intallations.
Hardware and software upgrades.

I hope I answered your question.

 

[frederick]

With a saturated market you need to find a niche.

Try asking around and see what people want, need. What stands out to them, etc.

 

[kwest]

Throw a couple hundred at google adwords. I get 3 new clients a day for a budget of $25 a day max. Must have a good website too. Hopes this helps.

 

[spetsnyc]

Frederick,
You are absolutely right about finding your own spot.
I always thought somehow when you just start out your computer
Repair business you should start with Residential clients. But
somehow I feel like I should start considering business clients.
For 14 years I have been doing desktop support for large corporations
working with SLA, Remedy ticketing system, ITIL best practices.
Now I work also with Servers, like Exchange, AD, DNS, WSUS,WDS
and so on. This is where my spot can be, Server World..

 

[carrcomp]

It's never too early to look at business clients, and looking at MSP services. The problem is having the skills and the workforce to handle volume from that kind of a service.

I'm actually putting together a plan to help my clients provide MSP services .... definitely looking like it's the way to go.

I agree with what others are saying too. You need a good website, adwords is a good investment as well.

Pick something you want to focus on that is in demand in your area though. Managed Anti-Virus, office 365... blah blah blah.

Give me a shout sometime. Maybe I can help you out.

Frederick,
You are absolutely right about finding your own spot.
I always thought somehow when you just start out your computer
Repair business you should start with Residential clients. But
somehow I feel like I should start considering business clients.
For 14 years I have been doing desktop support for large corporations
working with SLA, Remedy ticketing system, ITIL best practices.
Now I work also with Servers, like Exchange, AD, DNS, WSUS,WDS
and so on. This is where my spot can be, Server World..

 

[MobileTechie]

What is your website?

 

[PCSupportGlasgow]

Every city in the world is oversaturated with so-called techs it the downside of perceived low barriers of entry. (any good tech knows it takes years of experience and good tools cost money but for a pizza tech it simply a copy of windows)

Unfortunately until you start building a reputation your competing with all the pondlife ripoff merchants, but dont let it get you down as once you start getting that first few clients your reputation and client base will grow from there.

 

[joydivision]

I started by advertising wireless router packages, now this is the norm and you get with them with your ISP but back in 2006 it was very different. Fresh out of university I created a market that didn't exist, on the back of that I did repairs and support which is now my main business.

I've always said if I started out now, there is no way the business would be a success. It is an extremely difficult business to start unless you have a lot of money.

The one question I will ask is how are you different from the pizza techs and how do you get that message across?

 

[PC-MOT]

Have you tried ringing your own number to see if it connects ok?

Sounds silly, but stranger things have happened!

 

[mr m]

Newspaper ads never worked for me. Neither did a car magnet or flyers. My Yellowbook ad gets me a handful of older clients every year...they are all over 60. The younguns Google and find my online Yellowbook ad. The trick is persistence and time. Lots of time.

The best advertising turns out to be word of mouth. This takes time to nurture for a mobile tech. Much faster with a store front but now you have rent and staff.

Businesses are where the money is but it comes at a price. You need staff and you are dancing in a very demanding, high stress environment. I had enough of that when I worked for the man so it's mostly residential and home based businesses for me.

There is no magic button or formula. Have a good sense of humor, be honest and most of all be able to fix and you will find the path that's right for you. When it comes to talking money look them square in the eye and don't hem and haw about your prices. Be confident and firm or you'll scare them away. I'm still honing my customer relation skills. I thought the tech side would be the hard part but it's the people, not the PC that's hard to figure out.

Good luck.

 

[Martyn]

It takes time to build up a computer business especially word of mouth. This is why you have to have money to keep you going why you build it. I would say it took me 18 months to really get off the ground. Now over 3 years down the road I probably have 500 customers and recommendations daily. Do a good job, charge what you're worth and it will work but be prepared to reinvest back into the business.

 

[spetsnyc]

Guys,
Thank you so much for your ideas and encouragement. It really helps.
I will take it.

 

[lcoughey]

I'm sure that some people do it, but I've never heard of anyone just starting a computer repair business cold turkey without any clients to start. Usually, technicians break into the market while working for another company and go off on their for whatever reasons....and it is at this point some clients like them so much that they follow.

 

[carrcomp]

I'm sure that some people do it, but I've never heard of anyone just starting a computer repair business cold turkey without any clients to start. Usually, technicians break into the market while working for another company and go off on their for whatever reasons....and it is at this point some clients like them so much that they follow.

I started while in College with no clients at all.

I started my company with no income and 200$.

That was 3 years ago now.

The secret for me was to push the small business (less than 5) contracts. Word of mouth advertising, luck and skill.

And for those afraid to venture out into the business world without staff ... that's not really true. Just don't over-extend yourself. What you need is automation and good preventative maintenance. It's worth the time investment until you can afford to hire and expand.

 

[codegreen]

And for those afraid to venture out into the business world without staff ... that's not really true. Just don't over-extend yourself. What you need is automation and good preventative maintenance. It's worth the time investment until you can afford to hire and expand.

That's where I am right now. I'm taking on small (less than 10 employees) businesses for the most part, and signing them up for basic managed services. So far, so good. I just have to be very careful about not taking on too much at a time.

 

[DenverCM]

Is there a chamber of commerce you can join? Or a BNI group? BNI can be expensive but can also get you off to a good start.

When I first started out I had a couple of small contracts setup, some money saved up to hold me over and immediately joined a local chamber. The chamber was a huge help. Join a leads group and go to "business after hours" meetings. Make sure you pass out lots of business cards and follow up a day or two later with people you meet. This was a huge for me and I think it would help you get started.

 

[Magic Miguel]

Living in such a huge area as NYC can be tough but have you tried Google AdWords and trying to careen an extremely limited area maybe by zip code to see if you can get some of the pie? I had to learn how to exclude areas where I live to make sure people who I would never want to reach don't see my ad and waste my time. Maybe it might help?

 

[discipulus]

One thing I saw in a different section of the forum you might want to try is going to small local businesses and offering a free tune up or an hour or two of free work. It gives them an opportunity to sample your work and gets your foot in the door with the business.