Why the Computer Repair Business is Dead

[tom11011]

after readiing some of the responses, things need to cleared up. Which "computer repair" business are we talking about?

If you are talking about the business 5 - 6 years ago, repairing xp machines, swapping mother boards , doing ram upgrarades, installing larger hard drives, then i agree that business is dying or dead. There are people that buy those $450 wonders, basically renting them for 3 or 4 years, and then go buy a new one when it breaks. No way to build a business there.

The last several years it was possible to make some money doing virus removal, data recovery, replace dying hard drives, and phone and laptop screens that business is being taken over by low over head, low priced people. The cost of entry is low. There is a member here that said he won't pay for a virus scanner or av, there are plenty of free ones. Anyone with decent google skills can figure out how to do the majority of this work. When they get over their head, they come to places like this and ask questions. But, there are many higher level people who know what they are doing, don't charge bargain basement rates or chase bottom feeder customers, and are thriving.

What isn't dying maybe isn't really computer repair. There are specialists that take on jobs that other shops won't do. People who specialize in severs or networks, people who have found a niche in business or residential, but also keep adapting to the changing market. Looking at my own business, i realize that it's less to do with repairing hardware and more to do with software, protecting data, and getting different devices and systems to operate together. With an occaisional malware removal or hardware fix thrown in.

I have been doing this professionaly over 10 years, and if i was still doing what i did even 5 years ago, my business would be dead. Too.


/sorry for the long rant.

+1

 

[tom11011]

You evolve or die. In this business you need to re-invent yourself every few years in order to compete.

At some point, monster companies will likely smother the little guy out of managed services. Just like they did in web hosting and email hosting. Just like Microsoft did to their own SPLA resellers. Just like what is happening now with voip phone systems. Just like cloud backup. Six months from now someone will be advertising virtual IT department on the radio for $40/month.

I think there is only a handful of ways to deal with keeping up.

Either you specialize in something and focus/market yourself with laser like precision -or- you be a jack of all trades and know a little bit about everything. There is pros and cons to both methods obviously.

 

[gunslinger]

I see what everyone is saying here. It comes down to this I think. What I consider "computer repair" is typical break/fix, virus removal, basic networking, small business and residential. I don't run fiber, I don't fix phones or tablets and I don't mess with servers on a large scale. This is the computer repair business that is dying I believe.

If thats the kind of work you want to do, great. Not everyone does. For me I'll go in a different direction.

 

[ohio_grad_06]

I'm in the latter group. I am a jack of all trades in some ways. I know enough to be dangerous in a little bit of everything. I'm good doing virus cleanups(which is funny I've got one competitor who moved in a while back, cutting my prices by like half, starting to see their customers now come to us to fix things that weren't done that were asked--like one person had an itunes issue, said she never got a call until like 3 days out, and that it was said that it was finishing some things, they picked it up. Long and the short of it, I got the machine a couple of weeks later, adware and viruses rampant, all types of windows services just broken or not working, very nice to be able to clean it all off and get it working so they can see the difference between us and the other people), but cleanups I'm good at, networking somewhat, servers, I know a little bit, enough to be dangerous(I've had time being an admin, assigning some roles, but I don't know everything), mobile stuff, laptop jacks etc, I farm out and do a markup.

 

[Boston Pro Comp Serv LLC]

Well six months later still busy. Anyhow yes I am poking the bee's nest. I have noticed a huge drop in actual virus'. Let me define Virus, an illegally installed application that's primary purpose is generally making money through illegal avenues, that a generalization there. I've seen a huge, huge increase in toolbars, conduit type applications, junkware, etc the customers are still classifying the machine as infected with virus' but the large majority I see now are not infected with a virus. I haven't seen a Rootkit in maybe a year.

 

[lan101]

Well six months later still busy. Anyhow yes I am poking the bee's nest. I have noticed a huge drop in actual virus'. Let me define Virus, an illegally installed application that's primary purpose is generally making money through illegal avenues, that a generalization there. I've seen a huge, huge increase in toolbars, conduit type applications, junkware, etc the customers are still classifying the machine as infected with virus' but the large majority I see now are not infected with a virus. I haven't seen a Rootkit in maybe a year.

Yep. Tool bars and redirects to ads is practically all I've seen this year. A few trojans and rootkits but not many.

 

[Krynn72]

Same with us, software issues are starting to get back up to where they were last year, but what used to be Trojans and other real malware is now just junkware and adware the customer installs voluntarily (albiet accidentally).

 

[ComputerPro]

dead...

We're doing great! lol

 

[JoeTech]

Computer hardware repair might be dying out with new pc's getting cheaper, but the Adware removal business is stronger then ever. 2-3 years ago I remember fake av's being all I seemed to do.

Now I get maybe one fbi virus every month, but just yesterday got 12 laptops from residential customers loaded up with the usual adware stuff and can barely keep up.

It's not what I want to be doing all day and most of my customers are 35+ years old so they don't bother trying to do it themselves. One of the problems I do see with the adware removal business dying off is that we don't get a lot of people under 30 here because they usually are good at using google to clean it up themselves and only bring it in if they are stuck and can't fix it themselves.

 

[Blues]

A business or marketing I am now planning to push is to offer to lower peoples Comcast bill. Comcast while a pain in the a** is still the best option for internet and TV around here because U-Verse from AT&T is a mess or wires and cost more. Satellite yeah my parents had it for a year then switched back because you know when you want to stay in and watch TV is when the weather sucks well guess what doesn't work well in bad weather. Comcast charges you for cable boxes and modems. Well most people know now you can buy your own and a good one but don't know how to find it. What few know is you can buy your own cable boxes too and ones that are even WiFi capable such as SiliconDust HDHomeRun devices. Sure these devices aren't cheap but it is a single one time cost and bam you can take $7+ off your monthly bill so $84+ a year savings.

 

[Krynn72]

A business or marketing I am now planning to push is to offer to lower peoples Comcast bill. Comcast while a pain in the a** is still the best option for internet and TV around here because U-Verse from AT&T is a mess or wires and cost more. Satellite yeah my parents had it for a year then switched back because you know when you want to stay in and watch TV is when the weather sucks well guess what doesn't work well in bad weather. Comcast charges you for cable boxes and modems. Well most people know now you can buy your own and a good one but don't know how to find it. What few know is you can buy your own cable boxes too and ones that are even WiFi capable such as SiliconDust HDHomeRun devices. Sure these devices aren't cheap but it is a single one time cost and bam you can take $7+ off your monthly bill so $84+ a year savings.

How are you going to make money from doing that though? Are the savings really so great that you can take a cut and it's still worth it for the customer?

 

[lan101]

Computer hardware repair might be dying out with new pc's getting cheaper, but the Adware removal business is stronger then ever. 2-3 years ago I remember fake av's being all I seemed to do.

Now I get maybe one fbi virus every month, but just yesterday got 12 laptops from residential customers loaded up with the usual adware stuff and can barely keep up.

It's not what I want to be doing all day and most of my customers are 35+ years old so they don't bother trying to do it themselves. One of the problems I do see with the adware removal business dying off is that we don't get a lot of people under 30 here because they usually are good at using google to clean it up themselves and only bring it in if they are stuck and can't fix it themselves.

Most of my customers are 40 and over for just about everything. I am 29 years old. My age group is always on their smart phone and most hardly use a computer today unless they are in business or it's work related to their job. I think some of them can fix the PC optimizers and speeduppc's of the world, but the fact is most just don't use a computer much, so much less likely to run into the problem. Just my perspective from what I see in my area.

 

[MikeLierman]

Most of my customers are 40 and over for just about everything. I am 29 years old. My age group is always on their smart phone and most hardly use a computer today unless they are in business or it's work related to their job. I think some of them can fix the PC optimizers and speeduppc's of the world, but the fact is most just don't use a computer much, so much less likely to run into the problem. Just my perspective from what I see in my area.

My observations are somewhat inline with what you've seen. However, I still see people my age (I'm in my 20's as well), that own a PC. These are the reasons why I think this arguement "the Computer Repair Business is Dead," is simply not true:

Phones and tablets can only do so much. They have small screens and a small amount of storage space. They break easy. Their lifespace and upgrade cycle is often 18-36 months. How are you going to transfer all of your pictures, movies, and music when you upgrade? As things move more into digital form, that stack of papers on the desk is now digital, all the photos you take of your kids, friends, family, financé, etc., have to be stored somewhere. The virtual touch keyboards are cumbersome and often difficult to write out more than just a few sentences. Laptops, on the other hand, don't require a desk or a monitor, so less space, they have a full-size keyboard, and typically 500-750GB hard drive.

For these reasons, I find that people of all ages, including my age group, still own a PC or Mac for storing & editing their photos, storing music, watching movies, writing documents, etc. Microsoft Windows is not going away anytime soon. Access to a PC at home is almost a requirement for most people today.

The industry is changing though! People don't use their desktop or laptop as much anymore, but they still use it. They will hang on to that PC or Mac just a little bit longer, and it won't be as big of a priority to get it fixed when it breaks. They will still eventually get it fixed though. Is the Computer Repair Business dead? No. It's changing. It's definitely not dead.

 

[Blues]

How are you going to make money from doing that though? Are the savings really so great that you can take a cut and it's still worth it for the customer?

What cut did I say I would be taking I merely suggesting that I market my services by claiming that I can lower their bill the only cut would be no charge for consultation. Though I might change that for limiting to phone and email consultation being free on-site might incur a charge since I will probably need to cover about a 20 to 30 mile radius from my location.

I only recently turned 30 and most people I know in their 20s and early 30s do own a laptop typically but its main use is facebook, email, photos, and shopping. They can do this from their phones or tablets if they have them mostly though the photos is tougher since most I know have and prefer a camera to the built in camera on their devices.

 

[Wheelie]

... These are the reasons why I think this arguement "the Computer Repair Business is Dead," is simply not true:

Phones and tablets can only do so much. They have small screens and a small amount of storage space. They break easy. Their lifespace and upgrade cycle is often 18-36 months. How are you going to transfer all of your pictures, movies, and music when you upgrade? As things move more into digital form, that stack of papers on the desk is now digital, all the photos you take of your kids, friends, family, financé, etc., have to be stored somewhere. The virtual touch keyboards are cumbersome and often difficult to write out more than just a few sentences. Laptops, on the other hand, don't require a desk or a monitor, so less space, they have a full-size keyboard, and typically 500-750GB hard drive ...

I believe there is a paradigm shift coming in how smartphones are used. Fairly soon I believe your smartphone will be your PC.

You walk into your home or job, lay your phone down onto your desk and your full-sized 27" LCD, full-sized keyboard, and full-sized mouse all immediately recognize you've arrived - and they all work together - forming your "PC".

It's coming.

.

 

[callthatgirl]

Computer repair may fade away, but Computer Support will always thrive (from what I see in the changes of the past few years, buying new, throw out, etc).

Customers will always want new software technology and if you are not adaptable to learn what they need, your business might be dead.

@Wheelie, smartphones is something I dreaded learning, now supporting phones is a huge part of my business services. Just the basics, but still.

Learn it all. Sell it all. Support it all.

 

[phaZed]

Postulate as you may, I am having the best year on record.

 

[callthatgirl]

Before you Google "Postulate"

"suggest or assume the existence, fact, or truth of (something) as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or belief.

Ok, awesome! Tell us more.

 

[Wheelie]

These pieces are in place (not postulating):

• Microsoft Office is now free on iOS and Android devices
• Full-sized bluetooth keyboards and mice already work very well on iOS and Android devices
• Inexpensive cloud-based data storage is firmly in place and phones now have 64GB to 128GB SD cards
• Cloud computing enables users to access systems and applications using a web browser regardless of location or device and is rising in popularity by the day
• Mobile broadband speeds exceed 6Gbps in most areas and is climbing
• The processing power of smart phones is roughly following Mohr's Law
• Printing from a mobile device works pretty well and is improving

(Now I am postulating): The final piece to this puzzle that must be solved is the 27" LCD video display.

QUESTION: how does a smart phone drive a 27" LCD?

ANSWER: There are engineers somewhere feverishly working on solving this remaining puzzle part.

.

 

[phaZed]

Before you Google "Postulate"

"suggest or assume the existence, fact, or truth of (something) as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or belief.

Ok, awesome! Tell us more.

The quote was directed at no particular person, simply at the prior postulations.

Yes, single chip solutions and "docking" is coming, but we're quite a ways from that. Adoption rates, co-existing sales of "future" systems and "traditional" systems, implementation (Assuming it even appeals to customers), etc are all going to take time.. say 5 years to market? Another 5 years for implementation and market share traction? If "traditional" systems are sold for the next 8-10 years, they will be supported break-fix and MSP'ed for another 5-10 after that. So we're talking 15-20 years?

I just don't see traditional small and medium business with real needs as a whole moving to portable, dockable, always on the cloud systems in the near future and will likely trail significantly as opposed to the consumer market. So add another 5-10 years for business? Then after that, maybe "the Computer Repair Business is Dead" as this thread is titled. Then of course this all assumes that these "future" computers are infallible and never break or there is nothing to configure of fix and Virus makers are out of business on all OS's.

If we have another 15-30 years to go - I'm good with that. That's job security! "The Computer Repair Business is Dead" - yet business is up and growing. I look around and the sky isn't falling.