[mandriva]

I would like to start my own PC repair business but only on a small scale to start with as i currently already have a job.

I would like input from people who have there own business and how they started it up. How do you advertise, through local press? Did you post business cards throught the letter box? What sort of traps should i look out for and what potential pitfall should i avoid?

I have googled for ideas which is all good & well but i would like hear input from real business owners as i think i will get a better insight this way.

I look forward to reading your input

Andy

[etaf]

whats the current service providers in your area .
I found fixing PC for friends and family, and often thought about going into business - and still do occasionally - that the time needed to be put in and the revenue return seemed very small, especially on the old Win98 PC's rebooting and running virus scans and spyware when on site -
also the cost now in UK is so cheap for a replacement box £230 that often a repair is not viable.

do you intend to specialise in any particular area ????

Whats the market like in your area - access to cheap PC's via computer fairs etc etc

[mandriva]

I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head. The cost of new systems, like you say are so cheap. There are plent of computer fairs in my area aswell.

I was hoping just to perform some upgrades, a bit of trouble shooting and some networking trouble shooting aswell.

This is why i thought i could start off small whilst currently still working, sort of dip my toe in the water a little.

[etaf]

dont let me put you off - certainly "dip your toe in the water..." you may get a big contract - I know a friend of mine used to have a small computer business - a lot of the work was putting cat5 cabling into buildings - and he won a government contract and then he sold his share of the company for a considerable sum...
right place right time....

I would like input from people who have there own business and how they started it up. How do you advertise, through local press? Did you post business cards throught the letter box? What sort of traps should i look out for and what potential pitfall should i avoid?

The way I started a small Photographic/web design business - which I dont do anything with these days

I had a partner in the business too.
a lot of business came from word of mouth - we just told everyone we knew, also the local camera clubs where told, as often they would get inquires but noone wanted the work.
we had some business cards made and handed those out.
I put a website together www.etaf.co.uk
we subscribed to the Bureau of Freelance Photographers http://www.thebfp.com/frames.html

then created some flyers about A6 size which we started to put through doors and businesses

As i say most of the work was from leads and word of mouth....
Modelling, Family portraits, Book illustrations, powerpoint presentations, various simple websites - set up
we found a lot of work from training - people wanted to know how to use the PC, word, excel, etc
I did some EXCEL automation
and we also fixed some PC and laptops, but I mainly do friends and families and some friends of friends.... for free....

traps and pitfalls -
Only people expecting you to do it for next to nothing.
I found a lot of the issues with PC to be software related - as you can see by searching through these forums.

If you can have a base the kit can be returned to and then you can diagnose - for example running virus scans and spyware scans can take a long while.
Defragging harddrives
Rebuilding systems from restore disks etc
All take a long time and if they are sitting at you home then the times is not wasted watching a system take 2hours to defrag or 3/4hour running a virus scan - can be quite expensive.

I have worked remotely using netmeeting and taking control of the desktop - now XP has remote assistance which would be great for that type of work....

some kit i have available - is a spare hardrive, mouse, keyboard, powerleads, cat5cable monitor - so when I get a box I can connect up and run
also I have a copy of all the boot floppies from http://www.bootdisk.com/
I also have a bootable CD from http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

[blues_harp28]

Hi in addition to the good suggestions from etaf.
Do not undersell yourself..keep in mind the minimum you want to earn from the business..you may be starting in a small way but set a price and stick to it.
Remember too that the tax man will at some time take an interest in your extra earnings..keep any records up to date.[sorry to bring that up]
As has been said word of mouth from satisfied customers will always bring in more work.
Go for it..and good luck.

[mandriva]

Well thanks for all the great information guys. I will definantly be giving it a shot.

Cheers

Andy

[etaf]

blues_harp28 - thats an excellent point

Do not undersell yourself..keep in mind the minimum you want to earn from the business..

This was one of the reasons I stopped - my partner kept underselling, often doing things for nothing and when put under any pressure would also undercut......
He felt he had todo the work regardless and with overheads, Tax etc, if we continued in the same way and pricing policy, we could easily have lost money a lot of money, on just one big deal, so after a lot of discussion I decided it was not viable to continue ......

Some work you may want to do at a very reduced rate to get the recognition and profile etc etc - so make sure you do this only when it is necessary and only when it justifies your business needs.....

Have a pricing policy.

[blues_harp28]

Hi etaf it's so easy to do..you think that it's a new business you need the customers and you can end up doing the job for almost nothing.
You can even think better to have any job regardless of the return than no work at all.
Not true..you undersell yourself and your showing little if any business sense..decide what your time..your experience is worth and price each job accordingly.

[etaf]

you think that it's a new business you need the customers and you can end up doing the job for almost nothing.
You can even think better to have any job regardless of the return than no work at all.

Yep, that was the main discussion points, and often almost word for word hes starting point, which we had on numerous occasions

somethign along the lines - they will be able to recommend others bla bla - tried to point out that may only be because its so cheap and never get out of the loop - you did it for my mate for £10, why cant you do the same for me. hehehehehe - oh well.............

[blues_harp28]

As in all aspects of human existance..it all comes down to self-worth.
What do I truly believe about myself?..what I truly believe I am worth is how others will value me also.
Now where is the Philosophy and Metaphysics forum?

[etaf]

this site may be useful to keep up your sleeve - or even download all the data and cut to CD/DVD

Full version of SP2 - 272MB
http://www.softwarepatch.com/windows/xpsp2.html
and all the secruity updates - for XP , 2K
http://www.softwarepatch.com/windows/index.html

this site may aklso be useful
http://www.autopatcher.com/

[etaf]

lets us know how it goes

[rolandk10]

I think there is a lot of money to be made if you market correctly. It's true that a new pc is cheap. That's why I don't offer to build them anymore. But...and this is a big but...that doesn't mean that the customers who buy these cheap pc's know how to use them. Most of my business now days is teaching and networking.

The overhead is almost nothing since you don't need to have a shop to start. In home service is fine. When I started, word of mouth advertising almost overwhelmed me in a few months! In the near future, I plan on using valpak mailers. You can select the geographical areas to have your coupons sent. Last yer, I paid 450 for a three month advertisement which sent 10,000 coupons each month for my families restaurant. I was told to expect about a 2% return ant that was fairly acurate. If this is the same rate I get for the pc business well, 200 customers a month with an average bill aroun $100...you can do the math. Of course, Naples is full of very affluent people who are implants from other parts of the country so many of them don't have a local network of friends and family for tech help.

Finally, when I started this company, I was employed as a cabinet installer. This gave me a great chance to network since our clients were mostly quite wealthy and tech ignorant. I was able to get atleast 1 or 2 customers a week just handing out cards to them and paying attention a little.

Just don't rush into it. Start slowly. You will need the time to find the balance between what you think you are worth and what others are willing to pay. Offer a guarantee. Fix it or it's free. Something that will let your customer feel okay about paying a little extra. Whatever you do, make them feel great about the transaction. Word of mouth can make or break you in the begining.

I'd wish you good luck but luck has nothing to do with it. Perservere and you will make it.

[kiwiguy]

I think the initial target market may well be the "mom and pop" home setup that goes belly up due to hardware and virus.

This category of PC user generally has no tech savvy, but would be a loyal customer if treated fairly. They usually have an aversion to large service companies, and a suspicion theat their nephew only thinks he can fix it. (The secondary market comes from the PC's the nephew has "fixed".

Not sure about your area, but throughout this country there is a growing user base (of significant size) called "seniornet", the retired folk who have found a new hobby with the PC. Honest and trustworthy PC repairs would be valued by these folk, might pay to ask around.

I run my own business, but avoid PC repairs apart from my own. But the cost of setting up is not great for what you want to do, such as a spare video card, PSU, Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, multimeter etc.

But check the local regulatory scene, as here you would be expected to have a minimal level of formal training in electrical safety (not in the least difficult or expensive) if you are to charge for the services on AC operated equipment, if opening the box up at all.

[just_a_nobody]

If you live in a fairly large populated area, then you should do very well. I got started fixing a friend's computer, and he told others, and they told others, so I now stay pretty busy, in a low populated area. However, I don't charge much, just a straight $50 fee, plus my cost, for parts. I work out of my home, and only do onsite repairs, for what I know are easy fixes, for which I don't charge for.

I go pickup the customer's machine, and I keep them informed as to the problems I find. I prefer to work out of my house, because I have everything I need (broadband, test parts, and telephone), and I don't want people having to wait for me, to finish, as I am sure they have better things to do with their time, so I don't feel rushed. Another reason, I do it at home, is because I know most of my customers, and I don't want to spend a lot time talking about computers, fishing, hunting, friends, family, and weather, while I am working on their computer. When I bring their computer back, I show them what I did, and then answer all their questions.

The best advice I can give is, be honest with your customers, and don't try and do too much at the same time.