[Crusnik]

My friend and I have a small computer repair business that we run from our home. We are fairly new, and business is slow. That’s to be expected though since we are new and don’t have a customer base. I did want some advice on two areas, maybe you guys can help =).

1) What are effective advertising methods that aren’t overly expensive? We posted business cards in darn near every coffee shop in our downtown area, have ads on craigslist, and we have car back window decals. Though we get some business, I’ll admit, we were expecting more than we are getting and are having a hard time.

2) What are some ways to make money while we idle? We we’re thinking maybe building PC’s to sell, but the investment and risks are too high. I’m really drawing a blank on this one. There has to be some way to use our computer knowledge to either make money locally or some method online while we are waiting for calls.


Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. I’m sure others have been in my shoes since this is our livelihood.

[1002richards]

Are you listed in the phone book business pages ? Do you put ads in newspapers/ church magazines/ community directories etc? What about posters in library / community centre?
That's where I'd look for a professional service - not in a coffee shop window.

[RichardBaldock]

I would suggest a big marketing drive.
Print up some clear, concise and informative flyers. I would say 10,000. Deliver them (yourselves to save cost) across residential and small business neighbourhoods.
Offer something to make the reader hold on to your flyer.
A free PC health check for example.

Once this starts to deliver work, deliver better than expected service and word of mouth will bring you even more business. Try to scale this into an annuity base of services rather than rely on new work all the time.

Good luck - keep persevering!

[Crusnik]

Those are great ideas guys! I really like the flyer/free check up idea.

Another good question would be... Since running business from home, how would you go about making it look "legit". I know after doing service once, people will trust us and not worry so much that it is being run out of a home rather than a store front.. But it's the before hand/first impression I'm concerned about. I know I'm a little iffy when going to a home ran office from past experience.

[RichardBaldock]

Firslty don't get hung up about it. Many, many, people run all kinds of businesses from home and have done for years. What is important is you act and look professional. Customers feel they are getting a better deal when dealing with a small business - particularly if you demonstrate a cost sensitive structure. Deliver the value and no one will worry.

[DoubleHelix]

I wouldn't take anything to someone's home for repair. It's dangerous and looks unprofessional. Does your competition do work out of their homes? If not, and you simply cannot afford a storefront, you need to get creative and step up those marketing efforts even more. If a competitor does work out of their home, are they doing something different to make that successful?

[1002richards]

If you have no option other than working from home, try to make one room look like a place of business and neat & tidy.
Check your house contents etc insurance re: running a business from home.
Check town/city council rules re: businesses in home addr.

You could offer to collect/deliver from/to your customers & that way they won't see where your premises are.

[marynorth21]

I can say you can try doing SEO all by yourself. Online advertising is free or if you will not that much compared to traditional marketing.

[zesty100]

Making sure you are listed in online directories can also help -- local.yahoo.com, yellowpages.com, www.google.com/local/add and yelp.com. There is also a new directory for tech consultants/tech service providers at www.techshortcut.com.

If nothing else, diretories can hold links to your website that will help with SEO. If your customers are somehat tech savvy you may just get some referrals from them.

While these directories display street addresses, I have seen tech repair and other tech service providers use their home address or a PO Box. I agree that a storefront is perceived better.

[inapaler]

online business is another think to consider during your free time. Being an IT gives you a good advantage on internet field.

Internet marketing is also a good way to advertise your business.

[Mumbodog]

We we’re thinking maybe building PC’s to sell

Support cost will kill any profit you make, let the customer buy the PC directly from Dell, HP, ect.. Then when they have trouble with it and don't want to/can't deal with OEM support from those companies, they will gladly call and pay you to deal with the issue.


If you sell them a PC you build, they will expect you to come running anytime they have a problem with it (software or hardware), and expect it to be at no cost, trust me on this one.