Computer Repairs Business

  • Thread starter Thread starter GT
  • Start date Start date
G

GT

Does anyone on this group run their own computer repair / advice business? I
have considered starting one up in my area for a while now and wondered if
anyone has any advice. How did you go about advertising at first? Was the
initial outlay expensive? What is the best way to generate trade?

I thought I might try this as a little extra to my normal job, but don't
know where to start!

Any thoughts, advice, links etc would be most appreciated. Cheers,
GT
 
GT said:
Does anyone on this group run their own computer repair / advice business?
I have considered starting one up in my area for a while now and wondered
if anyone has any advice. How did you go about advertising at first? Was
the initial outlay expensive? What is the best way to generate trade?

I thought I might try this as a little extra to my normal job, but don't
know where to start!

Any thoughts, advice, links etc would be most appreciated. Cheers,
GT
Click to expand...
You have to be very Knowledgeable about computers, to successfully run
your own computer business.
Be good at Diagnosis, or it will cost you.
Have a good understanding of designs and builds.
Have a good understanding of Software. (Not just Windows OS).
Have a good understanding of the Internet, Inter\Connectivity.
I could go on, but that`s just a start.
You start by repairing friends computers....For a thanks a lot.
You then tell friends\relatives you repair for a fee.
You then advertise in your local paper.
And suddenly you`ve got a successful sideline business.
Best wishes, and good luck..OJ
 
old jon said:
You have to be very Knowledgeable about computers, to successfully run
your own computer business.
Be good at Diagnosis, or it will cost you.
Have a good understanding of designs and builds.
Have a good understanding of Software. (Not just Windows OS).
Have a good understanding of the Internet, Inter\Connectivity.
I could go on, but that`s just a start.
You start by repairing friends computers....For a thanks a lot.
You then tell friends\relatives you repair for a fee.
You then advertise in your local paper.
And suddenly you`ve got a successful sideline business.
Best wishes, and good luck..OJ
Click to expand...

I think the answer to my next question is probably yes, but I ask in case
you can think of a cheaper starting setup... Would you recommend me building
up a testbed of motherboards and chips and RAM for diagnosis purposes? I am
thinking that when a computer comes in 'dead' then it could easily be the
PSU, M/B, CPU, RAM and with a set of motherboards etc, it is easier to
diagnose more quickly.
 
old jon said:
You have to be very Knowledgeable about computers, to successfully run
your own computer business.
Be good at Diagnosis, or it will cost you.
Have a good understanding of designs and builds.
Have a good understanding of Software. (Not just Windows OS).
Have a good understanding of the Internet, Inter\Connectivity.
I could go on, but that`s just a start.
You start by repairing friends computers....For a thanks a lot.
You then tell friends\relatives you repair for a fee.
You then advertise in your local paper.
And suddenly you`ve got a successful sideline business.
Best wishes, and good luck..OJ
Click to expand...

What about insurance - should I consider it or can I tell people 'at their
own risk'? I plan to do this from home, so would the household contents
insurance cover any mishaps? They would surely get suspicious if I started
to make lots of PC related claims!

I personally wouldn't want to leave my PC with someone knowing it was at my
own risk!
Also, what about VAT and tax. If someone asks for a VAT receipt, what do I
tell them? What do I tell the tax man?
 
You certainly require Spare Parts for substitution, once you`ve diagnosed
what you think the problem is.
But the secret of winning is to have Knowledge, as I said before.
If someone brought a machine to you, saying it `didn`t work`, Where
would you start ?.
bw..OJ
 
old jon said:
You certainly require Spare Parts for substitution, once you`ve diagnosed
what you think the problem is.
But the secret of winning is to have Knowledge, as I said before.
If someone brought a machine to you, saying it `didn`t work`, Where
would you start ?.
Click to expand...

I am fairly well equiped on the PC knowledge front, its more the business
knowledge that I lack! I have been building and fixing friends PCs (and my
own) since 1996. I have recently taken my home-built PC apart and made it
silent, but other than that I have not had 'hands-on' for over a year now. I
have no experience of various new technologies, such as SLI and PCI-E and
Intel Extreme etc. however, at the same time, I know they are just the same
as the older technologies only a slightly different socket / port size and
more expensive and power hungry!

I would really like to go for this, but don't want to spend several hundred
pounds setting it all up (range of testbed motherboards / RAM / CPUs,
insurance, advertising etc) for it to all flop! Do you think building a few
PCs and selling them on E-Bay or locally for a small profit would be a good
start?
 
GT said:
I am fairly well equiped on the PC knowledge front, its more the business
knowledge that I lack! I have been building and fixing friends PCs (and my
I would really like to go for this, but don't want to spend several
hundred pounds setting it all up (range of testbed motherboards / RAM /
CPUs, insurance, advertising etc) for it to all flop! Do you think
building a few PCs and selling them on E-Bay or locally for a small profit
would be a good start?
Click to expand...
Look in your own local newspapers, to see if anyone already does repairs.
Have you got you test meter\tools ready ?.
Advertise locally (that`s not expensive) to see what happens.
If you fix, you have to determine how much you`ll charge per\hour and
part thereof.
If you can`t fix, you get a bad name !!.
As to tax etc.
If you buy parts your clients will have to pay you cash.
If they want reciepts it starts to get tricky.
It goes On and On.
bw..OJ
 
DONT DO IT!
You will get calls 24hr/day asking you all bs crap and you will keep
telling these 80 year old grandma's that you cant fix their computer
over the phone.
Repairmen are in this biz to make $, not to dispense advice for free,
or work on 10 year old PCs which the client wont even pick up.
Furthermore, a computer could be bought for $500, once the warranty
ends, they wont spend $100 to fix it.

Also, I've seen too many repairmen get sued on those TV courts and get
blamed for lost data.
 
I think the answer to my next question is probably yes, but I ask in case
you can think of a cheaper starting setup... Would you recommend me building
up a testbed of motherboards and chips and RAM for diagnosis purposes? I am
thinking that when a computer comes in 'dead' then it could easily be the
PSU, M/B, CPU, RAM and with a set of motherboards etc, it is easier to
diagnose more quickly.
Click to expand...


You'll want a buildup of those parts for experience purposes
alone, but yeah, there is the perpetual cost of having a
spare modern system or two or four or... around for
compatibility purposes.

I might tend to disagree with one of the prior remarks about
being really knowledgeable about computers in order to have
a business. Yes it is definitely the responsible thing to
do, and yes it will be extremely valuable, but there are a
lot of kids out there that know little more than how to run
windows, plug part A into slot B, and swap parts in and out
to find problems... and IF you have enough parts, a kid can
be put onto doing these things as no shop can afford a team
of highly skilled technicians, it's just just the owner and
maybe a lucky find or two and the rest are green kids that
may have their A+ or MCE and do the grunt work, only being
distinguishable in that they have a good attitude towards
sales and present themselves professionally.

How you start depends a lot in what the market in your area
needs. If you dont' have the financing to have a
storefront yet you may need stronger service-oriented
targeting, try to get service contracts from businesses or
just advertise a lot in the lowest cost media you can find,
and a big ad in the yellow pages (don't bother with a small
ad, too many other small ads).

You have to focus on service though, you might target areas
like virus and spyware removal because selling vanilla clone
boxes is too cutthroat these days, it's hard to beat Dell
even if you claim better service... in the end many people
will buy the Dell then want local service for issues Dell
can't resolve.
 
DONT DO IT!
You will get calls 24hr/day asking you all bs crap and you will keep
telling these 80 year old grandma's that you cant fix their computer
over the phone.
Click to expand...

There is a generic response that fixes this:

"You'll have to bring the system in." "We have a standard
$nn bench fee."
Repairmen are in this biz to make $, not to dispense advice for free,
or work on 10 year old PCs which the client wont even pick up.
Click to expand...

Yeah, on a system that's worth less than 2X the expected
repair bill, it's a good idea to get a deposit.

Furthermore, a computer could be bought for $500, once the warranty
ends, they wont spend $100 to fix it.
Click to expand...

You might be surprised how many are satisfied with their
system for their (basic email/office/web) uses and only want
the cheapest way to keep it running.

Also, I've seen too many repairmen get sued on those TV courts and get
blamed for lost data.
Click to expand...

Service Contract. Draw one up, they sign it.
 
What about insurance - should I consider it or can I tell people 'at their
own risk'? I plan to do this from home, so would the household contents
insurance cover any mishaps? They would surely get suspicious if I started
to make lots of PC related claims!

I personally wouldn't want to leave my PC with someone knowing it was at
my own risk!
Also, what about VAT and tax. If someone asks for a VAT receipt, what do I
tell them? What do I tell the tax man?
Click to expand...


I don't know about VAT but I suspect you should collect taxes and keep
records for all your repairs. Not to discourage you but you might read
some of the A plus books to help bone up and a cert would add credentials.
I don't see why you couldn't set up shop, print some business cards and
go into business.
 
"Also, I've seen too many repairmen get sued on those TV courts and get
blamed for lost data.
Click to expand...

Service Contract. Draw one up, they sign it. "

LOL!!!
Anyone watch today's People's Court?
A lady had a trojan and some guy wanted $220 to re-install the OS.
 
"Also, I've seen too many repairmen get sued on those TV courts and get


Service Contract. Draw one up, they sign it. "

LOL!!!
Anyone watch today's People's Court?
A lady had a trojan and some guy wanted $220 to re-install the OS.
Click to expand...


That may not be unrealistic depending on the circumstances.
Suppose a high-rent area, shop fees approaching $100 /hr.

Now suppose the lady doesn't just want the drive wiped and
clean reinstall, she needs the system as it was, just the
damage repaired and the remaining existing files preserved.
At $100 /hr, it could take a little over two hours to clean
out a well-trojan-fortified system and reinstall OS.

Didn't see the show episode though, no idea if this
generality is applicable.
 
Bolshoy said:
DONT DO IT!
You will get calls 24hr/day asking you all bs crap and you will keep
telling these 80 year old grandma's that you cant fix their computer
over the phone.
Repairmen are in this biz to make $, not to dispense advice for free,
or work on 10 year old PCs which the client wont even pick up.
Furthermore, a computer could be bought for $500, once the warranty
ends, they wont spend $100 to fix it.

Also, I've seen too many repairmen get sued on those TV courts and get
blamed for lost data.
Click to expand...

Heh, being a tech in this biz I know all too well this line of reason.
Bolshoy is mostly right, but some of this can be avoided by taking good
measures. I have two sheets that I use, a quote sheet and an invoice,
both of these get signed. On the quote sheet there is a disclaimer that
I am not liable for data loss, as it is the customer's responsibility
to backup all data as part of regular PC maintenance. There's also a 14
day clause where they have that much time to dispute any problems. On
the invoice that they sign there's an agreement that all work was
performed to satisfaction and payment was given.

As for the grandmas, yeah they are all over. I tend to just be very
blunt with them on the phone, and let them know when it's better to
just buy a new PC, rather than me charge them half the cost of a new PC
in service fees to fix the old one. HTH -JC
 
and on that note, another PC repairshop has just shut down
here on Brooklyn, on a busy street called Coney Island ave.
They were into networking, web development, and other such
IT crap that no one wants.
That makes 2 shops shut down in 1 year on that road;
plus a A+/MCSE etc.certification training outfit that was turned into
an internet cafe.
 
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