Thinking of starting my own computer repair business...

I was thinking of putting some ads in the paper or flyers on doors to see if people need help with their computers or home networks. Nothing too big, but just to make a little extra money on the side. Does anyone have any experience with doing something like this? Was the demand good? I've heard several people mention how places like Geek Squad have ripped them off charging too much to fix simple problems. I'm studying for my A+ and could use some hands on experience. Any suggestions or advice?

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Mishra

If you do your own computer work then you have to make sure that you file your taxes. Technically you are supposed to file taxes when 1099ing every 3 months to ensure the IRS gets paid. Also, they charge more in Social Security tax when doing work on your own.

Depending on what you make with your current job, you could have taxes up to 45% of the money you make.

You also need to know to make your own checking account and write business expenses out on taxes. There is quite a bit more to think about if you are wanting a small business rather than doing work on the side under the table.

Megadeth4168

I used to have a business with one of my best friends.... We registered as an LLC and did our quarterly taxes and everything.

We ran into many problems so we ended up dissolving the business. Problem was that we didn't advertise that much, didn't make the time we needed to for our business (we both had full time jobs and full time school).

The other major problem we ran into was undercharging! We only charged $30 per hour. We were not really making that much money... Split between 2 guys it was $15 per hour.

I know we could have charged $65 per hour and it would still have been reasonable... I know many people who charge exactly that amount and they get plenty of business and are more qualified than many of the major companies like Best Buys Geek Squad.

So my advice to you (as someone who has been there) would be the following.

1. Advertise like crazy
2. Don't undercharge
3. If you are really serious then you may need to make extra time for the business... Even if that means cutting hours at work ect.... I'm not in big favor of number 3 unless you are getting a ton of business.... Problem is that Clients want things done on their time.

TechJunky

Antother thing when it comes to computer work... People thoroughly believe you get what you pay for. So I would charge atleast $75hr.

silentc1015

Zoomer wrote:

I was thinking of putting some ads in the paper or flyers on doors to see if people need help with their computers or home networks. Nothing too big, but just to make a little extra money on the side. Does anyone have any experience with doing something like this? Was the demand good? I've heard several people mention how places like Geek Squad have ripped them off charging too much to fix simple problems. I'm studying for my A+ and could use some hands on experience. Any suggestions or advice?

I don't mean to discourage you, but I did this for two years and found it far more trouble than it it was worth. I ran the whole gamut, with radio ads, newspaper ads, etc. I found the profit margin to be very small, and the stress very high. Stress includes problem customers always trying to talk you down in price, not paying you in full, demanding more than what they pay for, blaming future problems on you, etc...

Megadeth4168

silentc1015 wrote:

Zoomer wrote:

I was thinking of putting some ads in the paper or flyers on doors to see if people need help with their computers or home networks. Nothing too big, but just to make a little extra money on the side. Does anyone have any experience with doing something like this? Was the demand good? I've heard several people mention how places like Geek Squad have ripped them off charging too much to fix simple problems. I'm studying for my A+ and could use some hands on experience. Any suggestions or advice?

I don't mean to discourage you, but I did this for two years and found it far more trouble than it it was worth. I ran the whole gamut, with radio ads, newspaper ads, etc. I found the profit margin to be very small, and the stress very high. Stress includes problem customers always trying to talk you down in price, not paying you in full, demanding more than what they pay for, blaming future problems on you, etc...

Good point... It's been so long since I had my own business that I forgot about how difficult people can be and how stressful the whole thing can be....

elover_jm

well, i think he's prob talking abt freelance business.

are you?

ally_uk

I work as a Computer Technician and I also do callouts for my colleagues company

www.blackdragonit.org.uk

At the moment we are thinking up ideas to build up the client base usually we charge about £30 per hour on callouts.

We havent really had the time to push the company yet although we are thinking about marketing and attending a few business meetings

We offer a range of services such as repairs, data recovery , upgrades

Zoomer

A friend of mine and I were thinking of starting something on the side apart from our jobs since we aren't very happy with them. We were also thinking of flyers, classifieds in the newspaper, a website and business cards. Pretty much the same thing as you DarbyWeaver. Your previous situation sounds like the one I am in right now. The only thing I worry about is recieving a large volume of calls. If I needed to address customers all the time I might have to quit my job, but that would be fine if I made enough money doing this.

I'm still considered entry-level and have yet to recieve any certifications, so I don't want to overcharge for my services since I am still learning. I know how to build PC's, setup small networks, remove viruses/adware, I have access to some data recovery programs and can troubleshoot some Windows OS problems. But all I want is a little extra money on the side.

silentc1015

Zoomer wrote:

A friend of mine and I were thinking of starting something on the side apart from our jobs since we aren't very happy with them. We were also thinking of flyers, classifieds in the newspaper, a website and business cards. Pretty much the same thing as you DarbyWeaver. Your previous situation sounds like the one I am in right now. The only thing I worry about is recieving a large volume of calls. If I needed to address customers all the time I might have to quit my job, but that would be fine if I made enough money doing this.

I'm still considered entry-level and have yet to recieve any certifications, so I don't want to overcharge for my services since I am still learning. I know how to build PC's, setup small networks, remove viruses/adware, I have access to some data recovery programs and can troubleshoot some Windows OS problems. But all I want is a little extra money on the side.

Make sure you don't charge too little. Many people really aren't looking to pay the least amount of money. Some of your best customers will be looking for quality, and as illogical as it is they associate quality with how much the service costs. I had some success with quoting customers a price specific to their problem, not an hourly rate. This made them feel more comfortable because they were confident their problem would be solved for a specific price, and they wouldn't be charged for my mistakes. Some customers have bad experiences paying an hourly rate and not even having their problem addressed. Just some examples of what I charged:

$75 for spyware/virus removal
$120 for data restoration
$75 for hardware installation
$90 for an OS reinstall

I developed those prices based on my experience of how much time and effort each task required. Those might not be exact. I really forget, because it's been awhile. I also guaranteed that if the problem wasn't fixed, they wouldn't owe me a thing. I also called them back a day or two after I returned the PC to see if they were satisfied and ensure that the problem was fixed. I also logged the call and what they said. This keeps them from calling back months later after they acquired new problems and blaming you for not doing a good job the first time.

You'll learn lots of little tricks like this. It really is a lot of stress though, and that's why I got out of it. I found it more profitable and less stressful to focus on my IT career development.

Joshua Feinberg

Rather than putting some ads in the paper or flyers on doors to see if people need help with their computers or home networks, and focusing on individuals and scraping by bargain-basement hourly billing rates with largely one-shot-deal customers, why wouldn't you want to focus on small businesses with 10-50 workstations that need to see you AT LEAST once/month... and are willing to spend $75-$125+/hour?

It's very difficult to ever recoup your marketing time and financial investments on one-shot-deal customers and home users.

Fortune 1000 companies like Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Depot, etc. can afford to "subsidize" the servicing of home users because of their ad budgets, branding issues, and the more obvious OPM (other peoples' money) issues.

However small computer repair businesses like yours MUST work MUCH smarter when it comes to choosing a target market.

Computer repair technicians that bill out in the $25-$50/hour range usually SEVERELY underestimate their true expenses and don't have much of a handle on their utilization rate (% of billable hours vs. hours worked).

These are the same people that work 80 hours/week and scratch their head with their accountant at year-end, wondering why all that work only added up to $30,000/year?!?

Now that you know this, you shouldn't have to repeat these ultra-common rookie mistakes.

If these concepts are new to you, you should really review some of the sample tips and excerpts on our Web site below. By registering, you'll also get invited to an upcoming computer consulting Webinar that I think you'll find very helpful for your computer repair business.

Best regards,

KGhaleon

Not a business, but I try and advertise myself to local residents and businesses. You can email or drop off flyers at these places and advertise on sites like craigslist.

I would charge hourly rates like:
Tech suppuprt $65/hr
Malware removal $100/fixed fee
Data recovery $150/hr
etc

nashutzu

Joshua Feinberg wrote:

Rather than putting some ads in the paper or flyers on doors to see if people need help with their computers or home networks, and focusing on individuals and scraping by bargain-basement hourly billing rates with largely one-shot-deal customers, why wouldn't you want to focus on small businesses with 10-50 workstations that need to see you AT LEAST once/month... and are willing to spend $75-$125+/hour?

It's very difficult to ever recoup your marketing time and financial investments on one-shot-deal customers and home users.

Fortune 1000 companies like Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Depot, etc. can afford to "subsidize" the servicing of home users because of their ad budgets, branding issues, and the more obvious OPM (other peoples' money) issues.

However small computer repair businesses like yours MUST work MUCH smarter when it comes to choosing a target market.

Computer repair technicians that bill out in the $25-$50/hour range usually SEVERELY underestimate their true expenses and don't have much of a handle on their utilization rate (% of billable hours vs. hours worked).

These are the same people that work 80 hours/week and scratch their head with their accountant at year-end, wondering why all that work only added up to $30,000/year?!?

Now that you know this, you shouldn't have to repeat these ultra-common rookie mistakes.

If these concepts are new to you, you should really review some of the sample tips and excerpts on our Web site below. By registering, you'll also get invited to an upcoming computer consulting Webinar that I think you'll find very helpful for your computer repair business.

Best regards,

This guy is sooo right. I have done this business in over 3 years for end users. i got good money but lots of headeache home users give you so much headeache.
1. they are so hard to find ..I mean u need lots of ads . and time consuming
2. they are soo damn cheap...and have no knowledge to understand the price for you work.
3. you will not make a fortune.
4. I big guy there or small business are the best.. I started working there .. really cool stuff. I will start now advertising more into small business. and plus for business your services are vital. for home users they can live without computer or with lots of viruses and spyware and comp will be so slow.

KGhaleon

whoohoo, welcome back old topic.

If you want to start a repair business, then good luck. As mentioned it's a lot of stress with little profit unless your able to charge alot of money for your services. These days computers are getting cheap enough that they can be replaced easily enough, and unless you live in an area where a lot of people are going to come to you...don't expect much business.

Even with lots of advertising, we didn't get many customers at our shop in Orlando. Most of our customers knew us from word of mouth.

I've been trying to advertise myself as a local technician in Daytona, and I've only had one or two people call...with only one of those people actually following through with the repair. :P
I give up.

I'm moving to LA after new years to get a job, since I know a friend who lives there. It's easier to just get a job working for a company.