Should I do PC repair on the side?

Kai123

Iristheangel wrote: »

Get a contract. Get a contract. Get a contract. If you don't get a contract, you'll have people coming back to you in 6 months after removing malware who claim you didn't remove everything or claiming that broken CD-ROM drive was because you removed a virus on their PC and if you don't have a contract, it will be VERY hard to fight it in court. You want EVERYTHING spelled out on paper as far as what you are doing for the customer, the warranty, and when you return the computer, you want the customer to test it and sign something saying that it was working when you left without any cosmetic defects. This is to protect you but secondly, your customers will take you more seriously and view you as more of a professional if you give the appearance that you are running a business, not playing the part of pizza technician.

Could it be handwritten there and then? Kinda like two receipts to sign. "PC repair, virus removal, sign here if satisfied".

The contract is the last obstacle! I did have a big template before but I lost it. It was a fairly scary contract though, water tight

Kai.

Iristheangel

Kai123 wrote: »

Could it be handwritten there and then? Kinda like two receipts to sign. "PC repair, virus removal, sign here if satisfied".

The contract is the last obstacle! I did have a big template before but I lost it. It was a fairly scary contract though, water tight

Kai.

Handwritten notes can be manipulated and that's why a judge wouldn't trust them if it ever came to some customer taking you to small claims to buy them a new PC. Here are some free contract templates: Free Computer Service Contract Templates

tpatt100

Iristheangel wrote: »

Handwritten notes can be manipulated and that's why a judge wouldn't trust them if it ever came to some customer taking you to small claims to buy them a new PC. Here are some free contract templates: Free Computer Service Contract Templates

Yeah gotta have a contract

Nobylspoon

I'm glad I came across this thread! I was considering doing PC repair for charity. I am currently fundraising for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer (I lost my mom last month to it). I am still $1000 away from my minimum target goal so I thought I could offer my services on the weekends where all service cost (minus parts) are paid directly to my fundraising page.

I have about 15 years of PC repair experience and live in a pricey area so I am thinking about trying $100 minimum donation + parts for service. With work and school, I can't handle very many clients so I would need the minimum donation to be worth the time.

Iristheangel

Nobylspoon wrote: »

I'm glad I came across this thread! I was considering doing PC repair for charity. I am currently fundraising for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer (I lost my mom last month to it). I am still $1000 away from my minimum target goal so I thought I could offer my services on the weekends where all service cost (minus parts) are paid directly to my fundraising page.

I have about 15 years of PC repair experience and live in a pricey area so I am thinking about trying $100 minimum donation + parts for service. With work and school, I can't handle very many clients so I would need the minimum donation to be worth the time.

Sorry about your mom I had a sister pass away from cancer.
I would recommend making some simple fliers that list your experience and the cause that you're working for. Distribute them in wealthy areas and you should get some bites.
Also, I just looked on Onforce and the average price per work order in Ashburn, VA is $192 so that's an option too but it's up to you. I like using every resource out there to get additional work since I'm saving for my first house and want to put a HUGE amount down as a down payment.

Kai123

I found my old wavier form from years ago

I was going to create a company called "pc repair clinic" before finding out its not worth it for side-work, I can use my name instead. Usable?

Kai.

tru504187211

If you are seriously considering doing this either part time or full time, I highly recommend visiting the forums and articles at technibble.com. They have helped my business grow considerably, even to the point of considering if I'd like to do that full-time...

Iristheangel

tru504187211 wrote: »

If you are seriously considering doing this either part time or full time, I highly recommend visiting the forums and articles at technibble.com. They have helped my business grow considerably, even to the point of considering if I'd like to do that full-time...

+1 to this. Technibble is a great resource

Kai123

Technibble is very inspiring! So is this forum. This thread started as a simple question and have evolved to a resource on its own.

Any chance I could have feedback on my waiver form posted above? If none is given I will most likely use it, cute lil PC logo and everything.

Kai.

Iristheangel

Kai123 wrote: »

Technibble is very inspiring! So is this forum. This thread started as a simple question and have evolved to a resource on its own.

Any chance I could have feedback on my waiver form posted above? If none is given I will most likely use it, cute lil PC logo and everything.

Kai.

I don't have much feedback for it since the laws in your country might be different. I feel like it's a little short so there's probably some liability that's missing there but you really should check with sample contacts from Ireland. Maybe go into that computer shop that you were talking about and see what kind of contract they have as a example of what to include in your own.

Also make sure they sign something AFTER you return the computer that states that everything is working, there is no visible damage, and releasing you from further liability,

cgrimaldo

Awesome thread....Iristheangle, can you elaborate more on guru.com and onforce or maybe you could shoot me a pm? I have some questions

Kai123

Asif Dasl wrote: »

Can't tell if you are down the country or not, €50 for a malware scan and defrag is alright - your doing f**k all work for that, you can sit down and watch the TV and all!

I usually see €75/€80 for laptop repairs in Dublin - there is a lot of competition though. It'll probably take 2 hours minimum to reload a laptop by the time you get everything done which is about €40 an hour - sounds great, but you need to keep customers flowing in if you were doing it full-time which probably means sending out good flyers, going house-to-house in your spare time etc. PITA... you'll have significant down time, so what is your hourly rate really?

And the main point is, you don't have to be really educated to reload Windows, do it part-time for EXAM money, not to drink it down the pub! That way you get a better paid, more educated job and then you'll be earning more money and you can drink your money away then if you want... and probably work 9 to 5

I saw a recent article that said the AVERAGE contracting rate in Dublin for IT/Engineering jobs is €78,000 - now I'm not earning anything like that, it would be great if I could get close to that contracting but until I get the rest of my exams done there is going to be high competition for those jobs and I'm not going to be in with a shot. But at the end of the day the unemployment rate for professionals is about 5% in Ireland right now and there seems to be an IT shortage cause all the Polish and others left the country - can't imagine why they would do that

I gave it up eventually cause I got sick of it... but might pick it up again to overpay the mortgage.

I live around Clonee, and work in a retail job earning min wage. 3 clients a day at €30 a pop and im already earning a good portion over what I am now.

If I had a IT shop, I would open at 6am and close at 10pm. The hours and work are totally not an issue and I think I would enjoy it. Its gaining the balls to actually get and and do it that is the problem.

Your actually what im looking for Asif. Any chance you could tell me the legal system regarding this kind of work? Or at least, if you used a contract form for clients after you finished a job?

Kai.

Iristheangel

cgrimaldo wrote: »

Awesome thread....Iristheangle, can you elaborate more on guru.com and onforce or maybe you could shoot me a pm? I have some questions

Feel free to PM me with more detail but I'll address this openly here for anyone else that wants to join up.
Onforce, Workmarket, Guru, etc are all sites to get varying levels of contracting gigs.

Onforce.com - Mostly laptop/desktop repair and wireless network setup with work orders varying from $70-$500. I would say the average work order is $150. It's nice and easy outsourced technician work for some major computer manufacturers, ISPs, and other companies that don't want to hire a FTE technician and their technical support number couldn't fix it on the phone. When you first sign up here, you won't see a lot of work orders until you distinguish yourself by getting a drug test ($50) and background check ($40) done as well as joining some PPN networks for certain vendors to get priority on their work orders (this is free but they usually require you to do a 20 minute online training of expected behavior for technicians and your drug test/background check to be completed). After I got both done and some 100% feedback from some work orders, I started getting offered literally 20 work orders a day. I only accept the ones that are worth my money, after work hours, and within 40 miles of me since my car gets 40MPG. When you get offered a work order, you have to pull up the work order (either by mobile app or on the site) and you have a 3 minute timer that starts from the moment you pulled up the order. After the 3 minutes are completed, you can accept the work order. Since the work orders are usually routed to several technicians at once, it's whoever views and accepts the work order first. Pretty easy stuff and I get the majority of my work orders here. I see a LOT of major service providers here but I don't feel entirely comfortable putting their names out in public. Most of the stuff is residential but every once in awhile, there are work orders to set up kiosks somewhere or repair a signage somewhere. I never accept these work orders because they don't pay anymore than residential work orders and are more of a headache.

Workmarket.com - Similar rules to Onforce except there is no three minute timer. It's pretty much a scramble to get the page loaded quickly and accept the work order. There are some decent work orders I haven't completed my background or drug tests on here so I can't give an fair review. I believe that WM is a lot newer than Onforce but there seems to be at least 5000+ technicians on this site. I see more business work orders doing various printer repairs and signage things but I'd say the pay is better at Onforce from what jobs I've done so far. That may be different once I get my tests out of the way. The buyers tend to be more smaller companies and I haven't seen any major manufacturers or service providers yet.

Guru.com - This might be more "fun" jobs for you network/admin gurus out there. Things like setting up an Exchange, SQL, Sharepoint or AD server or configuring Cisco routers/switches. Of course there are also smaller jobs like creating custom logos and graphic design. The pay per job on here is usually $250-$5000 (Search for Freelance Jobs on Guru.com)

For any specific questions, feel free to PM me

SteveLord

There's a reason you don't see a lot of computer shops compared to other businesses. They are not wildly successful. They charge almost as much as the big box stores anyway.

Why would someone pay you, when everyone knows a person or two that can do it for as little a case of beer? Computer repair is not the "science" it use to be. One can Google almost anything. Remember that.

Iristheangel

SteveLord wrote: »

There's a reason you don't see a lot of computer shops compared to other businesses. They are not wildly successful. They charge almost as much as the big box stores anyway.

Why would someone pay you, when everyone knows a person or two that can do it for as little a case of beer? Computer repair is not the "science" it use to be. One can Google almost anything. Remember that.

I agree with you. Trying to set up shop and work retail is horrible. That's why I usually contract through other sites as well as sending out the occasional flyers to pick up side business. I have also had MANY work orders fixing what someone's "friend who knows a lot about computers" broke God bless those idiots who think that reformatting a computer will fix anything but have no idea what a "driver" is.

boredgamelad

Iristheangel wrote: »

I agree with you. Trying to set up shop and work retail is horrible. That's why I usually contract through other sites as well as sending out the occasional flyers to pick up side business. I have also had MANY work orders fixing what someone's "friend who knows a lot about computers" broke God bless those idiots who think that reformatting a computer will fix anything but have no idea what a "driver" is.

That's the guy who parks my limousine.

Roguetadhg

I stopped doing computer repair services. My time at work is already hectic with politics.

I repair computers for work already, keeping computers up and running. Mind you I work with people that'll steal USB mice for the "funnies". I don't repaiir laptops past anything software. Mostly because laptops is a real !@#$ to do. A lot of times it seems that the right-mouse button doesn't work- the plastic tab that springs it back in place broke, screen replacement, battery replacement, unclog the heatsink from the processor heatsink. Parts for laptops aren't cheap, and old laptops are expensive to buy parts for.

Even if I can point out that it's a simple fix. People don't have discs, don't understand that "Looking for software" takes time. Granted, not as time consuming and painful as the Windows98 days... but still can be rough. Most cringe at the though of a free operating system, but complain when I tell them that "Windows 7 costs 99 dollars on newegg. Much more at Best Buy, walmart,..."

I never really charged much. Mostly because I know that money is tight for everyone. Mostly I'll charge 20% of the final cost of the parts for installation, and 5 dollars to look at a computer.

But Bounced checks, people refusing to pay. I just stopped. It's not worth the hassle of dealing with people like that -most- of the time here. Yes. I say most.

Not to say I don't find good people. Im glad to do work for them, and im glad to give them a straight answer for any question that they have. I may not know, and I tell them "I don't know. But I can stay up to try to find out". Those persons I'll go the mile for, unfortantly its not the majority, and happens far less than I'd like to admit.

Kai123

I went to a oldish womans house once to fix her desktop problem. She put her yahoo e-mail into everything that asked for it, and would literally read every spam e-mail she got thinking it was from real people. I went up to fix the issue of "When i try to get on to yahoo mail all I see is "inbox"".

The window box was minimised. I did a malware scan which picked a few things up and defragged, she saw a difference and was very happy. I see her in work everyday and she has the same problem. She wants to sell it because she cant use it to get a laptop! I tried educating her but some people simply dont take it in regarding Windows and desktop.

Besides, one client a week at 30 euro is what I am aiming for. Hopefully I will avoid the major headaches. If I was going for this full-time, earning half of what the average self-employed techie earns would be much more then what im earning now.

Kai.

Kai123

Asif Dasl wrote: »

....snip...

What happens if Microsoft changes Windows to be so simple that anybody can get to grips with it or everybody uses iPads that don't need to be reloaded? You'll be out of a job that's what...

You have to think long term and educate yourself and charge at least the going rate for any work you do. You'll never be out of work if you work for free (almost), and you won't get any thanks for it either. Education is self preservation.

Not as scary as having a mathamatical program that designs and runs networking for you!

I have my A+, Network+, working on my CCENT, looking for internships. This is literally what it is, a bit of money on the side I have work for the next 6 days so unfortunately this will be on the backburner till I have free time again

Kai.

dazl1212

Iristheangel wrote: »

It's hard to start up a business on your own. Have you thought about going through contracting agencies that bring the work to you? I am currently working full time while going to school at WGU and doing side jobs through Onforce. I would recommend going through those kind of agencies as they usually have insurance that they cover you under (they take like a 3% fee out of your earnings with them for it) and it's decent pay. I'm currently signed up through onforce.com, workmarket.com, and guru.com and I'm getting emailed 20 work orders a day. I usually only accept 1-2 a day due to my work schedule but it adds up to an extra 600-1000 a week.

Hi sorry to hijack the thread, does anybody now if there is something similar to onforce.com in UK?
Edit: Looks like onforce are coming to the UK

Kai123

dazl1212 wrote: »

Hi sorry to hijack the thread, does anybody now if there is something similar to onforce.com in UK?
Edit: Looks like onforce are coming to the UK

I might have to move to the UK if I cant get a job in Ireland, so thats great news

Kai.

jmasterj206

I did computer repair on the side for several years while working a full time IT job. I don't miss it for a second. The extra money was nice, but I got burned out quickly. I didn't really advertise as it was more word of mouth. Sooner or later people will start taking advantage of you and you will be getting calls at all hours asking if you can drop everything and come over immediately so they can play their online card games. If you want to do I say go for it, but the novelty wears off quickly.

hackman2007

Asif Dasl wrote: »

What happens if Microsoft changes Windows to be so simple that anybody can get to grips with it or everybody uses iPads that don't need to be reloaded? You'll be out of a job that's what...

You have to think long term and educate yourself and charge at least the going rate for any work you do. You'll never be out of work if you work for free (almost), and you won't get any thanks for it either. Education is self preservation.

The easier an operating system is to use, the easier it is to exploit.

As for Apple's OS, I have seen several that have needed to be restored. Don't fall under the assumption that Mac's never have to be fixed, just check the apple support forums and you will see tons of people having issues with Apple stuff.

dazl1212

Kai123 wrote: »

I might have to move to the UK if I cant get a job in Ireland, so thats great news

Kai.

Yes it is great news I could do with some extra money to get rid of my debts.
I'd probably just do one or two jobs a week or so.
Google onforce uk

Asif Dasl

hackman2007 wrote: »

The easier an operating system is to use, the easier it is to exploit.

Actually I would have thought it would have more to do with the kernel than the user interface?

hackman2007 wrote: »

As for Apple's OS, I have seen several that have needed to be restored. Don't fall under the assumption that Mac's never have to be fixed, just check the apple support forums and you will see tons of people having issues with Apple stuff.

We are talking relative here, Windows in my experience needs to be reinstalled much more than OSX - but I have to qualify that by saying I don't go near OSX as much as I would with Windows...

hackman2007

Asif Dasl wrote: »

Actually I would have thought it would have more to do with the kernel than the user interface?

Well it does to a point. There is only so much you can do when people are socially engineered. I'm betting a good number of the support calls are from people that did something they really should not have (clicked something, browsed somewhere they should not have, etc).

I wouldn't worry about losing your job since no software is perfect, the kernel included. Everything has bugs and the more software/hardware you add to it, the more difficult it gets to discover the bugs and safely patch. Think how many different pieces of hardware/software can be used by someone and the drivers associated with them. If Microsoft starts making it impossible for developers to execute highly privileged code, drivers may be more difficult to develop and older stuff might not work properly. This is one thing that Apple does right; they limit the number of things that can be added to one of their computers.


As for the Apple versus Microsoft debates (which I am strictly speaking OS here), of course you are going to see more Microsoft related problems since the operating system has more market share. Depending on who you believe, Apple still only has 10-15% market share with OSX. Even if we say 30% market share for Apple, that means Microsoft still has about 70%, assuming you leave other Unix-based OS's out.

CodeBlox

Depending on how heavy you advertise yourself, you may find it overwhelming to fit all the clients in. You could end up backed up with computers to fix. This is why I only fix problems for family, and for free.

Kai123

Asif Dasl wrote: »

...snip....

If you had a bunch of certs and experience you would walk in to places. Trust me.

PS There are too many Eamon Dunphy's in this country!

I think there is another 10% - 20% to go before it bottoms out. It really depends if I find a job within the next year. I earn so little but live like middle-class. How I live now, 25k a year would be a huge improvement and would pretty much set me for life, so 35k average for an experienced network engineer is mind blowing.

The political system would of never been a factor for us moving, but FG/Lab is FF-lite. SF is the last alternative.

I went down to Camara last thursday and I think it will be the base of my experience. Everyone is really friendly and one of the network admin said he will show me the network when I go down next week.

To Codeblox, maybe I should charge alot of money to keep people away. If I have learnt anything from retail, its that people will pay for anything if they think its what they want, or is that the wrong frame of mind? :P

Kai.

Asif Dasl

Kai123 wrote: »

I think there is another 10% - 20% to go before it bottoms out. It really depends if I find a job within the next year. I earn so little but live like middle-class. How I live now, 25k a year would be a huge improvement and would pretty much set me for life, so 35k average for an experienced network engineer is mind blowing.

Yeah I think about another 15% myself. I think your salary ranges are a bit on the low side - have a look at this salary survey which tend to be a little on the high side. But a lot of places are not hiring full time staff, they are contracting which pays much more. But like I say cost of living as dropped dramatically so if you get those certs you'll be on good money and be able to travel, save, overpay your mortgage if you're smart and be well off.

Kai123 wrote: »

The political system would of never been a factor for us moving, but FG/Lab is FF-lite. SF is the last alternative.

Yeah it's mad that SF are @ 25% support - they haven't a clue about any type of government - it's a protest support. There is nothing FG/Lab can do, they are just following Troika orders like FF at the end, the same way Argentina had to, the same Greece has to. You owe the money, you follow their orders, it's that simple. At the end of the bailout hopefully things are normal again and we can raise money on the markets again - and hopefully we don't build an economy around housing again - but we weren't the only one.

joehalford01

I started doing this and quickly realized it was an underpaid time suck. People don't want to pay for anti-virus or new software and think that its no big deal for you to spend hours searching the internet for windows xp drivers that no longer exist. If you miss one thing, the stupid thing ends up back in your lap and you're finishing it for free at that point.
If I started up again, I'd would probably only take computers running windows vista or newer. I'm so done with XP.