Self Employed Repairing Computer's?

Iopu

Has anyone tried this? I often see people advertising computer repair services. But I wonder if it a waste of time or if I could actualy make some real money if I tried it?

Akaricloud

I looked into it for a while and basically decided that it wasn't worth my time. Yes you can make money but at what cost? -A healthy IT career will quickly surpass what you would make doing this, give you more valuable skills and be more enjoyable.

Most people recommend staying in an entry level IT job for only a few months and this is pretty much setting yourself up to be stuck in one. I'm not trying to say it can't be done but I personally would never want to be stuck working on computers like that or even just managing others to do the same.

Iopu

Thanks for your reply. I guess I won't bother with it then.

ptilsen

Just want to reaffirm your decision. It's nigh impossible to make decent money. Too many people are willing to do it for too little. Even if you charged twice what you could make at your day job, you would have to get a lot of work.

It's something fun to do on the side early on in your career, especially if you don't have professional experience. It's how I got my start. It's just not a good long-term move.

About7Narwhal

I will throw my hat into the ring here as well. I wanted to do the same thing and start my own mobile computer operation a few years ago. Then I got a job working a bench for a small IT chain. I liked the work and enjoyed solving some of the "WTF" problems with my co-workers, but there is much more to it than that.

Unfortunately, you cannot control what a client does once they leave. You can install virus software, clean the computer, and have the thing speedy fast but then they take over from there. Clients will often seek a refund or free service if they get a virus a few months down the road. Never mind the fact that they disabled the antivirus software "because it was slowing my computer down." It doesn't matter that they went to the same site because "It has all the best downloads." Unpredictable hardware failure? Same issue. Didn't get paid for your work? Good luck getting the money without losing at least as much in court costs. The risks never seemed to outweigh the rewards so I scrapped the idea.

That is not to say it will happen, but it is something worth considering.

RoyalRaven

About 10-12 years ago I tried my hand at a laptop repair business. I gained signficant hands-on at the day job doing this and would heavily buy parts/fix-upers (new work) and sell fully functional machines (profit) on ebay on my time. This allowed me to use ebay as the wall between myself and the customer. I never had issues with down-the-road items if I put all of those terms up-front and tried to only sell items I knew were in good faith as "reliable" in functionality.

At that time, new machines were still pricy, so there was a signficant used market. Once you were versed in certain models, you could easily spot deals and what price everything needed to be at to meet market conditions.

It really became a major lull with shipping and time preparing items to be mailed though, at least to the point where I wasn't doing a lot of dealing and fixing. Ebay's pricing model started creeping upward. Just too many uncertainties and ties to what consumers do.

I did get a lot of experience in what it was all about trying it out. Not anything I'd use in a new job search, but was more of a personal project. My ebay feedback rating went up quick! My initial investment wasn't super high, so bailing out after a year wasn't a big deal. There's no way I could (without 3-4x the effort, getting that business plan finalized, and potentially getting others involved) to make it into a self-sustaining income source to drop any kind of day-job. Certainly not a waste of my time, but looking back it was unlikely to succeed year-over-year, even if good money was thrown at it.

It is good to try something like this in small scale to find out first hand if its something you like to do. It if doesn't, your cost of entry is likely low. I just wouldn't do it (break/fix) today if I wanted to make a company that lived on. It's a saturated market now (and has been for a while). I say give it a shot if time allows...if nothing else but to learn some things you don't know now. It helps develop business and soft skills. Just keep your expectations in check.

I usually keep myself busy now with the advanced stuff from the day job anyway...break/fix is more like an occasional hobby for me now.

spicy ahi

I never tried my hand at it, but I have a friend who did. He actually started his linux support shop back in 1996 and it was a great niche at the time since the overhead was low (cost of hardware since linux is free!) He sought businesses that were just starting out and basically grew with them. So his clientele is essentially all of the businesses that he had picked up in the first few years and referrals from them as linux became more prevalent. He's expanded to have a handful of employees now and also covers programming services along with setup and maintenance of said linux systems. I think the key to succeed is to find a niche that isn't covered in your local area and build from there. That's what he did, and he's still around. In fact, I was talking to him the other day because he was trying to recruit me to do some networking work for him because a lot of firewalls are utilizing linux as a base but there's still the firewall logic that no one really has a handle on in his shop.

sratakhin

I did it for a few years while going to college. It was fun and I made some decent money, but there is no way I would continue doing it for 60 hours a week like I used to.

jibbajabba

The only time I ever made money from repairing something related were XBOX360s .. I bought red ring consoles on eBay - fixed them for next to nothing and sold them for a "normal" used device price.. Made a lot of money back in the days but computer ? Hell no .. initially you think "damn thats an easy fix" and at the end you pay yourself for "unexpected" BS because you haven't seen something but agreed price X.

Plus I agree - a lot of people doing that in their spare time so you likely won't get enough business to make a decent living. Most shops I have seen do that as a side business. One shop here down the road sells PC gear, upgrades / repairs, installs watercooling and apparently does consulting work too (not sure what they are consulting on though).

SteveLord

I make a little through fixing things for coworkers every year, but that's where I leave it. Basically covers a dinner or two for the family.

WafflesAndRootbeer

There is absolutely no money in it unless you are positioned to provide services where nobody else is and the cost of operation is near-zero or minimalized enough to guarantee sustainable profit.

sratakhin

I wouldn't claim that there is no money in such a business. It depends on how good you are and what area you are in. If it's just fixing old computers for sale later, it's going to be tough. If you just drive around and help people get their problems fixed, it's another story. But that's more like consulting.
I used to charge $25-40 an hour doing it and was always busy.

Corrsta

It's not the job it used to be... Computer repair was my first venture into the IT world, back in high school, before XP SP2, when I knew guys who were making six figures for cleaning out infected computers... As some of the other people here stated, it's nice as a little side gig when you're first starting out, but doesn't have the potential it used to. You'd be better off focusing your time and energy on other avenues.

gunbunnysoulja

I do computer repair on the side, which is decent supplemental income. I find jobs through Work Market, as well as getting referred by people in my town and surrounding areas. I typically make $75 a job, which isn't bad for an hour or so of work. I've done $75 jobs through Work Market that was literally 5 minutes work (reset a password).

Some jobs I'll do by the hour, and some jobs I'll charge flat rate.

Santa_

gunbunnysoulja wrote: »

Look above me..

I agree with the above user. Though I haven't used Work Market I think I might just start to.

Similar situations, where you can make a quick easy buck by doing some very basic things. Backups, System Restore, Password Resets, etc.

While these jobs aren't a steady income it does help buy you gas, food, etc. All while I sit at home watching tv or playing games I work on the PCs. Not a bad way to spend my time at home doing these things while making an extra buck.

SwitchingGears

Doing the actual work is the fun part. Being the marketing guy, webmaster, accountant, customer service dept, and most importantly, the collection agency - not so much.

I've worked for myself for the past 18 years in a service field and as previously stated, you would need a serious, kick-butt volume iof work to surpass a weeks worth of salary in the IT business.

I'm on my way out...and into IT.

I think.

Lol, I have a decent business and if I add information/computer security services, then it could be lucrative. But, then I'm still stuck being the marketing guy, webmaster, accountant, customer service dept, etc etc etc.

You can always do it on the side, or to supplement your income. Good luck with whichever path you choose