Starting my own onsite computer repair business

[Thetech]

A diamond response in a coal mine of replies!

Thank you!

Instead of making assumptions about me you just gave me actual information, and I
thank you for that. For one I do not plan on getting rich quick. I just plan on something extra to help pay my bills. I do not plan on doing as much business as Firedog or the Geek squad.

I couldn't decide on per hour, or per job.

Despite what every one else thinks here, I work at a repair shop now.
And you wouldn't believe what people pay for in store or on site. And yes, business is good.
It all has to do with the area I live in. Besides I live in Florida (retirement hotspot) so that should tell you something.

Originally posted by: Wheezer
As someone who does this, on an on-site basis. just a few pointers:

#1 DO NOT think this will be full-time....it will not...consider it a hobby to earn some extra cash.

#2 Earn a clients trust....DO NOT screw anyone over....always be honest...if you can't fix it you can't fix it, and advise them how they can do routine maintenance themselves. (defrag, routing cleaning, etc.) people do all kinds of things on their computers and having someone they trust work on it is often more important than price....who cares if the 16 yr old kid down the block can fix your comp for $50 when he is snooping through shit looking for pictures or CC #'s?

#3 Price your competition and choose your rates accordingly....I myself charge 25-30/hr +$10 trip fee, people get scared and think that is a lot, but if you know anything about computers you know that most jobs can be done in 2hrs or less, and in reality when you show up and are there for 4 hours, and it's only $100 they are so ecstatic they have no problem forking over the cash, likewise if they have a set figure in mind and you finish early they may keep you there to ask questions....who would not want to make $25/hr to answer some routine questions?

#4 Keep a thumb drive with all the tools you need such as up dated virus scanners, crap cleaners, fire walls...etc...etc.

#5 be prepared to physically clean the system 1st and find some nasty crap inside....especially if they have pets. I find that to be 50-60% of the problems....overheating and crashes. The rest is a combination of malware/adware, too many start-up programs, too many garbage files scattered throughout the system and kids using p2p who have no idea what they are doing.

#6 This is not glamorous and it will be routine...there are not many challenges here, but again..this is only a part time gig...how hard do you want a part time gig to be?

#7 No matter how frustrated you get be patient and courteous, you never know who a customer will refer you to and people take personality into account when considering you. Be an ass and you will only get one shot to make money off this person or their friends.

#8 try to get as much information over the phone as you can about their specific system make, model, age....etc. etc. and go find the drivers just in case.

#9 have some basic hardware with you...a meter, PSU tester, screw drivers, pliers....etc.

#10 if a part needs replaced I give the customer the option to purchase it themselves and offer advice where to go...I charge for installation time only, if I order the part(s) I only charge the cost of the part and installation.

off the top of my head that is all I can think of for right now, hope this helps, also check out Technibble.com....I stumbled across this some time ago and find it to be very informative.

 

[Crucial]

Been doing it for 5.5 years here. Word of mouth will get you only so far. We have been pretty lucky in how much we have had to spend on advertising till now. 2 of us made $125,000 in income this year not including expenses. Not great but not bad either for easy work and being our own boss.

I wish you luck in your endeavor.

 

[Cal166]

Originally posted by: rudeguy

Originally posted by: Epic Fail

Originally posted by: waggy
per job is the way to go. though you run in trouble with virus and such.

putting in more mem=20
installing os=50-75
putting in soundcard, video card,etc=50


that way its cheap but you still make a good amount for easy work.

You can get a cheapo PC from these three jobs.

But the majority of the population wants to hold on to their computers. They don't realize or want to deal with moving their files from one PC to another.

I used to make damn good money doing this stuff on the side. I still have plenty of people that would like work done, I just don't have the patience anymore.

Patience is very important when dealing with most users and especially home users. You will be getting questions and calls all the time that might drive you nuts.

I have been there, helping out relatives and co-workers, they will not leave you a lone and will get the point after you stop answering their calls.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Turin39789

Originally posted by: dNor
An hour?

Bout tree fiddy.

Not in this economy. $3.25

hahahaa, i dont know why i found that funny

 

[FoBoT]

$1 million

that should keep them away from you

 

[Cal166]

Originally posted by: Crucial
Been doing it for 5.5 years here. Word of mouth will get you only so far. We have been pretty lucky in how much we have had to spend on advertising till now. 2 of us made $125,000 in income this year not including expenses. Not great but not bad either for easy work and being our own boss.

I wish you luck in your endeavor.

That's decent, assuming it's a full time job for both?

 

[Uhtrinity]

Originally posted by: Wheezer
As someone who does this, on an on-site basis. just a few pointers:

#1 DO NOT think this will be full-time....it will not...consider it a hobby to earn some extra cash.

#2 Earn a clients trust....DO NOT screw anyone over....always be honest...if you can't fix it you can't fix it, and advise them how they can do routine maintenance themselves. (defrag, routing cleaning, etc.) people do all kinds of things on their computers and having someone they trust work on it is often more important than price....who cares if the 16 yr old kid down the block can fix your comp for $50 when he is snooping through shit looking for pictures or CC #'s?

#3 Price your competition and choose your rates accordingly....I myself charge 25-30/hr +$10 trip fee, people get scared and think that is a lot, but if you know anything about computers you know that most jobs can be done in 2hrs or less, and in reality when you show up and are there for 4 hours, and it's only $100 they are so ecstatic they have no problem forking over the cash, likewise if they have a set figure in mind and you finish early they may keep you there to ask questions....who would not want to make $25/hr to answer some routine questions?

#4 Keep a thumb drive with all the tools you need such as up dated virus scanners, crap cleaners, fire walls...etc...etc.

#5 be prepared to physically clean the system 1st and find some nasty crap inside....especially if they have pets. I find that to be 50-60% of the problems....overheating and crashes. The rest is a combination of malware/adware, too many start-up programs, too many garbage files scattered throughout the system and kids using p2p who have no idea what they are doing.

#6 This is not glamorous and it will be routine...there are not many challenges here, but again..this is only a part time gig...how hard do you want a part time gig to be?

#7 No matter how frustrated you get be patient and courteous, you never know who a customer will refer you to and people take personality into account when considering you. Be an ass and you will only get one shot to make money off this person or their friends.

#8 try to get as much information over the phone as you can about their specific system make, model, age....etc. etc. and go find the drivers just in case.

#9 have some basic hardware with you...a meter, PSU tester, screw drivers, pliers....etc.

#10 if a part needs replaced I give the customer the option to purchase it themselves and offer advice where to go...I charge for installation time only, if I order the part(s) I only charge the cost of the part and installation.

off the top of my head that is all I can think of for right now, hope this helps, also check out Technibble.com....I stumbled across this some time ago and find it to be very informative.

I agree totally about not expecting full time work. About 6 years ago I stopped trying to be self employed full time doing this kind of work and now do it on the side. I simply couldn't get enough work lined up all the time to keep busy. Now I might only only see 2 - 4 systems a week as I don't advertise, but it makes for some extra cash. Most of these are virus / spyware cleanups that can be time consuming. Since you don't have to be at the computer the entire time I would not recommend doing them onsite. I usually take these back home or have them dropped off for a day or two. That way I can start a scan and leave the computer alone for an hour, do the next step and repeat. I usually bill on the difficulty of the cleanup and sometimes have more than one running at the same time. Onsite I usually charge by the hour, but again I tweak the bill depending on ease or difficulty of the job.

My bills are payed by my main job, computer teacher and sys admin, so this is strictly extra

 

[cornbread]

You may want to have a backup job during the day, while most of your customers would be at work, and do this as a side job in the evenings and on the weekends.. Nights and weekends are going to be the times that most of your customers are going to request appointments for. People don't want to take off time from work to sit at home while the 'computer guy' is working on their computer, when they could take it to a shop, drop it off, then come back to pick it up after its fixed. Most would, however, prefer that someone could come at a time that is more convenient for them (after work or on the weekend) and not have to unplug everything, lug it to the car, and take it to the shop..
Just make sure you get all of the proper business licenses and insurance, and it wouldn't hurt to be A+ certified... You should carry a copy of your business license (or the actual copy if required by law in your area) and any certifications you have, so that you can show these to any customer that would like to see proof of this.
I don't know your personal home situation or how old you are, but don't plan on making a living solely on this business, because like other people have said already, because unless you know a lot of people who need your services and a lot of people that would spread the word around about you, unless you have a lot of money to spend on advertising, don't plan on having a steady flow of work. Not trying to sound like a jerk, but the industry is saturated, and most people that can't do the work themselves know of someone that can do it for them, like their kids, grandkids, or the kid down the street..

Good luck!

 

[episodic]

See the thing is - most of your customers are the kind that buy a new 299 computer every year at a local big box - when the old one gets slow (read spyware, virii, and such). A fair rate for your service would probably be 60-70$ an hour (more in a big city). It takes 2 hours for most to backup data, reformat, reinstall, and put new drivers on, and move back the family pics of little Joey. That is if you are fast, and if they have a fast computer. Now - what if they lost their install disc? Are you going to stay legal? That'll be another 100$ for an OS ma'am. Give up the dream of switching them to linux. Linux doesn't run their favorite spyware. Add a hardware problem - say a dirty cd-rom from little Joey sticking his peanut butter hands on his Reader Rabbit CD's as he shoves them in, and it takes another half hour to open the case and reinstall a new cd-drive (assuming you are going to carry an inventory). Lets say you bill at 60$ an hour in 1 hour increments - that is 180$ they owe you or $280 if your replace their OS. Most are going to say, look - we can get a brand new one for 299$ and sell this on craigslist for a 100$ and come out full of win. . . .

So what you have to do is get in good with a social circle that buys 1500$ computers and finds some value in fixing them. . .

Know any rich folks you can impress?

 

[Wheezer]

Originally posted by: episodic
See the thing is - most of your customers are the kind that buy a new 299 computer every year at a local big box - when the old one gets slow (read spyware, virii, and such). A fair rate for your service would probably be 60-70$ an hour (more in a big city). It takes 2 hours for most to backup data, reformat, reinstall, and put new drivers on, and move back the family pics of little Joey. That is if you are fast, and if they have a fast computer. Now - what if they lost their install disc? Are you going to stay legal? That'll be another 100$ for an OS ma'am. Give up the dream of switching them to linux. Linux doesn't run their favorite spyware. Add a hardware problem - say a dirty cd-rom from little Joey sticking his peanut butter hands on his Reader Rabbit CD's as he shoves them in, and it takes another half hour to open the case and reinstall a new cd-drive (assuming you are going to carry an inventory). Lets say you bill at 60$ an hour in 1 hour increments - that is 180$ they owe you or $280 if your replace their OS. Most are going to say, look - we can get a brand new one for 299$ and sell this on craigslist for a 100$ and come out full of win. . . .

So what you have to do is get in good with a social circle that buys 1500$ computers and finds some value in fixing them. . .

Know any rich folks you can impress?

good points, but people look at their computers like they do their cars....once they get comfortable with it they want to keep it going...sometimes no matter what the costs....even in this economy most people don't think with their wallets...it is amazing what some people will spend on shit.

Get to know Dell, HP and Compaq...those are the ones you will be working on probably the most....and Dell...well I used to recommend them to people starting out, but with all their proprietary hardware b.s. it's a pain in the ass to work on sometimes...you can't just run to a local shop and get a fan if it goes bad...you gotta go online and often times find one specific to the system.....what a PITA....instead of $10-15 for a quality fan they end up spending $20-30 for a pos.

Anyway, if you choose to go on this endeavor...good luck!

 

[JRock]

$175 an hour 8-6, M-F and $225 an hour after hours or on weekends. This may seem high but you would be amazed at what companies charge in the NY area. You just need to find companies that make money and will pay their bills on time and take care of them.

EDIT: Sorry didn't realize you were going to cater to home users.

 

[RichUK]

Just get a job at McDonalds.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: JRock
$175 an hour 8-6, M-F and $225 an hour after hours or on weekends. This may seem high but you would be amazed at what companies charge in the NY area. You just need to find companies that make money and will pay their bills on time and take care of them.

EDIT: Sorry didn't realize you were going to cater to home users.

NO business is going to hire a kid doing it on the side to fix there computes. the only choice he has is the home market.


he needs to price cheaper then Geek squad. For some reason people think the geek squad members are college degree holders and know everything. it always blows my mind.

Wheezer has the best advice. just need to remember there are tons of kids doing the same. it seem today that every kid claims to know how to fix a computer.

 

[Crucial]

Originally posted by: Cal166

Originally posted by: Crucial
Been doing it for 5.5 years here. Word of mouth will get you only so far. We have been pretty lucky in how much we have had to spend on advertising till now. 2 of us made $125,000 in income this year not including expenses. Not great but not bad either for easy work and being our own boss.

I wish you luck in your endeavor.

That's decent, assuming it's a full time job for both?

Yes it's full time. We have a small office/workshop that we rent.

 

[geno]

Originally posted by: Wheezer
As someone who does this, on an on-site basis. just a few pointers:
.....

That sums it up nicely. I'd like to pull something out of that post and summarize : be prepared! Don't take this lightly. Professionalism is important. A customer will always appreciate someone who is prepared instead of having to hear "Uhm, I can't take care of this now and will either need to come back or take your computer with me." That being said, 95% of my customers' issues are resolved with my handy flash drive packed up with fix-it tools. Of course, there will be cases where you need to bring the computer home. Sometimes, the battery of scanners and cleaners needed to bring a system back from the dead will have you twiddling your thumbs at your customer's home / business. For me, knowing when to make that call is important. Don't get stuck sitting there for three hours, but don't ask to take it home if all the computer needs is one pass of MBAM.

I've been doing this for years (about a decade or so, even before I had my license haha), but I don't have much volume, and that's how I like it right now. I charge a $50 minimum with $20 for each additional 30 minutes on site, but I'm conservative with the time estimates (I usually round down the time I was on site, and never really charge for time spent scanning/waiting, especially if I take the system home with me). It gives me about two jobs a month, and I haven't handed my cards out in a while (my full-time job has been keeping me really busy, so I've been going easy on pushing the side work). If I ever need more sidework, I can pimp off my cards a bit more. My higher pricing also weeds out the really small issues which may only take 10 minutes to fix, thus making a long drive to and from somewhat bothersome. I make the price worth it with professionalism (dress nicely, be very polite and informative) and by being thorough. I've only ever had one revisit needed for an issue which I failed to fix. I returned and fixed the problem for good (free of charge, of course) - it's been three weeks and I haven't heard back from them

Anyways, this is just me telling you what has worked for me. Could I do this full-time? I think so. I'm not positive it would be a replacement for a full-time, 40-hour a week job, but it would be able to pay the bills. However, it would be too hectic. I think there would be too much running around to make it worth it. Combine that with the fact that it wouldn't really be possible to stack up appointments to make a nice and neat 8-10 hour day, and I think it would just be too nutty for one person to keep up.

Good luck, whatever you decide on!

 

[Red Squirrel]

When I used to do it I used to charge 45 bucks flat rate per incident. The issue with charging per hour is you run into people that have like a 486 that they somehow managed to get XP on, and it's BRUTAL SLOW so you spend 5 hours waiting for a virus scan so you can do something else meanwhile anyway. Though for me, I never did on site. If I did happen to go on site, to check if it was a very easy issue and it turned out bigger, I'd take the tower home.

If you're stuck on site waiting after a scan then yeah, I can justify charging like 50 bucks minimum and then like 25/hour if it goes over 2 hours.

 

[skyking]

I make the most steady money setting up backup solutions and protecting data.
New small businesses are good customers. I do a some job for them and ask, "What are you doing for a backup solution?"
"mumble mumble i think <somebody else> burns a disk now and then.........."
I look in the shared drive full of docs and policies and proposals and templates and ask,
"How painful would it be if all this disappeared tomorrow?"
Customer looks like you stabbed them in the heart with a rusty knife
Explain to them that ALL hardware can FAIL! They may get new but new is no guaruntee.
I price out an automated solution for them, and then follow up with a calendar schedule to check on how they are doing. It looks very professional to them when they get an unsolicited email report from you on a verified backup. If some user is keeping a ton of stuff off the backed up solution let them know they are letting it all hang out.
Follow all the suggestions above about honesty. Don't promise the world with these solutions. Explain up front the recovery costs to get everything back online in the event of a failure.

 

[brxndxn]

Charge $60/hour at LEAST. If you charge too little, you will not be taken seriously..

I'd say something like $25/trip, $60/hour.. That way, you get $85 at least when someone calls because they did something retarded and you gotta climb under their stupid desk with tons of papers all over it and pull their computer out of a corner that smells like a smoker blew all his smoke there the past 10 years. Trust me, the people that don't want to pay $85 to get their computer fixed are NOT the customers you want. If you charge $40/hour, you'll get all kinds of customers that cannot afford a real computer ($299 5-year-old piece of crap Emachine with non-working fans) and cannot afford to pay you. Stay out of the ghetto.. charge more.

Also, get a certification or two.. I'd recommend CCNA. Why? Because people go 'Cisco, wow!' Also, CCNA is not a lot of material to take in - so it can be done in a month or two - you just need to study hard. MCSE takes a lot more time to get. On your down time, just study the Cisco books.. Two hardcover books written by Cisco sell for ~$50 and they're all you need to prepare for CCNA.

If you can get one of those two, don't bother with an A+. Otherwise, get an A+. You don't want some dumbass from GeekSquad taking your business because he has an A+ and you don't.

Also, pay the money to get professional business cards made - the kind with the textured ink. Don't get stupid 'foldable' business cards. I tend to rip those up until they're the size of a normal business card. Just get plain, professional cards made.. You'll make a good impression.

Tuck in your shirt and dress well. Don't wear a suit - but don't wear a T-shirt either. An embroidered shirt goes a LONG way to looking professional.

Say 'WE' in your answering machines messages. Make your business seem like it's more than one person. Then, hire a person as soon as you have enough business.

Get a magnet for the side of your car.

Put a kit together - basically a standard computer as a spare - and use it to pull a graphics card, network card, etc.. when you need one. It looks very professional if you do not need to make a trip just to fix a network card (very common problem in Florida because of surges). And, keep parts NEW IN BOX wherever you can. Mark them up 15% what you pay for them. People will not mind when a $15 network card costs them $20.

Drive a normal car. If you drive a souped-up riceburner or any other 'cool' car that's modified in any way, you will not look professional.

Also, everything is business. Don't be afraid to turn down business at first to establish your prices. When someone calls and you tell them your rates and they say, "wow. that sounds pretty high." Just ignore it and ask what their computer problems are.. Don't be emotional ever.

Good luck.. Despite what the ATOT crowd seems to be saying, this is a lucrative business to a business-minded person. There's just a lot of idiot script kiddies that tried it and failed and therefore declare it a bad model.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: skyking
I make the most steady money setting up backup solutions and protecting data.
New small businesses are good customers. I do a some job for them and ask, "What are you doing for a backup solution?"
"mumble mumble i think <somebody else> burns a disk now and then.........."
I look in the shared drive full of docs and policies and proposals and templates and ask,
"How painful would it be if all this disappeared tomorrow?"
Customer looks like you stabbed them in the heart with a rusty knife
Explain to them that ALL hardware can FAIL! They may get new but new is no guaruntee.
I price out an automated solution for them, and then follow up with a calendar schedule to check on how they are doing. It looks very professional to them when they get an unsolicited email report from you on a verified backup. If some user is keeping a ton of stuff off the backed up solution let them know they are letting it all hang out.
Follow all the suggestions above about honesty. Don't promise the world with these solutions. Explain up front the recovery costs to get everything back online in the event of a failure.

That's actually a good idea. One could probably live off backup services alone. Especially if you code your own custom system where it runs on site but emails you status or lets you remote in. If there are any kind of issues you get an alert and you contact them about it and go on site. Could be done contract based even, so you have different plans, based on how much and what type of data they have.

From there it could also grow to be into a bigger business.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Wheezer

Originally posted by: episodic
See the thing is - most of your customers are the kind that buy a new 299 computer every year at a local big box - when the old one gets slow (read spyware, virii, and such). A fair rate for your service would probably be 60-70$ an hour (more in a big city). It takes 2 hours for most to backup data, reformat, reinstall, and put new drivers on, and move back the family pics of little Joey. That is if you are fast, and if they have a fast computer. Now - what if they lost their install disc? Are you going to stay legal? That'll be another 100$ for an OS ma'am. Give up the dream of switching them to linux. Linux doesn't run their favorite spyware. Add a hardware problem - say a dirty cd-rom from little Joey sticking his peanut butter hands on his Reader Rabbit CD's as he shoves them in, and it takes another half hour to open the case and reinstall a new cd-drive (assuming you are going to carry an inventory). Lets say you bill at 60$ an hour in 1 hour increments - that is 180$ they owe you or $280 if your replace their OS. Most are going to say, look - we can get a brand new one for 299$ and sell this on craigslist for a 100$ and come out full of win. . . .

So what you have to do is get in good with a social circle that buys 1500$ computers and finds some value in fixing them. . .

Know any rich folks you can impress?

good points, but people look at their computers like they do their cars....once they get comfortable with it they want to keep it going...sometimes no matter what the costs....even in this economy most people don't think with their wallets...it is amazing what some people will spend on shit.

Get to know Dell, HP and Compaq...those are the ones you will be working on probably the most....and Dell...well I used to recommend them to people starting out, but with all their proprietary hardware b.s. it's a pain in the ass to work on sometimes...you can't just run to a local shop and get a fan if it goes bad...you gotta go online and often times find one specific to the system.....what a PITA....instead of $10-15 for a quality fan they end up spending $20-30 for a pos.

Anyway, if you choose to go on this endeavor...good luck!

I dunno man, people certainly do get attached to their cars...but even a blown transmission costs less to replace then your cheapest new car. If you're charging $50/hr or hell even $30/hr in some cases, plus parts...there's going to be a lot of scenarios where the repair costs more then the $300 shit box for sale from best buy.

 

[Thetech]

Originally posted by: brxndxn
Charge $60/hour at LEAST. If you charge too little, you will not be taken seriously..

I'd say something like $25/trip, $60/hour.. That way, you get $85 at least when someone calls because they did something retarded and you gotta climb under their stupid desk with tons of papers all over it and pull their computer out of a corner that smells like a smoker blew all his smoke there the past 10 years. Trust me, the people that don't want to pay $85 to get their computer fixed are NOT the customers you want. If you charge $40/hour, you'll get all kinds of customers that cannot afford a real computer ($299 5-year-old piece of crap Emachine with non-working fans) and cannot afford to pay you. Stay out of the ghetto.. charge more.

Also, get a certification or two.. I'd recommend CCNA. Why? Because people go 'Cisco, wow!' Also, CCNA is not a lot of material to take in - so it can be done in a month or two - you just need to study hard. MCSE takes a lot more time to get. On your down time, just study the Cisco books.. Two hardcover books written by Cisco sell for ~$50 and they're all you need to prepare for CCNA.

If you can get one of those two, don't bother with an A+. Otherwise, get an A+. You don't want some dumbass from GeekSquad taking your business because he has an A+ and you don't.

Also, pay the money to get professional business cards made - the kind with the textured ink. Don't get stupid 'foldable' business cards. I tend to rip those up until they're the size of a normal business card. Just get plain, professional cards made.. You'll make a good impression.

Tuck in your shirt and dress well. Don't wear a suit - but don't wear a T-shirt either. An embroidered shirt goes a LONG way to looking professional.

Say 'WE' in your answering machines messages. Make your business seem like it's more than one person. Then, hire a person as soon as you have enough business.

Get a magnet for the side of your car.

Put a kit together - basically a standard computer as a spare - and use it to pull a graphics card, network card, etc.. when you need one. It looks very professional if you do not need to make a trip just to fix a network card (very common problem in Florida because of surges). And, keep parts NEW IN BOX wherever you can. Mark them up 15% what you pay for them. People will not mind when a $15 network card costs them $20.

Drive a normal car. If you drive a souped-up riceburner or any other 'cool' car that's modified in any way, you will not look professional.

Also, everything is business. Don't be afraid to turn down business at first to establish your prices. When someone calls and you tell them your rates and they say, "wow. that sounds pretty high." Just ignore it and ask what their computer problems are.. Don't be emotional ever.

Good luck.. Despite what the ATOT crowd seems to be saying, this is a lucrative business to a business-minded person. There's just a lot of idiot script kiddies that tried it and failed and therefore declare it a bad model.

Awesome, I've gotten a good bit of actual advice from you and other members. I'm just testing the waters. Trust me I wouldn't be lookiing into this if I didn't think I could make a little money.