Computer Repair?

[Computerguy180]

Hi guys, OK so I am going to do this in a nutshell

I am great at fixing computer, laptops, apple gizmos(not mac, can't afford one) that sort of stuff. For awhile now I have been thinking of starting my own Computer Repair Company.

But I am unwise to the world of business, I do wish to know (if you guys know)
Is it a good sector to get into? With all the Techno these days Computers are everywhere and as far as I know there is no come to your house computer repair company in the area or even in the county.

I am going to talk to the Job center tomorrow about help (money help)

The first thing that comes to mind is advertising. I believe that the power is in the adverts! I could print a 1000 flyers and give them out. But I am kinda thinking people wont give them a second look. But again I don't know much about it!

Anyway does anyone have any experience on it at all?

 

[faradaykeynes]

It use to be good business but not that anymore, now its matter of volumes as technology is getting cheaper every day

 

[VSpy1]

I think there is a market for people needing basic home help, installing software, fixing bugs, internet etc... maybe the older generations too.... we have a couple in my area that have been doing it for years.....they are still doing well....go fir it!

 

[SuffolkDesigns]

Head over to http://www.technibble.com/forums/
there is a wealth of info there specifically about that PC repair businesses, a lot of UK users that are willing to share their experiences.

 

[alwaysinamess]

Hello

I would stay away from Vspy1's advice unless you are that person that can give more time than money, Personally we do 15 laptops a day over 7 day week, and probably without blowing my trumpet have 400 in jobs including our own in the pipeline, however if you think you can just start and do laptops, its really not viable, you could have one laptop in that you could spend all day on and not have it right.

Trust me you if you want money you cant do the come to your house thing, you will never leave the house, you will never make the money.

You are asking about a local service which is completely different to what I do, but to be fair I did the local one and I hated it, its not for me, just like a high street shop is not for me.

The big problem I find locally and the same goes with a lot of trades is people will not pay for a diagnosis, so you could waste so much time in that alone.

You said in a nutshell, and you answered your own question, no one wants to do that 'in your own house' service as it is so unprofitable.

Just my opinion, I sell / repair approx 5500 laptops per year on my own. Its just not worth it unless your looking to meet people.

 

[VSpy1]

Hello

I would stay away from Vspy1's advice unless you are that person that can give more time than money, Personally we do 15 laptops a day over 7 day week, and probably without blowing my trumpet have 400 in jobs including our own in the pipeline

so what you are actually saying is there's a lot of demand....

Trust me you if you want money you cant do the come to your house thing, you will never leave the house, you will never make the money.

Surely if your prices/time is clearly explained....why not? As I say, I know 2 people making a nice living from it....

You are asking about a local service which is completely different to what I do, but to be fair I did the local one and I hated it, its not for me, just like a high street shop is not for me.

Just because its not for you doesn't mean its not for him...or not viable...

 

[Talay]

Six months ago, my main PC, a quad core 2009 model which still punches at a decent weight, started to go on the blink.

I know a bit about how things should work but only from a couple of decades as an end user and bit part code writer. However, I wouldn't waste any cash on fixing it if I could not get it back on track.

Loads of online stuff didn't work, time shifting neither, I worked through one idea after another that night and was just about resolved to buying a new one the following day. I got it back from the dead by IObit Advanced System Care and their tookit. So good that afterwards I upgraded for a tenner to a paid version.

However, the real point is nt that I repaired it but rather that I was not prepared to repair a 3 year old machine but would rather set it aside and buy a new one because you can find a totally adequate model for well under £300 these days and sometimes nearer £200. Your monitor, keyboard, mouse, hard drives etc. all still work and do not need to be replaced.

I suspect the market for a repair guy is fairly small these days.

 

[webgeek]

If you're offering an in-home, no-fix no-fee, service, you'll find there's always a market.

People need help with virus/malware removal, data restoring from crashed drives, new router setups, etc, etc.

Flyers are a great way of targeting your local market, as are small ads in a VERY local paper or ad trader, notices at the grocer, post office and other posting boards, and so on.

Why not go for it? What have you got to lose (other than a few hundred quid and some hours of your time)?

 

[fisicx]

Hmm..

Conflicting posts here. One says don't, another says do it.

I had a laptop problem a couple of years back. The 'come to your house' bloke couldn't fix it. Two hours plus travelling for no money. They went bust soon after.

 

[TheEngineer]

As is often the case with business, you need to figure out exactly what your market will be and price / target accordingly.

If you have a "space" where you you can repair computers (several at a time) then you can offer a "collect and return" service.

The key is that you are often sitting waiting for an hour or more for a full virus scan / software reload / disk scan. People will not want to pay you while you are "doing nothing". If you have 20 computers on the desk you can work on them all at the same time which is far more efficient.

If you go down the "in home" service then you need to make sure that you make your charges very clear at the start. I once cleared all the viruses off a computer for my neighbour and it took 12 hours with the multiple scans and reboots (it was a few years ago and an old computer). Not many people will want to pay (say) £240 for a service like this unless the material on the computer is of critical importance and they don't have a backup. For me it wasn't a problem as I just started a scan and then went home to work on other things, they knocked on the door when it was finished.

You will also need to think about things like insurance for those times people try and blame you for things that have gone wrong (such as missing files) even when it is their fault.

It is possible to make a living doing it, making it a "business" is harder!

TE

 

[patientlady]

Where are you computerguy, we have two laptops that need attention. I wouldn't put mine in to techguys at pc world ever again they lost mine last time for 6 weeks!

 

[Stevelyons]

i think technology is much cheaper now a days, and as far as i know repair charges are high so if my ipod stop working, i don't go the repair shop. i probably buy a new one. but if you are providing home service then may be it works. but believe me repairing business is not great idea.

 

[VSpy1]

I had a laptop problem a couple of years back. The 'come to your house' bloke couldn't fix it. Two hours plus travelling for no money. They went bust soon after.

Maybe he wasn't very good or should have identified early on that he couldn't do it and save himeself time and money....

Another point, in todays market with tough times, people dont nec have £300 to buy a new machine, but could find £30 or £50 for a repair...

 

[JoyDivision]

It is a crowded business. I have run my company for six years now. It is going ok but it is getting tougher. I do have a proper workshop in a business park though which makes things easier. I tend to do onsite and take PCs back to the work shop to repair.

Onsite only is not viable.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

It is possible to make a living doing it, making it a "business" is harder!

TE

Very true, I've worked in the IT industry for over 20 years now and the days of making a lot of cash out of IT support are gone, unless you are doing high end support or advising business on moving to the cloud etc.

Personally I would see if there are any small local firms who may need your services as at least that would give you a more stable user base than just doing home user support.

 

[Duke Fame]

It's £200 for a new laptop that beats anything with a fault, on that basis, would anyone pay more than £100 fir a fix?

 

[Paul_Rosser]

It's £200 for a new laptop that beats anything with a fault, on that basis, would anyone pay more than £100 fir a fix?

Most users don't keep proper backups so when their PC breaks they are more worried about loosing files, photos etc than the hardware itself.

 

[JoyDivision]

It's £200 for a new laptop that beats anything with a fault, on that basis, would anyone pay more than £100 fir a fix?

A £200 laptop is a piece of crap unless its a basic netbook. Most my customers spend around £500-£600 on a laptop if not more. Yes I do loose repair jobs because of cheap laptops but then I just charge for data recovery instead.

You will be surprised how many people will pay £100+ for a hard drive replacement on a 3 year old laptop.

 

[JoyDivision]

Most users don't keep proper backups so when their PC breaks they are more worried about loosing files, photos etc than the hardware itself.

Exactly and that is what people pay for . Most people won't have a clue how to recover data from a hard drive on a computer that won't boot.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Exactly and that is what people pay for . Most people won't have a clue how to recover data from a hard drive on a computer that won't boot.

If you will be doing a lot of data recovery you will need a good bootdisk, personally I use Hirens boot CD as it contains all the utils you will need to get data back and fix windows. Windowsgate is also handy for when people forget their windows password.

 

[JoyDivision]

If you will be doing a lot of data recovery you will need a good bootdisk, personally I use Hirens boot CD as it contains all the utils you will need to get data back and fix windows. Windowsgate is also handy for when people forget their windows password.

I meant not booting due to a serious hardware problems, like a cracked screen (and customer has no external monitor) or popped capacitors etc etc. Sometimes people just don't want the laptop fixed they just want the data.

I simply just put the hard drive into a caddy and give the customer that, or if they don't want the HD and just the data I will use a HD docking station and charge for my time copying the data.

Got in the workshop just now, keeps blue screening its overheating like mad but the HD is fine. The problem is the graphics chip is faulty and it even crashes when loading a Linux boot CD. There is little point on fixing laptops when they get that bad.

Then there is always money to be paid in resetting up outlook etc etc.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Then there is always money to be paid in resetting up outlook etc etc.

There sure is, if you have any server/network experience then IT support for small local firms will give you a more steady income than just doing home user support.

 

[JoyDivision]

There sure is, if you have any server/network experience then IT support for small local firms will give you a more steady income than just doing home user support.

That is my problem I don't but I do support a lot of small businesses without servers. I am lucky working in a professional area so most my customers rely on their computers and internet for work.

There is no money in supporting casual web surfers but there is another group below server users.

 

[businessfunding]

I would say there is certainly the bones of a bsiness here but - assuming yo have excellent knowledge an skills - you have 2 big challenges:

1. Getting your namne out there - this will involve a good ongoing marketing strategy. People probably won't store your details and referrals will take some time to build up.

2. Wor / time management - you ewill only earn fopr time spent on site an could en up with significant delays and distances between obs if you don't manage well.

As a starting pooint I would ask JSP tp oint you to the NEA scheme and start working on a business plan, paying particular attention to cahflows.

 

[Talay]

You might want to investigate developing a pricing point whereby you insure against problems for small businesses. Say I have 10 PCs and 5 laptops and a couple of printers and modems etc. Rather than paying on demand, I may be interested in a monthly fee to cover labour or labour and parts.

I'm not sure it is viable but I am not in the industry. As an end user, it might be something I wanted if I were running hardware well past warranty date.

 

[shani1981]

These electronic technology changed so fast nowadays. if you can follow their steps , then ok, just do it. it is a good way to make money. my brother also do this kind of work.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

That is my problem I don't but I do support a lot of small businesses without servers. I am lucky working in a professional area so most my customers rely on their computers and internet for work.

There is no money in supporting casual web surfers but there is another group below server users.

As "the cloud" is the new buzz word I would look at advising smaller clients on using the services which are out there. Rackspace will do you a fully hosted exchange for £6 per user, per month. Which is very cheap considering they take care of all backups etc. They also offer 6p per gig per month for cloud storage, which is quite an easy sell for small firms who don't have a servers etc, also gives them remote access to their email and data wherever they are.

 

[webgeek]

As "the cloud" is the new buzz word I would look at advising smaller clients on using the services which are out there. Rackspace will do you a fully hosted exchange for £6 per user, per month. Which is very cheap considering they take care of all backups etc. They also offer 6p per gig per month for cloud storage, which is quite an easy sell for small firms who don't have a servers etc, also gives them remote access to their email and data wherever they are.

Cloud apps = great idea.

Might want to consider Google apps instead of Rackspace though. You'll get double the services for half the price...

 

[JoyDivision]

I have found it is too hard to move people away from Office though. I am looking into reselling Office 365 though.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

I have found it is too hard to move people away from Office though. I am looking into reselling Office 365 though.

Personally I went with Office installed locally, hosted Exchange using Outlook local.

Then My documents (or any other folders) automatically syncronised to cloud space.

Best of all worlds as can still use everything when offline but all backed up to the cloud.

Need to be careful for some customers though as if they hold information covered by the Data Protection Act then you have to use a UK cloud provider, using Google means they are moving personal data out of the UK into the states and that opens a whole load of legal issues for them.

 

[webgeek]

You don't have to move away from Office when migrating to Google Apps.

We use Outlook and Entourage with Google Apps, along with Salesforce, etc, etc, seamlessly.

 

[webgeek]

Personally I went with Office installed locally, hosted Exchange using Outlook local.

Then My documents (or any other folders) automatically syncronised to cloud space.

Best of all worlds as can still use everything when offline but all backed up to the cloud.

Need to be careful for some customers though as if they hold information covered by the Data Protection Act then you have to use a UK cloud provider, using Google means they are moving personal data out of the UK into the states and that opens a whole load of legal issues for them.

Yes, and you do realize that almost the entire Rackspace cloud operation is hosted in USA, right?

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Yes, and you do realize that almost the entire Rackspace cloud operation is hosted in USA, right?

Not actually true as I've been to the very big data centre they have in the UK and you can request that any data you host doesn't leave the UK centre.

They do also ask that your encrypt any Personal information stored on their service, which is fairly easy to setup using truecrypt or similar.

 

[webgeek]

On a percentage basis, the data and staff in USA dwarfs that of UK. Rackspace has largely become an American company.

If you're using their 'cloud' offering, you'll be surprised to find your data is not in UK.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

On a percentage basis, the data and staff in USA dwarfs that of UK. Rackspace has largely become an American company.

If you're using their 'cloud' offering, you'll be surprised to find your data is not in UK.

Not suprised at all as most cloud companies spread data around the globe for DR and BCP purposes. But as all the personal data I hold with them is encrypted it complies fully with the data protection act.

Just something for firms not using encryption to be mindful of if moving to cloud based storage.

 

[billycan]

I would say there is certainly the bones of a bsiness here but - assuming yo have excellent knowledge an skills - you have 2 big challenges:

1. Getting your namne out there - this will involve a good ongoing marketing strategy. People probably won't store your details and referrals will take some time to build up.

2. Wor / time management - you ewill only earn fopr time spent on site an could en up with significant delays and distances between obs if you don't manage well.

As a starting pooint I would ask JSP tp oint you to the NEA scheme and start working on a business plan, paying particular attention to cahflows.

I think you probably have an opportunity here to repair an unserviceable spell-checker, or possibly replace some missing keyboard keys.