Computer Business From Home

[CruzeyS]

Hey,

 

I wanted to start doing my own computer business at home. But i haven't got idea to start from.

I wanted it to revolve around fixing and repairs and also building PC for other peoples need.  I know how to do it just don't where to start 

[Tomo]

Put an ad in the local paper and in shop windows advertising your services?

 

Probably get a part time job just to cover yourself until you can build up enough business.

[MikeChipshop Member]

Hey,

 

I wanted to start doing my own computer business at home. But i haven't got idea to start from.

I wanted it to revolve around fixing and repairs and also building PC for other peoples need.  I know how to do it just don't where to start 

 

Start doing it on the side. Register the business, get the accounts in order and purchase the correct tools.

Start to put the word out around the area you want to work in, get some business cards printed and make sure you always have them with you. Put leaflets in local shops, pubs etc and take out ads in any local rags that go around.

[binaryzero]

I'd get a job doing that somewhere else first so you get an understanding of the processes and logistics of things.

 

Home repairs could be boring and repetitive - you can only format a PC so many times.

[sc302 Veteran]

1: create and register business name

2. create flyer with removable tabs and place in supermarkets and the likes

3. as business grows take out ads in town/community paper and/or internet (this may be years)

4. move from house to office if your business can survive outside of your house (physical seperation..home time is home time, office time is office time, though you may not spend much time at home)

[+Warwagon MVC]

As someone who has been running a business out of his house for the last 13 years. I would say putting an ad in the paper is key. People might say ZOMG you need a website and that might be true for most business and even this one, but Odds are they are calling you when their PC isn't working and they can't go look for you on the internet. So put an ad in the paper. I've had one in 3 papers since I started.

 

The papers here are pretty cheap. I get my ad in 1 paper per day, a shopper every week (that every one gets) and an ad in the paper 10 miles away for about $260 a month.

 

Don't just start this business because you want to "work from home". Only do it if you are passionate about computers. Then it won't ever feel like work. For the most part, I feel like I haven't worked a day in 13 years . If you aren't passionate about computers and if it feels like work you may burn yourself out.

 

There is as also a downside to getting called, that is, sometimes you'll get called 7 days a week. At all hours of the days. Even on Sundays for stupid crap too. Like I can't send emails! When you call them back on a Sunday, you ask them what the error says and then they will tell you "i'm not at home" or "Oh, let me go turn my computer on".

 

Vacations are also hard to take if you are a 1 man band because of 3 things.

 

1) You don't get paid vacations. Unless you bring a long a laptop do remote assistance on your vacation.

2) If someone calls you and you aren't available they might call someone else and there goes money you could have made

3) If they don't call someone else when you get back from your vacation you are busy as hell returning phone calls that accumulated while you were gone. So there goes all the relaxation you just had.

 

Long story short, going on vacation is a money loser. Which is why I really haven't gone on vacation since 2005 . I've left on Fridays and came back on Sundays a few times but I also did remote support while away too.

 

I would also invest in remote support software. I personally use gotoassist which is $600 a year. I do about 60% of my work over that. The rest bring their machines to my office and the other small amount I do service calls.

 

Personally I have a business land line that I use in my office. Which I connect to a program called Ezvoice on my server which records the caller ID info of anyone who calls and sends that information as a text to my cell phone. I also get a copy of the message they left to a gmail account I created for phone calls. That's kind of cool because you can search that gmail for X number and see how many times they have called you. I think mine has about 14,385 phone calls recorded since I created it in 2007.

 

As far as you wanting to build PC's for people. That's cool. Personally that is one area I do not want to get into. PC's are so cheap now days you can't build them cheap enough to get any kind of good mark up and profit. Plus people expect you to fix, FOR FREE, anything that goes wrong, not with  just the hardware which is of course under warranty but things they personally screw up.

 

I had a lady tell me she bought a computer from the old radio shack here in town about 8 years ago. About 1 month later she infected the crap out of and took it back to radio shack and said FIX IT!!! The repair lady at radio shack said the hardware is under warranty but you getting a virus isn't. This lady never said a good thing about radio shack after that.

 

That is why I do not want to sell computers. I'll hook them up for people and help configure them, just not sell them.

 

PS. A Dual Monitor couch computer and Remote Assistance is AMAZING! Nothing like waking up in the morning, making yourself a Mocha, sitting on the couch turning on this week in tech on your tv and doing remote support and getting paid for it.

 

Security Cameras are also great for A) Security and B) to see when customers arrive as you are watching TV while doing remote support from the couch

 

in my case I have a old Gateway monitor above my TV hooked up to a spare intel Celeron NUC, which is running VNC viewer (256 colors for better motion) connected down to my server showing me a live security feed of my driveway, garage and outside garage door 24/7 from my couch.

 

 

Im also at about 2,214 customers.

[CruzeyS]

Thanks you guys for the great advice especially warwagon, that has given me more insight of how to go about things. 

 

I have the setup already of monitors and server but need to rebuild it and make it better for the work flow. 

 

I will keep you updated of how things will progress through. As I'm going to be doing research and doing business cards and ads 

[T3X4S]

Dont know about things in London - but here - PC repair techs are a dime a dozen.  They even have hispanic techs that cater to hispanic customers charging dirt cheap rates ($30 to remove viruses), a "repair while you wait" place, repair kiosks in major stores (Geek Squad, Office Depot, Frys, etc.)

And a hundred mom & pop stores.

You need to figure out a way to separate yourself from the pack.  and it cant be "well I know more, and Im honest, my excellent service will set me apart from all of the crap repair places that screw customers over, or treat their customers like brain dead cattle." - Great service is only something that will set you apart AFTER you have the customers.

Remember, if you treat someone right, they might tell someone.... if you treat them bad, they will tell everyone.

Be prepared to deal with the absolute idiots of society.  The moron who brings you his/her computer full of infections, you clean it - they come back 3 days later and its infected again, and demand you fix it for free because you didnt do it correctly the 1st time (like warwagon's story)

Setting up shop in a wealthy part of town is both bad and good.  Good because they wont complain if you charge $100/hr & bad because many times wealthier people would rather just get a new machine as opposed to fixing a problematic one.

(I worked for a PC repair company and we closed our store that was in Highland Park (wealthiest part of Dallas).  The place never had customers even though we had an excellent location and nice store.  The people around there had enough money to not be bothered with things - it was easier to just get a new machine as opposed to getting their kids' pc repaired/cleaned.) -

Warwagon said something I tell people all the time...  "If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life" 

But people will wear your ass out - the only thing that is limitless in the universe is people's stupidity.

Sorry - dont want to sound negative, but while typing this I remembered 1 customer in particular who had me thinking that maybe life in prison was a small price to pay for the pleasure of killing him slowly over a long period of time and mailing his body parts to his relatives.

 

[+Warwagon MVC]

Be prepared to deal with the absolute idiots of society.  The moron who brings you his/her computer full of infections, you clean it - they come back 3 days later and its infected again, and demand you fix it for free because you didnt do it correctly the 1st time (like warwagon's story)

 

You'll also have the idiots that bring you the monitor instead of the computer. I've had that happen 2 times. 1 of the times the the wife said that her and her husband literally debated about which part I needed. They decided on the monitor.

 

You'll also have people go on and on and on and on and on and on and on about how they know nothing about computers, in which you really want to reply back with "Well no ######, that was pretty obvious."

[Arachno 1D]

And the use of "unlicensed" software that people want you to fix and reinstall.........

[remixedcat]

be sure to have a seperate VLAN or connection for client PCs to make sure they don't infect your own!!!

And the use of "unlicensed" software that people want you to fix and reinstall.........

I refuse to install those and only work with legit software. I refuse to pirate any software and am highly against it due to high occurance of malware. If they want me to do that I refuse to deal with them.

 

 

My client base are creatures of the night like me, and enterprise.

[Intersect]

You'll also have the idiots that bring you the monitor instead of the computer. I've had that happen 2 times. 1 of the times the the wife said that her and her husband literally debated about which part I needed. They decided on the monitor.

 

You'll also have people go on and on and on and on and on and on and on about how they know nothing about computers, in which you really want to reply back with "Well no ######, that was pretty obvious."

they are hardly idiots and its not fair for you to refer to them as such.

you should never belittle your customers as one day this could come back and bite you on your ass so hard you will lose them all.

[T3X4S]

they are hardly idiots and its not fair for you to refer to them as such.

you should never belittle your customers as one day this could come back and bite you on your ass so hard you will lose them all.

Can you give me the address to your idealistic utopian wonderland ?

In reality, if you have ever spent time in this industry, you will see people who make the same mistakes over and over again, assume everything, and would rather take the advice of Aunt Mary Beth's grandson from church as opposed to a trained professional.

People that know next to nothing, yet act like they know everything.  People who will try to make you do way more work than you should have to because they know nothing, yet wont/cant admit it.

Sure there are those that are simply new, and not used to computers - I get that...even in today's society.  Those aren't necessarily the ones that drive you up the wall.

Its the ones who have an opinion for everything, and its always wrong, and is nothing more than crap they heard some other moron spewing.  So when you say something that contradicts what he thinks he knows - suddenly you're the idiot (even though he is in your store)

Sure, everyone knows about the Golden Rule, and to be nice to everyone because kharma is a bitch blah blah blah - but reality is - there is no patch for stupidity.

[End of Rant]