Running a pc business (didn't know where to post)

T

TopGun

Gawd
Joined
Jan 22, 2005
Messages
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I was just wondering if any of you guys could give me some insight.
I'm 16 and planning on starting up a "business" if you want to call it that.
Basically having people drop their systems off at my house for me to fix, etc...
Would I need a business license?, What about taxes, etc..?

-Thanks a lot
TopGun
 
To be honest, it is a saturated market, dont get into it for the "cash" is not a cash making job really.


it could be good for you and your age for getting some extra cash, but you need to be firm, especally with friends and family.

Also, convinving people your good, why go to you over their X person who they have used for years? your only 16, how much culd you know.... that will be something you have to convince people on, you know your stuff.
 
Start studying for A+ at least first. Once you have that general knowledge get a job at an already built computer repair business. Then build your knowledge and networking (people) skills from there. Its a tough business because if you screw up and loose there data for example. You screwed them and your rep in one shot. Those businesses are usually built on word of mouth. I tend to stay away from fixing co-workers and other computers because then it becomes your problem when anything happens.

Good luck. I would focus on graduating high school then go to a reputable college for the field or business.
 
I wasn't planning on doing this as a "career" but just for money on the side.
Planning on going to college for network administration, but this is just for something to do.
This is in a Country town, the computer shop that's here charges too much for
what they do and most of the time they can't even fix things. They didn't even know
how to forward a port when I was in there one day.

Wasn't planning on doing hardware, just spyware + virus removal and general system
"cleanups".
 
I have been doing this kind of work on the side for about 5 years, I am 20 now.
I really started out doing phone and data cabling. My dad works for a telecom interconnect and I got all of my hands on training by helping out there. I then started doing networks and computer repairs as my skills increased. I got A+ certified over the summer but it was really for my own benefit, and to get out of some very basic courses at school. This summer I did a large commercial cabling job. A lot depends on the customer base you want to reach. I have been very fortunate as almost all of my work has been through word of mouth/referrals. I am in my 2nd year at Toledo studying Network Administration. I don't think I want to run this full time after college, to be honest. I think I need to get experience working for someone else.
 
I think I can chime in here to help, from experience. I'm currently 17 and have been fixing computers for friends, family, and strangers for years. This has evolved into other things now, but when I was starting out is was pretty easy. Most of my business has come from word of mouth, I just usually offer my services to people and eventully the word spreads, especially if you're good. One thing you have to remember is that if you don't like troubleshooting, doing mundane tasks until the middle of the night, dealing with stupid people and are only in for the cash you will want to stop in 1 month. You see I don't mind sitting at someones computer for hours on end trying to fix a problem becasue it's what I like to do but others might just give up and leave the job half done. If you are going to do it like that then don't do it at all.

Ever since I've started doing it I've set firm prices, and obviously I don't charge close relatives or really good friends(I know it doesn't make economic sense, but it pays off in the end and is a nice thing to do). Sometimes the knowledge you will gain will be INVALUBLE to you in the future if you decide to persue a career in anything to do with computers, I can ramble about problems I've disgnosed for days on end.

In terms of doing it from your own home and any type of small business license, don't bother with it, it'll be too much of a hassle unless you plan to go all out with a small retail shop and such things which is overkill for a teenager.

Just keep it simple do your thing, diagnose, install, reinstall, remove viruses and also occasionally order replacement parts and soon enough everyone will call you for help and advice, I know this from experience, it can get frustrating knowing people who will only use you to fix their computers and never for anything else.

There are perks though, free parts, knowledge, and of course the extra moolah you'll be making.

PS. I have also considered getting some certifications but I think it would be a waste of time and money, if you know what you are doing, there's no need for them, except to, you know, show off ;)

PPS: Make sure you learn the art of bartering, since it will come in handy when you realize people are much more willing to give up parts and services and other random goodies instead of money to fix their broken down computers

Hope that helps.
 
I forgot to add the part about family: I would not charge family for my time, period.
If parts were involved I would either have them buy what is needed, or I would sell it to them at cost. Doing things for family (and not charging them) just goes along with it. Same for close friends. Of course it is up to you how close you want to make people. One thing I realized early on is that if you give them something for free once, they will expect it every time. Realistically, people are paying you for the knowledge and skills you have. My dad is a lawyer. I don't expect him to give out legal advice for free (there are some exceptions). You are in business to make money, not give everything away for free. With that being said, trading lunch for a computer repair job always works well :)
99 percent of my work is at the customer's home or office. Only rarely will I take a computer with me to work on. Of course, working at someone's residence has its own set of challenges. I enjoy doing residential cabling work and making things look good. I have stayed mostly out of the small business arena because a) so many other people do it, and b) I am away at school and can not support people on a daily basis. Most of the residential work is a one time deal. I do get calls for support, and I have someone I refer people to while I am at school. I actually have a decent sized residential job to do over thanksgiving break.
My whole business started with one phone call. A classmate wanted to know how to wire something and I realized that I should not have to give him the information for free. His dad ended up hiring me to wire their whole house, over the span of a couple years. My mom tells just about everyone she knows that I do computer work, and I have received a lot of referrals from them. I also get referrals from an alarm guy I know. All of these people have ended up referring me to someone else that they know, so I have built a sizable customer base. The rest, as they say, is history.
 
Thanks a lot for your suggestions, stories and tips guys.
Jeff or ntba could you pm me or post what you charge for the stuff that you
do so that I can get an idea.

-Thanks a lot
 
Sure you got it.

I just remembered one thing that I mentioned and what I see Jeff has done. Once you start with computers, expect everyone to assume you know everything about electronics. I have moved (possibly expanded?) to working with networking and wiring houses, setting up and giving advice for home theatres, setting up sound and music equipment, setting up presentations and fixing TV's, and replacing batteries in remotes for the elderly. You'll have fun.

As for the pricing, I'm confident I wouldn't be breaking any rules in posting it in the forum but if I am I'll remove them so here goes:

I know I said that I like to keep prices firm, but I sometimes deviate, you'll soon see why.

Doing basic things like cleaning spyware or fixing or setting something basic up I usually charge a flat rate of 20 bucks, This also varies by the persons generosity and my age, since I'm a teenager, I have the "Go buy yourself something nice" excuse for accepting extra cash, even though it isn't very prodessional.

Now let's say I have to reinstall an operating system find drivers, reinstall apps and that type of stuff which is time consuming, I usually charge up to 50 dollars.

I don't usually go all the way to 50 bucks, mainly 30 or 40 bucks BUT I DO go up to and above 50 most of the time becasue 9 times out of 10 I am reinstalling XP and doing all that ON TOP of an old P3 with a bad motherboard with bad caps casuing BSOD's that take 3 days of hardware swapping and testing until I find out what the real problem is. GRRRR :)

Then of course whenever I have to do upgrades the customer just pays for the part, I usually tag along with them to the local big box store to get it or if I order something off eBay or NCIX, I ALWAYS ALWAYS present them with the invoice so they see that I am not some scamming teenager trying to scam them out of something.

In terms of getting old hardware, you have to understand that most people (especially older ones) believe that their outdated 5 year old hardware is worth a whole lot more then it really is, so when asking someone for lets say an old CD drive or a motherboard or something from an old computer you were fixing or that they are thorwing away don't force them by pestering them about it, just find another fair way to get paid for your services.

I once got an old Commodore 64, Floppy Drive, and about 50 floppies that was about to get thrown out just for some simple instructions and some simple spyware cleaning. It worked out great for both me and the person I was doing this for.

Just use your head and you'll be fine. Have fun.:D
 
Well number one, I want to raise my rates. I don't think I charge enough for the experience I have. I charge 25-30 dollars an hour for everything. Sometimes I do charge a flat rate, but it really depends what the job is.
 
Been fixing 'puters since 1974 myself, built one in 1975 from a Heathkit: perfboard, resistors, capacitors, DIP switches, etc. And no solder, beat that. :) And since then I've done built just shy of 5,000 boxen with my bare hands, from the first screw to the finished product with the OS installed and optimized for the hardware it's running on. Over 175,000 Windows installs, maybe 30,000 machines "fixed," and entirely too many customers satisfied to keep track off.

But anyway, I still do occasional odd jobs to help out with pocket cash and bills. I charge a flat rate of $60 per job - one job being defined as one machine, typically. Remarkably, even here in Las Vegas where I live and breathe, I do pretty damned well in light of the idiots that advertise flat rates similar to mine but then try to rip people off constantly and there's simply no reason for it.

I charge a flat fee for repairs because it simplifies things dramatically. Do I report all this as actual income? Hell no, because I've paid enough damned taxes, and I pay taxes everytime I spend money. I'm American by birth, always will be, but geezus, enough is enough. Government isn't supposed to dominate life, they're just supposed to help out. But that's a rant and I'll shut up now about it.

At 16 years old, your most important item will be a client list of people that you have done work for, be they family members, friends, etc. You need to have a track record of work that is undeniably positive and get that word of mouth advertising that no money can buy. But you have to keep the level of work and the quality of that work extraordinarily high:

While it's true that one person can lead to countless other business opportunities just because they say "Hey, I know this guy that works on computers for a good price," you can just as rapidly have your ass handed to you by another person that didn't like the quality of your work or just was in a bad mood. Note I didn't say you did anything wrong, but it doesn't matter. The golden rule should be:

You can please some of the people some of the time, most of the people most of the time, but you can't please everyone all the time so don't fuckin' waste your efforts in the attempt.

If you know your stuff, your work will show it. There's no need to throw out how long you've been working on computers. Just say you have years of experience, that's more than enough. Someone that actually advertises "I've been working on computers for <xx> years" is just talking shit.

/me looks up at the first thing he said above... about fixin' 'puters...

I'm old, so respect your elders, kids. :) I earned my skills the hard way: by actually doing it, not looking for some damned piece of paper that says "Joe Blow knows his shit." I open my mouth with a client and they know I mean business and I know my stuff in the first 10 seconds.

If you can't convince someone in 10 seconds that you're good at what you do, you need to do something else.

Best of luck with your goals, however. Just charge a fair price (hourly if you must, but flat rates will bring in business like nothing else), and be honest with people. Ask them to mention you to friends and family after you do work for them, and your future business will take care of itself.

Hope this helps...
 
Thanks a lot Ghost, I probably will end up charging a flat rate unless it's something drastic.
Your post was very helpful, Considering that nobody in my town likes the computer shop here I should be able to do pretty well once word of mouth gets around.

-Again, thanks to everyone
that posted :D
 
TopGun said:
Thanks a lot Ghost, I probably will end up charging a flat rate unless it's something drastic.
Your post was very helpful, Considering that nobody in my town likes the computer shop here I should be able to do pretty well once word of mouth gets around.
-Again, thanks to everyone
that posted :D
Click to expand...

Now that's a smart young man... assuming you're a he, of course. If not, my apologies. :)

You're gonna be fine, just make sure you have fun doing this. First day you wake up and say to yourself, "Geez, I wish I was <insert something else here> instead of doing this today..." that's when it's all downhill from there and it's time to move on.

Like I said, I'm old, been around, done things. And I've had a lot of jobs where I woke up like that and, well, I moved on. ;)
 
I charge $45 an hour. I specialize in doing things remotely over the internet. So, if someone has a load of spyware on their machine, I don't charge for the time it is just scanning.

When I am on-site I am charging $45 an hour for every bit of time I am there, whether I am just sitting for the scan to get done or not. I usually try and do some other work if possible, but it doesn't always work out that way.

To be completely honest, I have found charging a higher rate actually helps my credibility. If I was charging only 10-15 an hour, or a very low flat rate, people don't take you seriously. Just take a look at Geek Squad, they charge ridiculous amounts of money for trivial tasks, but droves of people pay it! I am not telling you to take advantage of people, but at the same time, realize how much your time is really worth. There are not that many people that are both passionate and good with computers.

Charge a higher rate, seriously. But also give them more than just fixing their computer. Be very personable, and if they are interested, tell them what went wrong and how to prevent it. I give them some basic documentation on how to ensure their machine stays up to date with virus definitions, how to stay safe online, how to back up their machine etc etc.

If a customer bitches at $45 an hour, to me they aren't a customer worth having! There is a cost for quality, remember that.
 
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