Starting a Computer Repair Business
If you are like me you grew up always being interested in Computers. I was always reading thick computer books for fun and tinkering with all the computers we had at home and started collecting more and more until I had enough to setup my own home network. I felt like I could fix anything with the computer and I was not too far from the truth. Then it started, my friends and family and acquaintances started wanting help with their computer. Being the generous guy that I was I help them out and didn’t charge them anything. But then it started happening more and more and I thought about charging but had no idea how much
or when or anything. If you feel like you are in the same place I might be able to help you start your computer repair business.
Like most things in life to get anything out of it you first have to put something into it. You can’t expect to start a business without putting any effort or capital into it. So you might have to spend a little money on marketing and promotion. I would say the first part about making your business is making it look like a business. The best way to do that is by making some business cards. I don’t know why but somehow a little piece of paper with your name and number on it and maybe a little eye candy has a way of making people take you seriously. After you have a business card print out a thousand or so (after all you are
serious about this, right?)
Most people try to promote their computer repair business by word of mouth. That’s all well and good if you want about 1 job every month. The best marketing techniques I have found are putting a small 4 line ad in my local newspaper. Most papers have a services section on the classifieds page. To do that it only costs about $60 a month and it is well worth it. The majority of my has come from that ad in the paper.
The vast majority of people that I have helped have been old retired people. That is why my major selling point is that I come on site. Retired people, especially those that live in the boonies don’t want to have to go into town just to get their stupid computer fixed.
Since I have started I have fixed many different kinds of problems. Most of them have been related to spyware. I don’t know about you but spyware is the greatest thing that ever happened to the computer industry. It keeps me employed. Probably the next most common thing I do is just windows installation. Recovering a unbootable computer. If you expect to start a business just upgrading and replacing broken hardware you’ll find that there’s not much of a demand for it. In the year and a half I’ve been working I’ve had about 5 actual upgrades. Most people are just want a computer to get on the Internet and check e-mail. So I’m always prepared to setup a new computer on the Internet. To do this you need a good fast, easy-to-setup provider like Aceweb and a few good reliable modems. Most of my customers aren’t really interested in paying lots of money for DSL. They just want to get on the Internet, not download movies. I’ve found that setting somebody up with Aceweb and Mozilla Thunderbird for e-mail and Mozilla Firefox for Internet is a pretty fool-proof system. I’m working on an even more fool-proof system using Linux but I havn’t perfected it yet.
I get most my parts at Newegg, the older ones I get from EBay. As a mentioned before most of the time it new parts are not necessary to fix the problem but some are good to carry around. The most failure prone part is power supplies. You might not think so at first but I’ve replaced more of these than any other part, having a few of these around is a good idea, and make sure they are at least 350 Watts and have the P4 connector and a 20+-4 pin connect that way they are much more versatile. As far as modems go just get any hardware based 56k modem. Most of the parts I sell are only a little over retail prices. I’m in the computer repair business not the retail business so I don’t charge way to much for parts just for installing the parts.
By now you should have some idea of what it takes to start a computer repair business. If you still think you can do but aren’t sure if you know enough to handle all the problems you might come across I am working on a series of articles on how to fix the common problems with computers. Listed in order of importance.
- Spyware removal
- Operating system Recovery
- Finding and Installing windows device drivers
- Installing/Upgrading any piece of hardware
Once you read those articles you should know all you need to know to fix most of the common problems with computers. If you feel you are ready and live in the Treasure Valley in Idaho and you don’t want to bother with the trouble of starting a business give me a call at 899-6665 and I will see if I can hire you 
Related posts:
4 Comments
This website is very helpful.
You have a lot of great information on the site. You’ve condensed a lot of information into a useful “starter guide” that you don’t find often when it comes to starting a business. Especially telling people what you should know how to do and going beyond that and showing them. It made me realize I know these things and I can do it.
I’ve been doing computer repair on a small time scale recently and am looking to market myself further. I can honestly say your site has helped motivate me to continue doing so. For years I took what I knew for granted, thinking that it was basic stuff anyone should know using a computer. You don’t realize how advanced the things you’ve learned over the years messing with your own machines really are as it seems to be basic everyday information at the present to you. I never really knew I had services to offer until I understood that.
I’ve also found that with the continuing addition of legal online TV and movie streaming sources and faster connections, that many of my customers have been interested in media center PCs for their TVs if offered. Many people have older computers sitting around that Linux can easily turn into a workable media center due to the speed of Linux on older machines over Windows or such. It’s not really repair related, but you can end up turning a repair customer into a setup customer on top. It’s also helped convert a couple people to Linux permanently after they liked using the media center which helps me push to my larger goal of converting the masses to the beauty of Linux!
Hi , You will need to setup a DBA or LLC if you don’t plan on using the business strictly in your name; you’ll need to get a FEIN for the LLC unless you make it a pass through entity. Most likely your county and\or city will require a special permit\licence to do computer work in that given area. Apart from licence and permit there are also several aspects you have to consider like The first step that you must take when you are thinking of starting a business is to set the right price for your service. Time is money, and you will probably charge by the hour.You need to market your business by sending mailers You can also promote your business on the Internet, by email marketing. You need to establish trust with the client because they are giving a computer that may have a Social Security number, credit card numbers, and so on. The technician should supply his credentials, so that the client is assured that the Technion can do the job. There are very good service center in the market like Computer repairs sheffieldwhere customers get full satisfaction with affordable price .
I agree with some points that Software related problems has been the problem which causes most of problems on your PC but if you have a branded computer then most of companies gives free Telephone support for software. Also with industry always changing in terms its quite difficult to keep track of the hardware’s which fits with particular computer hardware. But in my opinion that providing computer repair services is very good choice and someone who likes to travel in the city can start their own computer repair business.