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Opening up a Computer Repair Shop - Where to start?

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Chotton

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Hey there everyone, I'm going to be opening a Computer Repair Shop (I'm thinking I'll call it "Cotton's Computer Clinic) and will be buying some business cards soon. I was just wondering where I should start. Obviously I will be starting up a website when I have time, and I was figuring I'd list my services on something like Craigslist just to get started.

Basic services I will be offering/[price]:
  • Virus Removal [$60 flat rate]
  • Data Backup (Either local HDD, external HDD, or server-based) [$30, $40+parts, $75, respectively]
  • Computer upgrade [Parts + $40/hour, one hour minimum unless just memory, then $25]
  • Computer Builds [Parts + $100 or 15% of cost, whichever is less + OS cost]
  • Diagnosis [FREE, or travel cost if I have to go to them.]
  • Remote Access help [$75 up front, flat rate]
  • Computer Clean Up - virus removal, start-up/services clean-up, anti-virus, removal of unwanted programs - [$150 for <4 hours or $50/hour for >4 hours]

What do you guys think of these services and pricings? Anything I should add, should I charge more/less? I was thinking if I have to come to their home/office I would charge a $30 travel fee, or if they drop it off no charge for travel.
 
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tbh, I think the prices look a bit steep. Like $40/hour for an upgrade seems to be a lot and I can't imagine any upgrade taking longer than a hour. To be fair though, I really have no baseline to compare against.

Let me know how this goes for you, as it may be something I could try out for some extra cash. I love computers and troubleshooting, so I really don't know why I haven't thought of this myself :tongue:
 
Chotton

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tbh, I think the prices look a bit steep. Like $40/hour for an upgrade seems to be a lot and I can't imagine any upgrade taking longer than a hour. To be fair though, I really have no baseline to compare against.

Let me know how this goes for you, as it may be something I could try out for some extra cash. I love computers and troubleshooting, so I really don't know why I haven't thought of this myself :tongue:
Yeah it's something I really enjoy doing as well. For the upgrades I figured $40 an hour to replace something like a Motherboard or PSU wouldn't be terrible, and there is testing/drivers after that as well, but you're right, usually wouldn't take more than an hour. (Which is why I have a different price for memory, which would be RAM and probably HDD, unless they want their data transferred or an OS installed)
 
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In regards to the $40/hr rate, they are paying for your expertise in computer repair. $40/hr is very flexible and affordable, considering most repair shops and big box retailers will charge anywhere from $65-$100 for diagnosis AND hourly repairs (Especially on-site repairs)

If you have the knowledge to build, repair and maintain these systems and they don't, you are valuable to them. One thing I learned upon setting up my PC repair business is to NEVER EVER undersell yourself or your abilities. Be confident in your pricing, and if you feel personally that the customer is paying a bit too much for something like a small upgrade, than give that client a "first time customer" discount, or if they are a returning customer, a "customer loyalty" discount. These little perks make the client feel cared for and appreciated. They will tell their friends and family about you, and in this business, word of mouth is the strongest form of advertisement.

The only big thing that I do differently from your business plan is offering Free Diagnostics. Sure, it can come back and smack you in the face if the customer doesn't want to go forward with repairs, but the idea of FREE brings customers in. This model also ties in with the customer feeling as though they aren't being robbed, but cared for and appreciated. Again, this customer may not go forward with the repairs after the initial diagnosis, but he or she will for sure tell their friends and family about "the computer guy who will find out whats wrong for free!"

In the beginning, I was losing a bit of money here and there from free diagnostics, but the long term investment of being considerate and honest with free diagnosis and low hourly pricing is very rewarding in the long run. Most of those customer's that turned me down after diagnostics, had referred one or more people back to me who actually ended up doing business. Nowadays, I get the majority of my regions clients because I am now known as "the guy who can tell you what's wrong for free."

You get what you give in life! Good luck :smile:

Jay
 
Chotton

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In regards to the $40/hr rate, they are paying for your expertise in computer repair. $40/hr is very flexible and affordable, considering most repair shops and big box retailers will charge anywhere from $65-$100 for diagnosis AND hourly repairs (Especially on-site repairs)

If you have the knowledge to build, repair and maintain these systems and they don't, you are valuable to them. One thing I learned upon setting up my PC repair business is to NEVER EVER undersell yourself or your abilities. Be confident in your pricing, and if you feel personally that the customer is paying a bit too much for something like a small upgrade, than give that client a "first time customer" discount, or if they are a returning customer, a "customer loyalty" discount. These little perks make the client feel cared for and appreciated. They will tell their friends and family about you, and in this business, word of mouth is the strongest form of advertisement.

The only big thing that I do differently from your business plan is offering Free Diagnostics. Sure, it can come back and smack you in the face if the customer doesn't want to go forward with repairs, but the idea of FREE brings customers in. This model also ties in with the customer feeling as though they aren't being robbed, but cared for and appreciated. Again, this customer may not go forward with the repairs after the initial diagnosis, but he or she will for sure tell their friends and family about "the computer guy who will find out whats wrong for free!"

In the beginning, I was losing a bit of money here and there from free diagnostics, but the long term investment of being considerate and honest with free diagnosis and low hourly pricing is very rewarding in the long run. Most of those customer's that turned me down after diagnostics, had referred one or more people back to me who actually ended up doing business. Nowadays, I get the majority of my regions clients because I am now known as "the guy who can tell you what's wrong for free."

You get what you give in life! Good luck :smile:

Jay
I can understand how that wouldn't be a bad idea. I might have to take your advice and cut the Diagnosis price down, or get rid of the pricing altogether.
 
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I can understand how that wouldn't be a bad idea. I might have to take your advice and cut the Diagnosis price down, or get rid of the pricing altogether.
I would have to agree with the guy paying $50 for the diagnosis then paying even more for the servicing required put's off customers alot and taking that price tag away would definitely be beneficial for your business:smile:
 
Chotton

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I would have to agree with the guy paying $50 for the diagnosis then paying even more for the servicing required put's off customers alot and taking that price tag away would definitely be beneficial for your business:smile:
Updated.
 
The_Notorious_BIG

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Me and my dad wanted to do something like this. He's got a few degrees in computing and what not and I am in love with computing. I follow it like a religion.


BUTTT

When you want to start a business like this, you need to be an OFFICIAL OEM engineer guy. Like do these courses by Microsoft and IBM and stuff, to prove that you know how to use that (e.g Microsoft) and there's many more you will need. If you dont have them, I think**** its against the law. And theres loads and loads that you're recommended to do

I think this is where you get Microsoft's course. Excuse me if this is the wrong URL, it probs is.

Then you have the 2nd problem. People dont send their PC's in for a fix. Buying a new one, depending on how cheap the PC is in the first place, but someone like me would never send a PC in anyway, Its expensive, and I couldn't trust to leave my computer with someone lol. Ill do it myself.

Your ideas are almost the same as me and my dads, but it just wont work, and once you do get everything you need, you need the people with the ****ed up PC to come to you, or the other way round. And thats hard!

Myself and my dad really wanted to do this but we figured that people dont really run into serious problems like this AND most people in this day and age have Laptops, which are quite hard to modify and even repair to some extent!

Theres more I could talk about but I cba now. THIS is just the tip of the ice

Hey there everyone, I'm going to be opening a Computer Repair Shop (I'm thinking I'll call it "Cotton's Computer Clinic) and will be buying some business cards soon. I was just wondering where I should start. Obviously I will be starting up a website when I have time, and I was figuring I'd list my services on something like Craigslist just to get started.

Basic services I will be offering/[price]:
  • Virus Removal [$60 flat rate]
  • Data Backup (Either local HDD, external HDD, or server-based) [$30, $40+parts, $75, respectively]
  • Computer upgrade [Parts + $40/hour, one hour minimum unless just memory, then $25]
  • Computer Builds [Parts + $100 or 15% of cost, whichever is less + OS cost]
  • Diagnosis [FREE, or travel cost if I have to go to them.]
  • Remote Access help [$75 up front, flat rate]
  • Computer Clean Up - virus removal, start-up/services clean-up, anti-virus, removal of unwanted programs - [$150 for <4 hours or $50/hour for >4 hours]

What do you guys think of these services and pricings? Anything I should add, should I charge more/less? I was thinking if I have to come to their home/office I would charge a $30 travel fee, or if they drop it off no charge for travel.
 
Chotton

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Me and my dad wanted to do something like this. He's got a few degrees in computing and what not and I am in love with computing. I follow it like a religion.


BUTTT

When you want to start a business like this, you need to be an OFFICIAL OEM engineer guy. Like do these courses by Microsoft and IBM and stuff, to prove that you know how to use that (e.g Microsoft) and there's many more you will need. If you dont have them, I think**** its against the law. And theres loads and loads that you're recommended to do

I think this is where you get Microsoft's course. Excuse me if this is the wrong URL, it probs is.

Then you have the 2nd problem. People dont send their PC's in for a fix. Buying a new one, depending on how cheap the PC is in the first place, but someone like me would never send a PC in anyway, Its expensive, and I couldn't trust to leave my computer with someone lol. Ill do it myself.

Your ideas are almost the same as me and my dads, but it just wont work, and once you do get everything you need, you need the people with the ****ed up PC to come to you, or the other way round. And thats hard!

Myself and my dad really wanted to do this but we figured that people dont really run into serious problems like this AND most people in this day and age have Laptops, which are quite hard to modify and even repair to some extent!

Theres more I could talk about but I cba now. THIS is just the tip of the ice
I am not asking anyone to send their laptop to me, if they are too far away then I will do remote access, otherwise I will go to them. I don't have MS certs, but I do have a CompTIA A+ cert.
 
The_Notorious_BIG

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I am not asking anyone to send their laptop to me, if they are too far away then I will do remote access, otherwise I will go to them. I don't have MS certs, but I do have a CompTIA A+ cert.

People Google more things now anyway. Go and make yourself a pilot study or something and see how many people are really willing to pay someone to fix a computer.

Computers are getting cheaper and cheaper by the year, so its maybe easier to buy a new one
Computers are getting better at 'looking after themselves', they are also good at fixing themselves (in most problems) and are good at telling you what you need to do
Computers can tell you an error, you have Google for help too

And what I was saying was more and more people are going mobile now. Tablets, Phablets, Ultra books, Notebooks, 3 in one tablet thing and the laptop. Things like these are most of the devices that people use today. Yeah the desktop PC is still in our homes, but I doubt there's as many mobile devices in the home.

You also said that you'd charge for computer builds and upgrades. I dont know anyone who has bought parts for a computer and then paid someone else to build it for them. People tend to use their own resources , such as Youtube, or even a Thread in the Computer section on here.



The data backup, seems a good idea I think thats a good idea but people dont really feel the need to backup. I mean, how often does your HDD or SSD fail? Or any other storage device. Maybe for NAS storage, you'd have a lot of punters, but for normal computers, I dont think so tbh

The virus removal idea is good, there's millions and millions of viruses known on Windows and people nower days still cant tell how to run a basic scan on Windows Defender. People still are mot sure how to remove them, or even where you may get them from. But on the other hand, when I get a virus, I dont/wont go down to my local computer store and tell them to remove it. It would have to be a hell of a bad virus.

The computer clean up isnt such a bad idea either. Its just people tend to already know themselves if they really need x program or not. But there's still people who don't have a clue on how to remove a program, and not everyone knows how to change the start up programs. But this all relates to what I keep saying. People just YouTube things now and it dosent take much to go on forums like this and ask a few questions

Although, to the older generation of society, then all of your services such as these would be good, because they wont have a blind bit of clue, seeing as they're the generation which is the weakest in the computing department
  • Diagnosis [FREE, or travel cost if I have to go to them.]
  • Remote Access help [$75 up front, flat rate]
  • Computer Clean Up - virus removal, start-up/services clean-up, anti-virus, removal of unwanted programs - [$150 for <4 hours or $50/hour for >4 hours]

All of that would be good for them, yet they wont be asking you to put a new stick of RAM in lol

You get the point now right?
 
Chotton

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People Google more things now anyway. Go and make yourself a pilot study or something and see how many people are really willing to pay someone to fix a computer.

Computers are getting cheaper and cheaper by the year, so its maybe easier to buy a new one
Computers are getting better at 'looking after themselves', they are also good at fixing themselves (in most problems) and are good at telling you what you need to do
Computers can tell you an error, you have Google for help too

And what I was saying was more and more people are going mobile now. Tablets, Phablets, Ultra books, Notebooks, 3 in one tablet thing and the laptop. Things like these are most of the devices that people use today. Yeah the desktop PC is still in our homes, but I doubt there's as many mobile devices in the home.

You also said that you'd charge for computer builds and upgrades. I dont know anyone who has bought parts for a computer and then paid someone else to build it for them. People tend to use their own resources , such as Youtube, or even a Thread in the Computer section on here.



The data backup, seems a good idea I think thats a good idea but people dont really feel the need to backup. I mean, how often does your HDD or SSD fail? Or any other storage device. Maybe for NAS storage, you'd have a lot of punters, but for normal computers, I dont think so tbh

The virus removal idea is good, there's millions and millions of viruses known on Windows and people nower days still cant tell how to run a basic scan on Windows Defender. People still are mot sure how to remove them, or even where you may get them from. But on the other hand, when I get a virus, I dont/wont go down to my local computer store and tell them to remove it. It would have to be a hell of a bad virus.

The computer clean up isnt such a bad idea either. Its just people tend to already know themselves if they really need x program or not. But there's still people who don't have a clue on how to remove a program, and not everyone knows how to change the start up programs. But this all relates to what I keep saying. People just YouTube things now and it dosent take much to go on forums like this and ask a few questions

Although, to the older generation of society, then all of your services such as these would be good, because they wont have a blind bit of clue, seeing as they're the generation which is the weakest in the computing department
  • Diagnosis [FREE, or travel cost if I have to go to them.]
  • Remote Access help [$75 up front, flat rate]
  • Computer Clean Up - virus removal, start-up/services clean-up, anti-virus, removal of unwanted programs - [$150 for <4 hours or $50/hour for >4 hours]

All of that would be good for them, yet they wont be asking you to put a new stick of RAM in lol

You get the point now right?
I got the point beforehand, but you'd be surprised how many people 'think' they know about computers. I can take a computer out of the box, and make it run better than the factory does. I can take a computer that's near-death, and bring it back to better-than-new status. I've done it for countless PC's, laptops, and a few Apple devices. I've also been doing mobile's lately, rooting phones, deleting unnecessary items, setting it up for longer battery life, faster charging, better connects. I've done that for a dozen or so phones so far, and I can also do xbox, playstation, phone screen repair. I know what I'm doing and I have plenty of experience (far more than 'the kid down the street', or the 'local computer shop'). And I'm not saying that because I'm trying to brag, I'm saying that because whenever I've contacted a repair shop, I knew more about the product, issue, diagnosis, and solving it than they did. It was rather pathetic, to be honest. I've done that with several tech's as well, such as when I needed my hard drive replaced because it had several sector errors, or my PSU, or my CPU, or those RAM sticks I got replaced for a friend of mine.

I know you're just trying to help, but for the record, Windows Defender can't scan for sh*t. That's like saying Windows Firewall will protect you from hackers. Lol.
 
The_Notorious_BIG

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I got the point beforehand, but you'd be surprised how many people 'think' they know about computers. I can take a computer out of the box, and make it run better than the factory does. I can take a computer that's near-death, and bring it back to better-than-new status. I've done it for countless PC's, laptops, and a few Apple devices. I've also been doing mobile's lately, rooting phones, deleting unnecessary items, setting it up for longer battery life, faster charging, better connects. I've done that for a dozen or so phones so far, and I can also do xbox, playstation, phone screen repair. I know what I'm doing and I have plenty of experience (far more than 'the kid down the street', or the 'local computer shop'). And I'm not saying that because I'm trying to brag, I'm saying that because whenever I've contacted a repair shop, I knew more about the product, issue, diagnosis, and solving it than they did. It was rather pathetic, to be honest. I've done that with several tech's as well, such as when I needed my hard drive replaced because it had several sector errors, or my PSU, or my CPU, or those RAM sticks I got replaced for a friend of mine.

I know you're just trying to help, but for the record, Windows Defender can't scan for sh*t. That's like saying Windows Firewall will protect you from hackers. Lol.

Im glad to see that you have a wide range of knowledge. When ever I go to the local store to have a look at parts due to the fact im bored, Ill ask them about something and they always come up with "let me just find the box for you and tell you them". Computer stores hire anyone with a gram of knowledge, and that is a shame.

Edit:

You should watch this:

 
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Chotton

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Im glad to see that you have a wide range of knowledge. When ever I go to the local store to have a look at parts due to the fact im bored, Ill ask them about something and they always come up with "let me just find the box for you and tell you them". Computer stores hire anyone with a gram of knowledge, and that is a shame.

Edit:

You should watch this:


I've been repairing computers (both my own and friends, strangers, family, etc) for about ten years. Been doing xbox's and mobile devices for about 5.
Watching that video now.
 
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The_Notorious_BIG

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I've been repairing computers (both my own and friends, strangers, family, etc) for about ten years. Been doing xbox's and mobile devices for about 5.
Watching that video now.

Yeah, all that video shows is what some pre built computers can look like and how hard to mess around with.

Its a bit off topic really...
 
Chotton

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Yeah, all that video shows is what some pre built computers can look like and how hard to mess around with.

Its a bit off topic really...
Well most people that need computer help don't build their own computers. So it is on topic.
 
The_Notorious_BIG

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Well most people that need computer help don't build their own computers. So it is on topic.

Yeah, but the video was just showing you what the lower end of prebuilt computers can look like.
 
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