Going solo: PC repair. Have you done it?

[woodsier]

Hi guys, I'm a 21 year old Uni student who, like most of you, is pretty mint around computers.

I study full-time, and work one day a week at a 8-6 job. However, I find myself in need of more cash. I have neighbours up and down my road who are aware of my abilities, and often call me to fix their computers. I decided to post a rate of 50 bucks an hour, and they were often happy to pay this with a tip.

I've thought of many ways I can make money, generally looking into starting some kind of online business, however whenever I start a new venture I become too busy and simply don't have the time to give it the kind of attention it needs.

So I was thinking I'd take PC repair/advice on more seriously. Put up a simple website, print some business cards with my name and number, contact my neighbours and inform them, and if they'd suggest me to their friends. Maybe even do a door-drop one afternoon in the streets around where I live, post it on facebook. It seems like a great idea because it's largely flexible, I'm my own boss, and if demand exceeds my fairly limited time I can always increase the rates - though I'm not sure how realistic, or harmful this would be.

Have any of you guys been here? Done this? Thought about it, but something turned you off? I'm just after some general advice.

[RobGR]

I have done this, with a partner once and occasionally solo.

Put up a basic web page that describes your rates. Get or print business cards. Don't bother with facebook or any form of advertising except talking to your neighbors and former customers, and the door-drop. Flyers on local bullitin boards ( coffee houses and churches ) are also good.

To do this as career or only source of income is hard. Doing it as a side gig is very plausible. You want to focus on jobs that are close by, and that don't tend to become overly complecated and take a long time. You will also want to filter the jobs a lot -- you might contact a few local repair places, and find a good one to refer people to when you are too busy or they have something you can't profitably fix.

If you start getting more work than you can handle, another possibility is to partner with another student in your situation who can take some of it.

[Grannymark]

The situation you are in right now was my situation 2 years ago. I started my own company and now, 2 years from that date, its running pretty good. I made a pretty good decision when I started. I visited a hardware-retailer and asked if they had customers who needed help with connecting and installing their new products. And in fact, they did. I left my buisness cards over there and since then I have several customers in the week. Also, make sure you have a nice website. Make it simple. Make the website easy for everyone. You might want to check out my website. It is in dutch, but I think you can get the idea out of it. www.comtrix.nl

[Ennis]

keep it a side gig. You won't need to invest much and can keep it limited in terms of time commitment. A basic website with what you do and your hourly rate is great. Don't start listing prices for other stuff or getting fancier descriptions for your services. A one page site is the way to go.

Your focus is to help as many people as possible. Business cards are awesome. Always carry them. I remember a friend who told me once the key to networking is not how many cards you can get but how many cards you give out. So be generous.

My advice is forget about flyers, business services, or paid advertising. Craigslist and kijiji are a must so just keep updating a single post on each. If you want to advertise then put up posters in coffee shops or leave a deck of cards at grocery stores all over - you have to keep visiting them and shopping all over for them to keep them.

The key here is you are not a business. You are a smart student who won't take advantage of anyone. People would rather go to you for lower cost and trust factor. Be friendly, generous, and not greedy. Then you're set.

This is how I have done these things in uni to make extra money and yes you can make good money and still focus on school.

Good luck!

[skwaddar]

Think about what happens when you break a client computer by accident, say accidentally pulling a molar when its plugged in but now it wont start up because the spike blew the mb, or when you knock something off the shelf in a person's home and it smashes into bits on the floor.

[sound2man]

You're young, so you might make it; but realistically, to really make it, IT is a full time job. Business clients are where the steady money is at, and you need to be on call basically 24/7 or at least 9-5 every day. YMMV, but it can't hurt to try.

[pbhj]

You don't have to be available - "sorry all our technicians are occupied at the moment we can fit you in tomorrow at 2".

They either go somewhere else or wait, you get to sound like a bigger outfit and one that's busy. Plus you didn't lie to them, even if you're watching telly that counts as "occupied".

[domodomo]

Unfortunately with businesses that won't be a satisfactory answer, and they will go elsewhere. What's worse, they won't recommend you to other businesses, and as word of mouth is your cheapest and most effective marketing tool...that would be put you in a bad spot.

[pbhj]

What do you recommend then for a small business (me, or me + 1) if I'm with another client or otherwise occupied I simply can't attend the second place. I don't have reserves to support a second worker until they turn enough revenue to keep themselves ... so, hotshots, what-do-you-do.

[domodomo]

You will find that on-site needs of most of your clients is actually not that high, and most issues can be resolved remotely. Hardware is more reliable than it used to be, and business are increasingly buying hardware with replacement warranties or leasing.

So I would recommend installing a free program like logmein.com on all client PCs you will be servicing on an ongoing basis. This way you can provide quick response time, even when you are unable to be physically at a client's site.

Hope this helps.