Question
A few questions about computer repair "business"?
A friend (25) and I (20) are thinking about starting to repair and upgrade computers on a more organized level. We have both been fixing computers for friends and family for years, and think that it would be fun to print business cards and try to see how far a small "business" like this would take us. The situation seems like it would not really be a business, but for lack of a better term I am calling it that. We would print some business cards and attempt to bring in customers by being professional, fast, and less expensive than the large institutions (geek squad). We won't have a store, but instead we would pick up computers and bring them back to fix in a workshop area in my basement. If needed, we would also make house calls for virus removal, etc. My questions are: 1) What would we have to do legally to allow us to do something like this? We are in Minnesota. (permits, insurance, taxes) 2) Is it illegal to use free programs such as Spybot for this purpose? (Spybot is an anti-spyware program) 3) Would it seem very unprofessional if we had a phone line that was rarely answered? We both have jobs and school, so most of the time we would work off the messages that people leave. Neither of us are expecting this to be very profitable, but it is an idea that we want to explore. We have the tools for most basic repairs, so the start up investment lies only with business cards, permits, and insurance. Thanks for any help, let me know if you need more information.
6 months ago - 2 answers
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It sounds like the way I ran my business for a long time. I can't speak to the issues in Minnesota as I am in Texas. You do want liability insurance though. Much of your work is going to be done onsite without removing the computer from the premises. There are many times I have gone out to a job and spent less than half an hour fixing some problem where taking it to my shop would have taken two or more hours. You still have to charge for a basic service call, even if it is only a few minutes. Otherwise you'll lose money. Under-cutting prices is silly and a waste of time. Don't get involved in it at all. Instead, focus on high quality and fast service. My bill rate is $100 per hour for non-network and $140 for managing networks. I'm not cheap but I am good. In the long run it ends up costing the customer less for quality and you get around the arguments about price by not engaging in price battles. You also end up with a better class of customers. Your biggest challenge is always going to be marketing. Don't do door hangers, newspaper ads or such nonsense. They are expensive and don't pay off. I focus on high earning clients and ignore the rest. I also do a lot of referral business and repeat business. Those are the places where you are going to make money. My phone message says that we are all out helping clients and will get back to them as soon as possible. Messages are generally returned the same day but always within 24 hours. There is a lot ot learn and understand. You are going to hit all sorts of walls, day after day. Be patient and work through the problems. It gets better.
by Bob G
6 months ago
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Other Answers
Get a lawyer. You must form a limited partnership. Lay out all the groundwork between you and friend. Apply for a Sales Tax number. Then you are off and running. You have a great idea but remember when speaking with customers make the language simple.
by sassy2- 6 months ago