The Advice Thread

[elohelomg]

I wanna start a computer repair thing near my area, but, to be honest, i dont know how to get started. What kind of advertising can one do? Is the business to crowded not to even try?Thoughts>

[DKT27]

Well, when a new business opens here, they contact the newspaper delivery boy's boss, gives him some money, and he puts your pamphlets in each of the newspaper. Dunno how well does it work there.

My cousin used to print and stick posters/pamphlets of his computer repairs on the walls on the street, is illegal but takes atleast 5 years for an authority to notice it. :P

You can also spread the word to the people you know. Ask anyone you know to recommend you to their family/friends

Of course there are better ways, but can't think of any. :unsure:

[HX1]

You know I have had people suggest this very thing to me..

The very first thing would be to think through your business... Liability clauses.. Privacy stipulations... Taxes.. Payroll.. employees and services.. especially if your going to open a shop.. You have many incurred costs...

The suggestion most had to me was to start it up out of my home.. or even go to people's homes... but in fact this opens a problem with the type of people who may come to your home.. and in the event you try to keep this information from them it becomes 'shady'.. if you don't you can expect break-ins... crazy people possibly coming to your house.. and all up in the place you live... While most individuals are holding it down and together.. there are always quite a mix.. Bad things can happen in people's homes..

So a suggestion is atleast renting a small office..Of which can be a write-off... The next is the business loan in which you are going to need to buy equipment, a couple of good work systems... and hardware.. and setup a hub.. Tools to work with and a work area.. reception area.. and a proper system for keeping track of your customers and their systems as well as the work that had been done... Work hardware note is to buy new.. not old junk.. which is expensive.. should you have to back out of the business.. these can be sold while you may be out in the cold with the old stuff.. and you may have to eat 100% of your investment.. You could be left holding the bill...

Proper documentation for the parts in which you obtain can also be advised as an accusation of theft can be deterred or be made fraudulent by having proper tracking.. and a good supplier at wholesale price.. As well as OS licensing... and program licensing.. much more expensive when it comes to a commercial note.. get caught using pirated software and tools or stolen hardware/data.. and you could go to prison and wind up backwards in it until the day your dead..

So starting with your first repair you need to be completely business minded... and you have to think ahead about the ability to create a working system.. and a secure one.. as well as work orders which include disclaimers and waivers for liability should it be proven that the hardware has failed. Computer stress can make people do some crazy things.. and MANY people will try to get work for free.. and hardware/parts for free as well as ruin your working reputation as a business .. to do so.. event to cover their own tracks..

Proper customer service and adequate methods in which you discover the customers needs..

Be rational about how valuable your time is per hour.. and how much you think you should be investing in simple diagnostics..( even in consultation ) This amount has to cover your average operational costs per hour of running a place.. and working ( may be necessary to also hire employees and this can also incur costs and greater taxes ) and have a decent profitability margin to comp or cover your investment of the business loan to get up and running no matter how large or small.. lean at first.. so the plan must be right..and always be thinking forward in raising or lowering your prices/ offering discounts to Senior Citizens (%) and even students...Some things you can even make it look like a good deal.. should prices fall or operational costs stay low.. The fluctuation can actually help and allow you stay competitive .. Especially if you have competition.. even if you don't, it burns the idea in peoples minds..catches their attention.. You still have to watch this area because the scales can tip and quickly... with many factors involved..

Now, to the place you thought you were... Offer some free work to your friends family or people you interact with daily... with the strings attached at referrals... With a little bit of proper advertising you must be able to reach people and more of them for your dollar and weigh the return on that investment... Referral work is good.. especially with college kids and friends.. networking goes wild.. Bench advertising, leaflets, business cards, word of mouth...having your friends get something done on the side for noticing problems around them and referring ... ( hopefully not like the Mafia/Mob and destroying the systems.. LOL ) Newspaper advertising.. Listing the Business ad and name in the Yellow Pages.. KEY ELEMENT.. people expect you to have a website... ( some may expect you to do it remotely ) ..it has to represent well.. I have even seen people get out and hand out information packages to fellow businesses about their business with a business card and pamplet explaining their services and what they do... Even joining and listing in the local Chamber of Commerce..Retail area in this 'Office' can bring in a lot of customer flow as well... people like to look around.. ( security note ).. Gaming.. grabs the kid's interest... ( also creates more rotating overhead...)

The basis of your clientelle is going to be people who have no clue, older people, young teenagers, first time computer users, and people who simply do not have the time.. Some may not even realize something is wrong.. If its affordable and it actually accomplishes what they need or want.. then some will return for regular maintenance.. as time progresses... return customers and the residual result will be the basis or your rotating operational finances.. all others are fluctuations.... SO you have to run your numbers and collect the data efficiently to stay on top and not fail.. Even more blind is when you have the money to do it yourself.. and you invest too much into something.. which has no life cycle.. or is unstable because of other radical factors..

Problem is there are usually a ton of people who do this.. and that many more who do it freelance.. and many more who simply go to that guy who knows what to do... or figure it out on their own..

Last but not least you need a fall-out plan of action on how to recover.. such as collateral... way to sell or liquidate your assets.. the last thing you want to do is be paying interest, on the interest on the the loan.. that you took out before you paid off the loan to get started.. Especially in a rocky economy... in the place I live.. it would simply be suicidal to open a business... So I think it would be a consideration of real factors you can observe yourself in the business environment your in.. and a measure of the aggressive nature of it as well.. in other words how hard will it get with the other businesses in the area.. and will the services offered compete with something in the immediate area... and how big of a threat would it be.. location is important.. especially for the targeted demographic when it comes to marketing yourself..

All this IMO.. only.. sounds about right... sounds wrong.. someone please correct me..

Last but not least we have to realize that OSes and systems are changing... many of the old repairs and issues that were money makers 10 years ago.. are now designed out of the systems.. and in some cases they are even deigned to fix themselves.. so you have to have a real grasp on how far this may actually take you and what direction you will expand to/go in with a basis of operation finances being able to catapult you in that direction ( how smart will it be )... or it my stagnate for a few years ( simply be something that has very little return with no growth or basis for progress ) and/or slow to a trickle which eventually gets you in trouble because we wait and hope.... and always wait until after the fact to change...

Many things to know/consider before throwing yourself under the wheel..

[Brrownie]

Woooo!. Nice essay Heath!..:P well said...;)

[toyo]

DKT, amazing answer. There's no place on earth like India... oh, wait! there is... and it's Romania. Same business model here. Heath, really wanted to read your post, but man is it long :) Maybe later...

[LeetPirate]

Everything is worth a try before giving up, except suicide. :P

Give it your best shot! Computer repairs you can't really lose because you are not investing in any parts, if you need a part just walk by the cheapest shop in your area and buy or send the clients to buy their own parts. Either way you set your price for repairs and be sure they pay you else you may need to buy a shotgun.

Open a home office and just install a sign or banner out front. Well in my country I don't install any signs out front else they will want to tax my house as commercial instead of residential so I'm avoiding taxes and saving money.

[DKT27]

@toyo: If you are a Gujarati in Mumbai, you can make business out of a single stone. :D

[Lite]

Word of mouth is the best form of advertising, be prepared to "ride it out" - it may take some time to build up a stable company.

All the best ;)