I am starting a pc repair business. This is not meant to be a means of supporting myself, although I wouldn't mind if it turned into that. Right now, I would just like to learn more about pc's(I do have enough experience to repair them) and get experience with different kinds of pc problems. I would also like to earn a little extra income. This is going to be a "see how it goes" thing. Right now, I am not planning on making a lot of money, just not losing any.

I have already read up on the negative aspects of having your own pc repair business. But I believe my attitude of at first wanting to learn and just making a little money will serve me well. I have already read the book "Start Your Own Computer Business, the Unembellished Guide" by Morris Rosenthal. It has a lot of good tips, but of course it can't replace experience.

So far I have a dba license. Here some things I am looking for comments on:

1. Who do I get replacement parts from for maintenance on customer pc's? By mail, such as Newegg, or a place like Fry's or Best Buy? Or all three?

2. What kind of rates should I charge?
I am currently thinking $50/hour in home and $35/hour at my shop(garage). I probably need to raise these a little. I have noticed that some places like Best Buy charge a set fee for certain tasks(such as virus removal) but charge by the hour for troubleshooting. I live in the Dallas area.

3. When you buy and install a replacement part(i.e. modem), do you mark up the part's cost or do you charge what you paid?

I'll probably think of more questions later. Your responses would be appreciated.

Thanks.

You want to get a business license and setup an account with someone where you can get reseller rates. Buying retail from best buy or web stores will cause you to have too much markup plus sales tax and such. It costs very little to get a business license and then you find a small distributer or another reseller who will let you sign up with a reseller license for a lesser price. You might as well build and sell new machines as well.

Try to narrow your business. Personally, I supplement my regular job with contract work. I won't do individuals unless they are on my list. Those began with one family who paid me very well, and before you know it, I was kind of on retainer. They gave my number to their friends, who also paid nicely. I only see a few people, but I can easily make a couple hundred for an hour or two of work. Sometimes more. On the down side, I got them because I am willing to work with them kind of on-call. Even if their kids call, I work with them. I worked a week ago at the first families house, she called a 7pm for help. I drove up that a.m. and did my thing. 45 minutes or so. It was simple, and they had always paid well in the past, so I wasn't planning to charge them. She told me to charge her anyway, so I said 10 dollars(I don't need the money, and they've always been good). So she wrote the check for 100. She does it every time, so I know there is no point in arguing.

Rock on!! Don't give up!!

You can't buy from these and expect to make a buck as they are your competition. You need to find a place that will set up a vendor account for you. That usually requires a tax id. In other words, you have to be a legit business.
I checked around at what local shops where charging and set a much lower rate for any type of work from hardware install/upgrade to networking. I don't invest anything unless it's coming right back real soon. Kinda low budget but also low pressure.
Do yourself a favor and don't borrow money to get started as the interest will eat up the profits.

Go for it! and good luck.
rc

I'm kinda in the same boat as Alvis. I've been thinking alot lately about starting my own PC Repair business, but I just don't know where to start. I also would like to try to start small and hopefully it will grow into a profitable business.

A business license & a tax ID is a start. I'll check into that.

Thanks & good luck to you Alvis

Bubba169

anks for all the great feedback. I don't doubt my ability to fix a pc or to solve a problem, what I am lacking is experience in charging people for my work. I want to be fair, but I also don't want to rip myself off.

I have a question on a job I might me offered. It involves setting up a network so that three computers can use the same printer. Two of the machines are laptops and one is a desktop. Currently, there is no network set up. My suggestion to them will be to set up a wireless network as I really don't want to wire the house and I think it would end up costing them more than going wireless. Incidentally, the client does not have broadband they are sharing with all three machines so that is why they don't have a network. I think they will need a wap/router, 2 pcmcia wifi cards(for the laptops) and a pci wifi card for the desktop. (I am open to suggestion for different equipment set ups.)

Here are the prices I am thinking of charging(labor only, doesn't include parts costs):

Wireless LAN Access Point Hub $50.00
Wireless PC Card Installation (per system) $50.00
(This is from my tentative price list.)

Based on these prices, would you charge $200 in all(3x$50 for each pc card and 1x$50 for the wap/router) ?

Or would you cut them a slight discount because of setting it up all at one time?

I know that most of this I am just going to have to learn from experience. To reiterate, I would also like to be fair, yet also not rip myself off.

Edited:

As someone pointed out to me, I won't need a wifi card for one of the machines if I connect it to the wap/router via a cable, thus saving them $50 in labor plus however much in parts.

I just charge by the hour plus parts. Doesn't matter what I'm doing, I have an hourly rate. If I get all three done in an hour good for them. Actually, the customer almost always has something else that needs doing and they give me an "Oh by-the-way...". That's ok with me as it adds up.

I do consulting for small businesses on the side. This works out for them because I have enterprise class experience and i get to make some extra flow.

I charge $100 per hour for anything server/network related. I charge $40-$50 per hour for desktop fixes/installs/etc.

I charge $100 per hour to make databases for customer too. That's not bad really, because most small businesses don't need huge databases.

Peace,
Whitehat