Should I start a computer repair buisness???

I'm having very serious thoughts about starting my own computer repair business. I just finished college and don't really know what I want to do with my life. I was thinking of going to grad school for my masters in counseling or my Phd in social psychology.

But I think about how over my lifetime the only thing I have made money with is computer repair. I have been doing repairs for a while now just off greigslist. I am incredibly motivated and I have no major financial responsibilities. So there is no reason why I shouldn't try jumping in.

I have been writing up a business plan and I think it would be better to focus on repairs considering people aren't buying computers much right now. Once I get a theme and a business name I plan on starting to get my cards out there and flyer's.

My dad owns a building where 10,000 cars drive by every day so eventually I would like to get a office there. But if I did that I would need to hire someone else, which I'm nervous about and don't know if i'll ever even get to that point.

So thanks for reading guys I'll leave it at that. Any advice? Should I just dive into it and get out there and promote? Or should I go conservative and non threatening grad school?

Thanks!

 

You do not say where you are but the first thing is to register for taxes, this is not only a legal liability but it will help you offset some of your start up and running costs.
Secondly set out your business plan and define exactly what it is you want to do,also it would not be a bad idea to go to the bank and try to establish a line of credit to your business account(you will need to buy spares)

Remember to assess your costs, Office rental/electric/heating/ and of course how much you intend to pay yourself (the bank manager will not entertain your plan without this)

Check out where you can locate your spares, not always the cheapest but the most reliable (remember your customers will rely on you and you are just as good as your reputation)

Do not go overboard with your workshop (start small) and if at a later date you find it is not viable you are not stuck with a lot of expensive equipment that you don't want.

Finally decide if you want to commit the amount of time needed to keep your customers happy (it's not 9 to 5 until l you are established)

GOOD LUCK

 

You should start freelance to see if you can even get business. if you grow to the point where you have more than you can handle yourself, thats a good sign of good business. Then you may want to actually get a friend to help you. If you continue to grow, then start a legit business.

People can buy new computers for $400 now. You cant charge people 60/hour to "repair" stuff anymore. Especially if their computer is old enough to where they may want to just buy new for $200 more than what you'd charge to fix their old one.

Also, like Bill just said. If you dive in to starting a legit business, you will have bills to pay. With no adequate income, you will lose money.

Go to school dude. If you like computers and want to start a business, dont only focus on simple computer repair. Get a degree in something; programming, web development, networking, something you can profit from freelance. You need to think a head realistically.

Good luck.

 

You can't charge people 60/hour to "repair" stuff anymore.

Where i live they are at 84/hour right now..... So i guess they can still charge you a arm and a leg.....

 

Hard for me to believe people actually pay those kind of prices for computer repair.

 

With today's economy PC repairs are costly and not alot of people can afford them. Like KingSteve said if it's an old PC that's only worth 300 and is going to cost 200 to fix it your better off buying a new computer.

With the costs involved you have to change people $70/hour or more to stay in business and pay bills etc.

That's just my opinion

 

this site is a valuable source for nayone interested in starting and running thier own pc repair business.
They have repair tools of the week, mostly freeware
and much more...

http://www.technibble.com/

 

Yeah in my area its 90 some dollars an hour and if needed you pay for cost of items and his labor.. But basically 2"real shops" here.