Suggestions for a PC Home Tech Support Business? 165
RPGonAS400 asks: "I want to start my own small business in the evening and on weekends (after my day job) going into peoples homes for PC tech support. There has to be a need for this — I help enough friends out with their PC problems. I live in an area that has roughly 50,000+ people within 15 minutes of my home. The best business oriented tech support in our area charges $95/hour for hardware repair and $135/hour for software support. Options for home based PCs are quite limited here. Geek Squad (yuk!) charges outrageous prices. I am not sure what I will charge but I plan on having a minimum charge and then only charge for actual work done. If I have to learn how to fix something I either won't take the job or else not charge for my learning time. I am looking for suggestions for lots of things. Namely, rates, liability, insurance, equipment needed, waiver forms, tax issues, incorporation, local paper advertising, web site, etc. As you probably guessed, I have always been an employee and this is my first venture into small business. Thanks."
Bootstrapping start (Score:4, Insightful)
Give an estimate of time, and negotiate the charges up front for your first 10-20 customers. Use this data to decide on a pricing scheme that is fair to you, and that customers are willing to pay. Don't sell yourself too cheap, I'm thinking $30 an hour sounds reasonable.
Be professional (courteous, stand up straight, make eye contact and talk slower, lower and more relaxed). Tuck in your shirt. Be on time. Even if you charge a little bit more, these little things make all the difference, and most people will pay for it, as good help is hard to find. Only keep good customers, who treat you right and pay you well. Good luck.
If you must.. (Score:4, Insightful)
For equipment, having an assortment of liveCDs is rather handy. Having a computer you can pull an HD and stick into to make offline scans is also very handy but bulky. Can usually get by with a small assortment of tools, you'll figure out what you need quickly. There generally isn't enough reason to buy some of the more esoteric (and expensive tools) if you're doing this part-time. Instead, see if you can form relationships with people in the area who are specialists.
Be prepared to walk away if you find yourself stressed. Working in home, you're going to run into everything. I personally couldn't stand the smoker or cat houses myself. Be prepared to make recommendations which will be forgotten before you leave the site. Be prepared for bounced checks. Plan on a budget for advertising. Figure out how many visits you can make a week. SCHEDULE ONLY THAT MANY. Do not "emergency? Oh, I'll shoe horn you in." The busier you are, the more most people are willing to wait (if you're any good).
Good luck. Don't burn out. Life is too short.
It's a common enough question (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm not dragging your idea down at all - while many have considered it, few bother doing it for real simply because of the effort and hassle any such enterprise requires to get going. If you have the impetus and the business sense to do so, you have my best wishes.
However, for my part, the main reason I decided against doing such a thing (and there is a demand) is because I pride myself in all of my work, and am loath to take on a job that I'm not confident I can complete to a satisfactory level. My knowledge of home-PC hardware is excellent (as is that of so many other people), and I can cope with most problems M$ throws at a box. However, if I were to come up against something I'd never encountered before, I would worry about being able to sort it out. If it meant taking someone's box home for 3 days, not being able to fix it on the first night, having a prior commitment on the second, and finally deciding on the third that it was something beyond my ken, I would feel incredibly guilty about having taken on the job in the first place. Of course I wouldn't charge, but that's not much consolation to the poor guy who's been without his PC for several days.
If you feel confident that you can commit enough time to the business (evenings and weekends fill up surprisingly quickly), that it won't significantly interfere with your work or personal life, and that you have the technical experience to deal with almost any problem a punter throws your way - however poorly specified - then go for it. Just don't expect to enjoy it as much as you might hope to... ;-)
It doesn't sound like you are too ready. (Score:4, Insightful)
I am not sure what I will charge but I plan on having a minimum charge and then only charge for actual work done.
So if someone calls 15 minutes away it takes you 15 minutes to get there and 15 minutes back. So that is 1/2 hour so assume you are charging $60 an hour, so that is $30 in lost profit. Just for getting to the place. And assume you get there and they need a new part that you don't have you will have to go to the store get the part and sell it back to them at cost and that takes an other hour so that is an additional $60 of lost profit. Assuming that it takes you 1/2 hour to diagnose the problem and 1/2 hour to fix it. You made $60 in 2 1/2 hours so that is actually $20 an hour.
But wait there is more!
There is the cost of taxes/insurence advertising telephone and infrastructure cost....
Now you at $10 - $15 an hour. I would say don't quit your day job. There is a reason the prices are so high for the other people in the area or at least for then ones that are still in business. That need to charge (Directly/Indirectly) for non actual work because there are expenses that don't care if you are actually working or not. Even though you are trying to run an honest business there will be people who still don't see things the same way they will go $60 an hour is way to high, and that you are trying to rip then off. And they will say that you over charged them for the emergency replacement Harddrive because they saw the same one on ebay for cheaper. Then there is the problem that you miss diagnosed the system, say it was bad RAM but you reinstalled the OS because you though windows got corrupted. Customers espectilly home ones are the worse.
You're going about this the wrong way. (Score:5, Insightful)
A friend of mine gave me some advice after I explained my failed business to him. He is a highly intelligent and successful businessman. He told me that my problem was that I had the employee mentality. What that meant was that I was still the employee although I was the manager, the owner of the business, I still acted like the employee. I didn't manage my resouces well. I stayed long at client's offices and homes because I wanted to 'do my best'. While that might have been well intentioned, what really happened was that I looked incompetent to the lay-person, fumbling around for hours fixing their problems.
Invest, invest, invest. Be professional. Have a separate office for your business. Don't play there (too much). Your office isn't a playground, it's a place to do work. If you have your 360 on your desk, you'll play your 360. If you start best practices now, you won't need to instill them later into future employees.
Get an account with a distributor to sell products. That being said, don't sell products retail. If you sell products retail, you'll lose money. You can't compete with Dell and CompUSA. Sell your services. THey're already paid for, and it cost dollars a day to replenish them. Your brain is your greatest asset in a service economy. Use the products as added value and to 'up-sell' IF you can be an effective salesperson. Say you charge more to offer local services with great service. Don't cut into our profit by selling goods below cost.
Research! Know your clientelle. Know your price range before you set it. Don't set it too high, but NEVER sell it too low.
I've got lots more info, but not more time. Good luck. YOu can make it successful if you want to. By the way. You've done a good job recognizing what your competitors do not offer. Find out what your competitors offer that makes them successful.
You will hate yourself if you do this (Score:5, Insightful)
I did this for a while. You will encounter (a) people too dumb to learn not to click "Sure, infect my machine" on every prompt; (b) people who think that $10.00 / hr is about the right wage for your service, (c) Packard Bell and WebTV boxes that people want to 'upgrade' so they can see the latest porn sites (and other technical impossibilities), (d) most insides of machines filled with dust monsters and cat hair; worst if it comes from a smoker's house, and (e) people who bounce checks, revert credit card charges, etc. People don't like paying someone younger than them, and not in a business suit, more than they make per hour.
With the price of an e-machines or low-end Dell, it doesn't take much in the way of billable hours to make it cheaper to just throw out the old machine and buy a new one. That's now what I council people to do. And as for training, if you spend a couple of hours walking them thru a 'Dummies' book, and telling them what a wicked world we live in (scammers, phishers, etc.) then you will have covered 90% of things.
Most people have one task they really want to do on the PC - one app that they want to know well (geneology, pr0n, games, PrintMaker, whatever). Get this one app working well and you are good to go - but often it is an old, old version that won't run on anything newer than a 486 / Win 3.1; and the new version is unavailable or changed so much they no longer know how to use it. And this is your fault of course. Blame the messenger is alive and well.
On the bright side, I made some good contacts doing this and still help out a couple of small businesses on the side, but not for pay, instead for trade. There is a body shop that owes me some free work on my car. They are grateful to see me when I can make it there, whereas if I was getting paid by the hour to clean Bondo out of their machines, upgrade software, and exchange fishing stories, they would (right or wrong) start to resent paying for how long it took.
In short, this is a job from hell because people with older broken PCs are mostly cheap and dumb. Sorry, but anyone who has tried this will say the same thing; some are nice guys and just ignorant but they are the exception. There is a reason the shops charge so much, it's easier to put up with someone who breaks open a 3.5" floppy and puts the inside disk on the CD tray at $95/hr - and the cheapest of the lusers will be driven away.
Sorry to burst your bubble but after 3 months you will be wondering what you've gotten yourself into and after a year you will HATE hearing the phone ring. Been there, done that, still have the T-shirt.
Suggestions (Score:4, Insightful)
-Liability Insurance
-Establish relationships with at least three suppliers and check prices. Being that you're a little fish, they won't save you any money on expensive components, but can save you quite a bit on little things.
-Keep business and personal purchases SEPERATE.
-Do not underprice your services
-Do not purchase inventory before you need it
-Do not build systems for people no matter how much they beg. When a customer screws up a Dell, it's becuase they (the customer) screwed it up; if they screw up a system that you built, it's because it wasn't a Dell.
My tried and true advice (Score:3, Insightful)
My entire "empire" started with one man who found my resume on a job hunting website. He cold called me and asked if I'd be interested in fixing his computer. He lived right nearby so I happily accepted his invitation. He was so pleased with me that he recommended me to several friends. Those friends recommended me to their friends. Now I get between 0 and 5 repair jobs per month.
I started off charging $20 for the first hour and $10 for subsequent hours. This was my rate while I was in college. Before post-grad I bumped my rates up to $30 for the first and $20 for subsequent hours. Now I charge $40 for the first hour and $20 for subsequent half hours. I give my original clients a discount at $30/h, and sometimes they give me an unsolicited bonus for doing such a good job. One client mailed me a card with $20 inside, saying that I'd helped improve his life!
Most of my clients are elderly and this is the demographic I recommend you shoot for. The elderly tend to have a lot of free time and, while they may be apprehensive about computers at first, are rather sharp and have actually taught this 20+ year computing veteran a thing or two. They are also very pleasant to work with since they are talkative and apt to listen to your sensible advice. They sit with me while I do repairs and are genuinely interested in what I'm doing, how I learned it, and how they can avoid the same troubles in the future.
Find some retirement communities and apply to advertise in their newsletters. Offer a discount for the first consultation and reward them for referrals. Be observative and insightful while you work and recommend software you think they'd enjoy (Picasa always gets oohs and aahs, and Skype's free North American calling is irresistable - bring a cheap headset with you in case they want to buy it!). Remember, the more interested they are in their comptuers, the more often they'll break them!
Despite what many people seem to be telling you, scheduling is a breeze when you repair computers on the side. Your clients will usually ask you when you can come. Feel like sleeping until noon on Saturday? Tell them you're available at 2:00. Got a tiring work week at work ahead of you? Tell them you're booked solid until next week but you'll cancel one of your engagements just for them. You are in control so make appointments whenever you feel like it, but keep the appointment! Everyone has been inconvenienced and jaded by the cable or phone company and Dell so people are VERY appreciative when you give a definite time and show up on schedule!
Finally, be nice! Strive to be the kind of person your clients enjoy welcoming into their homes. Make smalltalk, ask them how they are, complement their homes, take off your shoes, pet their kitties, and accept their generous offers for drinks or snacks. It's a challenging and fun job so have a good time!
Insurance/Bonding? (Score:3, Insightful)
One concern I have not seen addressed is how to cover liability for going into someone else's home/business and mucking about with their hardware and other property-based liabilities. I've noted plenty of the "be sure to back up their files" type suggestions, but is there any insurance or bonding specific advice that someone may offer?
Also, are there any good strategies out there for establishing vendor (eg. Linksys etc.) wholesaler relationships if you're a small fry? Their (and others) reseller criteria online doesn't look promising...
Re:Bootstrapping start (Score:3, Insightful)
And you need to be able to save for the slow times. They $30 sysadmin doesn't need to worry about that either
Amen! (Score:3, Insightful)
But since we sold the hardware suddenly we became their lifeline. Anything that went wrong with their computers, they called us. How to use a mouse, how to format a floppy disk. It got really annoying.
I'm glad I no longer do that, work for a big company now and can tell people to call the help desk.
I made the mistake once of helping a guy I knew who owned a little company that sold software and training to realtors. They wanted something more, and so he volunteered to sell them a server and desktops. Oh my fricking lord, what a fucking mess. He charged $2,000 per desktop, and then bought them $500 emachines. I felt so bad for them. Plus he bounced a $500 check on me.
Similar to your own experience, I've had many a time where a coworker will ask me about a computer they have at home. They want to do something with it, blah blah blah. Oh yeah, it's a 200 Mhz Pentium-II, but they want to be able to run XP on it and have their kids play modern games.
I'm always having to tell them to scrap it and buy a new one.
I no longer will help people with their computer problems. I'll help my parents, and that's it. I'll give friends advice on what to buy, but won't help them install.
It's way too painful.
If I tried to start a company, I agree. It'd be $100/hour minimum. And that would be to keep the non-serious customers away.
Re:You're going about this the wrong way. (Score:2, Insightful)
You could not possibly be more right about this. A wise person (my father) once mused to me that he had wished someone had told him earlier that the only way to make money is to have people working for you, not the other way around. Another wise person who achieved much success in business once advised me that, "A dollar made for yourself is better than two dollars made for somebody else." Very important lessons.
This is going to make things difficult. I'm not saying give up your dreams, don't get me wrong. I'm just saying that your should recognize this as a hurdle, and overcome it. When I quit my day job cold turkey to start my first business (software architecture consulting), the first person I secured buy-in from was my wife. Quitting cold turkey is ballsy, and it nearly broke us financially. That being said, I can't possibly quantify the value to you of having her suggest avenues for marketing, helping me network, and encouraging me, instead of asking, "Why can't we turn up the heat? Why can't we go out to dinner some times?" etc. Now, she doesn't have to work anymore. Not sure why she does. But hey, more power to her.
Oh yeah, your kids. Remember you've got a lot of college educations coming up. It might be worth an hour of somebody's time to structure your financials to maximize your financial aid eligibility.
This was the best part of your whole post. Do not underestimate what you just did. What did you do? You started.
That is the biggest obstacle I see people face when they start businesses. Actually starting. Funny, huh? You just got out there, you got your first client. I'd say you lost money on the deal, but you got some great education. What did you learn?
Having a little $40/hr biz is a great short term goal, but what is your long-term goal? How many of these tech support monkeys who post on slashdot are you going to have working for you? By when? Can you fix more than one machine at a time? As an intern building machines in the build room of the company that I worked for, I had 4 going at once. How are you going to ramp up this business so it starts making some real money?