How much for PC Repair.

dragon934

AzimScot wrote: »

I have been doing this on the side and find it a quick way to make some extra cash and I am always looking at ways I can speed up the recovery. 1 way if the customer agrees I can connect to there computer remotly from my home laptop and fix there computer even when there not home or inconvienent time as long as there computer is left switched on, which I think many of us including me do anyway all day.

Anyone had their pc/laptop or printers etc fixed by PC world? I heard some horror stories with them that they charge per problem and sometimes take 4 weeks etc.

Teamviewer 5 be your friend

Lil306

weegie.geek wrote: »

Hosting has even smaller margins, unless you're looking at doing managed hosting. The budget end of the hosting market is pretty saturated, especially VPS stuff. Take a look at WHT, Digitapoint, LowEndBox etc. 5 quid a month for 512MB/20GB/1TB is insane.

Hosting has just an industry around PC repairs, you get the good ones and the "experts" who go overnight.....

Thats why I'm finding my "niche". I'm not just going straight into it. Although VPS is where it's at now, I don't think the budget or high end would be profitable, I'm doing a lot of research first before I go down this route, like everything else it's going to be a hobby before I commit full time because then I can find out what's wanted

Richie, good notes on your friend, persistance and confidence proved them right by looks of it

Snooze

I used to do PC fixing a long time ago but the hassle just wasn't worth it. As someone else said, you become everyone's best friend once word gets round that you can fix stuff and while that is good for business, it doesn't help you on a "friends" level as everyone wants stuff doing as favours for no monies.

If you could keep your customer base solely as grannies that just need crap clean up then it'd be a winner, but the BSOD and hardware-type faults can take aeons to fix and cost you far more in time than what you'd charge them. The customer doesn't care that you've had to replace x, y and z components - all they're bothered about is getting their PC back in full working order for the £x that you agreed. The fact it's taken you 8 hours instead of 1 is irrelevant to them.

Richie's post has got it spot on really - start off as a hobby and charge cheapest monies you can get away with in order to get the "I know someone who can fix that and he's really cheap" word round. Once you establish that then you can start looking at it as a full time business and the prices you charge won't matter as much (within reason) because you've already got a proven track record of being good at what you do.

If you do decide to do it, definitely follow the advice above and don't do home visits for fixing. Get them to bring it to you or if they've no transport and live within a reasonable distance pick the machine up yourself as the word-of-mouth will far outweigh your travelling costs in the long run. There's nothing worse than being in someone elses house and having them breath down your neck telling you what they've done already and asking questions while you're trying to concentrate on diagnosing/fixing.

Also think about knocking up some business cards or flyers and spending a couple of hours dropping them off round your estate. Put your address on it and a landline number and I'll guarantee you'll get some business that way. By putting your address on it people can see you are local which strangely has a bit of a "well he only lives in the next street so he must be alright" effect, and you'll also get some "I was just passing and thought I'd give you a knock.... this is the problem I've got..... the machine is in the car" business too. A landline number is always a good idea as people don't like ringing mobile numbers due to cost and the anonymity of them; also it quickly gets costly for them when going into detail describing the problem they've got. You don't have to put your real landline number - you can get a free one from sipgate and then buy yourself a cheap SIP phone or use something like X-Lite to handle the calls. Even though it's not actually a physical landline number, the customer doesn't know that and it won't cost you anything but could bring you in more business.



PS. Richie if you're still in the business I might have a little job for you if you're interested?

aarrgghh

You could set up in the North Yorkshire coast area. Scarborough, Whitby, Filey, Bridlington. Helpers within 30 miles: ZERO
There's an opportunity.

dragon934

aarrgghh wrote: »

You could set up in the North Yorkshire coast area. Scarborough, Whitby, Filey, Bridlington. Helpers within 30 miles: ZERO
There's an opportunity.

Maybe there's nobody to fix tech in north yorkshire in the same way there are no boat builders in the desert! Cue flat caps and hovis music:rotfl:

Spank

dragon934 wrote: »

Maybe there's nobody to fix tech in north yorkshire in the same way there are no boat builders in the desert! Cue flat caps and hovis music:rotfl:

Not quite right, were just 2 cheap to pay anybody to fix things:j

slick123_2

Well, there are some good tips. I'm in the same position...thinking of going down the PC/Laptop repair path. Done some programming for a while but didn't enjoy that (too many headaches lol).Been doing all sorts of repairs and upgrades for friends, family etc for a number of years, even had a few referrals and I know about the problem of pricing. I've recently been made redundant and took the opportunity to do the A+ which gives me confidence. I am fortunate enough not to have to make a full time income and can afford to start at an gentle pace but living where I live (66-30 mile radious) I suspect that as soon as the word gets out I may be a little busy for a while which is a good thing...I think lol. Will watch this closely and good luck!

slick123_2

Absolutely spot on Snooze...people breathing down your neck. I know exactly what you mean thats why I usually insist on taking the PC away...can sort it in peace and concentrate on the job in hand.