Starting a computer business and need some advice please.

[iPwn]

Hey All,
I live in a small town and would like to start a computer repair/optimization business out of my house to make that extra scrilla. I live in an untapped market... there's no competition but I don't want to screw my customers either. I have some questions for those of you out there who are successfull at this.

1. What services do you offer and how much do you charge?
I was thinking of the following
A. Computer speed optimization: $25
B. Custom computer building: $150
C. Data backup and reformat: $75
D. Computer networking and file sharing: $100
E. Upgrading the Operating System: $50

2. What other services do you suggest?
3. What about your business model would you change if you could?

 

[dude_56013]

PM sent with my personal PC repair business site.

I would be fair on your prices. Be sure to beat GeekSquad by 50 or 75%. It'll draw a lot more people in. The one thing I would say is that you almost NEED to do customer computers based on a percentage markup of the total build cost. The customer doesn't need to know this percent or how you calculate the total estimation. The reason I say this is support. If something goes wrong and your customers is reaming your ass out, you have that money in your pocket to right the situation. If it's a cheaper computer, you make less money because if something goes kaput the part(s) is cheaper to replace. If it's a more spendy computer, well, you can figure the rest out from there. If I build someone a $2,000 computer, I'm sure as hell charging them more than $150. I learned the first time around when I did that. They expect all kinds of phone support and free service. You should give this to them for the first couple weeks after a build. You use that extra cash padding to make up for your time.

Well. That's how I run MY business, anyways. I'd like to think I'm a pretty decent owner.

 

[iPwn]

Here's what I have for my ad so far that I'm going to post around town.

Obviously I couldn't scroll down with the screen shot but you get the idea, I have my number on the bottom of the ad in those little pull tab style cutouts. I also mention phone support and custom built PC's. I think that I'm going to ask my neighbor, who's lived here for a while, if he would let me fix his for free and then him advertise word of mouth.

 

[bullzi]

Looks good. Just separate yourself from the rest.

Treat your customers personally, as I'm sure you would. GeekSquad treats their customers like numbers, they lie to them and feed them BS to get their money.

Just be upfront and honest, it'll go a LONG way with word of mouth.

I've been building a computer repair shop here in Topeka for about 2 years now with a friend of mine, we started with 1-3 computers a week 2 years ago, we're now up to 1-3 computers a day coming in.

 

[iPwn]

I removed the home networking line from the ad and added a line for spyware / virus removal and protection. Any other thoughts?

 

[dude_56013]

Un-center everything. First rule of design. Never. Ever. Ever center text unless you have a damn good reason to. Shoot. Right align it. See how it looks. Use white space and catch people's attention.

 

[gmcrepair]

Un-center everything. First rule of design. Never. Ever. Ever center text unless you have a damn good reason to. Shoot. Right align it. See how it looks. Use white space and catch people's attention.

No not really. My site has some centred information.- nobody's complained , so have my local adverts.
I still gets lots of business.


As for the prices there right because you need to start with a low fee's in order to get business, when you start to get busier you then raise your fee's.

 

[jmacavali]

Would it be better to charge by the hour? That way you don't charge someone who's problem is a 20 minute fix the same as someone where you end up spending 60+ minutes (with a minimum of 1/2 hour charge)?

 

[01001010]

Un-center everything. First rule of design. Never. Ever. Ever center text unless you have a damn good reason to. Shoot. Right align it. See how it looks. Use white space and catch people's attention.

No not really. My site has some centred information.- nobody's complained , so have my local adverts.
I still gets lots of business.

I don't know, it really depends. I think it's fine to center short sentences - but if it's a paragraph, it's definitely a good idea to align the text to the right. It's easier to read that way.

 

[gmcrepair]

I don't know, it really depends. I think it's fine to center short sentences - but if it's a paragraph, it's definitely a good idea to align the text to the right. It's easier to read that way.

Yer I agreed.
I just have the odd titles centred.