Any tips before i go into this?

T

TopGun

Gawd
Joined
Jan 22, 2005
Messages
766
I've been doing odd computer jobs for people for a couple years and was thinking
of throwing some flyers up and get the whole word of mouth thing started in my town.
There's a Mom and Pop style computer shop that overcharges and most of the time doesn't even fix the problem, They're also lost in the newer technology considering they use
p4 2.0's with mx 4000's as there "Lightning fast gaming computers".

So I was thinking of starting out with reinstalls and spyware removal but not hardware
until I get a good reputation. Would it be fine to order say a motherboard replacement from Newegg?, What if I get it and it's DOA? What would I tell the customer? BTW this wouldn't be a shop just something where people drop there pc's off here to be cleaned, reinstalled, etc.. I'm only 16.

-Thanks
TopGun
 
I want to do something similar in my town as well. I'm 16 also lol. Anyone have any suggestions?
 
Go try to get an a+ cert. Even if you dont learn anything, it makes you sound credible on paper.

Also, always dress nicely, try to have a "uniform" if you can, like always wear a red polo and khakis when you do work for instance.

Make sure to keep track of all of your earnings and expenses in case the IRS swings by for a drink.

Also, make sure to always use proper grammar and speech, helps make you sound professional.

Lastly, youl want to write up a liability form in which you indicate the condition of the pc, along with any extra cords, peripherals, hardware inside, cdroms, and anything else you can describe about it, and have the customer read this and sign it. This protects you in case the customer thinks you did something to the pc.


As for pricing and whatnot, setup a hourly labor rate and classify each kind of typical service into tiers
Example:

Labor: $25 an hour

Tier 1 jobs: $50, 2 hours
Spyware/virus removal
Basic Software installation (ms office, etc)
Email Config

Tier 2: $75, 3 Hours
Networking setup (wifi, etc)
Bad viruses/corrupt software
OS upgrades
Modem installs
NIC or other minor hardware addins

Tier 3 $125, 4+ hours
Wipe and reload
Hardware trouble shoot and repair (motherboard, videocard, etc) + price of hardware
Data Recovery

Thats the way a lot of labor based services work, and its a good system.

EDIT:
Last thing, and this is VERY important.

Buy an old pc and shove as much hard drive space in it as you can afford, and anytime you work on anyones pc, make a ghost backup!
You never know what might happen. And then, if their OS nukes itself, you can sell them data recovery.

Just make sure that they under stand that computers are very sensitive, and that you arent responsible for data loss, and let them know that you always make backups and that they can opt out if they dont want their stuff on your pc.
 
What thedintedcan said, 2x. Only I want to add this; Make sure the user understands that you warrenty the work YOU did. What commonly happens is you'll touch a system ( clean up IE or some such ), then next week the monitor dies. If you don't make it absolutely clear what you are doing and what you are responsible for, users/customers will blame you for this event.

Get everything in writing with the customer up front. Further, if you can't fix a problem, don't break it worse than it already is. Give the customer their machine back in the state you took it in. Don't be afraid to wipe and reload though, as windows can fuck itself over bad enough that it's cheaper labor wise to nuke the OS and reinstall the apps.

That's all I thought of as I read the thread. Be professional, even if the customers aren't. And document EVERYTHING. When you sit down to a system, start a log for that system ( time stamps +++ ). Document everything you do.
 
If I was to make a "contract?" stating that I warranty the work I do and have a section to
write in what came with the computer, etc.. Would that be something I could use if they tried
to blame say a motherboard dying because of a windows reinstall?
 
TopGun said:
If I was to make a "contract?" stating that I warranty the work I do and have a section to
write in what came with the computer, etc.. Would that be something I could use if they tried
to blame say a motherboard dying because of a windows reinstall?
Click to expand...

Make sure that your state that your arent responsible for hardware failures post repair. Computer hardware has warranties for this reason
 
You also need to put in your contract that you will not be responsible for any software that is not propperly licenced. Never install any software that the customer does not have a key for unless it is known good freeware.

Set a date for how long you will keep backups and delete them.
Respect the privacy of the customer and put that in your contract. Do not go snooping.

Hard drive images work well for backups. Ultimate boot disk has a good set of utilities that can help you out. This is a link to the windows version. http://www.ubcd4win.com/
 
I have been doing residential based support for several years now. I am 20, in my second year of college, and just got my A+ certification. My business has all been through word of mouth. My customers continually refer me to their friends, family, etc. This summer, I spent most of my time on a large commercial cabling job, where I rewired an entire building for voice and data. My advice is to start small, keep track of everything, and always have resources in case you don't know how to do something.
 
don't you need insurance for this kind of thing? I mean if some one decides to blame you for loss of data and therefore loss of earnings you will be in big trouble. Also the ghost image of peoples drives is ok as long as they know you are doing it and that you don't keep the data for any longer then is deemed applicable.

you must get written permission to do any work and have a water tight contract for the work you do or people will take you to the cleaners.
 
I would not make a backup of any user data unless they specifically authorize it. Should you not inform them ahead of time and they find out, you're done.
 
Would it be fine to order say a motherboard replacement from Newegg?, What if I get it and it's DOA? What would I tell the customer?
Click to expand...

This is the part I hate. What you're doing is all going to be word of mouth. Sure, you'll put some flyers out, but your real business will be from word of mouth. So you really need to bend over backwards and make your customers happy.

When you replace a piece of hardware and it goes bad a month after you installed it, the customer doesn't understand that you aren't providing the warranty and sometimes wants you to replace it instantly. So you really need to make sure they understand up front that you are ordering the parts on their behalf, and you are installing them and charging for labor.

Quite often, I would end up ordering the hardware for my customers. If I have to purchase it on my credit card, I get the money up front and charge a little more for the product for my troubles.

When you do your own repairs, those small shops seem to charge an arm and a leg. We've all bit our tongues when we were buying something from the local shop and the guy ahead of us agreed to pay $100 to have is OS reloaded from recovery disks. However, you will quickly realize why they charge the prices they do!

I stopped doing that type of work a while back. The money is good if you can bring in the business, but it really is a pain. You run a spyware scan and clean up their machine and they end up calling you three nights a week asking you problems about their Accounting software. I just don't want to deal with that anymore.
 
I mainly take care of people I know or meet through them. If you lay out the 'business' junk first, (state your hourly rate, what you cover, what you won't cover, etc.) it makes it that much easier the 2nd, 3rd, 4th + times you go to their house.

What I do to base my hourly rate is this, I call Staples, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. and see how much those guys rake people for then I change less. Staples for instance charges $50/hr to install software, update A/V, & check for spyware. I charge $30 for the first hour and $25 each hour after that with a minimum of 1 hour.

If you have to drive beyond 10-15 mins I would charge for the trip. Gas isn't getting cheaper, parts, tires, etc. aren't free. For a trip that is 20-30 mins one way I charge a flat rate of $20-$25, if it's over that it goes up.

The best friend you can have is a USB thumb drive with a boat load of utils (Stinger, Spybot, Adaware, Hijack This, etc.) so you don't have to download when you get there. You look prepared, you can get the job done quicker, etc. The alternative is burning all that on a CD and bring it with you.

If jobs start to look like they are going to take 4-5 hours to complete I will tell the customer I need to take the PC with me. There is nothing worse then being in someones house who has kids or pets running around while you have you hands in their box with a screw driver in one hand and a Mini Maglite in the other... just asking for a disaster.

Bring canned air also... this is one thing I learned very early. People don't clean out their computers. Bring a full one with you to clean the computer, even if you don't have to get inside it to fix it, if it's growing a beard of dust, hair, etc. the inside is going to be just as nasty. Do yourself a favor and clean it out now instead of waiting.

I find doing this outside (with both sides and the front bezel off) is better then listening to the customers suggestion of you blowing it out while they stand there with a vacuum hose and try sucking in all the junk you just blew out....

Hope that helps some.
 
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