Computer Repair Startup

[yolocalypso]

[SactoDoug]

If you are looking into hardware repair, I would look into Louis Rossmann's YT videos. He has been doing repairs for years now and runs his own repair shop. He tells the inns and outs of the business including the difficulty he has had getting schematics and repair parts.

https://www.youtube.com/@rossmanngroup

[NYT]

All IT guys should have a side hustle doing this. First thing, you do not need a repair shop, convert a room or your garage into your tech bench. The cost of an actual brick and mortar is crazy, especially given the small margins you'll have.

When I did this when I was younger and had more time, I charged $50 an hour for classes. I'd sit with the people, understand their issue and teach them how to do it for themselves in the future, each meeting would prob be 3 hours.

For repairs, your time won't be spent well and a flat rate should be your goal and its also more agreeable with the client.

Example: client has an issue with malware, possibly a virus.

I'd say it will be $200 to either fix or start fresh. I would usually recommend starting fresh as even if the malware is removed, the computer will still have issues and the client will no doubt believe their money wasted. I usually backup their data to a portable solid state, wipe their system, start fresh, install updates to OS and have them buy an AV or if they're a good client, I'd give them one of my company's licenses.

I'd then restore their data, bookmarks, etc and they would be happy to have a fresh machine.

I took anything and everything because when I was young, I ran the tech bench at BestBuy and then at CompUSA. We got certified in everything we sold and I like to tinker.

[Skip_Dog]

Charge at reasonable rate, but enough to make it worth it. Fix the parts you can, replace the ones you can't. Word of mouth works wonders. Don't take on too much to handle in a timely fashion. Besides waiting on parts, every customer will think they are your only customer and will expect to be treated that way. Keep them happy and they will give you more work...

[ibanezfoo]

If you are looking into hardware repair, I would look into Louis Rossmann's YT videos. He has been doing repairs for years now and runs his own repair shop. He tells the inns and outs of the business including the difficulty he has had getting schematics and repair parts.

https://www.youtube.com/@rossmanngroup

+1 That dude knows his stuff. He lives in Austin now.

[ProRoad]

So many of us that now work from home could use some help. Advertise for work from home internet setup and workstation/remote optimization. It could be a good business.

[Spanky8601]

Can't advise on much..But, make sure you understand how the government is gonna "tax" your side hustle money. Charge extra to cover this expense. This includes your "extra" social security costs (15%) plus what ever your tax rate is.

[Satex]

I have solid advice for you: don't.

The so called "outrageous prices" aren't that outrageous and you have to be able make a reasonable profit. The reality is that people want cheap repair.

If you want to start a business consider providing IT services to businesses with service contracts. That's a much better model. Regardless, IT work is pretty low margin as the barrier to entry is low. Good luck!

[WoodTurner]

If your talking about getting into actual hardware electronics repair, I would probably start by finding broken stuff for free/cheap and repairing it, then selling. That will help you learn, figure out how much time it can take to troubleshoot, and if it is something you're interested in doing.

[Fizz]

I used to work for an OEM computer company that did general computer repair, and we in-house warrantied the systems we sold. I built millions worth of new machines and repaired thousands of machines.

We live in a throw away economy. Most people aren't interested in computer repair for the sake of getting a machine working. They're interested in it from the perspective of 'I don't have my data backed up' 'I have all this data/programs/configuration I need.' or 'I downloaded from a sketchy porn site and get these weird popups'.

The $400 costco special is actually a good machine these days.

Most of what people need isn't the hardware to work, but the information/collateral on the machine. A machine that fails outside of the manufacturer warranty is most often not worth repairing unless it's an ultra-premium machine.

Really what you end up being is more of an IT consultant - figuring out what the persons needs are and how to best address the technology problem before them. Much of the time the right solution is to NOT repair their computer.

[arrix]

I started a mobile support business back in 2000 when I was in college in order to make some extra beer money. Just went around my neighborhood and dropped flyers in mailboxes and cars. I think I charged $35 to diagnose and $100 to repair. Worked out pretty well, I think at one point I was making over $500 a week. Basically a techie handyman. Most people had complaints about viruses and slowness so I had my bag of windows tools to clear out viruses and junk files. Pretty easy money if you know Windows desktop well.

[glassparman]

I've been in IT for 30 years. I started doing tech support calls for Packard Bell back in the day. If you want to start a side job, make sure you have some sort of insurance. People WILL come after you if you mess up or lose their data.

I had a side hustle once upon a time, but I got tired of all the porn and crap on drives that people wanted me to backup if I had to wipe their system. It just wasn't worth the time. I'm close to retirement now and when people ask me about IT stuff, I pretend I don't know.

You would be better off getting into a high-end IT job where you will make 6 figures +.

Not sure where you live but Northrop Grumman, Lockheed, Boeing . . . any of the big Aerospace companies pay great salaries.