Hola!

[Elsydeon]

I just joined the forums this afternoon. Glad to be a part of it! My name is Derek, and I am currently conducting a computer repair business (on the side). Although freelance at the moment, I'd like to open a shop up one day and have it family owned and operated.

Any advice on making it in this industry, let alone on general business management, is much appreciated!

I look forward to being a part of the forums!

[vangogh]

Welcome to the forum Derek. I would think a computer repair business a good one. Have you ever thought of building and selling custom computers or offering computer training classes. Both could work well with a repair business.

Looking forward to getting to know you and thanks for joining the community.

[websonalized]

Any advice on making it in this industry, let alone on general business management, is much appreciated!


I value service providers that are honest with me. I value service providers that deliver what they said they would. I think competition has ramped up in every industry; and I believe trust takes the lead for competitiveness.

[Russ in Vancouver]

Hi Derek, welcome to the forum. I think offering a ton of related services and specializing in a new hot niche could be an attractive way to drum up some biz.. In my area I see alot of PC repair/parts stores doing Iphone unlocking. I was in a staore last week asking about one of my pc that need a repair, I had to wait with 4 ppl in front of me, all of them were there for mobile phone services.


I value service providers that are honest with me. I value service providers that deliver what they said they would. I think competition has ramped up in every industry; and I believe trust takes the lead for competitiveness

I can really vibe with what you said webs, I have 2 computers that probably only need a simple repair, but I dont want to leave them somewhere and I dont like people coming to my house. I should start digging some people in my sphere for a referral.

[cbscreative]

Welcome, Derek. I think the possible opportunities for you are endless. Like vangogh mentioned, building custom computers would be one area. With that example, I think awareness will be your greatest challenge. In my observation, most people just shop Best Buy or a tech site, pick out a system that most closely matches their needs, and buy it. The vast majority of custom computer users tend to be the DIY'ers, and I would think the reason is most people probably don't even think about a custom build unless they are techy enough to build one. The need is definitely out there if you can make people aware of the option.

With repair, many users are in panic mode and need solutions fast. Being able to offer remote help as long as the system is not so far gone it can't connect to the Internet would be a good service. There should be plenty of work for you that way too since the majority of computer problems are user induced and can be resolved fairly easily. If you've not already trained in how to deal with people who know only enough about computers to get themselves in trouble, I recommend doing that. Help desk experience will do a lot to prepare you for the task too.

I would recommend you start a thread in our Starting Your Business section dedicated to the topic. You'll get more responses to your questions and we can keep this thread on track to welcome you.

[Elsydeon]

Hey guys, thanks for your input. I've been awfully busy, which is why I haven't gotten back to this thread sooner.

As suggested per cbs, I'll trek over to the Starting Your Business thread for more input. I have already incorporated some of these suggestions into my freelance work, such as iPhone/iPod servicing.

Thanks again, though!