5 Steps to Start a Computer Repair Business for Under $500
5 Steps to Start a Computer Repair Business for Under $500 is not at all unrealistic. If you’re a whiz on a computer but don’t know much about computer hardware, there’s no reason for alarm. You can teach yourself by buying broken computers, refurbish them and sell them. The most experienced techs refer to YouTube videos regularly. There are so many laptop models nobody can keep up with them, but Youtube has disassembly videos for most of them. The majority of computer repair jobs in 2020 are technical issues versus hardware. The majority of tech repairs require knowing how to reload an operating system.
Are you getting tired of helping everybody you know for free? Or maybe your not sure about your skillset to be a professional tech? Well, if you’re good enough for friends and family, then I can’t see why you’re not good enough for a customer. Show me somebody else that works for free!
No Certification Is Required To Become A Professional Computer Technician
The computer industry has little to no regulations for professional computer technicians. There is a good reason why the computer industry has minimal requirements to be a professional tech. They would have to know what you know, and they don’t. For argument’s sake, the average household in America has been using computers for 25 years. As great of an invention as it has been for everyday use, the industry as a whole is in its infancy. Therein lies the key to why becoming a professional computer tech isn’t regulated. Everything in the tech world is moving so rapidly; it’s almost impossible for the bureaucracy to keep up.
The commercial side of the computer industry is highly regulated by the company hiring and requires certifications. There is a mountain of knowledge required for “networking” and has almost no relativity to becoming a PC hardware & software tech. The tech world is peculiar in the sense that you either love it or hate it. If you love it and know it, you can start a business without formal education, and I don’t know of any other industry that you can do that. I highly recommend avoiding networking jobs and sticking to PC hardware and software.
It’s A Whole New World In Tech Repair
As far as PC technology is concerned, it’s a whole new world because it’s evolved from hardware failures to eighty percent technical issues. A professional tech can choose a lane to specialize in, such as myself; I only work on PC’s laptops and desktops. My expertise is in PC hardware and software. I also do website development, but I consider that as a separate business. As a pro, you get to decide the jobs you want to take if you have any doubts. You can tell your customer it’s out of your lane if you’re uncertain about your ability to do a specific repair. If you’re comfortable troubleshooting a computer without frustration, then you can become a professional computer tech. The primary objective of a professional technician is to be the customer’s go-to computer tech.
It’s imperative to know how to replace a hard drive and detect memory issues. Hard drives and memory are easy to test and replace. If you don’t know how to install an operating system, you’re not ready to be a computer tech yet.
The Tools I Use
| Hard Disk Sentinel (Test Hard Drives Automatically) | Hard Drive Dual Docking Station (Test & Clone Hard Drives) | WINDOWS PASSWORD FINDER (Detect and remove passwords) |
Being a Tech Does Not Requires only a Handful Tools
A Professional Computer Tech Requires a Small Handful of Tools
IObit Uninstaller Pro (Powerful Tool, removes all leftovers and shreds files)
Dell Latitude E6320 Laptop – HDMI – Intel i5 2.5ghz – 4GB DDR3 – DVDRW – 250GB SATA HDD – Windows 10 Pro 64bit
Foxelli Headlamp Flashlight – 165 Lumen, 3 x AAA Batteries Operated (Included), Bright White Cree Led
These are Must-Have Tools!
Amazon Basics Universal 65 Watt Laptop Charger AC Power Adapter Cord for Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Toshiba and more and don’t sell it to your customer for cost!
Precision Screwdriver Set with 56 Magnetic Driver Kits,64 in 1 Screwdriver Tool Set with Flexible Shaft,Openers, for Professional Fixing PS4/Computer/Smartphone/Laptops/Xbox/Tablets
Private Internet Access – Peace of Mind From only $3.33 per month* Risk Free. 7 day money back guarantee
5 Steps to Start a Computer Repair Business for Under $500
| Business License & DBA | $160 |
| Basic Tools: Docking Station, Screwdriver Kit, Hard Disk Sentinel, iObit Uninstaller Pro, Universal Laptop Charger | $150 |
| Website & Domain Name | $71 |
| Business Cards | $25 |
| Total Business Start-Up Costs | $416 |
- Avoid paid advertising and spend money only on what is positively going to make you money to keep costs down. Promote your new business with business cards. Put them on cars, hand them out everywhere you go because one single new customer leads to 5 new customers.
- Promote your business and sell refurbished computers at nearby flea markets and Craigslist. Flea Markets and CL are great because the people shopping like a good deal. Flea Markets and Craigslist are a great way to get any business off the ground. Nothing beats promoting your business through a website and social media, because of the free Google listing.
- Register your DBA with your State. I think a DBA is usually under $100 if you do it online.
The Most Important Step
- 4. This is an important step, and it’s easy, build a website because you can’t be a mobile tech without one. A website is an absolute must for a mobile computer tech because it’s the primary way to establish reputability. A website is like having a 24/365 salesperson that never gets sick or takes a vacation. Also, everything online from Google My Business, Facebook, Pinterest, and more, needs a landing page to go to. A basic 5-page website builder is $6 a month, Including hosting and a domain name, is only $9.99 a year at Get More Hosting. A Personal Website Builder and Domain Name combined cost $71.19 a year. All you need is a website to take advantage of Google My Business free listing and free Facebook and Pinterest threads and groups.
- You’ll have a great website up in a day, if not hours, because a Website Builder guides you through every step. When you build your site using a Website builder, it’s good to know it is responsive, so it works great on all three interfaces, computers, tablets, and phones. Make your website about them, not you, and they want information. The primary purpose is to make the phone ring; the first thing they should see on a tech website is information. The majority of your calls produced come from the right side of the search results Google listing. That is called Google My Business, and it’s a free listing for businesses registered with Google.
Google My Business Brings It All Together
- 5. Register your website with “Google My Business.” All that is required is a Gmail account, and if you have one, I still recommend making a new one for this business relative to the business name. Get five-star reviews, and you will be top listed in your category and in your geographical area for “computer repair” near me when a customer searches Google. SEO is easy for local businesses, but it has to be registered with Google My Business. Google will mail you a code, and you input it in, and the magic begins, your phone will ring! Be sure to get paid for all of your time because that’s what you are selling.
Brick & Mortar Computer Tech Stores Are Stressful!
A storefront creates a lot of overhead costs that you avoid working from home as a mobile tech. As a mobile computer repair tech, you have much more flexibility and far less stress. Working from home eliminates a lot of expenses. Working from home, you can get an occupational license, order business cards, build a website and start promoting.
I can not stress this point enough, don’t do a brick & mortar store; you will live to regret it. Charge your customers less, and you make more because you don’t have the additional overhead. You are not committed to a set schedule when you’re a mobile tech. Brick & Mortar store’s days are numbered because of the high rent costs versus the max a customer is willing to spend. A brick & mortar store is a ball & chain but not a mobile computer repair tech business; it’s additional income.
Staples or Best Buy Can Not Compete With a Local Computer Tech
Here’s the bottom line, computer repair is a customer service business now. Customers love telling their friends on the phone, I got to go now “My Computer Tech Is Here”. That’s what the computer repair business is now, customer service, Staples or Best Buy can’t do that for a reasonable price.
This is a great thing because you build a relationship with the customer and you’re their go to computer tech. Trust me they might not even like you but they’ll call you back when they have a problem because they need you. Bill Gates says that’s the secret sauce is to make them need what you have. Now how are you going to pull that off with a brick & mortar store, you can’t!
Buy Business Class Refurbished Computers for Best Value!
More Than One Way To Make Money In The Computer Business
Pick up computers that boot to bios and refurbish them, so you can sell them to your customers. If their computer is beyond repair they’ll buy the deal from you. This way you don’t lose business because there isn’t a repair job.
Always ask friends and family for their old or broken computers they’ll give them to you for free. They don’t know what to do with them so they’re happy to give them to you.
Customers love you when you have what they need because they are trying to find the most affordable solution. We know this because they called you versus buying a new computer.
If you like tech it’s easy to learn and fun! I myself, love tech. I think being a good tech is like a poet or a songwriter, I’m getting to do what I love!. Tech feels natural to some people and others just can’t get into it.
The Cheapest Way to Start a Computer Business is to be a mobile computer technician. Work from home and grow your business at your pace without the pressure of bills.
The Golden Rule
I wish someone taught me this rule twenty years ago. It is the single most important rule if you want to be happy with yourself. It may sound crazy but when you break this rule it’s very upsetting because people will take advantage of you. No Matter how slow your tech business is, as far as all the customers are concerned you’re very busy.
DON’T HELP PEOPLE FOR FREE!
The second you decide you’re going to become a professional computer repair tech you have to charge for your time, period full stop!
A single question can take up to 30 minutes of your time. Trust me when I tell you if you offer them one of your fingers they’re going to take your whole hand. The customer senses weakness and plays the friend angle to the max so they can get your time for free. Be kind but firm on this point because ten people a week do that to you it adds up!
What Should I Spend On a Website?
What Should I Spend On a Website depends on many factors, but this article offers more clarity on this topic? The very first thing is geography, and the second is demographics. Geography is how big, or small of an area do you want your website to target. If it’s a local tech website, the answer is $71.19 because that’s all you need. An up to 5-page website builder and the domain name is all you need to make the phone ring.
The smaller the coverage area is, the lower the cost is. As the coverage area grows larger, the cost goes up. Local businesses have it made when it comes to a website’s cost if their smart and well informed. On the other hand, local businesses are frequently taken advantage of when it comes to a website’s cost. If you build the most affordable website yourself, it costs about $71.19 a year.
Website Builders Are An Easy & Fast All In One Solution
Oh but I don’t know how to build a website? if you can send an email then you can get the hang of an affordable website builder. They’re that easy to build. “Get More Hosting” sells a personal website builder for under $6 a month and a DOMAIN for 9.99. That’s under $100 a year and that’s literally all you need. Oh yeah sure that’s all I need, but it really is all you need, and here’s the reason why.
Now this applies to local businesses, not for large geographical area websites. I’ll get to larger geographical websites shortly. “Google My Business” is for local businesses that verify ownership of their business’s physical address by mail with Google. They verify the owner of that business right to do business from that address. Not actual ownership of the physical property.
Google mails you a code and you go to “Google My Business” and input code. It takes about 5 days to get your code. I have built websites for local businesses and had them listed on Google in 2 weeks. Using a personal website builder and “Google My Business”.
It makes no sense for a local business to not have a website. The time it takes to build a local website is a one-time investment. A local business website is a static website that requires very little maintenance. So What Should I Spend On a Website, for local businesses is around $100 a year.
Website Aesthetics
The number one hang-up about websites is no two people see graphics the same. What’s aesthetically pleasing to one person can be distasteful to the next person. But I can tell you what’s pleasing to all people but first I have to finish on the appearance factors. A really nice website just takes longer not necessarily costs more. It takes longer because to get to that look and feel you want is a lot of trial and error.
The one thing there is no substitute for is High-Resolution Imagery. A website that has a lot of high-resolution images is going to look phenomenal.
The following website is an excellent example of a website built with the $9.99 business website builder. The key to this website is the owner provided High-Resolution images and it looks great.
Putting Off a Website Can Be Huge Mistake
Waiting to do a website is a huge mistake because it’s the most affordable marketing on the planet. A personal website builder, up to 5 pages, and are a snap to put together for under .35 cents a day. If you don’t need more business, a website is an amazingly powerful tool. A website is awesome for reputability, Image, and professionalism. I have seen what happens to businesses that suddenly lose a location. They suddenly have no way to communicate with their customer base. A website is a virtual location so you can always be found for pennies a day. A website is a virtual salesman at its best and a great ambassador at its worst. So for $100 a year, a website has great value to any business because the cost is negligible.
A Website Is Great Insurance To Keep What You Have Built
Individual hairstylists that are already busy still should have a website because if you move your business, the customer can still find you. A website can save the day for a hairstylist if they move because they can be found on the internet.
Google My Business always any business to update their hours open on the fly. Do a Google search and the listings will display your business hours and if your business is opened or closed at that moment.
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Everybody Likes A Good Deal
Who doesn’t want a great deal? It’s euphoric, right! People are looking for only 2 things, and that’s straight forward honest information and great value. If you want to captivate somebody, give them what they’re looking for, information. The visitor is not going to go looking for anything; they bounce. That’s not the result you want from a website. Engage them immediately with the information they are seeking and that will captivate them.
People are doing research about anything, and everything, provide the information they are looking for and they will call. I am not saying to not care about the appearance. I am saying a website with a powerful message gets a good ranking with Google for a reason.
Customers Are Searching for Information
If you provide visitors with good information, it motivates them to take action. People reward people who help them even if they don’t know them, and it’s because they trust them. Google knows when or if your content is engaging, truthful, and quality information.
Google Is Free Marketing
Once you are verified with Google and get great reviews, you will rank at the top of that category. Google is going to put your business on top of “Near Me Search Results.” Any small business can do all this themselves. It’s so easy to do even with the lowest-cost website builder.
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From this point on, I am talking about large geographical website development using WordPress. Large regional websites require many things that a local business website does not, but nothing is more important than SEO. This is how you market your website because the cost of advertising is ridiculous for a large geographical area.
Search Engine Optimization Isn’t That Important for Local Businesses Because Google My Business Does The Work for You!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is how websites get found organically. So just starting, you need to know what Google’s requirements are, Google speak. The more competitive your industry is, the harder it is to get found. To get found, you will need a lot of content: high-quality content, the more content, the better the ranking.
Website builders are at a disadvantage when building a large geographical website. Developers prefer WordPress because of the control it gives you with SEO. WordPress has so many millions of possibilities and unlimited pages and is a dream for SEO. All this is based on learning WordPress. If your good at a computer and can run programs like Photoshop, you can teach yourself WordPress.
It Pays Big To Do It Yourself!
Many business owners learn WordPress and do their own website because of the cost of a professional. Doing their own website development keeps the cost to the bare minimum.
There’s no question that the cost of hosting and a domain name is negligible, but your time is priceless. If you don’t do your own WordPress website, it can be challenging to figure out its costs ahead of time. How many pages is the website? Does it require continuous updating with content? The cost of High-Resolution Imagery needed? The list is infinite.
There are more questions than answers, so determining the end cost is difficult should you decide to hire professionals. Most companies hire somebody by the hour specifically for this position to cut down the cost of web development.
Building Your Own Website Versus Hiring A Professional Is A Huge Difference In Cost
If you decide to hire somebody to do your website development, be sure they know SEO, because it’s the most important thing to get ranked on Google. SEO is what Google sees, not what we see. SEO is Google speak, and it’s its own language.
The cost of a “Do It Yourself” large geographical website is calculable because it’s a small amount of money. A DIY site requires more time than money. On the other hand, it’s not easy to calculate a professionally built website’s total cost in advance. Check Out How Much Does a Website Cost?
What Should I Spend On a Website
What Should I Spend On a Website is totally dependent on your needs versus what you can afford? The Conclusion is if you DIY, the cost is negligible. If you pay somebody to do it, it can get expensive. More importantly, is a large continuous website is almost impossible to calculate costs ahead of time.