FatalityTech
Member
Still hoping to get this shop started. Say money was not a problem. How would i go about it? I mean minus a location and service techs.
What you think about computer shops?????
- Thread starter FatalityTech
- Start date
ScOuT
VIP Member
Great idea...maybe run a simulation of your store. You will have to track everything from workers hours and pay to hardware stock to accounting. You will have to track every percent of profit on every piece of hardware to every minute a tech works on a machine.
You will need to do a lot of research and practice with a computer program you feel is capable. Learn how to make formulas in Excel...I think that might be the greatest thing ever to happen to any company
tlarkin
VIP Member
I have worked retail IT, contract IT and Government IT.
I can tell you right now you make no money off of hardware sales, the mark up is nil. You make all your money off of accessories (cables, adapters, etc) and services. You will make all your money from things like that. Building computers has no money in it at all really.
So you will need to make your services more available like: diagnostics, networking, consulting, deployment, etc. Try to sell your time in blocks of hours if you can, like blocks of 5 hours. That way you get the money up front and the customer gets a guaranteed set of time they can use at their disposal. I had clients buy 10 hours of time from me in the past and then just use it whenever from support calls or on site visits and once that 10 hours expired they could opt to buy more or pay me by the hour.
If I charged 100 bucks an hour I would only charge 425 for a block of 5 hours, so they would save 75 bucks, but would have to pay me the 425 up front.
You just need to be organized to keep track of everything and bill everything out, otherwise you won't make your money on time and that could be bad.
I can tell you right now you make no money off of hardware sales, the mark up is nil. You make all your money off of accessories (cables, adapters, etc) and services. You will make all your money from things like that. Building computers has no money in it at all really.
So you will need to make your services more available like: diagnostics, networking, consulting, deployment, etc. Try to sell your time in blocks of hours if you can, like blocks of 5 hours. That way you get the money up front and the customer gets a guaranteed set of time they can use at their disposal. I had clients buy 10 hours of time from me in the past and then just use it whenever from support calls or on site visits and once that 10 hours expired they could opt to buy more or pay me by the hour.
If I charged 100 bucks an hour I would only charge 425 for a block of 5 hours, so they would save 75 bucks, but would have to pay me the 425 up front.
You just need to be organized to keep track of everything and bill everything out, otherwise you won't make your money on time and that could be bad.
cohen
New Member
Open a shop in a area where there isn't one! And that there are a lot of people that would come and visit you! and buy from you! And you need to have your things cheap.
But then you will have the newegg competition.
You would need to get it out there, advertise your shop in the local area.
Cohen.
But then you will have the newegg competition.
You would need to get it out there, advertise your shop in the local area.
Cohen.
just a noob
Well-Known Member
setup shop right next to a bestbuy, to fix geek squad's screw ups/ very expensive service
FatalityTech
Member
Great idea...maybe run a simulation of your store. You will have to track everything from workers hours and pay to hardware stock to accounting. You will have to track every percent of profit on every piece of hardware to every minute a tech works on a machine.
You will need to do a lot of research and practice with a computer program you feel is capable. Learn how to make formulas in Excel...I think that might be the greatest thing ever to happen to any company
That is a great idea i will look into that. Anyone know of any ideas??
Wow 100 an hour, i was thinking more along the lines of about 45-50. The blocks are a great idea i will also take that into consideration.
I was thinking i could sponsor like little league games, city events, etc.
As far as hardware and cables and what not, i was thinking i could have it a full service shop, and along the lines of a radio shack. Selling cables, connectors, home entertainment, audio, video equipment etc. I would excel in customer service and would appeal to home users and offices, schools, etc.
What you guys think???
cohen
New Member
That could work....
Sounds good....
I'm thinking of doing the same in the future, build computers, repairing them, building them and selling them off.... doing home visits and repairing them etc... i was thinking of doing that... hopefully in the future...
Cohen
FatalityTech
Member
Thanks i cant wait im doing major research at the moment and looking into this. I am taking college classes for Pc service and repair and to get my A+ and Network+. It probably about five years off but you never know.
tlarkin
VIP Member
100 bucks an hour for on site service is cheap. I am telling you right now, your money will be made in service not in sales. Unless you sell a bunch of print cartridges and accessories. The mark up on cables is ridiculous, something like 5000%. I used to buy $50 SCSI cables back in the day with my employee discount for $3.50, yeah pretty big mark up.
When I was contracting my starting rate was $100 per an hour and it went up from there. In some cases if I had a repeat client I would drop the price to $75/hour and if it was a personal favor to a friend I would charge $50/hour. If I was doing data recovery it was minimum $100/hour.
If you want to charge different rates for carry in, like $50/hour that would work too, since most things can be done with in an hour or two anyway with computers.
However, selling blocks of your time is a great way to make money and to give your clients support in the future. When I did it, they could choose to call me, have me come over to their location, or meet me at my place and I could take off the time that I still owed them. For example, if someone bought a bunch of new equipment and wanted me to install it, set it up, set up the wifi network, share the printer, so on and so forth I would just sell them a 5 hour block of time. If I got it done in 3 hours, that left them 2 hours they could call me in the future or have me come out again in the future by appointment to do some more work.
Just make sure you have a good book keeping program to keep track of all of this stuff, track all your costs from cell phone, interent, utilities, mileage, over head, so on and so forth.
If you open up a store front you may want to become business partners with HP/Compaq, Apple, Microsoft, Gateway, etc. That way you can carry their products, be an OEM system's builder and do warranty repair for them. You of course have to hold certs for each company, but they are easy to pass. As a self maintainer of HP products at my old job I would make warranty claims and process them. Every time I did a warranty repair HP would pay my company anywhere from $35 to $60 per a warranty ticket. You can generate lots of money by being a warranty repair center too.
Which all goes back to my main point, you make all your money off of service not hardware sales.
When I was contracting my starting rate was $100 per an hour and it went up from there. In some cases if I had a repeat client I would drop the price to $75/hour and if it was a personal favor to a friend I would charge $50/hour. If I was doing data recovery it was minimum $100/hour.
If you want to charge different rates for carry in, like $50/hour that would work too, since most things can be done with in an hour or two anyway with computers.
However, selling blocks of your time is a great way to make money and to give your clients support in the future. When I did it, they could choose to call me, have me come over to their location, or meet me at my place and I could take off the time that I still owed them. For example, if someone bought a bunch of new equipment and wanted me to install it, set it up, set up the wifi network, share the printer, so on and so forth I would just sell them a 5 hour block of time. If I got it done in 3 hours, that left them 2 hours they could call me in the future or have me come out again in the future by appointment to do some more work.
Just make sure you have a good book keeping program to keep track of all of this stuff, track all your costs from cell phone, interent, utilities, mileage, over head, so on and so forth.
If you open up a store front you may want to become business partners with HP/Compaq, Apple, Microsoft, Gateway, etc. That way you can carry their products, be an OEM system's builder and do warranty repair for them. You of course have to hold certs for each company, but they are easy to pass. As a self maintainer of HP products at my old job I would make warranty claims and process them. Every time I did a warranty repair HP would pay my company anywhere from $35 to $60 per a warranty ticket. You can generate lots of money by being a warranty repair center too.
Which all goes back to my main point, you make all your money off of service not hardware sales.
Cleric7x9
Active Member
100% correct on all points
FatalityTech
Member
tlarkin sure sounds like he knows what he is talking about. I will be taking everything that your saying into consideration. I have thought about be an authorized dealer for like dell or something before. I didnt know they let shops do warranty repair.
tlarkin
VIP Member
That is what an authorized service provider is (or ASP) and yes you do get paid for it. Every time I replace a part in an Apple, HP, or gateway, be it desktop, laptop or server, my company/organization gets paid per a claim. HP pays you based on what part you replace, for example last I recall a PSU was $35, a HD is $25 and a Motherboard is $60 per a claim. Apple pays you based on a grading system of how well you perform and they pay anywhere from $70 to $150 based on part and your service grade, and Gateway pays you I think two or three different flat rates just based on the repair itself. Of course I was an employee of such places so the money went to the company i was working for. If I had started my own business the money would have been going to my business which I could use to pay myself or do whatever with it.
Building computers has no money in it, trust me. Your money will all be from services you offer. I suggest learning some basic networking and server side technologies as a lot of small companies can't afford their own IT guy on staff, and have to hire one to come out and do things. Most of these networks are small with under 20 computers total and maybe one or two servers. I had several clients like that, that were steady business for me.
Now, I work so much at my current job and they let me work over time I don't do any sub contracting any more, however, I will every now and then do some work for a few of my old clients that I like.
FatalityTech
Member
Ok thanks for the advice. Servers ha? I dont know anything about servers. I guess i will have to do some learning. So i should be a ASP for several companies or for just one? Like i said i am going to go to school for my A+ and Network+.
FatalityTech
Member
Well of course, good prices and customer Service. 
tlarkin
VIP Member
If you are going to sell the product you may as well support it is my philosophy. I have no idea what it takes to be a reseller of certain products but it does take some sort of contract with them. Once that is settled you can get the rest done easily.
It will take time to build up and you are going to have to bust your ass and work like 80 hour weeks, but you will be your own boss I suppose. I got burned out on sub contracting because I was doing it on the side for extra money and with all the travel and time spent I didn't have any time for myself. So I no longer do it.