With the growing popularity and use of computers and tech equipment, a viable business is a computer repair shop. Computer repair shops are paid for fixing their customers’ computers, and their services are expected to exceed $60 billion in the United States alone.
Since almost every home in the United States uses at least one computer, some do have multiple, it is up to computer repair shops to make sure that they work properly. But it’s not just American households that use PCs. Almost every small, medium, and huge business uses computers on a daily basis. A computer is an indispensable gadget that offers businesses and households a lot in terms of availability of information that is accessed through the internet.
The computer industry is vastly growing by the day, and it is up to the computer repair services to make sure that it keeps growing.
In this article, we are going to tell you the things that you need to know if you’re planning on opening a computer repair shop.
Know Your Rates
While the ’90s we’re all about selling parts and products, with repair services acting as a side occupation for most computer repair shops, today both parts are equally valuable.
In today’s time, it’s much more profitable for computer repair shops to repair units than to sell parts.
When opening a computer repair shop, it’s wise to know the rates of your local competition before setting them yourself. The nationwide hourly rate for computer repair shops is about $100, but that rate is much higher (Manhattan $160/hour) and much lower in certain regions.
Determine Your Customers
According to multiple studies, a one-man show is more likely to get the favor of residential clients than small-business owners in America. This goes across any business field, but it’s exclusively true for the computer repair industry. However, this is not a bad thing as the residential market is huge, and there is a lot of work. With fierce competition and even fiercer prices, you might have to make cutbacks on your rates in order to gain the attention of residential clients.
If you want to know more about computer repair shops, then you can learn more here.
It Won’t Be Easy
If you’re running a one-man shop and juggling through other work in your spare time, do understand that it won’t be easy at first. While everyone looks towards multiple sources of income, running a business and a side gig might come at a cost. The cost comes in the form of losing clients, especially if you’re targeting the corporate market.
If you don’t pick up the phone when they need you, then they will quickly look towards your competition. You have to make the most out of it by fully pledging your time to your clients, nine to five, to become self-employed and make it in this line of business.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The computer repair industry is truly complex, and it involves a lot of things from technical skills to being business savvy to bookkeeping skills to keep your accounting in check. One might say that a single person cannot achieve this, so that’s why you must understand your strengths and weaknesses. The digital world is vastly expanding into all areas of life. This means that you can outsource the business and accounting part of your job and focus straight on the technical aspect of repairing computers. But it doesn’t even have to be that. Namely, you could always hire an accounting expert and a business-savvy person to take care of those fields, or you can even buy some sort of software that will help you manage all aspects of your business.
