# The future of the computer repair biz? Weigh in...



## Blade_Jones

With the prices of computers dropping year after year will there come a day when the "computer repair guy" becomes like the "TV set repair guy" of yesteryear? Will a computer be like one big field replaceable unit? I look at places like Geek Squad charging $200 to diagnose and repair a computer. Soon a decent new computer will cost only $200. You really can't go wrong when buying a cheap new computer when compared to what was available even 6 years ago. New computers are as low as $300. 

All in all I think people are always gonna have a thirst for the latest and fastest technology, then when it breaks down it will always be more cost effective to have it repaired than to toss it. 

One thing that seems like it will never become obsolete is data recovery.


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## bilbus

computers are not tvs, tvs do not store personal files.

If it was not for the programs loaded and personal files then yes when they break you buy a new one.

There is no money in being a computer tech .. its an entry level job.


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## Blade_Jones

> There is no money in being a computer tech .. its an entry level job.


At $15 an hour I would agree, but what about if you can run your own repair business?


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## bilbus

owning a entry level buisness is not much better. Why not study and get a better job?

You are making $15 an hour repairing computers (home computers?) Wow you are doing really good.

You could easly double that by working in corp IT.


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## markiemark66

Blade_Jones,

that is an interesting question. To some extent computer will be like tv's in that they will continue to get cheaper but that balances with the increasing sophistication of computers. It's the personal info on them that is and will be a concern like bilbus says.

Bilbus,

I disagree. I say owning a pc repair company is better than working for a corp. Who wants the long hours commuting to the city and working for someone else? There's alot to be said for being your own boss, no matter what the function. And if money is the bottom line here, not the love of computers, then a better avenue could be found.


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## bilbus

so you would prefer to work long hours repairing computers? That would be the worst job i could think of.

Fixing computers is entry level. Why anyone would want to do help desk or fix computers is beyond my understanding.

Go learn servers, routing, sans, sql, or something else. You can make up wards of 100k a year with those.

If you learn enough, and are skilled you can easily earn 75k+ with 5 or so years of xp.

Love of computers? You love fixing old people's crappy desktops?

I perfer to work on routers and servers .. much much more fun.


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## markiemark66

bilbus, the thought of working on large scale systems does sound like fun. On that we can agree. However working for a corporation to get more money om something besides entry level is unappealing to me. Thanks.


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## bilbus

Whats wrong with a corporation?

Fixing computers is a low skill job, if you are happy with not pushing your self .. then perhaps thats the route for you.


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## Blade_Jones

If you run your own repair business you won't be making $15 an hour or commuting into the city day after day 9 - 5 to work for the man.


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## markiemark66

I am strictly writing about working for a corp. Usually it lacks autonomy and those that stick out too far get whacked and they don’t allow you to set your own hours.

But it isn't so much just fixing pcs as being your own boss and offer other services as well, like web design or consulting.


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## bilbus

lol, so you just don't like working for a corporation ... Have you ever even worked in a corporation? Have you gotten fired for sticking your neck out?

As for working your own hours, what do you expect ... business does not work on your own hours. I know of no one that got fired for sticking their head out. If you are referring to politics, sure there is .. but thats life. 

As for small business consulting, its not your own hours also. Many times I have had to drop everything and go fix things on my days off.

There is very little money in web design. The market is flooded with people doing this full and part time.


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## bilbus

Blade_Jones said:


> If you run your own repair business you won't be making $15 an hour or commuting into the city day after day 9 - 5 to work for the man.


whats wrong with working for the "man". The man started at the bottom just like you.

Haha, sure you wont be driving all over the city meeting people to fix their junk.

Not like that was my first IT job or anything.

Small business consulting was the most annoying job i have ever had. buiesnesses always want to pay as little as they can, and want you to fix everything.

As for low pay, how much do you expect to charge for stuff?

50$ a hour? ok. What about downtime. Say you only can bill out 75% of your time.

Your hourly rate per day just drooped to $32 a hour. Now factor in gas, expenses, and taxes. You will be making peanuts.

A enterprise server admin can easily make $40 -60 + a hour.

Oh ya my drive is less then 10 miles, i am quite happy


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## m_fridman

Being in the Computer Repair business can be as successful as YOU make it. If you hate what you're doing and think of everything in a "scarcity" mindset, then you will NEVER make it anywhere. This is key.

There is a dire need for honest technicians everywhere. I'm traveling the world right now, and everywhere I go, I connect with the Anglo communities and get all their business just because I do a better job than the other guy.

Also, make sure to qualify your clients. After doing 20 or so jobs, think about your IDEAL client and how you can market to them. What kind of needs do they have and how can you appeal to that. THIS RIGHT HERE IS WHY I CAN CHARGE JUST AS MUCH AS THE BIG CHAIN STORES AND MAKE MORE MONEY THAN WHEN I WAS IN THE PRO IT FIELD. Try to think "how can I give my clients $100 worth of value for $10" so to speak. The big chain stores have the opposite in mind, they charge $100 for $1 value.

Here's another thing, just focusing on computer "repair" won't get you too far. Think outside the box, what other services (non-$exual) can you offer? 

The computer repair business will be around until the zombie apocalypse will hit us. And even then, I'm sure we'll have clients.


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## JaybirdBlue

I just ended my five year old computer repair business. Here's why: 

1) The cost of computers has fallen so low that it is more economical for most consumers to replace rather than repair. In 2004-05-06-07 we did Repairs and rarely advised people to Replace. That changed dramatically in 08 and 09. The Recession had something to do with it. Also the anticipated roll out of Win7. We used to be able to repair machines and charge $200+ but that went south. Why fix a hardware issue on an old machine when, for $100 more, they can get a new, better machine? I predict that hardware repairs are doomed. Can't make any money at it. 

2) You can't find good help. Not even if you're paying $25 an hour like I was. Repairing computers for Consumers is not the same as tinkering around with your computer or the computers of friends. We could never find enough guys and gals who had the vast background (able to fix desktops and laptops, able to fix Win2000/XP/Vista, able to fix 64 bit issues) necessary to do a good turn for us. We tried hiring CompTIA+ people--complete disaster. They passed the Depot Tech test but couldn't fix a computer to save their lives! Very distressing. And the customer service skills for most of these geeks? TERRIBLE. They don't know how to talk to people. They don't know how to sell loyalty and trust. No sense of productivity. I had one guy who worked for 14 hours on a WinXP problem before I finally told him "STOP!Reinstall!" You can't bill a customer for 14 hours of this kind of labor! (But you can bet he wanted me to pay him for the 14 hours of labor!) 

3) I agree that it's about DATA, not about hardware anymore. You would think that the world would get it by now that they need to make backups of their data. They don't. And then, when you can't fix it and all their data is gone, they blame you. I got completely sick and tired of customers whining, crying, bitching, and getting up in my face because their hdd crashed and they lost everything. 

The future is in two areas, I believe. Cleaning up infections and Teaching people how to use their machine. If I were in the mood to start over I would do nothing but clean up infections, advise on security, and offer "genius bar" classes.


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## parttimetechie

Interesting concept considering I am starting out in this field. A little background and hopefully I can get some advice.

I have seen some of you ask why would I want to fix coomputers all day..the simple reason is I like it. Like some pilots love to burn holes in the sky day after day, as some sailors love to trawl the oceans for months on end, I love fixing computers and helping people with their technology.

I have my CompTIA A+ and Network+ certifications. I am a staples Easy Tech. I make $8.50/hr and the company probably makes three times that off of what I bring in for virus removals etc. I don't want to work at Staples all my life, but I do want to be in the helpdesk / IT industry all my life.

I also have a consulting business I do from home. techwork.wadsley.us is the address. The site may not be beautiful and stuck in the 90's but it gets the point across with what I can do. I charge $30/hr and have been told repeatedly "you'r cheap to hire." I love this little side business of mine, I can work it around my schedule, there are always new and exciting challenges facing me, and the customers generally have no freaking clue what is wrong with their computer, and it is usually something quite simple.

As far as the replace rather than repair theory, I think we are getting close to that now, but the key note is data. Repairing will always be necessary until data is stored off the HDD and a total HDD failure is no factor.

Just my two cents.


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## jonin

Do it all!!!


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## Blade_Jones

JaybirdBlue, did you work out of your home or did you rent a business space? I think it's cost prohibitive to run a full scale computer repair business with rent to pay, etc. You have to freelance out of your home to make it work. I think it's also cost prohibitive to hire people too. And you can't trust these dopes who just got out of Comp TIA school. Fixing computers is 10% COMP TIA schooling and 90% learning by doing as well as studying real life problems on TechSupportForums. There's so much to learn that it can make your brain explode, AND you have to keep up on it as technology changes. So for $8.50 an hour why not just work at McDonalds? Better to pursue a law degree if you're gonna invest that much time studying and keeping up on the technology. 

50% of my jobs seem to be recovery from virus infections. And data recovery seems to be an area that gets customers desperate to the point that repair places are all charging $300. How hard is it to use GetDataBack? Yet I think all the repair places are in collusion with each other on this one (like OPEC). 1 hour of recovery work? $300 is our rate, please. 

BTW you're supposed to have customers sign an agreement on the invoice that essentially says that you are not responsible for their data. ALL repair places have this legal disclaimer. Otherwise the liability is potentially HUGE! It would wipe out years of your hard work! I will not TOUCH a computer without their signature releasing me of any liability related to data loss. Email me if you want to see my legal clause. 

One thing that's working in repair tech's favor is these "all-in-one" computers that go for about $1,000. Something stops working and they're not gonna throw that in the trash.


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## Madcatz

I'm a PC tech, been doing it for 5 years now. There are alot of people that have no idea what they are doing like Jaybird said, but there are some that do. 

I work for a small company atm, there are stil alot of people that would rather repair than replace, even when replacing is the better option. I still quite often see people with 7 or 8 year old laptops that have no problem spending $400 on a repair. Then there is warranty repair for companies. Nice money right there, I do repairs for Toshiba, HP, and IBM. Most repairs I get paid $75 from them for, and takes me maybe 20 minutes to do, 30 at the most. $35 to remove a bios password and update the bios that takes maybe 4 minutes. 

Warranty repairs, repairs for buisnesses, or higher priced laptops. These repairs will be around for a long time to come.

As for data recovery, this will be very interesting to see what can be done with SSD drives, I've been starting to see quite a few of these come in, but no bad drives yet.


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## Kersus

In this rural area $50/hour plus about $1 per kilometre is the going rate for house call technologists. So many people still running old XP machines. I do everything from diagnosing to training to web design or what have you.

Residential work is a lot of fun but the bills are paid from freelancing for government organizations (Libraries, Shelters, Health Units, etc...). Large business retainers are great too. Small business is not lucrative but helping other small businesses be successful helps the community and a strong community helps my business.

Cottagers are the diamond residential customers. The big mansions on the water. 

Staples and Future Shop are great to have nearby as I get a ton of business from people who've been screwed over there. That isn't to say they don't have some really excellent technicians, but overall their shoddy work gives me work.

Data Recovery is good business. There might not be any real money in sales, but having your own supplier helps. I have my own, plus work in conjunction with popular stores, getting their house calls so they can stay in-store.

There's nothing wrong with working for "the man." It's what you prefer. Working for others has it's pros and drawbacks. It's "normal." Working for yourself also has pros and drawbacks. Do you want to do your own books?

For me it's a choice of working for some company like ATI/AMD (or more likely the DoD) in an urban sprawl or relax in cottage country and work for myself.

As for the future. It's a concern but adapting to the needs of the customer base is key. I do web design because people kept asking. I fix tablets because that's what people need. Custom builds for desktops still make a tiny bit of cash too. 

It's true that we don't make the $100+ an hour we used to make, but there's still a business to be made of it. It's great to spitball about how we can adapt though!


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## greenbrucelee

I am not sure where you get $15 an hour from I know techs in the states and the UK who earn $80-120 and hour and £80-£150 an hour.

I know freelance network techs who earn 1k a day


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