# PC Repair Shop- Am I ready?



## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

Hey guys, was just wondering if you could give me some advise on something. I'm thinking of opening up a pc repair shop on the side. I'd need to spend about $500 to get everything I need. I have my A+, Network+, and MCTS:Configuring Windows 7 certifications. My concern is that I might not have enough experience to start a repair shop, and I don't want to set myself up for failure if that is the case. My only real repair experience has been doing simple things for family like installing a new HDD, RAM, etc..but I've not done these things very often. I've built one computer before, that's it. So should I try to open up a shop and give it my best shot, or try to get more experience elsewhere first? I'd eventually like to get a job in IT working for someone else full-time, but as you know everyone wants you to HAVE experience before they will give you any. So what do you think? Try to open up a shop or wait? Need opinions. Thanks


----------



## Armymanis (Feb 19, 2010)

Personally, I would go with the suggestion I gave you earlier, which was search for contract jobs. I have learned so much about HP hardware alone while doing this contract job.


----------



## GreenLightPC (Jul 14, 2011)

I suspect you are a similar level to me on hardware; everything you have done with hardware (that you stated) is what I have also done. For many people in the general public, doing these sorts of things is pretty amazing as they do not know where to start with such things and you may be able to make quite a lot of money from doing simple things such as this.

The problem would come from people of a higher experience who need hardware help - I assume you would be able to handle software issues. They would be needing help/advice with similar things to what are posted on this forum and they would expect you to know it. If you do not know it then you will start to get a bad reputation as a company and even lower level people will not wish to go to you for help due to comments made by the higher-level computer people of the public who have spoken to them about your company.

In conclusion,
I would recommend having a bit more hardware experience before opening your own repair shop. Alternatively, hire somebody who specialises in hardware - together you would have all areas covered.


----------



## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

Got some good news yesterday! I had e-mailed a local pc repair shop and told them I'd work for free just to get experience every Monday (my day off) if they had anything for me to do. The President e-mailed me back and said to call him and forget about working for free and he thinks they can compensate me ! So I called him back and he wants me to come in next Monday to discuss the details. Sounds like I'll probably be on a contract where I'd get paid a certain amount per computer I service. I'm really excited though, this will let me get some great experience and I'll still be able to keep my full-time job with it's benefits (401k, healthcare, vacation time, etc.). I might end up picking up more hours at the repair shop and start cutting back in my retail job, I'll have to see how things turn out though first.


----------



## Armymanis (Feb 19, 2010)

tim19889 said:


> Got some good news yesterday! I had e-mailed a local pc repair shop and told them I'd work for free just to get experience every Monday (my day off) if they had anything for me to do. The President e-mailed me back and said to call him and forget about working for free and he thinks they can compensate me ! So I called him back and he wants me to come in next Monday to discuss the details. Sounds like I'll probably be on a contract where I'd get paid a certain amount per computer I service. I'm really excited though, this will let me get some great experience and I'll still be able to keep my full-time job with it's benefits (401k, healthcare, vacation time, etc.). I might end up picking up more hours at the repair shop and start cutting back in my retail job, I'll have to see how things turn out though first.


Nice!!! congrats!


----------



## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

Thanks man I'm excited can't wait!


----------



## GreenLightPC (Jul 14, 2011)

thats a great idea, congratulations!


----------



## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

Got the job! I went in and talked with him for about an hour today. I'll be starting next Monday working 10am-3pm to start off with, and if everything goes well after the first couple months I'll probably start cutting back at my retail job and picking up more hours and the repair shop I'm at. The guy seemed really cool I can't wait to get started


----------



## Armymanis (Feb 19, 2010)

tim19889 said:


> Got the job! I went in and talked with him for about an hour today. I'll be starting next Monday working 10am-3pm to start off with, and if everything goes well after the first couple months I'll probably start cutting back at my retail job and picking up more hours and the repair shop I'm at. The guy seemed really cool I can't wait to get started


Awesome dude! Congratulations! 

Hard work pays off!!!


----------



## GreenLightPC (Jul 14, 2011)

tim19889 said:


> Got the job! I went in and talked with him for about an hour today. I'll be starting next Monday working 10am-3pm to start off with, and if everything goes well after the first couple months I'll probably start cutting back at my retail job and picking up more hours and the repair shop I'm at. The guy seemed really cool I can't wait to get started


I'm really happy for you, well done!


----------



## loda117 (Aug 6, 2010)

congrats


----------



## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

cool, good luck.


----------



## tim19889 (Jan 24, 2010)

Thanks everyone, I'm super excited! He's putting me on a contract to start off where I get paid $20 for every computer I fix. I'll only be working 5 hours every Monday to start off with, but after a month if everything seems to be going well I'm going to try and pick up some more hours. Eventually he said he wants me to take over his current shop, while he focuses on marketing and taking care of his new remote support service he started. He's been in business since 1996 so he deff. knows what he's doing


----------



## Armymanis (Feb 19, 2010)

tim19889 said:


> Thanks everyone, I'm super excited! He's putting me on a contract to start off where I get paid $20 for every computer I fix. I'll only be working 5 hours every Monday to start off with, but after a month if everything seems to be going well I'm going to try and pick up some more hours. Eventually he said he wants me to take over his current shop, while he focuses on marketing and taking care of his new remote support service he started. He's been in business since 1996 so he deff. knows what he's doing


awesome! This is like a dream come true for you


----------

