GETTING STARTED…

Are You The Right Kind Of Person To Start a Business?

If someone told me that they wanted to start their own business then I would say go for it. I am
the type of person who will always tell someone to follow their dreams. I believe it would be a
horrible feeling having regrets later in life wondering what you could have done if you had
followed your dreams.

However, people also need to be realistic about it before they start up. Here is a short checklist to
determine whether you are the right type of person to start a business.

Do you need money right now?

If you are looking to start your own business to make money quickly, you are making a big
mistake. In most cases you will be making less money for the first few years than you would
have working for “the man”. To those people who are working as employees for someone else,
the idea of earning $70 an hour is quite attractive to them. However, they don’t understand that
they don’t get to pocket all of that money. That money needs to be put towards advertising,
petrol, rent, accountants, tax and other business related expenses. You never really earn $70 an
hour.

Can you manage money?

If you are constantly finding yourself low on money when you need it, it is not a good idea for
you to go into business. Managing your money isn’t “just one of those things” you do in
business; it is what business is all about. For every week that you earn money, you need to put a
large part of it away for advertising and expenses including keeping a decent amount of money
as usable funds so you can buy stock for the next week. If you can’t stop yourself from treating
yourself to that brand new 60 inch plasma screen with these funds because “you deserve it”, just
stop now.

Is working on computer all you want to do?

A common mistake that beginners make is starting their businesses expecting that they can work
on computers all day without all the office politics and meetings they had with their 9-5 jobs.
These people need to keep in mind that being self employed often means less time doing
computer work because now you have to do tasks that would have usually been done by the
secretary, the marketing department or the accounting department at your last job.

Do you have a entitlement mentality?

One of the big differences between employees working for someone else and self employed
business people is the “entitlement mentality”. Employees have the mentality that they are
entitled to sick pay, holiday pay, overtime pay and even getting a raise if they deserve it. Their
boss will look after all of it for you and put money away for their superannuation and maybe
even cover some sort of health care plan which they are entitled to later in life.

When you are self employed, it’s all you. You are not entitled to anything. If you have to work
late chances are you are probably not going to get paid any more. The self employed business
owners also need to put money away during their good days so they have something to live off if
they fall sick or go on holidays. No one else is going to do that for you. Getting out of this “I
deserve” mentality will give you a great advantage in business.
Do you think you are the right kind of person to start a business? Do you know of anyone
who has fallen into these traps?

How to Get Your Business Set up Legally

Back when I asked our members “What do you want us to write about?” a few of them wanted to
know how to get their business setup legally. Here’s our guide for how to get it started.

Note: I am not a lawyer or an accountant. Also, some points mentioned here may not apply to
your country and state. This is intended as a guide and shouldn’t be taken as legal advice.

If you are only doing a few on the side for family and friends while you study, you may not need
a business license. You can just file it as extra personal income (in some countries anyway).
However, if you are serious about making money though the computer business, you definitely
need to set yourself up legally.

Every country and state has different procedures to setting up a business and the simplest way is
to find yourself an accountant. When I first started out, all I had to do was give my accountant
some personal information such as my name, age and address and told him what type of business
I want to be.
I let my accountant know I want to be setup as a sole proprietorship/individual (which most of
you will want as well) which means that I own and operate the business. My earnings though the
business are to be considered part of my income and I have to pay the appropriate taxes for such
as income tax.

You will need to determine what type of business structure suits you best before you visit an
accountant. Some of the business structures available are:

 Individual/Sole Proprietorship – You simply own a business in your own name and have
total control over it. The business is considered an asset like your house or your car.
 Limited Liability Company (LLC) – LLC’s are often a good choice because it combines
the limited liability features of having a company, but has the tax benefits of being a
individual or partnership.
 Partnerships – More than one person owns the business. Partners are “jointly and
severally” liable for partnership debts. That means if your partner owes me money, I can
call upon you to repay me and you have to seek recovery of the funds from your partner.
 Company – A company is a separate structure whose owners own shares in it. The
company is treated like a “virtual person” for commercial purposes. Some of the
advantages of this is the owners generally are not liable for the companies debts so their
personal assets are protected (e.g. if your business flops, they can’t take you house). The
disadvantages are that there is relative inflexibility with the distribution of income and
you don’t have access to some tax benefits.

There are some more options such as trusts and cooperatives, but they don’t really apply to a
small computer business

My accountants also setup my tax ID and setup any government licenses and permits needed.
The whole process was under $200 USD.

I could have done much of the setting up myself but it would have taken a long time to research
what I needed (remember, your time isn’t free anymore) and I could have still set it up wrong.
Paying an accountant is well worth the money. After your accountant sets you up, be sure to ask
your accountant what the next step is, what else do you need to do to set your business up
legally. Hopefully the accountant had done it all for you, but there may be a few things you will
need to do.

Business Names
If you will not be using your own name as your business name such as “Bryce Whitty –
Computer Repair Services” and instead using a fictitious name like “GeekSquad” you will need
to register a business name (also known as a fictitious name statement, DBA or Assumed Name
Statement in America). This will ensure that no one else can legally use your business name.

Your Business Bank Account

I highly recommend that you get a bank account that you will only use for business purchases.
Most banks will require that you at have registered business name before they allow you to open
an account under a fictitious name.
The advantages of having a separate bank account for your business is that you know exactly
how much you are making, you can easily pay yourself wages to your personal account and
when tax time comes around, you can hand your accountant your bank statement which makes
things alot easier.

Deposit all your income (especially cash) into your business bank account so it serves as
documentation of your income. Also pay all your bills and expenses though this account. It
makes things easier at tax time.

More Information (Highly recommended you read this):

I have only given a brief on setting yourself up legally as a business as the laws in each country
and even state to state differ.
There are many government sites that can give you more specific advice for your country and
area.

Tip for Setting Prices – How Much Do you Need to Earn to

Survive?
Many young technicians tend to under price themselves and some even feel guilty for charging
so much for something that they enjoy and would probably do for free. The leading cause of
undercharging is not knowing “the cost of doing business”. Here is a method of determining
what your “cost of doing business” is which will help you set your prices and not feel guilty for
it.

To find out you cost of doing business, you first need to determine how much you need to make
per week to survive and remain in business. Here are some sample figures for a middle of the
range, mid 20’s technician. Adjust accordingly for your own situation:

Necessities to live (per week):

Rent: $170
Food: $50
Utilities: $50
Petrol: $60

Business:
Internet: $21
Advertising: $90
Business Insurance: $8
With these stats, we would need to earn $449 per week, or $64 per day to cover these costs. If I
was only to count weekdays (since many of us don’t work weekends) we would need to earn
$89.80 per day to survive.

These are just basic figures and everyone’s situation is different. If you are young and still living
at home, you may not have any rent so you can survive and increase your client base with lower
prices. Here are some other expenses you might want to include in your list if you have them:

 Mobile Phones and Telecom services such as call waiting, voicemail etc..
 Interest/Debt on credit cards
 Industry magazines/subscriptions
 Memberships (local commerce cambers, BNI, Yellow Tie etc..)

So now that you know how much you need to break even, you need to charge a little more so
you can grow your business. To do this, work out how many repair jobs you currently get per
week (or expect to have if you are just starting out).
For examples sake, lets say we get an average of 2 inhouse format jobs, 5 onsite jobs and a
hardware sale per week. Assuming we are going to charge $60 per hour we would have these
figures:

$120 per format x 2 = $240

$60 per hour for the onsites with an average of 1.5 hours each = $450
Wireless router/usb dongle = $120

If we charged $60 per hour, we would make $810 per week with this amount of work. We now
need to subtract our expenses of $449 per week leaving us with a total of $361 profit per week.

$361 per week is ok for someone just starting out, but to live comfortably (depending where you
live of course) you would want to make at least $700 per week profit.

If you are a beginner, break out your own calculator and find out how much you need to charge
to break even. If you are an advanced technician, you can use these tips to find out if what you
are currently charging is enough.

How You Look Is More Important Than Your Certifications

You read it right. If you are a self employed computer repair technician, what you wear is more
important than your certifications; especially when you are visiting the client for the first time.
Don’t get me wrong though, certifications are generally needed if you plan to work for someone
else because many of the employment agencies use certifications to screen people. However,
they aren’t very important if you are self employed.

If you are certified and self employed you can hang them on your workshop walls to impress
clients but keep in mind it isn’t the testing you had to go through to achieve that certification
they are seeing, they are seeing that you look like you know what you are doing, even if they
have no idea what they mean. So again, how you look is more important than your certifications.

I see thousands of clients throughout the year and you know how many of them asked what my
qualifications were this year? Three of them, and they were all large businesses. When I did tell
them my qualifications their eyes glazed over like I was talking another language. They had no
idea what it meant, but it sounds good.

I’ll look at this from a clients perspective. The other day, I had a plumber come fix my toilet
because part of the flushing mechanism was broken. When he arrived, I dint ask him his
qualifications were before he started work. I don’t really care. I just want him to do the job
properly. If I had asked and he told me, would I know what they meant? Probably not.

The thing is, he had a utility truck loaded up with pipes, work boots and a tool-belt. He looked
like a plumber and I didn’t question it. He was on time, did the job well and was reasonably
priced so I will be calling him again if I need a plumber.

To work on your look as a computer technician, I highly recommend you get a uniform of some
kind. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy with your logo embroidered everywhere on it. Just
something that looks professional that you can wear to jobs. People like the consistency.

Having a uniform also makes it easier to charge more. Think of it like this, whats the difference
between a $100 per night hooker and a $5000 one? A nice dress, nice shoes and a few more teeth
but the service is still the same. One just looks more professional/classy and therefor can charge
more.

Geeksquad are the masters of this with their whole secret agent look. Most of us have heard
about their questionable technical skills but their secret agent outfit still manages to give them a
level of respect with new clients, whether deserved or not.

What do I wear to jobs? I wear a nice pair of dress shoes, a black long sleeved collared shirt, nice
jeans and a black technician bag and laptop cover to match.

I understand I may receive a fair bit of flak by posting this because qualifications are an
important if you want to work for someone else. However, as a freelancer most clients just don’t
care nor do they know what it means. What does CCNA mean to a client? If you told them that it
stands for “Cisco Certified Network Associate” you will probably hear them ask “Whats a
Cisco?”.

The “No fix, No Fee” Guarantee

A topic that is frequently brought up in the Technibble forums is whether they should offer the
“no fix, no fee” guarantee. Some people see it as a way to get more clients while others think it
will cause problems. So, should you offer it? Read on.

I personally had a “no fix, no fee” guarantee in my first few years of being a computer technician
because I thought that it would help new clients see that I was confident in my abilities. I felt I
needed it because I was young at the time and might not have been taken seriously.

I stuck with it for the first few years until problems started to arise:

They would debate the definition of a “fix”

I would occasionally come across problems that weren’t viable to fix and a replacement would
have been a better choice. For example, there were computers that had critical system files so
badly damaged that I could have spent hours on trying to fix only to have to do a format anyway.

I would inform my client that a format would be the best way to go because it has the best results
but would cost $XXX more. These problem clients would decline to have it done for whatever
reason and don’t want me to fix it so I tell them the charge is just $XX for the time and callout
then. Can you guess what they said?

“Oh, but you didn’t fix it. You said no fix, no fee”

I know how to fix it, I can fix it. They just wont let me.
Most of the time ended up getting my money after comparing a computer technician to another
service like a doctor who gets paid for his diagnosis time even though he didn’t “fix you”.
However, I did encounter a few people wouldn’t budge and I had to compromise and ended up
with about half of what I should have. 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing I guess.
Another problem with the no fix, no fee guarantee is..

It attracts cheap customers

The “no fix, no fee” guarantee is attractive to people who are cheap or are genuinely on a tight
budget. It eliminates any risk to them (which isn’t necessarily bad) but these people tend to be a
little more flaky. More often than not they will try to negotiate with you, ask you to install pirate
software and/or be slow at paying you; if at all. These are obviously not the clients you want.
The best type of clients are those who are professionals themselves. They may be lawyers,
consultants, doctors, dentists etc.. and they understand that time is money and your time is no
different.
Although not advertising a no fix no fee guarantee wont mean you’ll get more professionals, it
means you wont attract as many cheapskates.

Now days I have a simple rule with how to charge clients. If I couldn’t fix the problem because
its unfixable or the client doesn’t want to spend the extra money, I charge for my time. If I
couldn’t fix the problem because I don’t know how to, I don’t charge. Its not the clients fault that
I didn’t know how to fix it.
As for standing behind my work, I do. If I just left the clients place and the problem happens
again, I would be right back there to fix it for free.

What do you guys think? Do you offer one? If so, have you been burned before? Drop us a
comment. As always, comments are open and you don’t need to sign up to leave one. You can
even post anonymously if you want.

Always Provide Value

There have been a few times where I have been called out to onsite repair jobs that only took 10
minutes to complete. However, I need to charge a minimum of 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending
on distance) to cover the driving time and cost. Now if I were the client and I was slugged the
full hour fee for a 10 minute job, I would feel like I didn’t get my moneys worth.

So how do we make our clients feel like they got their moneys worth? Always provide value.

Once I complete the task that I was sent there to do, I always ask “Is there anything else you
would like me to look at?”. If they say yes, then I do it. If they say no, I offer some of the
following:

Updates
Check to make sure everything is up to date such as antivirus definitions and subscriptions,
Windows updates and third party software like Firefox. While you are there, you should also set
these applications to automatically update themselves so they continue being up to date.

Virus Check
Using applications like Process Explorer and Hijack This!, look for viruses and malware that the
antivirus might not have picked up.

Spring Cleaning
Using an application like ATF Cleaner, clean out the temp files that collect on a computer over
time. This includes the Windows temp folder, temporary internet files, prefetch, java cache and
the recycle bin. Although ATFC leaner has options to clean out more temporary locations like
history and cookies, I personally leave those alone since deleting the cookies will result in the
client being logged out of their websites.

If you have a can of compressed air or a small compressor onsite, take the computer outside,
open up the case and give it a good clean. We posted a guide on how to clean the inside of a
computer case last year for those who don’t know how to clean one properly.

Teach Them Something

Ask them if they would like you to teach them something. The most common ones are:

 How to get pictures off their digital camera and put them onto the computer
 How to buy and sell of eBay
 Show them how to avoid getting viruses and installing malware
 How to navigate the computers file structure. Its surprising how many people don’t know
how to do this. Show them how to navigate down into folders, go up a folder, create a
new folder etc..
 How to scan, fax and print

Something Non Computer Related?

Over the past few years I have had a few clients ask me to help them setup their new home
entertainment setup. However, before I start I always tell them that its not my strong point so I
may not succeed, but I will give it a shot anyway. In most cases, all you need to do is read the
manual.

Just Talk To Them

Some people just like to chat. They may be elderly/lonely and don’t get a chance to talk to many
people or they might just want to pick your brain for some tech tips. If I am not in a rush to get
somewhere else and I am still under the hour, I will often have a good chat with them.

The point is always make the client feel they gained something out of your visit.

Should I Allow Customers To Come To My Home?

A week ago, a member of the Technibble forums asked how to handle clients wanting to drop off
their computers to his home office. Should he let them come to his home and go inside? or stick
to only doing onsite work and pickups only?

Its a good question that most computer technicians need to think about when they first start in
their home based office.

There were two differing opinions to this question. Some of the technicians said that they allow
their customers to come into their house because it allows them to boot up the computer and see
what problem the customer is talking about. They also use their office to show their customers
that they are a serious business and not just some kid doing it for a hobby in his bedroom. These
technicians feel that this reassures the customer and adds to their credibility.

The other more popular opinion is to allow them to drop the computer off at your house, but
don’t allow them inside. I personally use this method and here’s why:

Security
There will be times when you come across a shady client that will bring in a potentially stolen
computer. Just this week I had someone wanting to bring over a laptop because the Windows
install had a username and password they couldn’t remove.

Due to having coming across these suspicious requests before, I have developed small a checklist
of questions I usually ask to determine if a computer is potentially stolen. The chat usually goes
something like this:

“Are you able to ask the person you bought it from what the password is?”
“No, I just bought it like this”
“Perhaps its mentioned in the manual. Do you have the manual or disks that came with this
laptop?”
“No”
“Perhaps the place that sold it knows the password, where did you buy it from?”
“From a friend”
“Does you friend know the password or have the manuals?”
“No, I just got it as is”

By this point, there is a high chance that this laptop is stolen and I tell them I cant help them.
Other than the fact its unethical to work on a stolen computer, but I really don’t want anyone that
either steals or buys stolen goods to know the value of the equipment that I have inside my
workshop and how well its secured.

This “pre-qualified” client never made it to the door because I thought he was suspicious
beforehand. However, there is also the possibility of seemingly good client turing bad. One of
the posters on the Technibble forums had his own story like this:

“I had a laptop brought in for repairs. the owner was adamant that he be in the lab and oversee
the entire process, he claimed there were important files on his computer he couldn’t let out of
his sight.”

At this stage, there are no problems. Just someone concerned about their data so you are unlikely
to turn them down.

“It was an IBM thinkpad with xp. it also had exactly one program installed on it: a credit card
ripper. I told him I couldn’t fix the issue and got him out of there as fast as I could.”

Now it seems this person is a criminal and now knows the layout and the value of this
technicians house and contents.

The othe technicians said that he should have reported this person to the appropriate authorities
but this can create another headache you dont need. The person will know that it was most likely
you that reported him and there is the potential of them returning for revenge.

Insurance
Insurance is a huge problem when letting people into your home. As one technician put it:

“There are just too many people out there only too willing to trip / stumble on thin air just to
make a claim against you.”

Your homeowners insurance policy will almost never cover you if a customer is injured on your
property. If you do want to allow a customer inside your home and protect yourself with the right
insurance, your premimums will go up dramatically so it is generally not worth the hassle.

Due to the above factors, I mostly do onsite work but if they must come to my place I keep them
at the door and meet them outside. I have never had a client not want to give me their computer
because of this. While I understand that there are credibility benefits if you show clients your
workshop. I feel that the risks involved are much greater than the benefits.
How to Handle Computer Warranties

A common question that I see being asked in the Technibble forums is what sort of warranty
they should provide. Many technicians have different sorts of warranties and really comes down
to what the business is willing to cover.

The minimum for just about all computer shops is a one year warranty because almost all part
manufacturers provide one to the technicians. Some specific parts from big brand name
manufacturers often carry a longer warranty like Seagate hard drives with a 5 year warranty and
Kingston RAM with a lifetime warranty.

As a technician, you need to decide whether your warranty work will be done onsite or in shop.
If you are a startup working out of a spare bedroom it is best to do the repair onsite because you
may not have the correct business insurance to cover your clients computer in your home should
something happen to it. If you have a shop it is best to make your warranty work as return-to-
base to save time with the exception of items that cannot be transported easily.

When you return a product (called a RMA – Return Merchandise Authorization) it can
potentially take weeks for you to get a replacement part back from the supplier so you may have
to cover the cost of the failing item out of your own pocket to get your client up and running
until the replacement arrives.

I always recommend not making your client wait for the part to return because it can hurt your
relationship with them, it takes up space in your office and you increase your liability exposure
should something happen to your home/shop like a break in or a fire.

If the faulty part is low value item like a $10 mouse or floppy drive I usually don’t even bother
RMAing it and just eat the cost of replacing it.

As for the parts receipts from both your supplier and those to your customer, always keep a copy
of your own and keep them in a safe place. I once made the mistake of losing my supplier receipt
for a printer which failed and the customer came back. I couldn’t return it without a receipt but
that wasn’t the client problem, it was mine so I just ended up just for a new one out of my own
pocket and chalked it up to a lesson learned.

What about providing a warranty for software or labor?

I highly recommend that you do not warranty the operating system or any other software installs.
There are just too many uncontrollable user created variables like viruses and malware that can
go wrong through no fault of your own.
As for labor, if I didn’t do something right the first time, I will come back and do it again.
Beyond this, I find there are just too many uncontrollable user created variables to warranty
anything beyond this, especially in the residential market.

How to Avoid Bad Parts

The best way to avoid bad parts is to always buy reliable parts to begin with. They may cost a
little more but in the long run it works out cheaper. It keeps your customers happy, it doesn’t
waste your time doing warranty work and you don’t have to mess around with the time and cost
of postage and handling. You can also justify your higher prices to your clients by telling them
what I say to my clients when selling a computer. I usually tell my clients something like this:

“The parts that I put into my computers are some of the most reliable parts available. As you
know, I work as a computer technician and because of this I get to see which parts are
troublesome and unreliable out in the field, because, well, it’s my job to go fix them. The
salesmen at the big brand stores may know about the features of the product he is selling, but he
doesn’t know how reliable the product is once it has been used or how hard it is to setup after its
been purchased. I only use parts that are known to be the most reliable”

Sometimes, if I am in the right company such as long time clients or friends, I joke and say
“besides, I don’t want computers coming back to me to do warranty work on them. So I only use
the good stuff”.

The higher quality brands I tend to buy are:

Motherboards – Gigabyte
Power Supplies – Thermaltake
Hard Drives – Seagate
RAM – Kingston
Video Cards – ASUS or XFX

Your experience may differ, but I have had a really low return rate on these brands.

Unfortunately, the chances of these brands being faulty can be raised if a supplier has only one or
two of the part I want left in stock. I nearly always avoid the “last in stock” now days since
chances of these parts having been RMA’d at some point is very high.

The previous three “last in stock” items that I bought was a motherboard, a video card and a
computer case. The motherboard had all sorts of intermittent problems; the video card box had
been opened at some point, had missing adapters and had fingerprints all over its driver CD. The
computer case I received had been opened at some point so I just took it back immediately
saying I don’t want used stock. I never knew if there was anything wrong with the case, I just
didn’t want the case given past experience with opened stock.

Anyway, as mentioned before, it really comes down to what the technician wants to do but they
should be providing at least a 1 year hardware replacement warranty.

Safety on the job: Visiting clients houses

When people talk about computer repairs one would think that there wouldn’t be much danger
involved. I am sure most of you have heard a story or two from a pizza delivery boy who had
some scary moments on the job. Well, with pizza delivery boys at least they don’t have to go into
the client’s house for at an hour, onsite computer technicians do.

Working as an onsite computer technician for some years I have seen it all, from ultra rich
people, to very poor people and just plain creepy people. I have been in houses owned by drug
addicts, renters that have garbage piled from floor to roof, people who have 20+ cats, places with
huge dogs and just plain creepy people. A close friend of mine who also works as a computer
technician has been in a client’s house that had sexual paraphernalia about the house that wasn’t
hidden.

Some of the more obvious health concerns is working with electrical parts and lifting heavy
objects such as cases and CRT monitors. However, there are also more insidious health concerns
to be aware of such as germs. Studies have been conducted that say that a keyboard and mouse
contains more bacteria the seat of a public toilet. The same keyboard and mouse you work with
for hours on end at client’s houses.

How to be safe on the job:

 Always let someone know the address of where you are going, even if it’s just a post-it
note on the fridge.
 Always wash your hands after visiting a clients place, especially if you have been using
their keyboard and mouse.
 When working with hardware in a clients PC, always take out the power cord. Not only
to protect yourself from possible electrocution but to avoid the potential damaging parts
inside the clients PC by accidentally dropping a screw onto an electrically sensitive area
(ie, inside the power supply).
 Bend with your knees when picking up heavy objects.
 On the phone, trust your instinct and if something doesn’t seem right, tell the client that
you are too busy to take the job.