Would this business idea work?

I was thinking, I see all these people that go out and buy new computers, then after about 3 months, their computers are running slow as anything from all the spyware, viruses, etc. they get online. So I was thinking of starting like a little computer tech support company with the main business focus of "Computer Tune-Ups"... where I get their computers, run Adware type programs on them to clean them up, show them a better way to manage their files, folders, etc. and then get the computer running as fast or faster than it was when it was new. I can also do more advanced repairs and even sell new parts as they come about too..

what do you guys think of this business idea?

could be a good idea. You would need to see what the demand in your area is. Here is what I would recommend. Print up some simple flyers and tell people what you offering. Pass them out and see what kind of response you get.

The question is can you compete with the big retailers who offer a similar kind of support after the initial purchase?

Really depends on your location, IMHO. Like where I'm from: The "Big City" is about half an hour away, and that's where most people buy their computer.

So to drop it of, and collect it later, minimum 2 hours are gone. And there is a toll bridge between there, so it cost's like 30$ even without figuring in gas and such...

These conditions make a "tune-up" service viable, at least as a hobby. Not doing it myself though..

Also, look for info on SWOT analysis; Strenghts, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. Basically, some ideas about things to think about before starting up.

That's basically what I do. Computer service and consulting. I don't really work on machines for large companies. They tend to hire complete staffs from 3rd party contractors. Small business and individuals are my main stay. I'm trying to find a way to increase man power and keep quality high.

In a county with 160k people, this is only my side line of work. My full time job is with a large company as thier tech biaatch....

I had to get permission from my company to do side jobs.

do you think you can make good side money just doing computer virus and spyware removal? what do you think is a fair rate to charge for this? per hour? flat rate?

I have a friend that does a similar service and he charges $25 an hour. In my opinion, he is a little over priced, after seeing the quality of work he has done on my systers computer and even my own. I asked him if I could borrow his grounding strap for my most recent build, he brought it over to me, and kinda took over the work. I was not too happy when I noticed that he was puttin TIM on my HSF like he was icing a cake or something. Plus setting a my case on my girlfriends new desk and scratching the hell out of it. Not to mention that when he was doing the work on my sisters system, she was calling me about every other week to fix what his programs messed up. Not to mention that he has this thing about putting programs that she doesn't like on her system. So far, she hasn't called me in about 3 weeks for any tech support, and most all of her software is identical to mine, except she has 2000 Pro and I have XP Home SP2. The only thing I would say, is to charge less than the local shops would charge for the same service, but don't sell yourself short, and do a lot better job than they would. If you were to do that, I am almost positive that you may end up having to start adding to your staffing.

squale said:

do you think you can make good side money just doing computer virus and spyware removal? what do you think is a fair rate to charge for this? per hour? flat rate?

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For me. When I started, I charged half the going rate in my area. At that time, $40 was the going rate. I did this for two reasons and it has paid off for me in the long run.

1) Since I was new to the tch game, I figured if a job took the average guy 1 hour, and it took me 2 hours because I was new, the cutomer did not lose any money.

2) By charging a lower rate, people took a chance on hireing me over the other guys. In return, I gave good service and requested that the customer refer me to others if they feel they got good service.

Word of mouth is also a marketing tool. I don't have any business cards. When people ask for one, I explain that I only use word of mouth. By doing so, I garuntee that my service is as good as I can do. Word of mouth can bring in the cash or it can sink me fast. If the client is NOT happy, you can bet that they'll tell every one that the know.

When I started to feel more confident in my abilities, and I got more clients, I raised my rates to $30/hr. Now I charge $40/hr. I make about $400 - $800 /mth or about an extra weeks or 2 pay per month. Not all of that is tune ups but perhaps 75% is.

I did this type thing, (computer repair/consulting) for almost 2 and a half years as a side job. As I got more clients I eventually raised prices, mostly at the encouragement of my clients lol. But in the end I was charging 25-35$/hour depending if it was a home user or home business. Went really well, but only some of it was spyware removal. One thing you need to remember is that, in all honesty, installing ad-aware and running it doesnt require any training or anything like that, so if thats all you are doing you cant charge 'too' much, even if its less than competitors. Now if you CAN do more than that, the more you can say you know how to do the more likely you will get a few more clients as well as more time at each one fixing/working on things.

Now Ive dropped the business to work fulltime for a startup company with old co-workers and now we do the same thing on a larger scale including infrastructure etc (the equiv of an entire IT dept. basically) and a good portion of our billable service hours has been maintanence of user machines.

And as don256 said, word of mouth is a biggy, And I even offered a discount to people who gave me refferals and it helped a lot.

It's really comes down to percieved value. I am able to talk to my clients in a way that makes them feel comfortable. (My degree is communications. I'm a tech. Go figure.) I am able to make sure that they are happy.

Now while you and I know that cleaning machines is easy, my clients need to pay some one to do it. Keep in mind that changing oil on a car is easy too but people pay for the service. The more people that I come in contact with, the more I realize that they are not able to keep thier own machines working. If they all did, we would not have work.

You can charge as much as you like as long as the customer feels like they got something in return. You will also find that there is a group of customers that only feel like they got good service if they paid a larger sum of money. I've had folks get offended for charging too little. Those are my favorite people.

I have a client that meets with lots of people. She has refered me to many of those people. I give her free labor all the time because she makes me money.

I was actually planning on doing that myself, but i didnt follow through cause im lazy

deadlysyn said:

I have a friend that does a similar service and he charges $25 an hour. In my opinion, he is a little over priced, after seeing the quality of work he has done on my systers computer and even my own. I asked him if I could borrow his grounding strap for my most recent build, he brought it over to me, and kinda took over the work. I was not too happy when I noticed that he was puttin TIM on my HSF like he was icing a cake or something. Plus setting a my case on my girlfriends new desk and scratching the hell out of it. Not to mention that when he was doing the work on my sisters system, she was calling me about every other week to fix what his programs messed up. Not to mention that he has this thing about putting programs that she doesn't like on her system. So far, she hasn't called me in about 3 weeks for any tech support, and most all of her software is identical to mine, except she has 2000 Pro and I have XP Home SP2...

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Whoa, that guy is still your friend?

Hmm... anyway, I treated one of my friends' (yeah we're still friends, I didn't damage the finish on her Dell and then ask her for 25 bux a hour) computers for free (Spybot, Adaware CWremover, AVG, sygate, switch to Mozilla) and they complained about their AIM lagging. I tried to convince them that its definitely worth the sacrifice. They didn't really comply, so I just took everything off. I think the average AIMer or computer user (someone who wouldn't think of coming to this forum, much less look for a forum like this one) just doesn't understand what is actually good for their computer, and this is why all the plagues of computing will last until the second coming.....

Yes he is still my friend. He has never charged me for a service, and after seeing the work that he does, I don't think that I would want to pay him. Anymore, we just talk if we run into eachother, and most of the people I know who also know him, are usually calling me or another one of my friends who does a lot of cable installs when they have problems. He also gets service calls to fix what my other friend messed up. Go figure, some people think they know what they are doing, and the reality of the matter is they just make things worse.

wow, you guys only charge that much... around here, the LOWEST rate I found was a flat fee of $80 for computer cleanup (he picks up the pc and drops it off, usually has it for about 2-3 days). If you go to a big shop like Bestbuy or Compusa, they charge you $100 flat rate to clean the pc up, but then if it needs more work they get you for $60 an hour. And you still have to bring your computer to them! I was thinking of doing the cleanup service for like $75 flat rate and that includes me driving to the customers house, picking up the computer, fixing it, then dropping it back off. I don't want customers coming to my house and knowing where I live and work from, etc. Unless they are friends or something! Then if it requires more work like reinstalling the OS or something, I will then charge per hour at about $60 an hour I think.