Thinking of starting a summer comp-building business.

[RussianVodka]

It once again came to my attention how many people are computer iliterate, so I\'m thinking of starting a small computer building business this summer. Maby drag a friend or two along.

Any advice from people who have done this?

I\'ve looked online, and I could build computers that are as good as those of Alien ware, but at almost half the price (ex.  Alienware-comp: ~$5000, My Comp with same specs: ~$2000-3000). I\'m gona try doing the same with Dell and Compaq and what not.

Anyways. This is how I was planing to charge:

Software Problems (windows only):
$5 - Diagnosys
$15 - fix.

Hardware Problems (non-Mac):
$5 - Diagnosys
$20 Fix (plus cost of part, if part has to be replaced).

Upgrade (non-Mac):
$40 - Three Part Max Upgrade (plus cost of parts).

Build new Comp:
$20 - Create Build Plan (do research and find cheap, good, and compatable parts)
+$80 - Order and Build a \"bare-bones\" system.
+$30 - Instal everything and do some error checks.

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That\'s what I\'m thinking of doing. I know that quite a few people do this, but not near me. So if you have any sujestions, or any advice from own experience, I\'ll be glad to listen.

[fken]

my advice is to change \"non-mac\" because there are a lot of other os and other computer architectures... I think it\'s dangerous to say non mac. You can say \"pc only\" or maybe its better \"pc since 586 architecture\" (but this last one noone of your customers will understand lol). And for os you would prefer to say something like \"Windows linux and unix system only\" for example.
It\'s my advice ;-)
I wish you to success in your company

[Efflixi Aduro]

My friend fixes teachers computers and makes some goood money. They tell him their printer is broken, it ends up it\'s out of ink. He goes to Office Depot and buys a refil and replaces the ink for the teacher. The techer gives him like 100 bucks.  8o

[fken]

And these guys are teaching you something? omg :rolleyes:
Do you know the big fax copier for big companies? One day a company gave one to my father saying it is broken and in fact they wanted to give him the fax because they though my father will have to the junkyard and he just needed to change a card to another slot...
The fax cost something like 1500? maybe 2000?...

[Efflixi Aduro]

Ha ha ha niiice. Now sell it to another company.

[fken]

no he was happy to have the \"new\" big fax and sold the old he used before...

[Phinehas]

It looks pretty good to me. I should start something like that. Problem is, I don\'t know enough people. One of the things I could suggest, at least for the software part, is changing it to a pay-by-the-hour type system. The only reason I say this is that sometimes if someone brings you what they think is a minor problem and you end up needing to do a re-install windows or something, that takes a heap of time. Anyways, it was just a thought. You don\'t want to end up underpaid for your time. Otherwise it looks pretty good. I assume you\'re doing this in Russia? If so, the prices look about right, too.

[fken]

Owww Phinehas you just point something I didnt noticed...
I though people were almost poor in Russia... who will be able to pay your services ?

[Phinehas]

I think the prices are ok. I mean, chances are that if people have enough money to own a computer, they\'ll probably have enough to get it fixed. The whole point is that he\'s saving them money by not making them send it in somewhere or take it to \"professionals\".

[RussianVodka]

Nope, doing this in America.

Anyways, I would get no customers in Russia. Most people there either don\'t use the computer (older people), use a friends computer only to check their mail once a week, or know more than me about computers and won\'t require the services.

I remember our school back there had a(n after school) course called \"Computer Metal\" which teachers you how to build a system from the ground up, so if you took that you already knew more than I. And if you didn\'t, you usualy didn\'t care to much about comps.

[Dregan Tepis]

Software Problems (windows only):
$5 - Diagnosys
$15 - fix.

I would charge by the hour for this one, with a min of one hour. It\'s actualy taken me more than three hours just to remove bloat, spyware, tray items, registry entries, 4 versions of the same driver, three running speach recongnition programs ( the girl didn\'t even own a microphone! ), and a animated kitten that walks across the screen waiting for some fool to play with it. It would have been easier to re image, but she hadn\'t backed up her buisness files in two years! She had no burner or second drive, and I refuse to waste my time with flopies for that much data. Ok, I didn\'t bring an external drive either. Yes, these are the type of calls you get. Price acordingly!