It doesn’t take very specific requirements and skills to learn how to start a computer repair business. However, if you want to give it your all and ensure some details are covered while mistakes are avoided, you could follow the right steps.
Your success will depend on creating a business plan and securing financing and how you market it and take care of licenses and other details.
If you wonder if this business is a good option, you have to consider that computers have become a necessity for professional and academic work. They are here to stay due to the positive response to the work-from-home culture and the enormous upside of online education.
This means it is very profitable, and you will notice a huge opportunity falling in your hands with it. Thus, if you want to start it, this is what you will need to do:
Make Sure to Create a Business Plan
A solid business plan is essential for any company to succeed. If someone tells you the opposite, that’s a big mistake.
Now, this plan forces you to think about how your business will be structured initially and how it will evolve over time. Your computer repair business plan should address the following questions to ensure it is complete and you have a good vision and grasp of everything later:
- What services are you offering? Keep in mind that you can choose specific ones in this niche, not just “repair computers.”
- Who are your target customers? Are you aiming for individuals, companies, workers in a niche, or…?
- What business structure should you use?
- What is the best place to do your work? Will you have your own space or work in someone else’s place? Consider all options.
- What are your options for financing your business?
- How does the competitive landscape look? Are there too many people?
- How much do you project your budget and income over the next five years?
- What is your marketing strategy?
- Are you planning to hire employees? If so, how many in the short and long term?
Remember that this business plan is more of a roadmap, not just a document you won’t read ever again. Instead, it will be quite useful to maintain your ideas and visions clear and find financing as well.
Do A Competitive Analysis
Before starting in any industry, it is important to do a competitive analysis. Computer repair business owners should examine the products and quality control of their competitors, as well as the brands they choose to purchase their software and hardware.
This would allow the owner to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors and how they can be capitalized on and enhanced for their business.
It is always good to keep a systematic approach when starting in any field.
We know this can take some time, but it will be quite worth it when you notice how statistics end up helping you to understand what to do.
This can also be done in addition to your business plan, which means you could go over the analysis while writing that one.
You Will Need to Make Investments in Small Things
A business with minimal start-up costs is a great advantage. They can help avoid liabilities and save money early in the business’s lifecycle. It is recommended that computer repair shop owners keep the initial costs low to ensure that they are able to fund their business with their savings and avoid requesting loans.
The owner is free from the stress of having to earn a minimum monthly income to cover the loan. If the profits are stable and the computer repair shop can expand, the owner can apply for a loan later.
Below is a rough estimate of the investment required to start a computer repair company in the USA and the main expenses you may have for it:
- Furniture: You won’t have to spend that much. From $150 to $500 is possible to find the parts you need to place computers and more.
- Salaries paid to employees: This will depend on whether you decide to hire someone or not in the beginning.
- Tools: A PC repair service needs a variety of software and hardware tools like anti-spyware, ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) tools, diagnostic instruments, data-recovery tools, and many more you will need to tell.
These PC repair tools cost anywhere from $10 to $100+, but you can use less expensive spare parts to start the business and order the exact items as required by the customer.
This approach allows you to only pay for the tool if you have a customer. However, this could result in losing out on customers who need a fast computer repair service as well.
- Rent, if you will have a rented space: Rent associated with computer repair shops is one of the highest fixed costs that business owners have to pay each month. However, it varies depending on where the shop is located and the area in which they are located.
A shop located in a city’s prime location can be a great idea for a large clientele. However, it is also a good idea to open a repair shop near the IT parks (if any) in order to serve the IT professionals in the city.
Find Options to Finance Your Business
You can also build a nest egg and seek out additional funding to help your business get off the ground.
A loan from the Small Business Administration is one option. SBA partners with community development organizations and lenders to provide loans for small businesses. Lenders are less likely to reject the request, and small businesses can get approved faster, often at lower rates than traditional bank loans as well.
You may also consider other financing options, including finding investors such as angel investors or venture capitalists, using credit cards, crowdfunding, and borrowing money from friends and family are other options.
To reduce the amount you borrow, try to keep the business as small as possible. It is important to put your focus on building your business and not repaying your debt.
Choose a Location
Computer repair businesses offer a lot of flexibility in structuring your work environment. You could choose to work at home, in a retail location, or to travel to clients’ sites.
Before deciding on the right option for you, you might want to know about each of them. Also, consider that depending on the one you choose, you can reduce the amount of funding you need:
- Working at home.
Your overhead is reduced by working from home as you don’t have to rent office space. You also have more freedom to choose the hours you work and avoid commuting.
There is a limited separation between your professional and personal lives. Family members may be at home during work hours and could compete for your attention, making it hard to concentrate.
You should also make sure that commercial Property Insurance covers your home business. Most homeowners’ insurance does not cover business property. However, many choose this option because it is comfortable and saves money in the short and long term.
- Storefront.
A storefront can help you brand your business and increase foot traffic to your location. The downside is the extra expense.
You will need to pay additional costs such as utilities in addition to the rent or purchase of space. Your landlord may require that you purchase general insurance if you rent the space. You will need to factor in the wholesale cost of the items you intend to sell as well as product liability insurance.
- Support on-site.
Your repairs can be limited to home visits to the homes or businesses of your clients. This saves you money and creates a separation from your private life.
There are other things to consider. Your clients’ schedules will dictate your work hours. You also have the possibility of jobs taking longer than expected, particularly if clients ask you to do additional work. You should consider purchasing commercial insurance since you will be driving to clients. Personal auto policies do not cover business-related driving.
There are risks that your business could face, regardless of which option you choose. Customers could sue you if they are hurt at your storefront. A fire could also cause damage to your home and your computers. Or, you could be in an accident driving to a client’s office, injuring someone.
Be Sure to Choose the Right Price for Your Services
At first, it can be tempting to offer lower prices to get new customers to choose you over others. However, this strategy could backfire.
It will be harder to raise your rates eventually, and you may attract clients who are more interested in the lowest rate than the quality of service. Your rates could rise and disappear, requiring you to start over.
Compare the rates of repair shops in your local area to ensure your pricing is competitive. Remember that your price must be sufficient to pay your salary and expenses like rent, taxes, professional fees, etc. So, no, we wouldn’t recommend setting a low price.
Instead, make sure it is right on the line since some people may think you are offering low prices because your services aren’t good either. Yes, this happens.
Get the Necessary Certifications
Although you don’t require a degree in computer repair to start your own business, some certifications can be obtained to show you have the right skills and gain competitive advantages. But, they are not really mandatory.
Would we recommend taking the time to go over them? Definitely. These are some of the most common:
- CompTIA A+ Technician.
- Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA).
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).
- Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE).
- ACMT (Apple).
- BICSI Technician.
You can check to see what certifications are most common among computer repair businesses in your local area. It may be a good idea to identify a specific area of expertise that will set your business apart.
Get a Business Insurance for SBA
The cost of lawsuits and other catastrophes can be very costly. Computer repair business insurance can protect your hard work and ensure you don’t have to deal with these expenses.
This is a list of policies that are most popular for computer repair business owners, and you should try to get during the early years if possible and maintain them, naturally:
- General liability insurance.
General insurance is the policy that almost every business owner buys first. It covers common problems that a business may face, such as:
- Property damage or third-party injuries.
- If your business sells a product, you are responsible for product liability.
- Copyright infringement, slander, and libel.
- Policy for business owners.
An owner’s policy is another policy that could benefit computer repair companies. It combines general liability with commercial properties insurance at lower rates than if each policy was purchased separately.
Commercial property insurance will pay for them if tools, office furniture, or printers are stolen or damaged. This policy is recommended for anyone who works from home. Most homeowner’s policies do not cover business property.
You might consider adding bailee’s coverage on your general liability policy if you store client property in your home or office. This will pay for the repair or replacement of customer property that is lost or damaged while it is in your possession.
- Insurance for professional liability.
Computer repair technicians also have professional liability insurance. Also known as errors or omissions insurance. If a client sues you, the policy will pay for any legal fees.
- Cyber liability insurance.
Cyber liability insurance is another important policy that you need to have in your field of work. This policy will pay legal costs if a client alleges that you or your company caused a computer system to be hacked. This policy is usually included in your professional liability coverage. However, you should double-check with your agent.
For repairs alone, it can also be quite useful.
- Commercial auto insurance.
Your personal auto policy won’t cover you if you are on business trips to client sites. Personal vehicle policies typically exclude business-related driving. To ensure your coverage, you will need to buy this one.
- Fidelity bond.
A client may ask computer repair professionals who work with banks and other financial institutions to buy a fidelity bond. It is also known as an employee dishonesty bond.
This acts as a voucher to ensure that you and your employees don’t steal behind-the-scenes access. The bond can be used to repay stolen funds if there is a theft.
- Workers’ Compensation Insurance
If you have employees, it may be necessary to buy workers’ comp insurance. This can cover medical expenses as well as partial lost wages in the event that an employee is injured on the job.
It is up to you where your business is located as the laws governing workers’ compensation are at the state level.
Seek Out Possible Collaborations
Although a computer repair company is not dependent, partnerships with major computer retailers can be very valuable, particularly if they have large sales showrooms.
These showrooms can have formal or informal agreements where the computer repair business would handle all of the repairs to the computers. Informally, it is possible to promote a computer repair company through the salesmen who work in these showrooms.
This can help increase the number of customers.
Provide Home Services
Although there are some working professionals in the market for computer service businesses, most of their customers are home users of personal computers.
These customers often have problems that are less complex than those of a professional and prefer to solve them at home. Basic issues like Wi-Fi connectivity issues, problems with peripherals like printers, routers, and so on are all possible.
The business owner and their employees should address customer issues at home. This will increase word-of-mouth publicity for computer service businesses.
Consider Becoming an Authorized Repair Centre
Computer companies often have their authorized repair centers. This certification certifies (notice how redundant that sounds) that the company has checked the quality control and certifications and gives them the authority to repair computers made by the company.
The fact that an authorized repair center is certified by the company acts as a security barrier for computer repair businesses.
A person who uses a high-end Acer computer might want it serviced or repaired at an authorized repair center. He can claim the company’s warranty and be assured of the quality parts in the event of a replacement.
Promote Your Computer Repair Company
While asking family and friends for help can be a key part of building initial buzz about your business, you will also need to develop a marketing strategy to ensure potential customers find you.
A website should be your first priority. If you’re unable to design a professional-quality website, it is worth hiring a professional. Also, make sure your website is mobile-friendly.
Though, we believe many options like Wix and Snapp are profitable and easy to use today, so you can work with these without having to hire a pro for them.
Marketing does not have to be expensive to be successful. You can find budget-friendly strategies for many things, including:
- Participating in networking events. BNI is a professional networking organization that you can join.
- Email marketing.
- Promoted posts and ads on Social Media.
- PPC (pay-per-click).
- Blogging.
- Consider building your reviews.
- Get listed in local directories.
- Use old or more like traditional advertising options.
Marketing should be a regular part of your daily life. You should set aside time each week to contact potential clients and post on social media.
Or to work on your marketing strategy overall. Without it, all your efforts will go to waste.
Consider the Pros & Cons
If you are truly up for this challenge and want to go over the option to start the business, you may need to consider these:
Advantages of a Computer Repair Business
There are many benefits to starting your own computer repair business if you have the right knowledge.
First, it is a reliable and high-demand service. Personal computers won’t be going away, and you will always have an influx of customers if you market your services properly.
Consider that people of all ages and levels use computers for entertainment, banking, and connecting with others. There is always a risk of viruses and other problems, especially for people who use computers to access the internet. This results in a steady stream of clients.
Flexible work hours are possible if you create your own schedule, but sometimes you will need to adjust your schedule to accommodate customers’ needs.
Part-time work is also possible as you start your business. You can fix computers while you have a job or deal with other obligations.
Your overhead should also be minimal, especially if you work from home. However, you will want to ensure that you have low-cost or free software for diagnosing problems and that you are insured or bonded against any mishaps.
If you keep this, you should be able to work properly with very low costs and get an influx of clients.
Disadvantages of a Computer Repair Business
There are some downsides to running a home-based computer repair business but also a regular one with commercial space for your repairs and services.
First, it can be difficult to attract customers at the beginning. This could be whether you are cold-calling potential clients or demonstrating your computer repair skills at tech fairs, or handing out flyers to small businesses and homeowners.
It can be difficult to compete with big companies like Best Buy’s Geek Squad, especially at the beginning. Although the job is not easy, it requires constant marketing. However, you can develop a strong word-of-mouth following and get at the top of the game.
You will have more success marketing to computer owners than businesses. Although they may not be as willing to pay as much, they are more likely to hire someone outside of a company because they want their computer problems resolved quickly and competently.
You will need to invest in more complex repairs and software. However, you can subcontract the work or charge a bit more to fix serious problems.
Some people decide to purchase a new computer instead of fixing their current one. This trend can be offset by offering computer setup services, including salvaging data from an old computer and moving it onto the new one.
Although the cons can be pretty much solved with some actions, you can face a wall whenever you are trying to go over them. So, we recommend that you take the time to go over them.
The Local Lead Generation Process for Your Computer Repair Business
All right! So, everything is about building properties and generating leads. But how does the process actually take place? Are there other steps I need to know?
The steps I mention below are what students from our local lead generation program follow to generate leads for businesses like yourself. So I’ll help you see what we do. And how if you join our program, you can simply generate leads for your own business (unless you want to start a side hustle and build a laptop lifestyle business).
Essentially, our lead generation can be divided into four steps:
The first is prospecting. You need to take the time to do market research on a niche (industry) and determine how many phone-driven businesses are there.
Keep in mind that this is local research as you need to know how many companies need leads. For example, you may search for “plumbing services Youngstown OH.”
You will find dozens or even hundreds of businesses trying to get themselves in front of the customers by ranking on Map Listings, organic results, and even Ad.
The second step, building. When you find a niche (plumbing, tree services, a software company, real estate…), you will need to start building your digital properties. You don’t need to be an expert in HTML or coding. It can be easy with the right tools.
The third step is now taking time to rank your lead gen website. With the site done, you need to work on SEO strategies and start dominating those Google search results. If you’re new to SEO, it stands for Search Engine Optimization.
To keep it simple, it consists of the entire process of growing a company’s visibility on search engines like Google and generating organic traffic. And remember this, local lead generation is part of the strategies.
Moving on to step four, once you rank the site, you will start getting your ROI and profits. You only need to rent it out to a local business interested in the leads the site generates. You can offer a couple of free leads to their move on with the actual pay per lead.
To review steps 1-4 above, I described it to a normal student who is building a lead gen business to help local service providers generate more calls. But replace the student with you as the business owner. And replace sending the leads to a business to simply siphoning the leads to your personal business.
By the way, fun fact, about 20% of our students in our local lead gen program are actually business owners who went through the program. And they use the skillsets we teach to generate leads for their own business.
An Example of Lead Generation: Home Advisor
You must be thinking, “if lead generation sounds so good so far, how come I haven’t seen any company?” That’s the thing; there are many out there. You just don’t know they are dedicated to it.
HomeAdvisor is one of the best examples you can find on the Internet as it is a top lead generation company that has spent millions building its brand but also earned even more zeros for this same reason.
They started small as everyone else but invested in building their brand awareness to make people who are looking for home services go to their website and find what they need. They are over 75% of people’s first choice when they need those services.
If you don’t get HomeAdvisor that much or need a refresh, users need to submit their information to request a service and get a professional or expert who can provide it.
HomeAdvisor’s job is to share your information, which makes you a lead, with local companies so they can contact you and offer the service you’re requesting. For sharing this lead information, HomeAdvisor gets paid by the companies. This happens for every single lead they send to multiple businesses.
Business owners who don’t have marketing skills or don’t even know how to have any online presence will always rely on those pages to list their services. They will save time and effort, but companies like HomeAdvisor can make them spend lots of money as leads aren’t exclusive (one lead is sent to multiple companies after all).
Using Facebook Ads aka Paid Ad Platforms: Do They Generate Leads?
They DO generate leads. If not, no one would use them.
However, you need to remember two facts:
- Paid ads or platforms can be expensive.
- They don’t generate “natural” leads.
Whenever someone sees or clicks in one of those ads, over 80% of them did it by accident or are trying to close/report it.
Why? Because they aren’t looking for those services. At least not at the moment.
What those ads do instead is interrupt their time on the platforms. Users aren’t there to find companies or businesses unless they are searching for a specific company’s user, and for that, there’s a search bar. This is why it is hard to convert them to actual customers who will show interest in the companies’ services. Also, you’re limited by a budget.
When using lead generation, everything is organic. You aren’t forcing others to pay attention to your business but rather being there when they need you. This is why Google’s organic traffic will always beat paid ads, and the reason companies continue investing in it, which is a lot cheaper as well.
What Is Local SEO?
Don’t worry… I didn’t get it at first either. Following the short explanation, local SEO focuses on scaling businesses’ visibility on search engines. However, this is only for those who serve their communities face-to-face.
What does this mean?
Experts and professionals like painters, plumbers, and dentists (but not only them) offer their services to their local customers. Why? Because they can’t deliver them unless they are located in the same area of their customers.
To make sure those businesses get more leads, you need to rank them locally by claiming the business listing on Google to place them on Map Listings. Local SEO also involves online reviews, citation management, and how you manage your entire online presence in the local area.
If you are going to bet on lead gen, you need to adapt yourself to today’s world: The Internet.
Keep in mind that although traditional channels and methods like billboards, warm calls, and pamphlets still work, they aren’t part of your tools. Whenever someone needs a service, they go to Google and search for it.
“Dentist in Miami” or “plumbing services in Orlando,” etc. And you can keep coming up with services or professionals people need and look for. Thus, you need to make sure you’re using Google to get the companies in front of their clients.
Users will always click on the first search results (those near the top), and many of them will be either Ad links (people paid to place their websites there), Map Listing, and then you get websites. Almost all of them are your goal and where you should always aim to place yourself.
Can My Computer Repair Business Utilize a Local Lead Generation Strategy?
If you want customers, you better know you need it. Following the previous explanation, lead gen is all about placing businesses in front of their customers, choosing them over their competitors.
Put it simply – it’s all about closing deals and having clients for those companies to make money. The main difference with the usual methods companies use for this is how lead generation approaches different channels to get them in the right place of the market to get customers.
Those channels are all focused on the Internet as most people are searching for products but also services across the net. The issue is that the Internet is way too broad, and businesses don’t know how to place themselves. They usually try, but they get one common result: losing money and time.
How Powerful Are Organic Computer Repair Leads from Google?
For companies looking for customers, it’s everything. For you? Pretty much the same. When you build a business with digital properties, you get to make thousands of dollars a month.
This isn’t a “get started today and get rich tomorrow” thing, but it is HIGHLY scalable, and ROI + positive results are guaranteed. Learning a fairly decent and very needed set of skills to create your digital properties and start ranking them on Google is required.
I have invested in several online businesses over the years, and if there’s something uncertain, whether you will get your ROI or not, even more than the actual profit.
However, this business moved my earnings from five figures a year to a month in ONLY passive income while sitting comfortably at home.
On my laptop. Anywhere. Anytime.
You can look at one of the first sites I built back in 2016, and it continues making me over $1.000+ every month. The best part is that I don’t need to touch it or the rest I’ve built over the years, just like this digital property.
What Makes Lead Generation SO Alluring?
Here it goes: you can work from home.
The main issue with regular business opportunities is how much you need to invest in staff, equipment, or rent to have a place to sell your products or offer your services.
We all know the hassles of traditional businesses that involve regular expenses, which are extremely high. Can you afford it? I don’t think so, and even if you can, is it worth it? Now, it isn’t only about the money. You also need to put in a lot of work, and it isn’t only during the first couple of months or years. Usually, it is as long as you continue running it.
You can save yourself those headaches and bone-breaking tasks and expenses with lead gen since it is more about generating leads with digital channels—mainly websites.
Websites can be VERY cheap to build, and with many tools online, you get to do it in a couple of hours instead of days. Any virtual or digital business is scalable and won’t need constant maintenance.
So, let’s summarize this:
- You save money in regular expenses with traditional and most online businesses as what you need is yourself and digital properties (websites).
- You can bet on passive income.
- There’s no need to hire more people to get started.
- You can generate leads in multiple industries, which allows you to work on any niche you want.
How Can I Get Started in the Local Lead Generation Program?
Anyone can start and learn. That’s the beauty of this business model. I knew nothing about SEO, Map Listing, and everything I’ve mentioned so far. It is all about learning the skills, gaining experience, and deciding to take the step.
Remember that this business model will never get old as business owners are always looking for leads. They need to do business and scale their companies. Why not do the same while helping others and still making money?
You can start with this local lead generation course highly recommended for anyone wanting to grow in the business. It is a close training that will take you through each step and make sure you are able to get your ROI, profits and take control of your life.
You will be added to an incredible lead generation family ready to help you 24/7 when asking questions on the group. Anyone is welcome who’s willing to put in the work. Click here to watch the lead gen webinar.