Disclaimer: I'm now actively exiting the business I'm about to mention. My hosting company deserves me more, but I figure some of you may already be doing this or be interested in it...

If you run a hosting company you know PCs. A friend of mine in Atlanta started a PC service company and was doing so well he suggested I do it in my town. So I got a 1/4 page yellow page ad and started getting ~100 - 150 calls a month. I'd schedule 25% or so as appointments, at $85/hour.

Jobs included:
:uzi: Removing viruses, spyware (it's called a backup/reinstall, actually!)
:kaioken: Fixing computers hit by lightening (new psu or MB)
:love: Installing wifi or wired networks
:homer: Dealing with end users.

Sorry, I had to use the smiles to the fullest extent possible.

So pretty quickly this business is averaging $2000/mo profit. It takes 2-3 hours of the average day. For some hosts, it may be worth looking at to fill that spare time you have and get you out of the office and to meet people.

Not a bad idea if your days are really slow. But I'm a pretty busy guy, and I can't stand doing PC repair. I used to do it on the side several years ago, and it was just so damn frustrating -- showing at people's houses with systems from 1994 running Windows 98, no USB ports, idiots just bought the latest $50 printer special which is USB only, etc, etc. You also then have the additional hassle of leaving your local customers in the lurch when you travel; with an online business this isn't really an issue because your cell phone and laptop can let you work from anywhere, but you certaintly can't install a WIFI network remotely.

And apparently, as you've now noticed ... it takes you away from your core business, which has so much more potential. Recurring revenue .... ahh .... so nice.

How much competition is there in your local area for computer repair services?

This market has lots of competitors, but none of them are very customer-oriented. Things like taking time to explain how drastic yet necessary a reinstall is make a huge difference.

I guess the point of this post was to give smaller businesses an extra income source (and client source) while they struggle to grow.

In about a year, I had more than a living wage and some money to invest in other ventures.

At $85 an hour you better be giving them the attention they deserve! That's a fair bit expensive considering how easy it would be to hire some random college kid for $30 an hour and get a fair bit done that way as well. Maybe 1/100 problems they wouldn't figure out easily.

Wow great idea, do you do this online or offline? I didnt catch it if you did say it.

Wow great idea, do you do this online or offline? I didnt catch it if you did say it.
I don't think he can remotely access a computer with a burnt-out mobo ;)

Hands-on.

At $85 an hour you better be giving them the attention they deserve! That's a fair bit expensive considering how easy it would be to hire some random college kid for $30 an hour and get a fair bit done that way as well. Maybe 1/100 problems they wouldn't figure out easily.

You'd be surprised at some of the things you see. $30 for a college kid seems pretty high when you consider the damage they can do.

Also, I've been asked by IT managers before to charge no less than $100/hr as management thinks anything less than that is a sign of inexperience.

The thing to keep in mind is that driving isn't included, so you have to setup a route or get clients who are close in.

And Yes - I have picked up hosting customers from this job, so it may be worth looking into if you need something to do with your free time.

Do your customers like having everything backed up and reinstalled just to remove a virus..?

Do your customers like having everything backed up and reinstalled just to remove a virus..?
I'm sure it depends on the situation, if you're reformatting when you have a single virus everytime, then you need to rethink how things are being approached.

I think he meant the point of this thread to be to show methods of generating a side income to try and keep you occupied as your hosting operation grows. Not necessarily occupied, but also keep a decent source of income.

I agree, hopefully at $85/hour you can get your spyware removed without having your drive formatted though.

At $85 an hour you better be giving them the attention they deserve! That's a fair bit expensive considering how easy it would be to hire some random college kid for $30 an hour and get a fair bit done that way as well. Maybe 1/100 problems they wouldn't figure out easily.
It really depends what kind of work because I know that even some high school students won't talk below $90/hour with corporate clients. The thing is, even at those prices, it's much cheaper than hiring a staff member to do the same thing.

All I do is fix spyware, adware, viruses, defrag, and a couple of other things and I charge $75.00 per hour. As well I charge $125.00 per hour to teach people computer basics. It works out for me :beer: .

At $85 an hour you better be giving them the attention they deserve! That's a fair bit expensive considering how easy it would be to hire some random college kid for $30 an hour and get a fair bit done that way as well. Maybe 1/100 problems they wouldn't figure out easily.

I agree, hopefully at $85/hour you can get your spyware removed without having your drive formatted though.

Some people manage to get so much god damned spyware on their systems it's impossible to clean properly, or it's possible but it would take hours and hours of dicking around with the system.

Option 1: Completely manual malware removal and full on virus scan, using a variety of automated and and not-so-automated methods. Total time per system? 3-4 hours of pull your hair at madness, billed at a higher rate of course (it's more skilled work and a big *** hassle)

Option 2: Copy off customer's data and settings to USB hard drive. Wipe system, re-install, install A/V, anti-spyware, copy data back. Total time? 1-2 hrs.

I wonder which option you would chose if you were paying the bill.

it's impossible to clean properly, or it's possible but it would take hours and hours of dicking around with the system.


Believe me, people won't call if conventional (safe mode virus scan, for example) methods would work. They call when the system is completely unresponsive.

And yes, I meant this to be an income idea, not a critique of Windows repair methods (which from a distance do seem quite silly, no?)

Drew

Look at what geeksquad and nerds on wheels charge per hour. $85/hr isn't too bad at all. I have a friend doing this while she is in Uni, I should talk to her about maybe adding that service to my company through her.

This type of work has got to be demoralizing unless you're seeing loads of profit. I know I couldn't stand dealing with some of the decrepit systems I'd be called to fix.

drewnick - if you don't mind me asking, how much was the 1/4 page ad?

The viability of kind of work in addition to hosting definitely depends on your area. Personally, I would rather put more energy and effort in the hosting side of things.

As with anything else.. it is all about advertising and getting your "face" in front of potential customers.

Sorry, but putting a single 1/4 page ad into the yellow pages and then sitting back and waiting for hundreds of customers to call you is a dream....

Sorry, but putting a single 1/4 page ad into the yellow pages and then sitting back and waiting for hundreds of customers to call you is a dream....

You are dead wrong. It literally gets you calls on day one. Having a big bright ad is instant credibility and people with dead PC's can't look on the 'net, you know.

I've seen this work in five cities where I did it, covering a population of about 1,000,000 people. It also worked in Atlanta metro (4mil or so) for my friend.

The problem is, I don't have the patience to deal with the AOL generation of grandparents with a trojan on their Windows 98 machine.

I love doing online support and I don't mind answering silly questions, but being hands on in a room with someone who has no idea what the problem is makes me want to strangle them :P

For 65 bucks an hour I'll gladly wait for some super slow machine.

I started do the exact same thing Drew and have done really well. I work out of my home for my main employment so I almost always have spare time to work with other customers. I'm now supporting (which is used in the LOOSEST term possible since they're pretty self-sustaining) 3 company websites at $300 a month each, have a few clients from them for WiFi and genereal PC issues and have even more I've picked up from those web customers to get them their own domains.

In the "small" towns, the web hosting, domain name registration, etc are really starting to pick up! I'm terrified to make to jump from quitting my "secure" job to do this full time, but it's so much more rewarding working for yourself.

Chris