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When thinking about starting a computer service business, some people may not think about all of the costs involved and jump in unprepared. The following guidelines should help you gauge whether you are ready to start your computer service business or not.
Tools of the Trade Let's assume that right now all you have is a computer setup and a printer. Let's see what else you will need to buy. $16.00 Small Computer Toolkit: A cheap toolkit will serve you well. Taking computers apart really doesn't call for a bunch of tools. All you really need are a couple of screwdrivers for the different sizes of computer screws. $8.00 CD Holding Case: You will need a good CD holder to transport your Windows installation disks, boot disks, and blank CDs and DVDs if you need to burn something. $25-50 Data Transfer Cable: You will find yourself having to transfer large amounts of data quite often. A data transfer cable is a good way to do it and is very compact for mobile technicians. I prefer using a Tornado transfer unit because they are the quickest and simplest transfer cables I have used. $20-40 Flash Drive: Flash drives are great for hauling your computer repair tools around. I prefer the 8GB Corsair Flash Voyager. Keep a copy of your flash drive tools on your computer so you can reload your flash drive if you ever need to. $40 External Hard Drive Enclosure /w both IDE and SATA Connectors: You will eventually need one of these to do some data recovery or data transfer off of a hard drive. Thermaltake makes a nice one that has both SATA and IDE connectors so you can hook up both newer and older hard drives. $15-30 Blank CDs and DVDs: When the day comes that you need to copy some data, you'll be glad that you bough the blank CDs and DVDs ahead of time. The price depends on the brand and amount you buy. I like buying the big 100 packs from Memorex. But I will buy other brands if they are on sale. $5-10 White Paper CD/DVD Sleeves: If you ever have to burn any information onto a disk, it's a good idea to have some CD sleeves to protect the disk. It also helps create a finished, professional product. $12 Compressed Air: Compressed air is expensive. You might be able to get away with using a portable air compressor or something. I only like compressed air because it is so compact and easy to transport. But because it is expensive, I use it very sparingly. If you work in an office, definitely get yourself a small air compressor. It will save you a lot of money in the long run. $15 2-part Service Order Forms: It's great to give your customer a receipt because some of your repair work can be written off as a business expense if people use their computer for business or if the computer belongs to another company. It's also good for your own records. Tools of the Trade: $116-221 Business License and Fictitious Name FeesTo get your business registered and legit with the city, you'll need around $150-200 depending on your city. Business Cards You can get some cheap business cards printed out with either your design or a template for about $50. But if you would like to have a graphic designer design your card and have them printed by a really good press, it is going to cost you around $200. Advertising Costs I think it is very important for new business startups to do some rigorous advertising. If you don't, your name will take forever to get out there and your business will build up extremely slow. I think $650-950 is a good amount to spend on advertising within the first two months of business. Choose your ad campaigns carefully though and always note the effectiveness of a campaign. Enough money to keep you alive for 3-4 months Your business is not going to be an instant success. The money is not going to start rolling in as soon as you start advertising. And depending on what kind of bills you already have looming over your head, you may even lose money for the first year or so. You should definitely save up your money so that you can completely survive for 3-4 months without much additional income or consider starting your business on the side. Either way, you are going to take a hit in pay. So plan accordingly or else your life could turn in to a big struggle. Total cost to start a computer service business $1005-1565 + Enough money to keep you alive for 3-4 months or a side job Despite everything I have written above, I jumped into this business gungho. I quit my job with only about $800 cash and decided to just run on my own. I am struggling a lot. It is a tough life for me. This month I am barely going to be able to afford my bills. I've only officially been in business for about 1½ months and it is just starting to pick up. I think next month should be a lot more comfortable. I am just explaining this because I know some people will argue with me on my numbers. Can you start a business with a lot less than $1000 and 3-4 months income? Sure. Would I recommend it? No. Rent I am including in rent last because I think most people would assume that when starting your business, you would start off mobile. Many people who have been in business for years will still say they'd rather be mobile then stuck in an office. But if you do decide you want an office, I'd suggest that you have a steady client base first so that you can make an announcement before you open so that people will know and spread the word. Just like starting up your business mobile, I would suggest having enough money to pay the rent for 3-6 months ahead of time. Also plan on spending on any furniture and signage you may need for the shop. Whatever you do, do not get stuck with a long lease before you know whether your office is going to do well or not. Who knows, your office may flop or you may not enjoy it and decide to close it down. Whatever you decide to do, just be prepared for whatever can happen. If you have any questions or comments about this article, please leave a comment below. I'd love to hear your opinion and I really appreciate all comments. If you'd like to be notified of new updates, please consider subscribing to the ProPCBiz RSS Feed. If you are a Twitter user, you can follow me at twitter.com/Phishie8 for the latest updates. Thanks for reading!
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