I want to build and sell computers.

lion149 said:
To anyone who has been in the industry for more than 5 minutes can tell you that your previous statement about "googling" answers is comical. Just my 2 cents...
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Really?
It's because of Google and the like that so many can build their own computer and learn how to fix them.
Google can hook you up with places that you can find the info you seek.
I have learned a lot of things about many topics by using Google.
Sure, you won't earn a degree from using Google but at my old fart age I don't need another piece of paper to hang on the wall.

And all this wealth of info doesn't require me to pay for a course and spending money on fuel to go to a class where the professor is going to put me to sleep.
 
Building and selling computers is a poor man's job, seriously, just look at the hourly rate suggested above.
 
I personally wouldn't want to be in the business of building or repairing computers at this point in time. For both, the market is saturated with competition and the market is shrinking. Deciding between 2 sinking ships is foolhardy.
 
strollin said:
I personally wouldn't want to be in the business of building or repairing computers at this point in time. For both, the market is saturated with competition and the market is shrinking. Deciding between 2 sinking ships is foolhardy.
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Not entirely true. We all know that most of the major computer repair stores charge outrageous fees such as Best Buy/Geek Squad. Staples, Office Max, Office depot now do computer repairs. They all have overhead included in their fees. What overhead does a person like me have that do it as a side job. I make a good amount of money and have a decent sized client base and always getting bigger. For a person that needs virus/malware removal I usually only charge 25-30 bucks and that includes a general system cleanup, uninstallation of any unneeded software and such.

Provide good dependable service and you'll excel. It won't come overnight, its taking me years to build up this many clients.
 
MyCattMaxx said:
Really?
It's because of Google and the like that so many can build their own computer and learn how to fix them.
Google can hook you up with places that you can find the info you seek.
I have learned a lot of things about many topics by using Google.
Sure, you won't earn a degree from using Google but at my old fart age I don't need another piece of paper to hang on the wall.

And all this wealth of info doesn't require me to pay for a course and spending money on fuel to go to a class where the professor is going to put me to sleep.
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I guess what people are trying to tell him is that his current way of thinking is not a good one for starting a business. I know if I went to a PC shop and asked the guy at the counter what his experience was, and he told me he doesn't have any credentials but has learned a lot from Google, I would leave.

There are a lot of wannabe mechanics that say the same thing. They have no certifications but learned a lot on forums. Now someone who has NO certifications but tells me he/she has been doing it 20 years and has an awesome reputation around the community and decided to open a business would be fine with me. That is a better way of going about it IMO.
 
johnb35 said:
Not entirely true. We all know that most of the major computer repair stores charge outrageous fees such as Best Buy/Geek Squad. Staples, Office Max, Office depot now do computer repairs. They all have overhead included in their fees. What overhead does a person like me have that do it as a side job. I make a good amount of money and have a decent sized client base and always getting bigger. For a person that needs virus/malware removal I usually only charge 25-30 bucks and that includes a general system cleanup, uninstallation of any unneeded software and such.

Provide good dependable service and you'll excel. It won't come overnight, its taking me years to build up this many clients.
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From what you said earlier, you do this as a side job. It might be OK for making extra money but I wouldn't wish it to be my main business or source of income. Not to mention that you say it took years for you to build up your clientele. How long would it take someone else just starting out?
 
strollin said:
From what you said earlier, you do this as a side job. It might be OK for making extra money but I wouldn't wish it to be my main business or source of income. Not to mention that you say it took years for you to build up your clientele. How long would it take someone else just starting out?
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I can help here. I work for a small computer shop in my town. He opened around Summer 2007. I didn't start working for him until Summer 2008, so he'd been open a year. By the time I started the customer list was pretty decent. A lot of it came out via word of mouth or small ads in the newspaper. After I started the new customers continued to come in at a regular rate. They had heard about us either driving by, word of mouth, or seeing the newspaper ad. The fact that we charged significantly less than competitors for similar services, and the fact that we're customer based made it a lot better as well.
 
kennebell347 said:
I guess what people are trying to tell him is that his current way of thinking is not a good one for starting a business. I know if I went to a PC shop and asked the guy at the counter what his experience was, and he told me he doesn't have any credentials but has learned a lot from Google, I would leave.

There are a lot of wannabe mechanics that say the same thing. They have no certifications but learned a lot on forums. Now someone who has NO certifications but tells me he/she has been doing it 20 years and has an awesome reputation around the community and decided to open a business would be fine with me. That is a better way of going about it IMO.
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I never said I wanted this to be my main source of income. I said I just wanted to make a little extra on the side if I could. And I never said google was my credentials either. I stated I have 13 years experience building computers and that if there was anything I NEEDED to know, that I dont already, I can always look it up. Thats the advantage of todays information age. Just like people who come to this forum seeking help, its no different.

There are other ways to gain knowledge than school. While I would love to go to college for this particular field, I feel that the money it cost is not worth the information gained. While it might help me land a high paying job in the future, Im not prepared to throw away $20k+ and wait for a job that might take me years to get. And from what I hear, IT professionals dont all make that good of money. If we are talkin $50k a year, the $20k in college is hardly worth that when I make more than half of that now.
 
G80FTW said:
I have 13 years experience building computers.

There are other ways to gain knowledge than school. While I would love to go to college for this particular field, I feel that the money it cost is not worth the information gained. While it might help me land a high paying job in the future, Im not prepared to throw away $20k+ and wait for a job that might take me years to get. And from what I hear, IT professionals dont all make that good of money. If we are talkin $50k a year, the $20k in college is hardly worth that when I make more than half of that now.
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Oh the customers at work. They're always like "Oh did you go to school for this?" All I'm doing is replacing a hard drive, removing a virus, or replacing hardware. No. I'm not going to school for this. I'm going to school to study NETWORKING! This is the easy stuff that I picked up and taught myself over the years when I first started getting serious about computers.

Also, IT professionals don't make 50K a year. They make a lot more as they move up the chain. Help desk probably makes that, if not less. But networking professionals such as myself make a lot more than 50K.
 
voyagerfan99 said:
Also, IT professionals don't make 50K a year. They make a lot more as they move up the chain. Help desk probably makes that, if not less. But networking professionals such as myself make a lot more than 50K.
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Yeah i was going to say this.

The round-the-corner IT fixit guy gets F-all, but if you work for a large multinational in networking you get great coin.
 
voyagerfan99 said:
Also, IT professionals don't make 50K a year. They make a lot more as they move up the chain. Help desk probably makes that, if not less. But networking professionals such as myself make a lot more than 50K.
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Thats just what Iv heard. Then someone at work told me he knows people making over $100k a year. If thats true, I know ALOT of IT people who are way overpaid....

Almost every place I have worked has a had a horrible IT department that cannot solve simple issues such as installing new computers that do not have a PS/2 port for the mouse only for the keyboard so they hooked the old mouse up and I had to tell them why it would not work. Then they had to go back around and change out all the mice with USB ones.
 
Okedokey said:
100K isnt a big wage these days.
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Depends on your tax situation and where you live.

I live pretty comfy on $30k/year. But then again, I also live in Kansas were the cost of living is almost half what it is anywhere else.

But, I am open to any company that wants to pay me $100k/year to hook up new computers and plug things in wrong and not even test it. Sounds like cake money to me. Im just mostly raged at some of the people who get these jobs. People who have no interest in computers just want easy money.
 
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Little IT servants like that don't make 100k. It's people higher up such as the networking specialists and IT managers that make that. The peons that know nothing and pretend they do make almost nothing.
 
It won't take forever if that's what you're thinking. Once I get out in that field this coming summer I'll be able to tell you better.
 
Okedokey said:
100K isnt a big wage these days.
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I don't know where your from but 100k a year is big money and you can live quite comfortably on that. especially if you have a spouse and they make even half that. I live pretty comfortably and my wife and I together make less than 3/4 of that.
 
kennebell347 said:
I don't know where your from but 100k a year is big money and you can live quite comfortably on that. especially if you have a spouse and they make even half that. I live pretty comfortably and my wife and I together make less than 3/4 of that.
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Like I said, depends on where you live. Here in kansas nice houses can be found for $200k easy. And if your making $100k a year, it aint nothin to drop a nice downpayment on a house that much. I will be lucky if at the end of this year I will have $15k to drop on a downpayment for a nice house and pay the same as average rent here (which varies from $200-$800 a month depending on how often you want your stuff stolen)
 
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