Stupid idea?

[charlie77]

Hi all, new to the forum name's Charlie.

I recently had what I fear is going to turn out to be a very stupid idea. I've gotten my A+ cert and Network cert but live in a small town, surrounded by more small towns and am having one heck of a time finding a job.

My previous job was what drove me to get certified in the first place. I had to quit it just to go visit my wife in China while her immigration papers are processing.

The nearest computer repair shop is almost 40 miles away. I had the idea to open up a shop, as I get asked many times to remove viruses, install hardware, many different things. I am seriously thinking about doing this for many reasons, one of which being I could go back to China and visit my wife (stupid paperwork takes a year).

The thing that makes me think it's a stupid idea would be my experience at a computer shop I worked in a few years ago. There would be customers who'd bring in a computer eaten up with spyware/viruses and I'd repair it. The customer would take it home, then call back hours later enraged that they had problems again. A little digging when they brought it back in would show they had been browsing the same sites (PORN). They'd take it, storm out and go tell all their relatives/friends how you and your company were a ripoff and scam artists.

I do not know every single fix for every single thing that can go wrong with a computer. I do not pretend to. I do however take pride in doing the best I can, and I value my reputation. I don't want to get a rep as an idiot that takes people's money.

It seems to me the opportunity is a good one. I have enough knowledge to fix the common problems, and enough common sense to research and THEN fix what I am unsure of. There are no stores nearby, and it seems almost everyone is looking for someone to take a look at their computer. Think it'd be worth the risk of the few people who are gonna be problems? Or should I just keep diggin for that illusive IT job here.

Thanks for any input. I've never owned a business. I would be the only one working in this shop, so I would have no one to turn to if I run across some super mega ultra WHAAAAAAT THEEEE HECK error.

 

[joe pic]

Stupid Idea?? No way! that's a great idea! you would make a heck of a lot money if there isn't one withing 40 miles. That's a really good idea.

Welcome to CF, Charlie!

i'm joe by the way, if you didn't already know

 

[-Paul-]

just explain to them, that those sites are causing the problems...

 

[burton_o61]

that is actually what my future plans are...i work thirty miles from home as a dsl tech. AND im and still going to highschool


BTW: i have 2003 books and disks, of the A+ cert. How much different is the updated test, if at all?

 

[Ð88]

That's hardly a stupid idea. By the sounds of things, you have a monopoly in your area in the computer tech business. So you get a few bad reps, who else are these people going to turn to. For the time being you have no worries really until someone else (like people always seem to do) copies you and does the same thing. Just make sure to inform people (in a somewhat less embarrassing way) of how they are contracting the spyware so they get an idea that going to porn sites is just going to bring back the same problems. But yeah like i said, it's not stupid at all, go with it.

 

[Half Evil]

Well, the only flaw I see there, is you better hope people near/around you own computers. But really, that sounds like a good idea. Also, another idea, is buying computer parts, and then selling premade computers on ebay. Thats always worked nicely for my friends. Anyways.. yes. Go for it!

And welcome to the forums.

I am Arrizx, and I will be your tour guide this evening!

 

[burton_o61]

ACTUALLY...the bad thing to do would be to....NOT tell them how they are getting the spyware/virus, and then they keep coming back...more business?

no dont do this, because they will think you arent doing your job

 

[JustinMcG67]

You have one interesting situation Charlie! However, I'm rather for certain that out of the 30,000+ members here, someone should be able to guide you on you way! So, I'll give you my output on this situation to the best of my ability.

I think that if you live in a small town area, where there are no computer shops, then you have a good start. Mainly because most computer shops in the larger cities are hard to locate and there's a million of them, so peopel with problems have a tendency to spread out and thus your customers are going to tons of shops rather then yours.

If you're the only computer shops withina 40 mile radious, this is good, this forces everyone with a problem to turn to YOU, you have no competetion! Essentially within this 40 mile area you have what I would call a monopoly! Everyone HAS to come to you if they want to remove/fix their problems.

Here's somethign that I would do though. Go to a city counsel meeting, and ask if you can issue a poll. In this poll, ask everyone there if there was a computer repair shop, would they take their computer to it. If you can get a good enough average of people's opinions, then go for it. Make sure your target customers are aware that a computer shop might be opening up, and if one was to open up, would they visit it? Ask them various questions, if the results turn out to be in your favor, then open up the shop and get on with business!

However, you are a certified networking person, so, you may want to explore that option as well. Try applying at all kinds of places; such as Cisco, Sun Micro Systems, whatever kind of place you can find that needs someone to maintain and repair their networks. Remember, if a network goes down, their e-commerce goes down, so, they NEED someone to repair and maintain their networks, and seeing as how companies have multiple WANs, LANs, and VPNs, Networking Techs are CONSTANTLY being employed.

But hey, I'm just a kid, only 17, so my advice may be a little over the top, or just right. Take and do with it as you please. I just want to help out.

 

[charlie77]

I'd always let people know how they got the virus if I could determine it in the nicest way. Some would say "D'oh, knew it!", most would get mad that they had cost themselves money. Thanks for the input, almost everyone around here owns a computer. I think I might try the Ebay thing too, hadn't thought of that.

Gotta find a place that's affordable to set up shop in town. I live in a just out of reach of DSL and cable, dial up peaks out around 21k here. Phone company says they only guarantee 19k over voice grade line. I really hate to sign up for satellite with the 1 year contract, up front equipment purchases, and then have the business not work.

Thanks for giving me some motivation, I probably woulda sat around thinking "maaaaaybe i will, naaaah it's stupid...no it isn't....yeaaaa it is" for a long time.

 

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