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I’ve seen a few people mention that they start a side business for PC repair/Consulting and that it proved successful. This leaves me with a few questions as I have done some very limited aspects of this and was wondering how to branch out:

  • Do you have a website?
  • What are your fees?
  • How do you get word out?
  • Do you stay with home or business?
  • How long did it take to “kick off”?
  • Any other general advice?
16 Spice ups
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I only do a tiny amount of part time consulting, although next year I’d like to bump it up some (have to finish three books first).

What I do currently is just put up a blurb on my “About Me” page on my blog that I’m available for some consulting. My fees are less than others, more than some. I will only do remote work at this point in time. It hasn’t taken off at all, but I have done a few small contracts and turned down a couple as well.

If you’re doing this on the side, find out what the rules are with your current employer. I just told mine that I’d be doing it. I also let them know when I take on a writing contract (since that’s work on the side too). As long I don’t work for a competitor, they’re fine with everything I do and there are no other restrictions. But you want to find out what the rules are up front.

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Grant.Fritchey wrote:

If you’re doing this on the side, find out what the rules are with your current employer. I just told mine that I’d be doing it. I also let them know when I take on a writing contract (since that’s work on the side too). As long I don’t work for a competitor, they’re fine with everything I do and there are no other restrictions. But you want to find out what the rules are up front.

Luckily, there is no Non-Compete agreement or anything. I’m hourly so anything done outside will have no bearing on my current employment, within reason.

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I found that a side business was more of a pain than it was worth. You end up with people calling you at work wanting support and it can take up all of your free time. When I went back to school I dropped the side jobs.

I was charging $75/hour for basic PC type work and $125 for networking and sys admin type of work.

I’ve looked into on-line teaching and classroom teaching but it only pays $2,000-$3,000 per class for a 12 week session.

Dr. X

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Brandon.A wrote:

I’ve seen a few people mention that they start a side business for PC repair/Consulting and that it proved successful. This leaves me with a few questions as I have done some very limited aspects of this and was wondering how to branch out:

  • Do you have a website?
  • What are your fees?
  • How do you get word out?
  • Do you stay with home or business?
  • How long did it take to “kick off”?
  • Any other general advice?

I did this successfully over 2 years ago. As to your questions:

  • Do you have a website? Yes
  • What are your fees? We don’t do home/retail so $100/hr + travel
  • How do you get word out? Network and word of mouth
  • Do you stay with home or business? Only business
  • How long did it take to “kick off”? 1 month mainly because of paperwork
  • Any other general advice? Yep, see below:

For us (I did this with another guy to share the load and then added another engineer) was to create an LCC for our protection. I then purchased business insurance. Later, I partnered with distribution and sw/hw manufacturers and got tax ID so we could sell stuff. Cultivate good clients is probably the best advice beyond the tech/legal stuff I can suggest.

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Good luck on finding a good URL to use most are already taken. The ones that are usually are parked domains and if they do display something it hasn’t been updated for years. I wanted to start my side business but the URL was already taken just sitting there doing much of nothing.

Most small IT work gets done by small firms that like to hire inexperienced techs straight outta high school who don’t seem to know much. Pay them next to nothing.

Then you got the real price gougers called Geek Squad who are set up full time in ever Best Buy location. You ever want a good laugh go stand in line and listen to the tech charge the customer to fix something minor it is outrageous what they charge.

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Brandon.A wrote:

I’ve seen a few people mention that they start a side business for PC repair/Consulting and that it proved successful. This leaves me with a few questions as I have done some very limited aspects of this and was wondering how to branch out:

  • Do you have a website?
  • What are your fees?
  • How do you get word out?
  • Do you stay with home or business?
  • How long did it take to “kick off”?
  • Any other general advice?

I have been running a “side business” for almost 6 years. If I’ve learned anything it’s patience. Most people that I get calls from are looking for a lower cost alternative to “repair shops” (i.e., geek squad, easy tech, and the like). If you have a good personality and can work with people without getting frustrated and making them feel stupid, you’ll be just what they’re looking for.

Here are the answers to your questions:

  • I do have a website, but most people that look at it are either trying to sell me something or don’t live anywhere near me.

  • When i first started I kept my fees really low - to get people interested. ($30/hr) regardless of the work. I also didn’t charge for travel, unless they lived way out of my area. Now that I have a firm base of clients - I charge $60/hr and still keep the travel free. Where you run into problems with pricing is when you have a seemingly simple task that turns into a nightmare. In situations like that, I often discount the total cost of the service.

  • I have used everything from craigslist to business cards to get the word out, but nothing and I mean NOTHING works better than word of mouth - one extremely satisfied customer leads to another and another. If you do a superb job for the first, lets say 10 clients they will hopefully tell at least one other person about their experience with you and your skills, which leads to at least a few more clients and so on.

  • I work mostly with home computer repair, because its more flexible to my schedule. I do some support and networking type work for small businesses, usually 10 employees or less.

  • “Kick-off” depends entirely on your ability to advertise yourself and your availability. If you work 8-6, M-F, and sometimes weekends it will be somewhat difficult scheduling time with people. That’s why home repair is easier from a scheduling standpoint. I guess the startup period depends on what your goal is. If your goal is to register a business and get up and running with a client base that keeps you busy 7 days a week, it will take quite a while- I’d say at least 6 months of hard work. However, if you goal is to get a couple of steady clients and go on a couple of calls a week - you can be up and running in two to three weeks.

  • As for general advise, here it is: you will need to learn patience if you don’t have much of it, you will need to learn how to explain technical language in very simple terms, if you don’t know how (I’ve had to draw pictures for people). Business will come in waves - there will be weeks where there aren’t enough hours in the day, and others that you wish you’d at least get one call. Running a side business is a lot like fishing - there’s a lot of casting the line and waiting and every few times your try a different approach, in this case, advertising or discounts or even free service (if its something super simple). There’s a lot more that goes into it. You have to develop a sense for how the business is going, you will start to anticipate when you need to advertise a bit more or when its time to branch out to some old clients a stir up some interest, etc.

Good luck to you and I hope this helps.

1 Spice up
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Welcome to the world of consulting, aka the Wild Wild West!

Here’s some general advice:

-Determining fees is not black and white by far. You have to factor in the type of work, hours it would take to complete, type and scale of the business you are proposing to, and most importantly in my opinion, the economic environment of the region you are working in. For example, here in DC firms can get away with charging over $100 an hour to professional firms, government subsidiaries, etc. In Pittsburgh for a small-to-mid range business…I’m not too sure. The best thing to do is to have a general idea in your head of a bottom-line fee that you will absolutely not go under, and then keep your mind open. This will make sure it is worth giving up some of that elusive free time. Give a free consultation, be pro-active, stress that you will be negotiable when it comes to rates. Get your foot in the door before spitting out a price.

Some other advice:

-Keep in mind that clients are paying for your time and knowledge.

-Clients love accountability, so give them something to show that you value it as well. What I use is an excel sheet that I set to collaborate from within Google Docs. My client can see exactly where their time is going, and can leave their own comments on items. Accountability and ways to keep in constant contact go a long way.

-Create a simple contract for the proposed work. You don’t have to go to a lawyer, but something with common sense so both parties are protected.

-Be prepared to compromise. I recently did a side project for an Apple server setup where I thought t hat it might be 6 hours, and I set my rate at $80/hr. My client balked at $480 and wanted to make it an even $400 lump sum payment. I felt confident that i could do the work without any issues in that time frame, and I wanted the experience, so I bit that bullet and compromised. Because I did that, and the client was happy with the work, I now have 2 more projects from the same client in the next few months. Build yourself a good reputation!

Now, as for drumming up business, I still struggle with that. My advice is to troll craigslist daily, of course, and search for contract jobs. Don’t be afraid to throw your hat in the ring! Once you get a few projects up here and there, then you can work the word of mouth angle.

Last piece of advice…since you will be coming to these clients cold (usually), get together a portfolio of sort. References, letters of recommendation, relevant projects you’ve worked on…it all helps.

I’m attaching a sample copy of that excel spreadsheet I mentioned. Also, check out the consulting group here on SW, some kind folks have put up examples of their contracts.

Good luck!

project_management_timeline_sample.xlsx (18.2 KB)