Virus Removal Business Fight the Geek Squad. Run Your Own PC Repair Business.

Computer Repair Biz Interview: A Prompt PC

Today at VirusRemovalBusiness we have a guest interview with Kyle, the sole proprietor at A Prompt PC.

Note: Kyle will be receiving some free SEO consulting for his website as a thanks for participating in this interview. This interview was edited for clarity and brevity.

Brian: We both run home-based computer repair businesses. These days I do 95% Internet advertising. What sort of advertising are you running?

Kyle: I did the Yellow Pages about 4 years ago, and they worked really well for me then, but now pretty much the only calls are from those whose computers don't let them get on the Internet. I've fixed people's computers and asked where they found me, and they literally say that "I would have never opened up the Yellow Pages if I could get on the Internet".

Brian: Yeah, its looking like a lot more people are turning to the Internet and even their cell phones for computer repair services. Mobile searches aren't big yet but I expect a lot of growth in the next five years.

So, tell me what got you into the business?

Kyle: Believe it or not, one day I was on my computer, it shut down on me, I was already computer-savvy (I was 15 at the time), and I had a job with pretty good money at the time, so I figured I just wanted to get back to being a teenager (and let someone else take care of the computer). So, I called Geek Squad, and they told me that they wanted to come out to my house and just to tell me what's wrong with it, charge $198. If that's happening - people are paying that much money for something so simple - I figured, why not do it myself. So I searched up on the problems, and I pretty much found out for myself when I opened up the case and the power supply was loaded with dust and that's why it was overheating. The fans weren't even working properly. I learned that on my own, and figured that I could very well do this on my own seeing how the Geek Squad people aren't that smart themselves and they get to charge that much. I can charge half or less and still make good money. I started working with my father when I was 16 or 17 and just started getting back into it in on my own in '09-'10.

Brian: So you've been working a year under "A Prompt PC". What legal structure do you currently have?

Kyle: Sole proprietorship.

Kyle discussed some of the tax advantages for Georgia residents in his situation. Your state or province may have its own tax incentives for various business structures.

Brian: What do you think of the differences between a running a storefront business vs a home-based computer repair business? I'm currently speaking with one storefront owner in Massachusetts who says that the majority of his walk-ins are job seekers. He is not sure whether his exposure justifies the rent.

Kyle: We have a lot of traffic on the highways in metro Atlanta. I'm pretty sure that if I could get one on the highway, it would bring in a lot of walk in customers, but I'm not certain either if it would justify the rent.

Brian: We share the challenge of no exposure from walk-in traffic, so I think we have to compensate with good advertising and by pitching the fact that we provide better value since none of the cost is going toward a storefront.

Kyle: See, that's actually something I'm on the fence about, because you might get those customers that don't know you don't have a storefront over the phone but would walk away if they found out. So I just focus on the price and don't mention not having a storefront.

Brian: I totally hear you, but I like to try to offer a premium and discount service. Normally I start out my phone pitch similar to you, just providing a price for onsite services. And if they think it's too expensive, then there's the cheaper service I can offer them which involves dropping off the computer at the technician's house. But at that point, I really do have to make it clear that they are dropping it off at a house, not a storefront.

Kyle: It's funny because there are times when they just ask, "can I drop off my laptop?" and I respond, "sure, if you don't mind pulling up to a house."

Brian: I guess you just have to carefully bring up the point that it's going to be at a house.

Kyle: It's a bit less awkward each time because I am learning that customers understand the lack of overhead cuts the prices, and it's easy to explain the value of those services to the customer. And I remind them that whatever they are more comfortable with (onsite or dropoff) is available.

Brian: Ideally you offer them the onsite service as a premium, and then reduce the price for dropoffs.

Kyle: Actually I like to offer them the same price for onsite and dropoffs.

Brian: I guess that works if you service a small area, but what about those calls that are 20 miles away?

Kyle: I've done 40 miles away and kept the same price. It goes back to my original reasoning for opening a computer repair business. It hurts to jack up those prices.

Brian: I guess that's one thing that separates us - it doesn't hurt me as much to raise prices for the distant jobs.

Kyle: I mean, sometimes I just feel bad about pricing the services too high. People are talking about having been just laid off. That's one of those reasons I find it hard to jack up the prices. But I do get calls in Atlanta that I do an automatic $25 more than anyone else, because that's more than an hour drive for me.

Brian: Where do you see your biz in a year or two?

Kyle: I'm aiming for hopefully $30 grand a year and being self-sustained off of my computer repair business because I have another job and I definitely do not live just off of my computer repair business right now.

Brian: Would you consider hiring at some point? Maybe independent contractors to start, who can help you with specialty jobs?

Kyle: Actually I'm interested in what you do and how you currently do it because I hear technicians talking about outsourcing and letting a competitor take a job. Do they give up all the money just for brand exposure, or do they want a cut?

Brian: (laughs) I would not give up all of the job fee, no. I don't recommend that. The contractor usually gets 50% minimum, and a fixed fee is usually agreed upon. You can get a whole bunch of leads from people willing to do computer repair in a 30-mile radius. Even with some strict requirements posted on Craigslist you might get a lot of responses. It's worked out well so far because it allows me to accept more jobs under my business name and the tech does all the work. The downside is that you do have to be concerned with technicians stealing business, and doing business under their name since you can't see what they're actually doing on the job. When I found out that one tech accepted a check under his name, I found that strange. I called up the customer and learned that the job fee was underreported, so that was the end of that. It's a hiring challenge that you have to face any time you risk sending someone out to work under your name.

Kyle: Have you had any technicians who really like the way this is going and they keep coming back?

Brian: Absolutely. For one example, I'm currently working with Mathew from Exact Repair and that's been going really well. I'm still looking for great, trustworthy technicians.

Kyle: You've always got yourself (laughs).

Brian: (Laughs.) Yeah, I guess that's true. But the only way to expand is by hiring. But the legal issues are tough. When others are working under your name, you are responsible for a lot of things. So you need your LLC, terms of service agreement, and insurance. And then you need to get a lawyer to examine your business if you want to be really sure of things. I got a 30 minute consultation from a lawyer to start, and I think you can generally find a lawyer whose willing to give you some free initial consultation. But these lawyers charge $250 an hour so I'm not sure how much consulting I would take at that rate.

So that's how the interview process has worked for me. I phone-interview the potential candidates and then follow up with an interview at the local Starbucks usually with a test on my laptop to make sure their legitimate.

Definitely follow up with the customers after the first few jobs that your technician performs to make sure that they are happy with the tech's work.

So, you've been doing computer repair for a while now. Can you tell us about an interesting job?

Kyle: Actually, one of my favorite jobs that I've ever had: this woman calls me, says she has a problem with her desktop. I'm like, OK - she's sounding pretty snobby over the phone. But when I get there she's really nice - doesn't seem like the same person over the phone at all.  She pulls up a chair for me, and gets one for herself. When she gets back with her chair, I ask her what exactly the issue is. She points at the desktop and says, "I don't like that picture." I'm like, "Excuse me?" She says she wants to change the background picture. In my head, I'm like "is this really happening right now?" I changed the picture and she says that's pretty much all she needed. I tell her, "well, ma'am I can optimize the performance of your machine and that's included for the first hour" and she's like, "well sure, go ahead". The whole time I'm working on her computer, she was talking with me about random things. I figured out that I was pretty much a non sexual gigilo.

Brian: (Laughs) yeah, I think I recall you bringing that up in the forums. We were talking about the "lonely ladies" calling us up.

Kyle: Yeah, that will always be my number one job. It was awesome because I was paid $85 to change her desktop background and listen to her talk about Michael Vick and how she doesn't like dog fights. I ended up staying an extra 30 minutes past an hour but would have felt bad so I didn't charge for that.

Brian: So how did you find her? I think we need to use that type of advertising more.

Kyle: (Laughs.) I'm pretty sure that was the Yellow Pages. But these days there are a lot fewer of those calls. The first time I did Yellow Pages I was getting like almost 10 calls a week, and the next month 3-4, then 2 calls, and then the next month it dropped off completely.

Brian: So that was the small local Yellow Pages book?

Kyle: Yeah, and that's where I think I went wrong this time - I went with AT&T this time and got an ad the size of a half a business card for $45. But I'm thinking that next year, I'm going back to the small local Yellow Book because I think people respect their local telephone company Yellow Books more. Or it could just be that more people are using the Internet.

Thanks to Kyle for sharing his business stories with us. If you have any tips for others, or Kyle, please drop a comment! If you are a computer repair business owner interested in being interviewed, let us know in the comments.