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Building Up a Small Computer Business?
Hogg asks: "I'm a senior in high school, and feeling very industrious over the summer, I started a home business. Basically, I go onsite and service computers and charge far less than what the 'pros' with the MCSEs and so on do. It's been going fairly well so far, but I wonder if Slashdot has tips, advice, or pitfalls to avoid?"
Speaking as someone who has started a small home computer business few years ago (and have failed miserably -- now I'm a bankrupt) I can only advise you to not spend your investors money on hookers. I know, it seems to be a great life style at first and the girls are amazing, but trust me, you really need those money to buy hardware, because otherwise your investors (and the bank) will be really pissed off.
The pros charge so much to pay for their insurance. What happens when somebody's computer breaks a month down the line, and they think it's your fault? Are you going to buy them a new computer, or let them sue you?
I'm not posting anonymously because I don't have an account, but because, as you might guess, I'm of course not very proud of myself, to say the very least.
Make sure you bring condoms for all those times you bump into lonely ladies out there in computer land.
I am so not kidding.
Always have a disclaimer form that releases you from liability should something go wrong. If my customer won't sign the form, I won't touch the PC. That way, the user can't blame you if he screws up and loses everything from his drive a few weeks after you've done your thing.
"All universal moral principles are idle fantasies." -The Marquis de Sade
When people ask "OK, now how much do I owe you?", you say: "I dunno. What do you want to pay me?"
If the people where you live are anything like the ones around here, you'll end up getting paid more than you would if you set a price ^_^
Unless, of course, you were GOING to have them pay you 50$ an hour. I only charged 15.
Sometimes I'll show up at someone's house, and they'll have fixed the problem themselves, but then they give me 20$ just for the trouble of riding my bike a couple blocks to their house.
Don't expect too much, though. I only made 300$ this summer (half enough to pay for my new computar!). But for the amount of work I did, that wasn't bad. Far better than bagging groceries, anyway.
My kybard sucs tody.
Duct tape, XML, democracy: Not doing the job? Use more.
get indemnity insurance pronto. you bust it, you don't want to pay for it...
Usually, you should start out with a business plan.
For good examples, check out pretty much any slashdot thread. Example:
1) Ask slashdot how to start a business and what slashdot users want
2) Buy a nice leased line and set up a webserver on it (preferably heavily driven by databases and dynamic content)
3) Advertise said site on slashdot
4) Prof...
5) Buy a new webserver
6) Declare yourself bankrupt
With business', you can build up a really good regular customer base by demonstrating that you trust and care for them. Carry a set of spare components (hard disks, ram, maybe an optical drive or two, etc) with you all the time. If some hardware is acting flaky - and you can't fix it immediately - lend them a replacement and/or substitute. Most business' will be used to lazy, pushy & expensive IT guys, and the mere act of lending them a replacement stick of ram for a week or two will boggle their brains.
I only charged 15 [$ an hour]...
Don't expect too much, though. I only made 300$ this summer
So you had all of 20 billable hours?
That was what, five four hour gigs, or ten two hour gigs? Now you know why people charge things like a $150 minimum just to show up on site.
Write long, pointless articles and have them mentioned on the slashdot front page.
Programming can be fun again. Film at 11.
Who would you rather hire - some kid who knows how to muck around with a computer or an A+ certified tech? If you're going to do anything serious in the repair industry then you should get A+ certified. The test is dead simple, but very valuable. Although I've never found a use for it (yet, other than to pad my resume), I know that should Joe User muck up his computer 2 weeks after I fix it and he sues me that the judge will take my certified experience with a lot more weight than if I wasn't.
Watch out for problem customers. i.e. the one's who call you every week and try to be cheap about paying you. Don't accept food for work. Don't accept checks until you have verified their ability to pay you. i.e. never take a check on the first couple visits. If they bounce a check on you, terminate future business with them until they pay you for the check they bounced plus interest. Always charge them per hour the same rate.
...
Invest in the tools you are going to need. It's going to be expensive. You need to be a pro and recover almost any data and fix dead systems. Therefore, you are going to need spare hardware and a ton of software tools such as Winternals Admin Pak, etc. ($699 license) XP & NTFS is the need for this cost. NTFS is a real pain to mount and work with there are no decent free toolsets for NTFS. You can get around it but believe me, you need the AdminPak it has saved my bacon a bazillon times already and it's worth every damn penny! A really good laptop and possibly a small miniture desktop system so you can pull an IDE hard disk and mount it in your own semi-portable system, etc.
Not everyone has broadband, start building CD-R's full of drivers, etc. You may have to stop by a customer site and do a survey to find out what hardware they have so you can then go back to your office and download everything to CD because they have a 28.8kbps modem and it's barely working.
The reason the pro's charge so much is they have had to buy insurance to protect them against lawsuits. They have to invest in training and tools both hardware and software. They have rent and taxes to pay. Remember, in the USA you have to file tax returns quarterly with Uncle Sam even for a small consulting business.
I know a whole lot of kids and others who did what you are contemplating for a few years. Few made any money at it and most burned themselves out in less then 3 years; finally saying screw this and getting a real job. (something better then bagging groceries). Once you are out of High School and you get a real job, you will see how futile it was.
It's good training to put your feet to the fire and you will get a ton of experience. But watchout! One customer with a lawsuit and you are toast! Then get tagged by the IRS because you are dealing under the table and not paying taxes, etc.
You will have to deal with complete idiots who have 4 or 5 computers, broadband, and the boxes are full of spyware, trojans, viruses, etc. The user will have run ethernet cable outdoors and literally used two patch cables connected with an RJ45 splitter and wrapped in duct tape! This was hanging outside the house in Connecticut! It will be exposed to temperature extremes (contraction & expansion) and his connection will come and go, plus it will corrode (not gold plated). When I got there all of his boxes were so full of crap, viruses, trojans, and I am pretty sure they were all hacked and spending spam! It took me 2 weeks to rebuild everything and restore all his data, change all his passwords, install a firewall, and updated NAV licenses. I also offered to rerun the ethernet cable with a single run of cable rather then his mickey mouse patch cables + duct tape solution! Meanwhile, I had to contend with his Jesus Freak rhetoric and being happy about the end of the world!
Bottom line, get insurance (all it takes is for you to break something simply by accident, it happens to the best of tech's), get bonded, get the tools, get a car and not a bicycle, get a whole lot of patience, and be prepared to turn away customers who are trouble! Don't give anything away for free. Charge less then the competition but don't undercharge too much! Look for small business outfits rather then home consumer users. Start your own business rather then run under the table.
Oh and get a gun permit and carry a box of condoms!
Yeah, I've made house calls to horney woman and I've shot rats the size of small dogs in dirt floor basements. I've also met some very very weird people. Think, Silence of the Lambs weirdo's! Bodies in the basement, etc. Be prepared to show up and walk or run away quickly!
I know it sounds strange but be very strict about billing. Many small businesses are too trusting and too nice and allow other businesses to walk all over them.
Make sure you bill promptly and accurately and be sure to charge late charges on accounts. If a customer becomes past due do not perform further work for them. You can't work for free and make a living.
Also, don't charge *too much* below what the MCSEs charge. It's stupid but people will automatically think that you are of lesser quality. You have to have an air of confidence, and charging "high" prices shows that you feel you are worth that much.
Greg
There\'s no place like ~
I don't know how good you are with programming, but you can make good money doing programming for small companies/small towns who need computer work done. Lots of them would benefit greatly from web-based system that can keep track of their customers, or one for posting new bus routes online for when school starts. Things like that are easy to create, easy to maintain, and very impressive when whoever's paying you shows it to their boss. Just make sure you slap a nice color scheme on it!
I found a job doing slightly more involved work for a small startup here in NY about a year and a half ago, and now I'm trying to decide which BMW I want to buy. There's plenty of money to be made if you're competent and professional enough and willing to work hard.
If you do a good job and get repeat calls from the same businesses, offer to let them keep you on call 24/7 for a moderate montly retainer. Then, if you continue to do a good job you will be raking in big bucks from multiple customers for little actual work.
Make agreements with other quality people doing the same work in your area to cover for each other. Then if several of your customers have problems at the same time you can take care of them all with the extra sets of hands. And you will be able to go on vacation without losing customers due to bad timing of the latest worm release.
Vonnegut was right: Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "It might have been."
I think it has already been said, (-1 redundant), but it needs to be empasized (+1 intereting) -- get some form of insurance, or a contract that keeps you from being liable.
For example, many small companies' employees store their "important" documents in one place -- their personal hard drive. What if you are running a routine scandisk, and the machine flops? Well, whether it is your fault or not, "you" just lost the company's only copy of (bill|contract|policy).
10b||~10b -- aah, what a question!
Oh brother.
Then again, mabe you're helping the industry along because after you screw something up that causes a business to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars and they've successfully sued your parents and taken away their home to cover damages, they'll spend that money on hiring qualified people to clean up your mess.
OBDisclaimer: Nobody pissed in my cornflakes this morning but this question has hit upon a personal pet peeve. Hogg may or may not be qualified, I don't know, but it's people like him that are making life difficult for those of us who do this professionally (as in we have mouths to feed and I'm not talking about buying Slurpees for all our friends) and care deeply about our reputations and the perceptions attached to private consultants.
My only advice is: don't be afraid to turn a customer that you feel will be problematic down. If you can avoid that small percentage of people who will cause a large percentage of your trouble, great!
Also, try to get a Reseller tax ID and accounts with some of the online distributors (techdata, ingram micro), etc. They can't always beat the online shops like newegg, but sometimes the deals are really sweet and they do actually have service.
I have been doing this for the past 2 years as a part time job, assembling PCs for people, repairing, antivirus use, spyware removal, windows reinstall, Internet software install and the likes.
Tip # 1: On slashdot NEVER call MCSEs pros. I know many people who got their MCSEs during the Windows NT4 days and dont know how to use MS excel. Maybe you meant A+
Tip # 2: Never provide a warranty, and make sure they understand that. They cannot come back 6 months later with a bad driver and ask for free service because you didnt fix it right.
Tip # 3: Do not service Pentium1 and lower computers.
Tip # 4: Do not hand out drivers and ghost images of the users data. Let them come back to you with future problems. Learn something from microsoft.
Tip # 5: Build a reputation. When you have to install firewalls and servers in office locations, use Linux or BSD. You can put that on your resume.
Tip # 6: Dont rely on it as a major source of income. Get a degree, get the real certifications and years of experience, then tell all your clients you no longer work for them.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
1) Don't underestimate elasticity of demand. By this I mean, don't charge too little. People get a sense of security when they pay more for a service. A computer is like your body: when you get sick, do you go to the discount teenage doctor? No, you got to a professional and pay the money, because it is important to you. Make sure you charge your customers throught the nose, even if you know the job isn't very hard. They don't know that.
2) Charge for travel time. Don't even think about leaving the house if you're not getting paid. Don't give into the temptation to give freebies to keep your customers happy. Make it clear from the begining that they're paying you a minimum $100 every time they pick up the phone and ask you to help them out - even if they have fixed their own problem by the time you arrive. This breeds respect. They won't feel they can exploit you.
3) Invoice immediately. This probably should be rule #1. Send out the invoice the same day you do the job. It'll keep you well organized and your customers will appreciate remembering what you did for them when they pay your bill. Also, it keeps you liquid.
4) As mentioned on this thread, get them to sign a disclaimer before you begin.
5) Target small/medium businesses. Private customers are the worst. Don't go near them if you can avoid it. They're a lot of trouble.
5.a) Target branch offices of larger corporations that have their HQs elsewhere. The IT manager in another city will appreciate having a smart person he can call to fix his remote office. He's often under the gun to get things fixed and will probably give you steady business.
6) Don't be afraid to drop customers who don't pay promptly. If they call and haven't paid their bill, tell them to call when they have. Period. A business is in business to make money. If you wanted to waste time, you'd read Slashdot.
7) Find other small partners. You can't be an expert in everything and people will ask you to do a whole range of things. If you're a systems guy, team up with a web developer, an app developer, and a small hardware reseller. Refer business to them. Get them to do the same.
8) Be prompt, courteous and polite. Your word is bond. If you commit to something, you have to do it. Servicing your customer is very important. Simply don't agree to something if you don't think you can or want to do it.
Seriously. Before you do anything, find out what an accountant says to you about running a small business. You'll avoid all the hidden expenses that can snag you later when you've already spent your profits, and an accountant can also introduce you to the wonderful world of deductions that you are suddenly entitled to.
For example, Pennsylvania has this inane "self employment" tax for independent contractors and small business owners. It is above and beyond all the rest of the taxes that regular salaried employees pay, but you might not find out about it until they go through your tax return and send you a bill with interest due a year and a half later.
Accountants can help you decide how much of your rent/mortgate/utilities/whatever are permissible for deductions as business expense and whether it's worth it to keep track of them or simply take the standard deduction. Furthermore, they're familiar with local laws that you won't find out about reading a book on national tax law. Philadelphia and NJ, for instance, have a reciprocal tax agreement, the details of which make my head hurt every time someone tries to explain them.
An initial consultation won't cost that much and will, without question, save you headaches in the long run.
I had an argument...with the person here at the university that teaches OS design. I wonder when I'll learn --Linus
I tried doing the same thing you're doing a couple years ago. The problem is that old people always assume that you can be paid in milk-and-cookies. No kidding, a lady actually expected to pay me with cookies she baked.
The main problem i had was proving that something wasn't my fault. You go to someone's house and fix their CDRom. no problem, you leave and it's fixed. A month later their modem goes bad and they assume that it's your fault. As far as they know it's the same thing, and you were the last one in there, so it must be your fault.
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The customer is not always right. Some customers will try to push you around just because they can, or (more likely) because they have no idea what they're demanding. These people are not out to help you grow your business.
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You don't have to keep every customer. Bad customers (like examples from the first item) should be tossed. Needy customers that don't pay on time, haggle over prices every time, or in any way cause you more grief than profit should be directed to your competitors.
It may sound a little harsh, but not jumping through customer-created ridiculous hoops will simplify your life tremendously (as well as keeping ulcers in check).Don't Copy That Floppy, just go to the store and buy it.
Did I hear you right, did I hear what you're saying, that you're gunna make a copy of a game without payin'? Come on guys!!! I thought you knew better, don't copy that floppy.
Chris
My best advice is to not waste your time. I tried precisely the same thing for five years (Yes, five years. I started doing webdesign the year I turned 14. I just turned 19.). You know how much money I've made, gross, on it, total? Probably less than $1000. That's all. No one takes kids seriously in business. It's sad, but it's a fact. You won't make the money you want to make until you're into your mid-to-late twenties or thirties. "He's only a kid; what does he know?" You'll never hear it, but that what they'll think and that's what they'll say.
However, if you are going to try, you'll need to deal with a whole lot of red tape. Vendor's permit. Tax permits (yes, you need to charge tax). You'll have to register your business with several government bodies, make deductions on your pay... You'll be dealing with Revenue Canada/IRS on multiple levels and it's just a bad scene. Then, as someone else mentioned, you'll probably need insurance, in case you send somebody's machine to hell.
Notice that you still haven't set up a website. This is just legal bullshit you have to go through that I never did and I regret not doing. You know why I never did it? I never had the money. I said to myself, "I'll get a vendor's permit after my next contract. I'll register the business after this next contract." You know what? Never happened. Never got the contract.
The most important thing to remember is if you're going to undercut your competitors, don't undercut by very much. Competitive pricing, not psychotic pricing. In a market where the average price is $50/hr, charge... $40. It shows you're serious about business.
Something else you may have noticed -- I haven't recommended getting certifications yet. I do recommend it, but only if you can afford it. They are FUCKING expensive. I only got my CCNA because my high school offered the program. I only had to pay for the certification exam. In most places, though, you'll have to drop $6000-$10000 on the training.. and you may not even get certified.
So, I'll repeat my earlier statement -- don't waste your time. Go out and find a bullshit job, maybe work at a Future Shop or a Best Buy in the computer department, get some money, go to university and when you get out, moonlight this kind of thing until you're confident you can make a living on it. I know it sucks, but I've been there and not making money because no one takes you seriously sucks even more.
Matthew G P Coe
http://mgpcoe.blogspot.com/
One book I like is by Janet Ruhl, and the info was gleaned from Usenet back "in the day". It's called The Computer Consultants Guide. I found it to have lots of good information on a variety of subjects, although it is a bit dated.
who just started doing this myself, let me share.
I only work for family friends. Thus, I don't have to worry about being cheated, or having checks bounce, or meeting crazies. Well, less than if I worked for anyone who asked.
I charge 5 bucks an hour. It's not much, but it keeps my CD collection growing and my Linux box upgrading. Also, I get a *lot* of repeat business, and customers don't feel that they're paying so much they can't/shouldn't tip.
Never say a job is too small. I got paid $20 bucks for maybe 90 minutes of work installing windows XP. It was a no-brainer, and I got to play Solitaire while working. (OK, so that's not much of a plus). It also got me re-hired when the owner told me they didn't want a virus-scanner, and I had to come back for 20 minutes to get rid of LovSan and a few others. And install an antivirus.
Never laugh - I had to teach a lady how to take her Outlook Express settings on one computer and migrate them to the other. 10 minutes, 5 bucks.
Keep a CD with utilities - Knoppix, definitely, and windows utilities (unless you are working on macs). Half the jobs I do are generic "my n-year old computer is slow, can you speed it up?". I generally reinstall the OS, but if they've lost the CD key, I'll run RegClean, AdAware, etc. They think I'm a friggin genius 'cuz I went to CNET.
So - in my first 3 days, I made 35 bucks, and more since then. Good luck!
No one takes kids seriously in business. It's sad, but it's a fact. You won't make the money you want to make until you're into your mid-to-late twenties or thirties. "He's only a kid; what does he know?" You'll never hear it, but that what they'll think and that's what they'll say.
Don't be so quick to think that. Age is rarely a factor. There's an attitude that successful professionals have that people actually like and respect. If you gain this attitude, it doesn't matter what age you are (or what ability you have), people will think you know what you are doing and will be willing to entrust you with their equipment and give you their money for doing so.
Try discovering and devloping this attitude. Don't think of yourself as "less than professional" -- you're doing it for money so now you are professional too! Be the best out there. Tell people you are the best. Make sure that no one out there is better than you.
Then charge them through the nose for your excellent service. I'm talking $80, $100, $150 an hour. A fair price is fair because it makes both parties happy. Too cheap is unfair, as well as too expensive. Make sure you are getting your time's worth! You'll find yourself not giving them shoddy service so that they come back to you later for the same problem you could've fixed last time.
The radical sect of Islam would either see you dead or "reverted" to Islam.
Uh, Pro with MCSE?
Seems contradictory.
Make sure you are charging enough. Most people don't realise how much overheard there is in a buisness. When I was in a resteraunt anytime payroll went over 30% of gross income we lost money. Utilities, food, rent, and taxes consumed far more money that you would think. Now your buiesness is different, but you should still assume that not less than half of what you charge is avaiable for your own pay.
Best is get an accountant to figgure out this stuff for you. Keep your books up to date, and then have a professional check over all your work, and tell you what you missed. Do this minimun of every 3 months, because in some cases you have to pay taxes every 3 months and you don't want to miss that.
BTW, have you seen a lawyer yet? If not find one before you do another penny of buisness. Coporations are easy to set up, and protect you from a lot of mistakes. A lawyer can tell you if they are right for you, and do the paperwork for it. If you are doing something illegal the lawyer will stop you now, before you are caught. (or tell you how you can fight the law) Well worth paying for, find a good one localy
That is the big question. Are you going to college next year? If so trying to start a bussiness is pretty much a waist of time. Do little jobs on the side for now and put the money in the bank.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Hey!
Good job, I'm glad you are making money. Your initiative is admirable.
I hope you are planning on going to college, you can continue to run your business while you are in school and the fact that you ran a successful service while going through college will look great to potantial employers, or be excellent experience when you start your business after school. I can't stress the importiance of college enough. And I admire your non-lazyness over the summer when your classmates are watching reality TV!
" You're asking a group of people, many of whom are "'pros' with the MCSEs and so on""
You don't seem to understand the Slashdot crowd.
Most people here consider MCSE cert to not be worth the paper it's printed on. Most consider people with no qualifications beyond an MCSE cert to be clueless neanderthals.
I would personally be more willing to trust a 16-year-old with some PC experience than the average dimwitted MCSE.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Start a retirement fund. Either a Roth or SEP if your business takes off. Compound interest plus 40 or 50 years equals Profit. I started an IRA savings account in the 80's and eventually moved into bigger funds. It adds up.
Play fair. Customer references are worth having, but don't be afraid to tell someone no. Either you can't do what they need or it would be illegal to install that same copy of Windows 2000 on 6 different systems. Offer to provide these OEM from your local supplier (with the appropriate hardware of course).
"Make sure you charge your customers throught the nose, even if you know the job isn't very hard."
Well, that's true... but then again, it isn't. Obviously, if you're charging $15/hour for computer work, you should be charging more. But here's a story that goes the other way.
A client I worked for had a "computer guy" (MCSE, even) who charged $125/hour to fix their network. The thing was that the network was always broken. I really felt like the guy was incompetent, but as their web developer/web hosting company, I wasn't really in the right position to step in and fix their computers as well... I was simply too busy just maintaining and developing their (quite large) website.
Then a friend moved out here from Indiana. He is an accomplished system administrator. As soon as he moved here, I had him interview with 2 of my clients who used the MCSE. My friend looked at the "going rate" for computer work here and found that it was $50/hour, so he agreed to charge that.
Now you might be asking "Why would you tell him to charge $50/hour when he was obviously more competent than the guy who charged $125/hour? Why not charge $125/hour?"
But I knew that a) my clients were uncomfortable getting their computers fixed at home for $125/hour, and b) they were uncomfortable recommending this guy because he was so expensive. So I told my friend to charge $50/hour.
In the first 3 months, my friend billed more hours with these clients than the other guy had ever had the opportunity to. He also made the same amount of money the other guy did. Plus, my clients recommended my friend to all their friends who just needed occasional help with computers at home.
My friend has now built an entire part-time consulting business around these two clients and their friends, friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends. Meanwhile, the other guy is suffering because he's lost several major clients.
What's the lesson? Charge the going rate. If your work is harder than the going rate, or you're getting too busy, don't be afraid to raise your prices. (I had too much web development work at $50/hour, so I upped my rates. Now I have an $800 minimum contract rule and I charge slgihtly more per hour [$60-$75]. It's much more manageable and I still make more money than I was making before.) But don't price yourself out of the market, or you'll miss out on referrals and your clients won't be happy.
Simpli - Your source for San Jose dedicated servers and colocation!
I did piecemeal consulting for a couple years for my bread and butter.
:(..
Lessee now...
Top rec would probably to be look into at least limited liability insurance, while it never saved me, I know a couple people that were very very grateful for it saving their asses after something went very wrong..
Second thing? Demand a premium for off hours work. Give them a phone number they can call. Tell them if they need emergency work done, give you a ring. I ran into a fair number of companies that were unwilling to pay the "on call" retainer despite actually needing someone on call, but when someone blew up the HP Laserjet at 5am once a month, they were more than happy to pay me an excessive amount to drag my ass out of bed and fix it for them. Incidental expenses versus month-to-month, I suppose.. Usually ended up making more money this way anyway, although it wasn't nearly as steady..
I saw someone mention loaner equipment.. Oh boy, does loaning equipment ever amaze them.. Just make sure to label it prominently if it's large enough, and let them know in writing at the time you expect it back when the new stuff comes in. Had one disagreement with a customer about a loaner monitor he could have sworn was his and another customer that ended up walking with one of my nicest micro AT systems, the one I took to job sites to clone hard drives because I used it a temporary stop-gap when his NT server died.. He decided it worked better than the old server, and when the new parts came in and I went to install them he asked how much he'd have to pay just to leave it all in place.. I loved that little Olivetti too..
If it's a fixed-cost project, make sure you have every little proposed detail in writing. Too many places will try to weasel you after the fact. It's usually only little things, but when you've just conceded to not install those Ethernet repeaters to save a buck and now the network is flaking, it's not worth your added labor.
.sig: Now legally binding!
I did the same thing during my senior year of high school. I've seen a few of these on here already, but repetition = reinforcement.
1. Stay organized. I created an Access database with all my clients, computers, and work performed. This was very helpful when a client asked, "How much time/money have we put into this computer?", I could print a report on the spot with all the pertinent info. You may have heard of the drop-dead school of documentation. If you drop dead, there needs to be enough documentation so the next tech can start where you left off before being hit by the senior citizens' bus.
2. Bill early and often. I've seen people say something about billing as soon as the work is done, which is definitely a good practice. I preferred to do bi-weekly billings, as I could sit down and do all my billing in one fifteen minute time. ALWAYS KEEP A HARD COPY OF ANY BILL YOU SEND OUT AND THE DATE YOU SENT IT. I will not go into details, but you'll be amazed how often you hear "We never received your bill". Billing often is necessary so charges don't add up. Sticker shock has driven away many-a-customer. They pay you the same in the end, but smaller doses are always easier.
3. Work Orders. Every time you go to a client site, create a work order detailing what work you are going to perform while onsite. If they ask you to perform other services while you're there, write them on the work order and make a photocopy. MAKE THE CLIENT SIGN THE WORK ORDER. Their signature indicates that they are satisified with the work and goes hand-in-hand with #1.
4. (and most important) Remember you're just a kid. When I was doing this, I was 17. 17 is an older kid, but you're still a kid. In the eyes of the law, you're also just a kid and cannot make contractual obligations. If you're going to be working on production systems in companies that depend on their computers to make money, get a lawyer. On the same note, make sure you don't burn yourself out and keep a few kid-type things in your schedule so life doesn't suck.
I see my shadow changing, stretching up and over me...
Forget It.
If you're in high school, go and do high school things. I'm not saying to go out and get some shitty job flipping burgers, but if you are planning on doing this stuff for the rest of your life (until retirement anyway), keep it as a hobby for now, do open source development, etc, enjoy your life. Then after college worry about getting a job in the industry. Believe me, rushing to sit at a desk all day under artificial light isn't a good idea...
Maybe. I did say it was an anecdote, but it makes sense.
In Canada you can actually do this sort of work without registering as a business. It's called a proprietorship. If you conduct business under your own name you do not need to register. You should get a GST registration number and remit GST you collect quarterly but you don't need to if your sales are below 30,000 in a quarter. I'm pretty sure you still need to remit GST though!!! If you register you can claim GST paid for supplies you purchase.
I'm very much in the same boat as the submitter, and while I have found great advice here and elsewhere on basic rules of business, there is little, if any advice on the really scary part about starting a small business: insurance and taxes.
I'd like to know how not to get screwed by the government or insurance agencies, and how to navigate through the legal mazes. Screwing up and learning as you go can have some pretty severe penalties.
I don't know if you have started yet, but make sure you do some research and make sure it's profitable. In freelancing, it's easy to get into the thinking that it is more profitable than it really is. Like when you get your first few jobs, you tend not to think about the possibility that you may not recieve any others for a while. Point is, make sure you are taking in sustained profit, once they start falling short, don't keep your hopes up, realistically look at it from a 3rd investor's perspective and see if its still worth persuing.
Don't forget to count time you spend doing support activities. Such as scouting potential new customers and travelling.
And make sure you are learning something. For your age, the goal of any job should be to better yourself so you can launch yourself into a better job. If you're not learning something you can use to apply yourself to a better job, then it's not worth it.
If you're just repeating the same mindless task, then you're better off working at Taco Bell and at least have a manager and co-workers as good references to your work ethic.
That's funny, I was dating a woman working at the bank back then (she wasn't a president, only an accountant, but it was the only way I could ever get that loan) however after all of those hookers (have you ever been to Poland? if you have then, God, you know what I mean) I was completely exhausted and after few impotant nights with the bank girl she started to be a little bit suspicious. She left me and didn't cover me any more, so people from the bank started to fuck with me (not literally, this time) and that's the end of the story of my miserable life. Vanitas vanitatum et omnia fuckin vanitas. Now I'm trying my best to get rid of bipolar disorder and start everything from the beginning. I'm not kidding you. It's harder than you might possibly imagine.
I'd hardly consider you a professional on any level. Keep it in your pants.
Read the following article: Tech Job p1 and Tech Job p2. It is definately a good read.
My first piece of advice is to let us know where you're located so you can get your /. networking going. I'm in Chicago, for instance. If you're good and that cheap, I might contract you occasionally.
I'm doing this right now. I'm a bit older than you and have more experience, but I also have more bills : )
My experiences:
In a real business the systems are either totally unimportant or they "have to" work. So most things anyone will bother with are going to get fixed, and you're being compared to those competitors that you're undercutting.
In most consumer settings (and some small businesses that are more poorly managed) they're comparing the amount of money to "just living with it" and the price drops to the range where very few people can make a living at it. This is a great niche for you while you're young.
I set a standard rate and then discount often. I'll often negotiate a discount when I'm arranging an appointment. That allows you to get around the "cheap, must be worthless" idea without necessarily charging too much. Usually I ask people whether this problem is urgent. If it's not, I offer a discount for scheduling flexibilty, on the condition that I might have to cancel if an emergency situation comes up. Or make coupons. Have a high hourly rate but then offer to flat charge when you've seen the problem.
Be very attentive. Most computer support people pay very little attention to the actual desires of their clients.
Take checks. I don't care what people said above, just take them. Don't trust the money until it clears, and know your bank might charge you a fee if it bounces (up to $25!) but you need to look like you trust them.
Don't keep working for someone who's never paid you. Do generally keep working for someone who's already paid you on lots of previous deals, unless you think they're going to skip on this one. If someone asks to pay you later, DO negotiate for partial payment. It demonstrates they believed you were owed payment, and furthermore it gets you some money. Even a 1/2 payment still beats bagging groceries...
www.irs.gov You generally need to make quarterly tax payments. There's about 234324 other things.
Looking for freelance Actionscript (Flash/Flex) or ColdFusion work and/or freelance developers. Email me, put Slashdot
When I first started this kind of thing, I just worked for somebody else who owned their own small shop in my home town. I didn't make too too much, but when you're 16, you'll take what you can get. I just started doing simple stuff like installing modems, networks cards, CD-ROMS, and installing Windows 95/98. Eventually got to the point where I was setting up networks for the other small companies that would contract work out to us. I screwed up a bit, but my boss was rather forgiving thankfully.
The bottom line is that I was doing and learning all this stuff without having to take care of the back-end accounting or any of that stuff I really didn't want to worry about.
I can't spell ripburger
In Oregon at least, you need to have at least $1 million in liability insurance to incorporate a company. IIRC, it's like $300/year or something that was pretty decent.
When you start out, don't market yourself to people who need data recovery and $699. There is a large market of people who just need help with everyday computer things like installing printers, learning how to get their pictures off their fancy digital camera, burning CDs, setting up e-mail accounts in Outlook, etc.
A few non-repair services you should consider:
*1 hour of one-on-one help with digital photography. Before the class begins, skim the manual or fiddle with the camera. Teach them how to operate the camera in the full auto mode. Mention, but do not show them any neat advanced features like video, continuous-shooting, etc. Show them how to get the pictures onto their computer. Using whatever image-editing program they have, show them how to do very basic editing (depending on the customer, this may only be how to crop and maybe remove red-eye). Also, show them how to either burn a CD or transfer the files to a memory card for printing. You could also show them how to print photos on their computer, if time allows.
*Backup services: There are two options here. The first is to simply copy the whole hard drive with Norton Ghost or another disk-imaging program. This is the most comprehensive, but probably isn't necessary for most users. The other option is to make a list of things to backup like favorites, Outlook personal folders, data files (search for word, excel, powerpoint, audio files, and pictures from a digital camera). Modem or ethernet drivers are important to backup as well.
*Installation: Cable modem, printer, wireless access points. Most people don't want to read the manuals. Let them pay you to do so.
*Computer check-up: run Spybot Search and Destroy (or ad-aware). Run Windows update and get all the relevant updates. Update the video drivers if any member of the household is a gamer. Then, defrag the hard drive and backup important files.
*Reinstalling Windows: If they haven't upgraded to Windows XP, they are going to have to reinstall Windows 98 every so often. Find out what programs they use, make sure they have the install disks, back up the data files, and then reinstall it for them. Or upgrade them to Windows XP.
The most important thing no one has mentioned is business cards. You will get more work by word of mouth than any advertising medium. Pass out a couple to all of your happy customers and they will recommend you to their friends. They don't have to be fancy, but a name and a contact number is important.
Don't buy expensive tools until you need them for a project. I have bought plenty of tools that I never use.
There is more money for small and medium business, but as a high school student you will probably do better with home users, unfortunately. They are the worst. Write up a document that lists your "Terms of Service" that spells out things. One suggestion is that customers must have their data backed up before you arrive unless they specifically asked you to back it up, and then you get to charge them for it.
When you get out of school and want to consult for businesses, you should try to get them on maintenance contracts. That has worked well for me.
âoeIn theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not." â Albert Einstein