Computer help at home is your own business without investment. Business plan for repairing personal computers or how to make money with virtually no investment Computer maintenance business

Computer repair business. How to open a computer repair shop.

If you are well versed in computers, have skills in repairing and installing software, then you can make money from this. You can even run a computer repair business at home; at first, this will be quite enough. In this article we will look at how to do computer repair and what nuances need to be taken into account when working with clients.

Computer repair business.

Computer repair specialists can be divided into two categories: those who do repairs at home and those who work in a workshop.

Now let's take a closer look at both options.

Home repairs. Almost all novice computer scientists start with home repairs. The scheme is quite simple: you take the customer’s computer system unit or laptop to your home and repair it. At the end of the work, either take the system unit to the customer’s home, or if the laptop is being repaired, the customer comes himself.

If minor repairs or adjustments are required - installing programs, drivers, setting up the Internet, WI-FI, then a visit to the client’s home is enough.

Repairing at home has its advantages; usually this type of income is not officially registered, the client pays you for the work performed and all the money is yours. But there are also disadvantages: working illegally, you won’t be able to make normal advertising and there will be few clients. The bulk of clients will be friends, acquaintances, acquaintances of friends, work colleagues, neighbors. Accordingly, the income will be small, that is, it will not be a business, but rather earnings or additional income.

How to open a computer repair shop.

The second option is to open a computer repair shop and officially register business activities.

We select the OKVED code - 72.50 Maintenance and repair of office machines and computer equipment.

You need to write an application for a simplified tax at the tax office, and you will also need to buy a book of income and expenses. Get a certificate from the statistics department to open a bank account. Order a print.

Rent a room for a workshop.

The workshop also has its advantages - the opportunity to make good advertising on the Internet, in newspapers, and on local television. Accordingly, there will be more clients than when working from home. Possibility of cooperation with organizations providing maintenance of computer equipment and software.

The ability to hire employees, since quite often you have to go to clients’ homes to set up Internet and WI-FI.

The volume of work and the number of orders is much greater than when working at home.

But there are also some disadvantages here - you need to pay taxes, for renting premises, employee salaries and other expenses. In addition, there will be checks especially for working with licensed software.

As for working with unlicensed programs, there is a possibility that government agencies will check the OBEP, FSB, Department K for licenses for operating systems and programs on computers. If there is unlicensed software, the equipment may be confiscated, and the entrepreneur may be fined for distributing pirated software.

But when repairing computers, reinstalling the operating system of Windows XP, Windows 7 or Windows 8 is usually required very often, and not every owner of his computer is ready to buy a licensed version that costs about $200. If you can install the pirated version for free and only pay for its installation.

By installing unlicensed software, you are breaking the law, but in most cases the client wants to install a pirated version, and only a few are willing to pay for the license.

Therefore, if you work only with licensed software, you will lose some of your clients. With details, the situation is simpler; buy in a store with a permanent discount or online, it will be even cheaper. The client pays you the cost of the parts in advance.

Business computer repair.

Here is an approximate list of services provided in computer repair shops:

Fault diagnosis.
Installation of the operating system.
Setting up the operating system.
Installing drivers.
Removing viruses.
Installation and configuration of software.
Wiring and setting up local networks.
Setting up the Internet and WI-FI network.
Cleaning laptops from dust.
Replacement of parts, etc.

The list may change depending on the skills of the specialists; you can add services such as flashing routers, setting up servers, etc.

Prices for services depend on the specific region; usually in all workshops in the city the price is almost the same.

How much can you earn from computer repair? Here is the price list of one of the workshops in Moscow.

Quite often, the cost of repair includes several repair services at once, and the final cost of repair is several thousand rubles.

The business of repairing computer equipment will always be in demand, but competition in this niche is also quite high; in any case, if you have good repair skills, you can always have additional income.

How to open a computer repair business.

Popular business ideas

How to open a wedding agency

* The calculations use average data for Russia

There is a computer in almost every home, and users often encounter breakdowns of one or another part of their computer equipment. A distinctive feature of the computer sphere is that it can be divided into two components: hardware and software. Problems can arise with both, and most owners of home computers still perceive them as a complex unit, the repair of which can only be done by a professional.

Increase sales without investment!

“1000 ideas” - 1000 ways to differentiate yourself from competitors and make any business unique. Professional kit for developing business ideas. Trending product 2019.

The profession of a programmer, or colloquially a computer engineer, is chosen by many people today, but even a more or less experienced user is able to solve many problems that arise with a computer. After reading relatively little information and trying to test the acquired knowledge on their computer, some people begin to help their friends with basic computer maintenance. Sometimes this develops into a small business that one person builds, and even less often it becomes a professional activity. And all because today it is not enough for a user to reinstall the operating system; it requires solving more complex issues, and non-specialists do not have enough knowledge and experience for this.

An important aspect of entrepreneurship in the field of computer maintenance and repair is the very high level of competition. Having long ago realized that the average user is an absolute amateur and does not understand the principles of operation of computers, many programmers and computer specialists have occupied this niche, sometimes performing work even at home. Or visiting the client’s home. However, not every company offers a full range of services, and the level of professionalism leaves much to be desired.

But you shouldn’t count on competitors’ ignorance at first; it’s better to study the market, evaluate what services are offered and at what prices. Very often you can come across the fact that such companies charge unreasonably large amounts of money for their work, although, of course, there are exceptions here. In order to work as efficiently as possible and quickly develop a client base, it is better to start with everything at once, that is, offer absolutely the entire possible range of services, this will allow you to win over a large number of competitors.

To start a business, you need to register as a business entity; it is better to become an individual entrepreneur than to register a legal entity - there are fewer complications. The activity code fully falls under (OKPD 2) 95.11 Computer and peripheral equipment repair services. No licenses, certificates or permits are required. Such an undertaking rather belongs to the sphere of small business, which is still developing, although it has existed for a relatively long time. There shouldn’t be any difficulties at the registration stage, and it’s better to set aside 20 thousand rubles for it.

When the bureaucratic issue is resolved, you can look for the location of the future workshop. As mentioned above, some companies work from their homes, but then there will be no trust in the company as a professional; in the minds of consumers it is unlikely that the thoughts that the company is both good and at the same time working in someone’s apartment will be able to coexist . An office is needed - it is a representative office of the company. In this case, you do not need to rent huge areas, 20-30 m2 is enough, although in the case of a large number of clients you will have to expand, but this will be needed for additional employees, not equipment.

Some entrepreneurs even work on the principle of making house calls, this is a good practice, but it is not always possible to solve the problem on the client’s site. Therefore, calling a technician to your home can be a good additional service or an improvement to the service, but not the only activity. In small cities, the cost of renting such a small space is unlikely to exceed 10 thousand rubles, but in large cities it will cost at least 20, especially if it is located in the center. The location itself is not so important; the main thing is not to be located on the outskirts or in industrial zones, where it is difficult for clients to get to. In residential areas, the location will also be relevant (suitable for individuals), as well as in business areas (here the emphasis will be on servicing offices). But it is not always possible to make good money servicing enterprises, because many companies today enter into contracts with large companies that offer IT outsourcing or hosting, and the work of these organizations includes computer support as part of the services.

Ready ideas for your business

If the entrepreneur himself understands the computer field, then he will need two employees, but if he does, then three. Three employees are enough to provide service to all clients at first. The division of responsibilities will occur as follows - two people work on software, one on hardware (the so-called “hardware”). It is best if one specialist is equally well versed in both software and hardware. The distribution of responsibilities occurs as follows: one person is engaged in field work, and the other two sit in the service center. If there are no orders at home, then all three do office work. Of the specialists who deal with software, one can be a real professional, the second can be taken less experienced. He will monitor the work of the master and learn complex work, while handling light orders. The list of computer service services may be as follows:

Software. This includes the simplest work that even a novice user can do, but many people are afraid to configure the computer themselves, entrusting this task to professionals. This includes installing/reinstalling the operating system, installing antiviruses, configuring and installing any software. More complex work is removing viruses manually, restoring a damaged system, setting up for working on the Internet, resetting the administrator password, cleaning and editing the registry. This also includes setting up a local enterprise network and delineating access rights.

Ready ideas for your business

Mixed works. Necessary when you need to correctly install and configure hardware and software. For example, in the case of installing new computer elements, which need to not only be inserted into the slots intended for them, but also install drivers on them. This category also includes almost all work with peripheral equipment: installation of printers, scanners, copiers, custom sound and graphics systems, projectors and much more. A separate category can be called data recovery from damaged media. This often requires special equipment and special programs. Data recovery work (most often you can find offers to restore a flash drive, although it is also important to work with other media, especially HDD) is one of the most expensive in this area, and is often performed only by professionals.

Hardware repair. For the position of a hardware specialist, only a professional should be hired who can handle both data recovery and direct repairs. His responsibilities also include replacing components in netbooks and laptops, although this cannot be called repair. It is these issues that will be addressed most often, because PC elements are so much easier and cheaper to replace than to repair. The exception is a hard drive, which is important for the stored information, but a person, as a rule, does not need the device itself, but rather the data itself. However, you can provide yourself with additional income if you buy broken computer parts for next to nothing or even accept them for free. A specialist can restore them in order to later sell them at a low price to a new user.

All this work can be performed by one universal wizard, who can do everything from laying an Internet cable to restoring long-deleted files from storage media. However, the work of several people will help to avoid long lead times, which will have a positive impact on your reputation. At the same time, you need to remember that the field specialist must have with him not only special programs, but also a large package of all drivers, common software (because not everyone has the Internet to download something) and universal utilities.

You need to be able to work under different operating systems, because among the users there are both adherents of MAC OS and Windows, and many enterprises today install Linux due to its free distribution. But installing commercial software from your own media is not recommended (prohibited by law), and with proprietary software you need to be careful and find out the state of their licenses. But you also need to buy some programs to work for your own use, and if the drivers are always freely available, then a large number of software require purchase before legal use. However, for almost every paid program there is a free analogue, sometimes no worse or even better. Employees will help the entrepreneur in this matter if he does not understand this himself.

Ready ideas for your business

The office cannot be empty; furniture and equipment must be purchased there, as well as components and electrical tools. Sometimes you even have to use a soldering iron. There should be at least two computers, but it is better to buy powerful machines; not gaming, but computing. This is necessary when working with a large amount of data or when the process is heavily loaded with operations. An old Pentium on Windows Millennium will not be able to, for example, process a client’s media in the shortest possible time, and delays in deadlines in such a business often force the consumer to change the service. Furniture, shelves and simple equipment will cost from 50 thousand rubles, and at least the same amount must be spent on two computers. As for consumables, they are needed for repair work, and this includes everything from rosin to thermal paste. Together with tools, this is unlikely to require more than 10 thousand rubles. Thus, the total purchase price of equipment will be 110 thousand rubles.

An important aspect of this business is advertising. You can conduct an advertising campaign through the media (local radio and television), and limit yourself to simply distributing leaflets on the street. It would be a very good idea to create your own website so that people can come across information on the Internet, and in this case these will already be potential clients interested in services. To save money, you can make a business card website, its development will cost 10-20 thousand rubles, but you can give the task to employees to create it, they must have sufficient knowledge for this. In this case, advertising will need to be constantly supported, because new players are constantly appearing on the market.

You can significantly increase the number of orders if you establish cooperation with computer and peripheral equipment stores, that is, become a service center. Large stores are unlikely to agree to become partners, since they have their own repair shops, but small, recently opened retail outlets do not have such facilities. Only if you have to work with equipment under warranty, then you shouldn’t count on large sums, but the store itself can refer its customers to its partner or simply advertise it. This opportunity needs to be seriously considered and all the conditions that the store can offer must be evaluated.

The most important thing is to reach constant demand for your services as quickly as possible, and it needs to be stimulated not only by simple advertising, but also by offers that competitors do not have. For example, you can deal not only and exclusively with computers and laptops, but also diagnose and repair mobile devices and tablets. To do this, employees will need to gain additional knowledge, but the possible costs of their training will quickly pay off.

The amount of starting capital is:

Registration – 20 thousand rubles.

Office rent – 20 thousand rubles.

Equipment and programs for work – from 120 thousand rubles.

Outsourcing of accounting and utilities – 10 thousand rubles.

Salary (based on 10 thousand per employee, who also receive a percentage) – 30 thousand rubles.

Total: 230 thousand rubles, monthly payments – 60 thousand rubles. The most common orders will be requests to install or reinstall the operating system and all similar simple operations. However, the demand for such services is gradually decreasing, the population is gradually learning to do it on their own, although the need for specialist help in this matter is still far from disappearing. As a rule, the order consists not only of resolving the issue with the OS, but also of the need to install additional software. The average user is not able to install drivers or all the accompanying software on a clean system; he also needs to set up the Internet, and some even need to create shortcuts on the desktop. If the client has a disk with an operating system, then installing it alone will cost him 500 rubles (depending on the version and the OS itself). All additional software is installed for an additional fee, so the income from such clients will be 1-1.5 thousand rubles.

Repair, as mentioned above, is often impractical, so you will have to repair mainly products under warranty (if there is cooperation with the store), restore non-working hardware for subsequent sale (there will be no serious profit here), as well as install and modify laptops and netbooks. This is what has become a fairly popular service, because buying a new laptop due to a lack of RAM or an outdated video card is expensive, and it’s easier to buy new components. Installing it yourself is much more difficult than installing it on a regular computer. Here price tags start from one thousand rubles and can reach 6-8. In offers of this kind, it is best to periodically arrange promotions and discounts to attract customers.

Data recovery costs the client the most. If a necessary file was accidentally deleted from a flash drive, but the device itself is not damaged, then it is unlikely to cost more than 500 rubles (because, in fact, this issue is solved with free programs that are easy to find on the Internet). It’s another matter if it’s a hard drive – you’ll have to work with it a little longer.

But if the device is physically faulty, then the technician will have to spend a long time and carefully restoring the damaged media in order to remove the data stored on it. In this case, the client is provided with free diagnostics, but repair and restoration (although usually either only repair or only restoration is possible) cost from 3 thousand rubles and can reach 40 thousand, depending on the complexity. If we take the average price tag of 5 thousand rubles, then only 12 clients per month will fully cover all expenses. Therefore, if you run a good advertising campaign, you can already get a small profit in the first month, which will subsequently grow. Under favorable conditions, such a project can pay for itself in no more than six months.

Matthias Laudanum

125 people are studying this business today.

In 30 days, this business was viewed 71,177 times.

Calculator for calculating the profitability of this business

Computer technology in the modern world is present in every family. And it happens that it fails for various reasons. Of course, now many people can fix simple problems on their own, but in more complex cases you need to contact a service center. If you are knowledgeable about computer hardware and its repair, then you should consider starting your business around it. Below we will look at a business plan for computer repair.

Project Summary

Before starting your own business, you should pay attention to the fact that you will have to work only with licensed software (software). If you neglect this, you can fall under Article 146 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. If you are caught using unlicensed software, you will receive a considerable fine. And in the worst case, you will be arrested. Organizing a service center for repairing computers and laptops is a very serious undertaking, which can result in criminal liability if work is done in bad faith.

The use of licensed software will increase the cost of the service many times over. Since individuals are not very willing to pay large sums (especially in small towns) for software, the only option left is to rely on legal entities that use licensed programs.

Based on the above, it is profitable to open a computer service in cities where the population is large and there are a sufficient number of companies using the equipment. Otherwise, finding customers willing to pay for licensed software will be difficult.

Business registration

When starting out, it is optimal to register as an individual entrepreneur (according to OKVED 95.11 - the main line of business, 95.12 - additional). Since you will need premises for work, we choose UTII taxation. Working under UTII, you will not pay VAT, income and property taxes.

If you doubt that you can correctly register as a legal entity on your own, you can contact a specialized organization. She will do all this for you. Registration will cost approximately 40 thousand rubles.

Selection of location

You should try to find a place in the city center or near it. Finding the service near a crowded area will help you get customers faster. Any computer owner can turn to you for help.

It is not necessary to rent a huge room. After all, a large warehouse of spare parts is not required. You will need to divide the rented premises into several zones where a small supply of computer components will be stored, a system unit repair area and a place to work with software. A room of 20-25 square meters is enough. Renting such a premises will cost about 35-40 thousand rubles.

Arrangement of the premises

For productive work and order, you will need to make the following purchases:

Equipment of the premises will cost about 56,000 rubles.

Tools for work

The tables show the necessary equipment and the costs for it.

Name	Quantity	Total amount, rubles
Set of tools	1	2 500
Soldering Station	1	20 000
Multimeter	1	750
DC source	1	7 000
Soldering consumables	Set	5 100
Set of wires	Set	1 200
A set of boards for diagnosing the system unit	Set	10 000

Thus, the tool will cost about 47,000 rubles.

Software and spare parts

There is no need to buy and store disks with licensed software. All you need to do is go to the website of the official software developer or distributor, make a payment and download the program. This state of affairs will reduce the cost of purchasing software, because You will purchase this or that program only when necessary.

The situation is the same with computer components: they are purchased to order for a specific client.

A cash reserve of 136,000 rubles is also required for licensed software. You will need licensed Windows in the maximum version, a modern antivirus and professional software for analyzing the system status and troubleshooting.

Hiring staff

You will need 2 people. One will be involved in software configuration, the second will be involved in “physical” repairs. Qualified personnel are needed, because only satisfied customers will recommend your service to their friends and acquaintances. If your subordinates mess up, then it is unlikely that a dissatisfied client will contact you again if necessary.

The salary for each employee will be 20,000 rubles, therefore, monthly salary costs will be 40,000 rubles. While the business is small, you can do the accounting yourself.

Price list of services

In order for the profitability of your enterprise to be high, you need to think over a list of services that you can provide with high quality.

Below you can see the list of services provided by the service center:

Preventative work on the computer. This includes cleaning the case, power supply, video card from dust, cleaning contacts from oxidation, applying thermal paste to the processor - i.e. work inside the system unit. This also includes software prevention (defragmentation, elimination of “broken” hard drive sectors, search and removal of malware). Price: from 400 to 2,000 rubles.
OS installation. Price: from 400 to 1,500 rubles + cost of OS.
Increased performance of the OS and installed software. This is working with the file system, optimizing various software. Price: 400 – 1,200 rubles.
Installation and configuration of programs. Price: from 200 to 1,100 rubles + software cost.
Working with information on a hard drive: searching and removing malware, transferring information, recovering deleted information from a hard drive and USB drive, creating an OS image, removing protection, etc. Price: 400 – 3,000 rubles.
Setting up access to the Internet and local network (travelling). From 400 to 2,500 rubles, depending on the location of the customer.
Testing the components of the system unit, issuing a conclusion about the faulty components. Price: from 400 to 1,900 rubles.
Working with the system unit and peripheral equipment: assembling the system unit, replacing, repairing individual components, replacing/installing a cartridge in a printer/MFP, etc. Price: from 400 to 2,000 rubles.
Working in the BIOS environment. Price: from 300 to 1,500 rubles.
Working with specific operating systems (server, Linux, Unix, MAC OS) and setting them up. Price: from 2,000 rubles.
Consulting on software use and training. Price: from 400 to 1,800 rubles.

Advertising and Marketing

To let city residents know about your appearance, you need to conduct an advertising campaign. To do this, you can make a bright sign above the entrance, create a website and place advertisements on the city’s Internet resources, print and distribute flyers, and post advertisements in entrances.

Investment amount at start

Let's calculate what investments you will need when starting:

In total, you will need 256,000 rubles.

Let's estimate the size of monthly investments:

Thus, every month you will spend 96,000 rubles.

Income

How much profit can you make from a service center? Let's take the average price for each type of work as a basis, and let's say you provide 12-14 services per month for each type. Let's do the calculation:

Monthly revenue: 13 x (1,200 + 950 + 800 + 650 + 1,700 + 1,450 + 1,150 + 1,200 + 900 + 2,750 + 1,200) = 172,900 rubles.

Income before taxes: 172,900 – 96,000 = 76,900 rubles.

Net profitability: 76,900 – 15% = 65,365 rubles.

With such income, the project will pay for itself in 6-7 months.

Risks

When starting your business, you may encounter a number of problems:

High price tag for the services provided. If you don’t analyze your niche, you risk being left without buyers. When opening, it would be good to have, for example, a week of discounts or big bonuses. It all depends on your financial capabilities.
Increasing competition. Possible, but unlikely. This niche is very profitable and highly competitive from the start. Therefore, reducing the flow of customers is possible only with a very high difference in prices and quality of services provided. To prevent this, it is necessary to create a flexible system of discounts for regular clients, hold seasonal promotions for your services, present your training courses (if available), offer special services to clients, etc.
Customer churn. In this scenario, the actions to overcome the crisis are the same as in point 2.

Eventually

You have been presented with a business plan for computer repair with calculations. The above example demonstrates the high profitability of the niche, but one should remember about high competition and possible criminal liability for non-compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. Considering the relatively low start-up costs, the entire success of this business lies in a well-written business plan.

It might be useful to read: