Home desktop Technician Anyone?

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No idea if this has been posted/linked to, but forund it posted on another forum I haunt.

Linky

What really brasses me of is the fact a mate and myself talked about doing just this 2 or more years ago. In the end we binned the idea as unworkable, now it looks like we short-changed ourselves.

 

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If the research in the article is anything to go by, you're still not too late. All the better when you have a couple of certs to go with it such as A+ and Network+.

 

My thinking exactly. Add in the hands on experience of messing around inside different computers and I think I can cover the practical side of the A+ certification.

Right, no to design a snazzy, eye catching card for the window of my ''local'' shop. :hhhmmm

 

Well, got the flyer printed up. Just have to take it round to the shop and see if they will let me put it in the window. If anyones interested I'll post back if I get a call, and what the problem was.

 

Well, finally got round to putting a card in the window of my local newsagents advertising my services. So I'll kick back, open a cold one and see if anyone calls.

 

Yes it is a good idea and it is always good to get hands on experience. I like you thought it may be a good idea so about 3 weeks ago tried putting some cards in my Taxi. I have had a lot of interest up until now but very little work.
I am going to try the same as yourself to put a flyer in the local shop windows so that it might reach more people instead of them just taking my card and saying I will give you a call don’t get me wrong this is a month when there is not a lot of money about with bills coming in holidays to be paid Etc, Etc you get to know this being a Taxi driver.
I think the best thing you can get is word of mouth do a good job for someone don’t be to expensive and be helpful ask them is there any other advice you can give them people love it if they get a little advice free. Oh and it’s always nice to get a courtesy call afterwards to see if everything is going well.
Anyway good luck and be prepared for dealing with lots of viruses as lots of people don’t seem to know what Antivirus software is or Firewalls and if they do they don’t think about updates. Let me know how you get on I am very interested.

 

No need to tell me about the average *home user* and their complete lack of Firewalls and AV software. I spent almost a year as the Broadband Trouble Shooter for the Belfast Franchise. Once you get a chance to sit down and explain what they are, and what they do for you, the customers where over the moon. There was manys an email/phonecall from customers greatful for even a little info on these subjects.

Anyway, thanks for the info and IF I get any buisness out of this I'll post back.

Personally I think its a great idea, but my luck has been in the crapper for the last 13 months, so I wont hold my breath.

 

hmm, i think im going to do this as well, i always fix friends and family pcs.

 

I have basically being doing this for the past few months, scratch the surface and you find theres lots of work.

Mostly you will find yourself removing trojans, viruses and spyware, putting on anti-virus, installing updates and giving them firewall software and telling them politely as possible not to keep opening spam emails and installing **FREE WEATHERBUG** or some shite.

 

BTDT. It's a good job when you are first starting out but it can get a little dull after awhile. Of course, you welcome dull when an end user presents you with a really tough problem to solve.

 

can i ask what prices you charge people?

if you dont want to post what you charge you can mail me lewis @ nisbett dot biz

also any info to help me out, i really need a job, getting p*ssed off not doing anything :/

 

It really depended on how much work and time I felt I had spent, it funny cause people often expected me to charge £100s to spend a couple of hours fixing their PC.

 

do you take the pc home or do you fix it there.

 

When I was doing this for a living, I'd work on the PC in the person's home. If I needed something I didn't have with me, I'd have to make a second trip. That's why it helps to take tools, parts, and diagnostic and repair software with you. There are times I wished I could take the machine home with me rather than having the customer breathing down my neck while working. Of course, if it's a networking or printing problem, you might as well work in their home since the last step to your repair is to make sure everything works in their system.

When I worked as a general maintenance and troubleshooter for an IT Dept, I had the luxury of taking the offending piece of equipment back to the IT Dept and opening it up on the workbench where all my tools were handy and no one would pester me.

 

I'd say it depends largely on the feeling you get from the person. I would always prefer to take the PC home (unless it was a complete no-brainer to fix there and then). I personally don't like when Folks hover around over you when your trying to concentrate on the job in hand - basically your there cos their PC needs attention anyway. Unless the person is adamant it must not leave their house, then I'd generally say "it'll be back within xx hours/days". Generally, Folks are pretty easy with that.

My 2€

 

how did you find business wagnerk?