Have you gone to tech school or been into computers all of your life and everyone calls you about their computer problems? Not sure what to do with your pc repair skills? When deciding what to do with your skills, sometimes you may lean toward opening your own PC Repair Business. What else do you need to know in order to run your business? That is what we are going to discuss in this article today.

1. Do I have to pay taxes?

2. How do I avoid the pitfalls of opening a new business?

3. How much to invest?

1. Do I have to pay taxes? The simple answer is yes. If you are planning on running this as a real business and you will be charging for the services you provide, then yes you will need to pay taxes on the money you make. There are many tax breaks available for new businesses, so make sure to talk to a tax professional, but suffice it to say, you should put aside 20-25% of all the revenue you generate for tax purposes, if you have extra left over, then great, but at least put that much to the side until you talk to a tax professional.

When you do pay your taxes or file your return for the year, make sure to look at one time tax breaks and amortization tax breaks, as you can sometimes claim the full amount up front in one year rather than break it down over a period of years.

Regardless of whether this is a full time business or just a part time gig, make sure you register as a business in your state. This will lend credibility when you talk to your clients. When they ask you how long you have been in business, you can honestly say 2004 or 2007 or whatever it is, instead of saying “well I have always been into computers and this is a part time thing on my kitchen table” If you were shopping for a PC Repair Tech, wouldn’t you rather deal with a professional rather than someone with a part time hobby?

2. How do I avoid the pitfalls of opening a new business? A franchise will provide you with the information, knowledge, training and support you will need to succeed. Think about this, after 2 years the average success rate for a franchise company in general is 90% or more. After 2 years the average success rate for a non franchised startup company in general is 10-15%. Which % would you rather be in?

The downside to a franchise: You have to pay for it. Remember, there is nothing free in life anymore, so when you look at a franchise make sure to look at the initial fees, do they offer financing, how many locations are open, how many have failed, what are the ongoing royalties, what is the level of support you want vs. what do they provide, etc… Is there an ongoing advertising fee, there are tons of questions to ask and the best thing is, because you are paying for it, they will be able to provide all of the answers to you.

The upside to a franchise: You will have a proven system to follow, you will have all of the mistakes already made for you instead of making them yourself, usually there is a 5-15 year agreement, then you can decide to renew the agreement at that time. There is also quite a bit of training and ongoing support that is provided for the royalty fee you pay each month. Most of this support is provided via phone & email, but most companies have a rep or operations person that will assist you with your issues if you ask for help.

You can of course decide to open your own Pc Repair Business and make all of the mistakes yourself, but is it worth it, with the low cost of a franchise these days?

3. How much to invest? This will solely depend on your available amount, it is easy to say you will do all of the things yourself or place the advertisements etc…but when it comes down to it, do you want to do all of that or do you want to fix computers? You can hire someone to promote your business either through conventional advertising or hire a flyer/mailing distribution service, but in this type of business, getting the word out is critical. If they don’t know you exist, they won’t call you for help. So the amount you should invest will be determined by what you can afford, but keep in mind, what you invest should generate a return, hence ROI or Return On Investment. If you aren’t seeing a return on your investment in a short period of time, then you are probably doing something wrong or not doing anything at all, which can be just as bad.

The amount of your investment will also be determined by your commitment, if you only want a part time Pc Repair Business, then you should only invest what you are comfortable with in that type of venture.

So in closing, do your research, ask the questions, and make sure you get all of the answers before committing to any type of investment or contract.

Good luck in your new business.

LuckyGorilla.com

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Tags: computer repair, franchise, business, repair, computer, startup, finance, open, work, home based