My question to all of you is, is it worth advertising yourself in your local area that you are building custom PC's for some cash when there are websites such as origin or ibuypower? I am a high school student and am just looking to make a little money on the side. Is it even worth the effort?
At your age it is worth the effort because over time you can build credibility and it shows future employers that you had initiative as a young person.
In this type of thing for some reason the younger you start the more people like you, it tends to lose its value over time though I would not advise doing computer repair as a trade if your in your 30s its just not lucrative enough, but if your in high school by all means help people out in your local area and make a few bucks.
I would say yes especially at your age. If you really know your hardware and what's on the market you can really save people a lot of money (even with your fee). Also, being a physical person to sit down with and discuss things will make you much more valuable than a website that offers "models" where you can choose from predetermined hardware (typically really stupid choices like an i7 with a 1040).
Now obviously, advertise to your strengths and differentiate yourself from the rest of the competition (very easy to do so don't stress about it lol).
Ok thanks for that. But what would be a good place to post such an add? Facebook? Craigslist?
It depends on what you are able to tolerate. From my experience, the clientele who would pay someone else to build them a computer are going to be fussy jerks about every detail, and will call you incessantly whenever something goes wrong. They will probably give you an insane list of parts or some crazy system requirements that they expect you to make work (when there are (un)known issues). Then you are going to have to constantly support them whenever they try to add every oddball piece of hardware/usb device, after they disable UAC and start installing malware, etc.
Think about it. It's so damn easy to build a computer yet they want someone else to do it for them? What kind of people are they? Beware.
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I would say no since ncix has $50 build service, but most people probably don't know about that. Do you have a plan to cover any issues that happen with a build (you bend a pin). But in the end do whatever you want, you could make some change.
this.
I had a friend that used a prebuild website for their first gaming build. But his PC after a couple of months had issues like hard drive failure and a lot of dust intake, take this with a very small grain of salt though because that friend wasn't really smart dealing with PCs and know only a few. He wanted to become a youtuber but sadly his channel wasn't the best.
hmm start small with you friends or people you know generally then try to do some social-engineering,
I do this from time to time at my school people ask me after school to help them build it and try to figure out what parts they want and what they want to do with it. (also I'm 16 as well forgot to say that.)
You have to remember the mainstream majority of people who buy their pc's from retail would not have any idea where to start when it comes to building a PC, and no doubt the industry has been built of the backs of that type of person so whether they are fussy or not as an IT worker you gotta train yourself to tolerate it.
On the other hand if you do good work and are confident about that, then charge accordingly the fussy jerks wont bother you too much if it costs them a good amount every time they bother you. Charge for everything, home visits, phone calls, hourly rates, repairs etc because if you do you will find they will only ask you for a complete fix once and pay for it once because they don't want to keep paying lots for every little thing.
Most people buy laptops these days:
http://www.statista.com/statistics/272595/global-shipments-forecast-for-tablets-laptops-and-desktop-pcs/
Confidence has nothing to do with being able to get customers. Finding customers who want to pay for your service is the hard part.
You can price yourself out of a job.
Fussy jerks are fussy jerks because they won't pay you for the work you had them agree to, or they dither about what is what. They can make your life hell, and depending on how you market yourself, destroy your ability to get new work.
I've done IT services since 1998 and know all about how customers are. Even when you do everything right, and even with the best customers, there are times when things will push your nerves and cut into your profitability.
I already helped some of my friends build their PC's. Granted that is only 2 of them but I have done it. And also, I don't live in a heavily populated area. My town has 1200 people in it. The closest mall is 1 hour away. So the internet is likely the way to go, Correct?
well since your not in a heavily populated area then internet it the way to go broski.
Fussy jerks are fussy jerks because they won't pay you for the work you had them agree to, or they dither about what is what. They can make your life hell, and depending on how you market yourself, destroy your ability to get new work.
Thats why you get a written signed contract before taking the work on which clearly specifies what you will do and for what price and how your service is delivered and acceptable time frame for payment. If the fussy client does not meet your requirements they will not sign the agreement and you do not need to take the job, but if they sign an mess you around then you have a binding document by which to get debt collection on the case.
Being in business as long as you have surely you have some type of terms of engagement? And if not perhaps think of getting one made so that people do not annoy you as much... Anyway that has kinda side tracked from the core topic but for this young person getting into the work and making some pocket money is still a good idea.
Definitely worth it, I co-own a small computer repair shop in a relatively small town and business is great! I would offer repair as well as building, if you can. Because usually people would rather repair what they already have than shell out for something new. I would also recommend advertising that you will charge less than sites like origin or ibuypower and use better components (mostly talking about non stock heatsinks) or help customers select components, things like that. I would also try and make staff members and teachers at your school aware that you know how to operate and repair computers, just in a sort of "low key" way, ie noticing that their phone screen is cracked and offering to fix it, things like that. When I was in high school I would get a bit of money from the janitor each week to sit and help him learn to use the computer during lunch. There's definitely money to be made doing this sort of thing, you just need to know what to look for. PM me if you have any questions!
LOL! Now I know you've never been in business for yourself
Maybe its just different rules in your country from my country, we will leave it at that!
Here in the US, yes you can do all those things. But doing those things is expensive, time consuming, and ultimately, it is very difficult to force someone to pay even if you have a judgement against them. It's not worth it for a couple hundred dollars worth of service. The customer knows that and uses that against you. They will frustrate you as much as they can before you "fire the customer". Then they will bitch and moan to everyone about it and drag your name though the mud over their unrealistic negative experience. Clearly you have a lot to learn about business.
Can we both just agree to disagree. I think ive heard enough from you 2.
Thanks for the help. I will defiantly start bright away.
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