I have a few questions. I am looking to start a mac repair business and I am seeking a few opinions on things. Do you think it would be better to have a shop or work out of my house for a while until I start making a profit. I am also wondering wether you think in store or on site service is more important. There is only one store in my town for macs and repair, and they are The Happy Mac. The people there are real jerks. My friend and I are tired of them and want to do something on our own. So, any advice would be cool. Name suggestions would be great aswell. By the way I am a certified tech. But I havent been for very long.
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Starting a Macintosh repair business.
- Thread starter fuzzy7slippers
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Work out of your house. I've worked this summer doing pc repair out of my house and its the only chance you have. Dedicated a room to it. Get a good desk, a nice work bench, and keep it looking good and people will be impressed. Be honest, cause you will not be able to do warrenty work, and if you do you could violate apples warrenty and be on the hook for the full cost if something else breaks, even if it is unrelated. Do both pc and macs. Also, my MAJOR money maker has been 1 on 1 computer training. I built a PC, and i show people how to do letters in Works, how to get digital camera pictures sized and printed, and the like. Plus the custom PC impress's people. Maybe do other minor computer stuff too, i do VHS to DVD stuff, nothing fancy but it keeps money coming in. I've found that the bulk of my stuff has been in house upgrades (new vid cards, ram, and what not), i dont do a whole lot of house calls. But definetly dont be afraid to travel. Good luck!
Apple certification...
Today I stumbled across a section on Apple's web site where you can get various types of certifications. It might be worth looking into.
http://www.apple.com/training/
Today I stumbled across a section on Apple's web site where you can get various types of certifications. It might be worth looking into.
http://www.apple.com/training/
I think a similar thread exists
And it I believe the conclusion was that Apple was very reluctant to certify new Apple Service Centers, because Apple wanted people to use the Apple stores. I could of course be completely wrong and misinterpreted the thread. I can't seem to find it right now but I believe SlashDot had a similar article about a store in CA that went under because of an Apple store in the vicinity.
But being a certified tech is a great step! Maybe you should look into what it takes to be a certified service center. iJon may be a good resource, because he works for his parents who own an apple store. (If I recall correctly)
And it I believe the conclusion was that Apple was very reluctant to certify new Apple Service Centers, because Apple wanted people to use the Apple stores. I could of course be completely wrong and misinterpreted the thread. I can't seem to find it right now but I believe SlashDot had a similar article about a store in CA that went under because of an Apple store in the vicinity.
But being a certified tech is a great step! Maybe you should look into what it takes to be a certified service center. iJon may be a good resource, because he works for his parents who own an apple store. (If I recall correctly)
definitely check with apple in having your service center like mentioned above
for pc repair, it's a must to have a shop location to be able to make any real money and have walk by business...people need to be able to know where you are and carting machines in and out of houses may have liability issues and the city where i live makes this very hard unless you have a commercial license for parking in a residential zone which is limited to just a few houses that got the ok years ago
there is a reason there are commercial zones and residential zones
try having a muffler shop running from your garage and see what the authorities think of that one...it's almost as hard for any computer repair business of any real scope
as the saying goes, it takes money to make money
for pc repair, it's a must to have a shop location to be able to make any real money and have walk by business...people need to be able to know where you are and carting machines in and out of houses may have liability issues and the city where i live makes this very hard unless you have a commercial license for parking in a residential zone which is limited to just a few houses that got the ok years ago
there is a reason there are commercial zones and residential zones
try having a muffler shop running from your garage and see what the authorities think of that one...it's almost as hard for any computer repair business of any real scope
as the saying goes, it takes money to make money
That other thread
The zoning issue was also brought up, but if you live in the city, it might not take much to rezone. Many house right on a main street (or 'Main Street') could probably be rezoned for commercial/residential, but IANAL. The possibility of a neighbor whining is great, unless you have cool neighbors. Maybe you could find someone with money to burn, or a real sense of business management interested in running the business, and you and your friend can be the two (or was it three?) tech required to be a service center.
The zoning issue was also brought up, but if you live in the city, it might not take much to rezone. Many house right on a main street (or 'Main Street') could probably be rezoned for commercial/residential, but IANAL. The possibility of a neighbor whining is great, unless you have cool neighbors. Maybe you could find someone with money to burn, or a real sense of business management interested in running the business, and you and your friend can be the two (or was it three?) tech required to be a service center.
dont do it out of your house, buy a building and start, you need some techs and you need to get both certifications, which are fairly hard. you can start out of your house and stuff without the certs but you wont be able to do warranty work, which is what most people want. good luck.
iJon
iJon
I think I read somewhere on apples website that a mac repair business must be in operation for 2 years before it can become an AASP. iJon do you use AIM at all, maybe I could contact you and talk to you about some things.
Re: That other thread
my previous resisdence was in the city center, so parking was not an issue, but it was upstairs
you need to be street level, because advertising, referrals, and word of mouth can only get you so far...most business comes from foot traffic and people simply driving by
it's definitely costly to rent a commercial space, but the payoff is that you will have a sustainable income...doing it from your house will most likely just end up in small change...i do know of a man who did well fixing macs from his house but he lived in a city which, unlike the rest in the area, was incredibly forgiving when it came to zoning and parking
my previous resisdence was in the city center, so parking was not an issue, but it was upstairs
you need to be street level, because advertising, referrals, and word of mouth can only get you so far...most business comes from foot traffic and people simply driving by
it's definitely costly to rent a commercial space, but the payoff is that you will have a sustainable income...doing it from your house will most likely just end up in small change...i do know of a man who did well fixing macs from his house but he lived in a city which, unlike the rest in the area, was incredibly forgiving when it came to zoning and parking
I've been doing the same thing for a while now, and believe me, if I had enough cash for a building, I'd get one. 1 on 1 teaching (which is a great side business, comparatively. Even if you have to work with PC's, it's a lucrative opportunity.) is better, but it means house calls. There's just not enough word-of-mouth referrals that can keep you going, and you get no random foot or car traffic coming if you work at home.
I've actually looked into this as well, and one of Apple's regulations is that you must have 2 certified Apple techs working in the center. I'm not sure why, but it was in the rules and regs. I think the biggest obstacle you are going to have is getting liability insurance, which you will need. Without an actual business name and plan, you may have a hard time getting liability, or you may have to pay through the nose.
Regards,
Gus
Regards,
Gus
If i could afford a bulding, employees and the like i absolutly would. I live in the middle of nowhere and there just isnt enough income to sustain the cost of rent, insurance, taxes and whatnot. I'd just say dont be affraid to work out of your house. I've had good luck with it out of my house. I dont know how big of a chance your willing to take, i just couldnt risk bankrupcery and everything else if it didnt work out.
the house thing is a good safe start, but if you want to get somewhere, you have to take the chance...hundreds of thousands, if not millions, take that chance on the american dream...which is having your own business
right now, i am in my house, and still learning as a cs grad student, and consolidating my bills
my next step will be a small commercial workspace, then ultimately, a store
if you can make a living income working from your house, that is good and there may be no need to get a store
just from watching my techie friends the last fifteen years or so, it's just so hard to make it from a house as a techie business...stuff like amway, telemarketing *my mom used to sell AT&T plans to businesses from her home, and medical transcription are proven home based businesses
many businesses in my depressed area are shutting down and sending the employees to work from home and coordinating the operations management via email like my wife's company which publishes millions of books..he he...isn't technology great
Do it out of your house if at all possible. Depending on your location, overhead can easily slay your income.
sure overhead hurts and there will be bad quarters
but what if apple or hp stayed in the garage?
I know I can fix the machines and do the work, but I dont know anything about starting a business. I would like to know what you guys think is the best way to go about it, and you are helping. I want to have enough resources to get a good start but I cant really go out and spend a whole ton of money, because I dont have that much. I am really debating between the house and the store. What other costs do you guys know of beside rent for a place, taxes, insurance, etc. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
i'm in the process of something similar. i'm starting a small Macintosh consulting agency. for now i'm concentrating on software help, OS tutoring, file transfers, general computing stuff, etc. i'm also focusing on the creative fields for now. my strong area is music and video suites so i'm helping people out with that stuff mostly. however #1 priority on my list is to get Apple Certified for hardware repair. there is a VERY helpful little tool i have found that teaches all the ins and outs of Mac repair and offers full preparation for the exam. it's available at an Apple Retail Store near you. after you feel comfortable enough to take the exam you'll have to cough up $250 to take the test. it's well worth it in my opinion. i'm also learning AppleScript, Unix, and FileMaker Pro. i don't have an office yet since i am only making house calls but after i move (from NYC to Boston) i'm considering getting a store front eventually.
I'm in a particularly unique situation.
I have (work at) a building, but no Apple certs. We're a small company that's already an HP authorized repair center, and I've been thinking about looking into Apple.
What exactly is required to become an Apple Authorised Service Provider? Just two techs? Does anyone know for sure?
I have (work at) a building, but no Apple certs. We're a small company that's already an HP authorized repair center, and I've been thinking about looking into Apple.
What exactly is required to become an Apple Authorised Service Provider? Just two techs? Does anyone know for sure?
this is info is available at Apple's website, i've seen it before. problem is it's buried somewhere and it can be a pain to find. try starting here and exploring a bit. it should turn up eventually.
http://train.apple.com/cert/roadmap.html
I'll warn you now, it's hard to get off your feet as a Mac Repair shop. I know, I was part of one. We started 3 years ago, and just this year we had lost so much that we were forced to close. If you can get advertising and customers that will be loyal it will help, but it's really hard to do. If you're going to do it though, you either need to go big and get a nice place with good visibility and easy access or you need to stay in your home, run it out of a garage or something. Anywhere in between and you'll end up like us. Good luck though!
JW
JW
First I'd like to applaud you for taking your first steps into owning your own business. You need to make a pro's and con's list of the benefit of working at home or setting up an official shop. A building will cost you rent, but you will have a place people can actually visit and view from the road (that is how I found my local mac repair shop, driving down the road and spotted it...) and you will be able to do Warrany work etc. If your not ready for that though you can certainly start off at home and set a higher goal for the near future, that way you can safely make a name for yourself locally without much to worry about. And I doubt that the authorities would come knocking on your down to stop your illegal computer repair service.....
Oh and check out the SBA http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/index.html for more info on setting up a small business.
Oh and check out the SBA http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/index.html for more info on setting up a small business.
oh yeah, I forget to mention this.
Why don't you look into franchises as well? I don't know of any Apple only franchises personally, but I'm sure some exist. If not, you could always start the first.....
But seriously, if not Apple only I'm sure there are plenty of computer repair franchises that involve apple, and if you own the shop then who says you can't limit it to only macs?
Why don't you look into franchises as well? I don't know of any Apple only franchises personally, but I'm sure some exist. If not, you could always start the first.....
But seriously, if not Apple only I'm sure there are plenty of computer repair franchises that involve apple, and if you own the shop then who says you can't limit it to only macs?