I'm thinking of going into business for myself

[draggar]

I've been thinking of starting to do some PC support outside of work. Yeah, I know it might be a living hell but I'm always bombarded with PC questions when I'm at dog events with my wife.

I'm debating over a "diagnostics" fee - a basic fee that would be for me to come to their house, diagnose the issue, and maybe fix if it is simple. I'm thinking $30 for my wife's dog friends and her clients, $40 for anyone else - added fee for travel times over 30 minutes.

This would include a basic diagnosis of their issue, maybe even a system clean if needed (CCCleaner, CleanCache etc..).

Any actual "repairs" would be time - maybe $50 an hour for friends and $65 an hour for everyone else (1 hour minimum - how comparible is that to what people normally charge?). All hardware replacements would be 100% up to the client - they'd have to purchase and obtain the hardware (I would leave recommendations).

Maybe even things like card (sound, video) installs - $40, HDD or optical drive installations - $50, OS installation - $75

Networking (wired and wireless) would have to be by the hour.

I'm also thinking of what I would need for hardware?

USB Drive (8 GB?) with tons of tools (AVG, Spybot, Ad-Aware, CleanCache, CCCleaner, Unstoppable Copier, etc.) and maybe even a CD_ROM with all of that (to prevent viruses from moving to the disc).

IDE / SATA to USB converter

What else might I need and any recommendations on the prices?

[Andara Bledin]

I'm not involved in anything like that, but I'd get pricing from the local places, and go from there.

As for the distance pricing, I suggest making it a pure mileage based figure. That way, there can be no arguments over it not taking the customer as long to drive that same distance is it takes you, and doesn't really get into traffic issues. Although, you'd pretty much be eating any time that got taken up due to an accident or event.

You might also consider pricing for a possible email-based advice service. For some things, you could troubleshoot via email or phone (you call them, so they don't have your number unless you have one set up just for the business), that would be less costly or intensive than onsite help.

^-.-^

[Fire_on_High]

I dunno...I'd feel like a crook charging that much for a basic video card or drive install, OTOH $75 doesn't begin to cover the aggravation and stress of installing and configuring an OS, unless they keep a good up to date driver and app archive and supply it to you for the task.

Gotta do what works for you, in the end.

[draggar]

Geek Squad charges $50 for an "online tune up" - $100 for onsite.
$50 for an in-store HW install, $150 for on site.
$150 for on-site PC setup

When I was at Staples (over 10 years ago) we charged $29 for card installs - this would also include getting the latest drivers installed.

I know they'll charge more than most Ma&Pa stores (or would they be cheaper due to mass volume?).

I've also talked to a friend of mine in the area - he charges $125 an hour (1 hour minimum) for on site work, $50 per half hour (1/2 hour minimum) for remote work.

I'm also wondering about training - what should I charge for that? $50 an hour (1 hr minimum)?