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Just starting out.

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by archbot01

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I don't know if this question really fits the topic area but here goes. I am a 22 year old college student with about 2 years left to receive a degree in MIS at a university. I've worked a couple years for the university as a PC support technician. I've got what I think is plenty of experience and I'm thinking of trying a little venture to make some extra money this semester.

I might hang up some signs on campus to advertise my skills. I want primarily to offer Operating System upgrades and reinstalls. I concerned with the liabilities of the deal and also what I should charge for a complete software overhaul.

What do you think?
Tim

6 replies

by thechas

My first thought, is is there a market for installing OS upgrades?

Pardon how biased this will sound, but the "typical" PC user does not spend the $100+ for the new OS, let alone the cost to have it professionally installed.
In fact, most corporations do not upgrade OS's unless there is a need to use a new software program. I can cite numerous "hi-tech" companies that have PCs in use that are still running MS-DOS, and Windows 95!

On a practical basis, unless the PC is reasonably new, the average user will buy a new PC rather than spend more than $150 - $200 on repairs.

I would concentrate on Hardware upgrades, driver updates and OS patch installation.
Another service would be helping users install the networking software for the college.

I don't know where you are at, but somewhere between $15 and $35 per hour US would be reasonable.

You might survey the local PC shops to see what they charge for the services you plan to offer.

The main caveots are:
If anything goes wrong with a PC you have worked on, the user will blame you for 2-6 months.

You need to make sure that ANY and ALL software you install is legitimate licensed software.
By advertizing your services, you open yourself up to scrutiny by Microsoft, the College, and the BSA.

Chas

by archbot01

You bring up some very good points. In the college and department that I worked in at the university I was reinstalling OS everday, sometimes two a day. Kids have problems with viruses and having too much software on the machine and end up screwing up the whole thing.

I wasnt planning on charging the going rate. Maybe $50 for a complete reinstall possibly including software. And yes, all legit software provided by the user.

I'm just thinking abou the idea for now, just to bring in some extra college cash.

Any other suggestions for a college kid who wants to gain as much hands on experience as possible?

by penguinsrule

I think you would be better off focusing on hardware. There's plenty of work for people who can repair pc's and if you treat folks right you'll do ok.

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