Am I being unwise?

[noob]

I've noodled about with similar in my spare time to earn a few extra quid. I'm convinced I could do a lot more with it, but I doubt I could cover my expenses, which are not as low as yours (you lucky *** !).

One word though: don't be surprised at how little people (not companies) are prepared to pay for you to spend ages fixing their virus-ridden computers.

Go for it, and best of luck!

People's lack of willingness to spend money won't surprise me, neither will their lack of gratitude

I see Dell charge £89 for a home visit, and PC World charge £69.99 (and you have to bring the PC to them!) and you have to pay both for parts on top, so as a sole trader I can undercut them easily & even at say, £50 - £60 a call I only need to get 10 calls a month to cover the bills & I reckon I can generate that locally through leaflet drops, word of mouth, and contacts/working with local business etc.

If I land a local business, I can use my separate Ltd co that I've set up for the contracting for VAT etc..

[themistry]

I only need to get 10 calls a month to cover the bills & I reckon I can generate that locally through leaflet drops, word of mouth, and contacts/working with local business etc.

Other than WHY WHY WHY i'll just add in my 2cents from experience.

I tried something similar when at Uni. Great flyers (thousands of them), not a single call. I had a poster in the local shops, ended up with maybe 5 calls over 3 months.

I was charging £25 call out then £25 an hour. Made me some nice pocket money. No chance i'll be doing that again, not for that sort of work (ergh) and that sort of money.

good luck
TM

[noob]

Other than WHY WHY WHY i'll just add in my 2cents from experience.

I tried something similar when at Uni. Great flyers (thousands of them), not a single call. I had a poster in the local shops, ended up with maybe 5 calls over 3 months.

I was charging £25 call out then £25 an hour. Made me some nice pocket money. No chance i'll be doing that again, not for that sort of work (ergh) and that sort of money.

good luck
TM

It *is* a Plan B, and is really just designed to tick things over until I secure a contract. If I get a contract next week, then great, if it takes another 2 months then it will help stop me going broke.

I know a fair bit about on-site services from the management side & come from the technical side originally & can deal with pretty much anything that a home customer or small business would need.

I'll be aiming for the wealthier houses for the leaflet drops, and as I live in an area with quite a lot of the wealthier parts of Surrey nearby, then that'll be easy enough to do. I've also done a few visits to a few people locally and I'll be looking to them to spread the word also. I'll also be targeting local businesses, with personal visits etc.

I'm aiming fairly high with it, and am developing it in a way that can be franchised, and if it takes off, then the plan would be to sell franchises to suitably trained & experienced ex-IT & Services people looking to downsize etc. That said, I'll be happy for it to just cover the mortgage

[EternalOptimist]

It *is* a Plan B, and is really just designed to tick things over until I secure a contract. If I get a contract next week, then great, if it takes another 2 months then it will help stop me going broke.

I know a fair bit about on-site services from the management side & come from the technical side originally & can deal with pretty much anything that a home customer or small business would need.

I'll be aiming for the wealthier houses for the leaflet drops, and as I live in an area with quite a lot of the wealthier parts of Surrey nearby, then that'll be easy enough to do. I've also done a few visits to a few people locally and I'll be looking to them to spread the word also. I'll also be targeting local businesses, with personal visits etc.

I'm aiming fairly high with it, and am developing it in a way that can be franchised, and if it takes off, then the plan would be to sell franchises to suitably trained & experienced ex-IT & Services people looking to downsize etc. That said, I'll be happy for it to just cover the mortgage

You need a new angle. Hows about


'Afraid of going to Jail ? Noob ltd will check n cleanse you machine of child porn'
'Whats the missus up to ? Noob ltd will crack her security and find out who she's emailing'
'Husband up till 2am doing 'the accounts' ? Noob ltd will reveal which dodgy websites he's been visiting'
'Trouble finding decent free pron? Noob ltd has ALL the juicy websites'


etc

[BlasterBates]

Seriously I think this plan B won't work, these business ideas hardly ever do. If you're not getting contract interviews then take the permie job. The market is going to get worse before it gets better.

[Cufftech]

PC Repair Pittance!

The truth is any reasonably Techy type with a moderate understanding of PC hardware (Lego to the well informed) and a grasp of basic Windows can do this work. This is why there is not a lot to be made from it. I am a technical recruitment consultant by trade (contractors mainly - all CV 's welcome chaps!) and have, in the past (traded under Sussex Disc-doctor), worked on the build and repair of micros, desktops et al. I gave this up when I realized that first year Computer Science Undergrads at Sussex Uni. were able to turn out the same services for about 1/4 of my usual rate. Basically, these days people won't pay decent money for that kind of service in the domestic market place. If they are desperate they can go down to PC World and have the tech. counter boys do this for peanuts.

Think once for cash, twice for you partner and thrice for your pride!

[Platypus]

and am developing it in a way that can be franchised

You see, right until that moment I thought you might stand a chance. Now you've mentioned the F-word and I realise you're just a dreamer.

[Tingles]

A 1000 Leaflets decent areas - probably nets one or two calls, Take you about 9 or 10 hours to deliver.

Put an advert in a newsagent - Get someone to deliver with you - you pay them min wage - I reckon 5k a week, hard slog.

It's far more profitable doing a domestic cleaning franchise.....



T

[noob]

You see, right until that moment I thought you might stand a chance. Now you've mentioned the F-word and I realise you're just a dreamer.

I can see where you're coming from, and seriously doubt anyone would want to buy one, but I only mention it because it was suggested to me in the 1st place by a couple of other people.

All I'm really interested in is making a few quid to cover the mortgage, however it's worth not forgetting the idea entirely as I know a number of people with similar skills and experience to myself who will be at a loose end later this year and who might well be interested in doing this kind of work if the business set up part was made easier for them. And if there's any chance at all of someone giving me some of their money then I'll be only too happy to collect it

[Churchill]

I think "PC Guys" have got your market covered.