Ideas For Business

Are you opening a computer repair shop, but aren’t sure exactly what you’re getting yourself into?

Many technology professionals that decide to start a new business don’t know what to expect and don’t plan their company’s model or build real relationships. Thus, they end up without an organized business plan or a strategic method for finding high-quality, long-term clients and partners. And as you can probably imagine, going into any business venture blindly is a recipe for failure.

The following 7 best practices for opening a computer repair shop can help you understand what to expect as you start your business so you can build relationships with crucial clients, partners and subcontractors.

1. Small Business Clients Expect Your Firm to Be Knowledgeable. When you are opening a computer repair shop, your clients will often unrealistically expect you to be knowledgeable on every conceivable technology problem under the sun. To deliver on this want and need, focus on providing the complete solution to your clients. This way you can build long-term relationships that produce predictable recurring revenue, great reference accounts and ideal clients that are not as price sensitive as others looking for just a one-time purchase. To fill in gaps in your skills, you'll want to build-up your team with non-competing technology provider partners and subcontractors. (More on that in a moment ...)
2. When You Partner, You Retain Account Control and Appear Bigger Than You Really Are. When you partner with other technology providers as you are opening a computer repair shop, you give yourself access to varied skill sets and are able to pool resources. Thus, your firm will appear to have many specialties, as well as a deep ability to solve big IT business problems and engage in major projects.
3. Partnering with Technology Professionals Helps You Manage Clients’ Needs that Are Beyond Your Immediate Reach. You will help yourself succeed at opening a computer repair shop when you partner with non-competing technology providers in your area that fill in your skills gaps. For example, your potential partner might be intimately familiar with a specific client/server or industry-specific software application. Regardless of your specialty, look to find professionals that can help you manage major IT projects and better fulfill your clients’ needs, while you still remain each client's main contact and project manager.
4. Find Partners You Can Comfortably Work With and Trust. Make sure you consult an attorney as you are building relationships with potential partners. But remember that even the most thorough attorney can’t possibly cover every single contingency and scenario in an official partnership agreement. Gut feel and trust are important elements as you are opening a computer repair shop and building relationships with partners. Many that own repair shops like to start partnerships with smaller projects and gradually progress to larger projects.
5. Find a Hook. To stand out from the crowd, look to find a hook, or something special that differentiates you from the pack. You need to also know the hooks of your partners so you can go to clients with a full set of real skills and not just a load of marketing hype. Understanding these hooks will also help you know which partnerships are long-term viable and which potential partners are your direct competitors. As an additional tip, you can print up a second set of business cards geared towards potential partners, with your hook clearly described.
6. Understand the Difference Between Subcontractors and Partners. When you work with partners, you can potentially spend a lot of time trying to reach a common ground on whose billing and administrative procedures you will adopt. But with a master contractor/subcontractor relationship, you will handle most, if not all administrative and management tasks. This can be beneficial, because it saves time and lets you call all the shots.
7. Be Sure to Set Up Mutually-Beneficial Relationships. No matter what, as you are opening a computer repair shop, and throughout the life of your business, you need to set up relationships with clients, partners and subcontractors that are mutually beneficial. Set up relationships with long-term interests in mind. For clients, this means providing ample benefits that make them hesitant to switch computer repair professionals because of the huge potential for disruption and loss of continuity. For subcontractors and partners, this means showing them that working with them for just a single, one-time client project is too expensive for both of you when you figure in the screening, hiring and managing duties.
   

In this brief article we discussed 7 best practices to think about as you are opening a computer repair shop. Learn more about how you can attract great, steady, high-paying clients as you're opening a computer repair shop now at http://www.OpeningAComputerRepairShop.com

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Joshua Feinberg is the author and editorial director of the Computer Consulting Kit Home Study Course, which helps computer consultants, VARs, integrators, solution providers, and managed services providers get more of the best, steady, high-paying small business (SMB) clients.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Opening a Computer Repair Shop Made Simple, Step-by-Step