Today, “M” writes:

I’m thinking of getting out the rat race (heck, the rats have already won).

What did you consider when thinking about hanging out a shingle? Incorporating, taxes, AP, AR, billing, collections? Yikes!

How did you come up with a billing rate/fee schedule? Why would anyone want to do this?

Well to be honest, I did not do my homework, made plenty of expensive mistakes (lack of contracts, bounced checks, etc.) and, for the most part, this is not for the faint of heart. To be fair, I guess a lot of this depends on where you live.

Regarding billing, taxes, business structure and so on, buy this book. I will spare you from stating that it is not all inclusive, however, I do feel that it offers the best explanations of what to do based on the different types of PC repair businesses out there. I wish I had this when I was starting out, that’s for sure.

As for my take on billing and contracts: Get everything in writing, all work should be protected with a “don’t sue me” contract with every customer (prepared by a lawyer), and never take checks unless they are trusted, repeat customers. Also, consider giving discounts for cash. It saves credit card processing and bounced check headaches.

Finally, these days I would be ready to support all three OSes. To delude yourself into being prepared for a Windows-only world is frankly, financially limiting. Make it your mission to become competent in Windows, OS X, and Linux-based solutions. Specializing in Windows is fine, but more skills can provide more income. Believe me, I know! Something else to remember is that unless you have an established client base, you are not going to have people beating down your door. Getting started on this as your only source of income can be brutal without a savings account to draw from.

Now if anyone out there is interested, I am looking to put together a “town hall” type of meeting via something like GoToMeeting. Because no one person has all the answers when it comes to getting into, managing, and overcoming various business/client/technology related hassles, I am working to put together something where, on a regular basis, we call all get together to solve problems and, if nothing else, just brainstorm. This will be aimed at anyone in IT — be they network admins, PC repair techs, or even those just looking at “getting into the industry.”

With this said, if you have ever wanted to learn more about what it is really like working in this industry, I would comment above and make it known that there is an interest in this. I will bug Chris to see if he wants to broadcast and help host this with me. It should prove informative if nothing else.

Do you have an IT-related question? Perhaps you are just burnt out on writing on the walls with crayons? Whatever the comments may be, drop me a line, and you too can “Just Ask Matt!”

[tags]PC repair, business[/tags]