Starting a new computer repair business is certainly exciting, other critical decision that you have to make very early in your businesses life: what will you charge? There will be the temptation to charge an absolute minimal rate just to fill up your appointment book. In the short run, you'll certainly be busy, but you're going to have a problem soon. You'll want to raise your rates, but you have accumulated quite a few regular clients, and how do you go about asking them for more money?
There is the other problem of attracting the wrong sort of customer. The customer to shop exclusively on price, tend to be the least loyal. Another problem is that at a low price you are perceived to be a low-quality computer technician who may take a long time to resolve problems or maybe not resolve the more complex problems. So to overcome this image problem and the issue of raising your rates very soon after starting your business, why not just start with a price point in the middle of the market? Call around and ask your competition what they charge while you are disguised as a customer. Check their websites. Check on craigslist. You'll soon get a good feel for what a computer fair technician can charge in your city or town.
You should always be seeking out the highest paying and most loyal customers. Businesses, especially small businesses. Tend to be the most loyal customers to small computer repair services. They like the personal attention of having the same person answer the phone every time they have a problem. Indeed, they may have more urgent issues that require immediate attention. They may have more complicated problems in the home user would likely just e-mails and browse the Internet. However it is common practice to charge businesses about $10 an hour extra when compared to home users. It is well worth the additional trouble that comes with serving businesses, because they give you such stable and predictable work.
