Computer Service Business Pricing?
I am contemplating starting a computer maintenance and support service
from my home. My target customer is the home PC user who doesn't know
much about computers, doesn't perform routine maintenance, and panics
at the sight of an error message. Maybe their computer is running slow
or they are out of disk space or they want to upgrade their OS. I
won't be selling software or hardware, but would gladly install theirs
for them.
What I would like a researcher to do is review my services and prices
below and give me a reality check as to whether or not I'm in-line
with:
1) the needs of such a user
2) price such a user would be willing to pay for each service
Other helpful commentary would include recommendations of additions or
subtractions to my lists, other pricing schemes you might feel work
better (for example, I've ruled out pricing by the hour - good idea?),
how much extra to charge for a house-call, and any ideas you might
have.
Note, I've already compared my prices to Future Shop and similar
places. I'm more interested in personal feedback now.
Please keep in mind that my prices are in Canadian dollars ($1 cdn =
approx $.65 US). Also, prices reflect PC brought to my home - not
house-calls. I will offer same-day service for most routine jobs.
MINIMUM BENCH FEE $40
SERVICE 1 - Routine "10-point" maintenance service: $75
-- Virus Scan
-- Hard Drive Scan
-- Full System Diagnostic scan
-- Disk Clean Up
-- Optimize hard Drive
-- Update Drivers as needed
-- Check hardware connections
-- Check internet security
-- Create Boot disk
-- Provide System summary & recommendations
SERVICE 2 - NEW COMPUTER SET-UP $50
-- Set-up computer
-- Install software
-- Set up printer
-- Configure drivers
-- Set up email, internet - ADD $75
-- Backup & move data - ADD $75
SERVICE 3 - HOME NETWORK SET-UP
-- Per computer (multiply X) $100
-- Install network cards
-- Configure router
-- Configure printer sharing
-- Configure file sharing
-- Set up shared Broadband Internet - ADD $150 (includes house-call)
INDIVIDUAL HARDWARE INSTALL - $40 each
-- Eg: modem, cd rom, video card, etc.
SOFTWARE INSTALL
-- OS - $65
-- Other software $40
EMERGENCY SERVICES & TROUBLE SHOOTING - $???
-- Virus removal
-- Hard drive failure - "unable to read drive c:."
-- Catastrophic system crash
-- Unable to boot to windows
-- Can't get internet
Again, I reiterate, I'm really looking for comprehensive personal
feedback, not "official" market research. Preferably the researcher is
someone with experience in offering a similar service who can maybe
save me from some known pitfalls or give me some helpful pointers.
Finally, a researcher willing to put in his or her full effort should
feel free to use the Answer space, even if a commenter has given a
full review.
I thank you in advance -- pc_doctor |
Dear pc_doctor:
Thank you for your question. I have put recommendationa and comments
beneath each item in your price list.
MINIMUM BENCH FEE $40
This seems fairly reasonable. This seems pretty standard after
comparing with some other vendors online.
SERVICE 1 - Routine "10-point" maintenance service: $75
-- Virus Scan
-- Hard Drive Scan
-- Full System Diagnostic scan
-- Disk Clean Up
-- Optimize hard Drive
-- Update Drivers as needed
-- Check hardware connections
-- Check internet security
-- Create Boot disk
-- Provide System summary & recommendations
I think you could probably get away with charging more than what you
have here, since this does seem pretty comprehensive. I think you
could probably charge a bit more, perhaps $100 CDN for this basic
check up, depending on time used. Especially for the hard drive
optimization and disk clean up services. I assume that you will be
doing the hard drive optimization last? That alone could take up to
six hours, depending on the system.
Other comments:
Virus Scan: Will you be installing a virus scanner on the clients
computer and then uninstalling it?
Troubleshooting: What if an error occurs during the check up? Will
troubleshooting be included or is their an extra charge?
SERVICE 2 - NEW COMPUTER SET-UP $50
-- Set-up computer
-- Install software
-- Set up printer
-- Configure drivers
I think you could charge $75 CDN for this basic service. And less for
the email and internet setup.
-- Set up email, internet - ADD $75
-- Backup & move data - ADD $75
I think you will probably want to charge less than what you have now.
I do think that that email and internet setup is a bit steep at $75
CDN. The backup and move data seems reasonably priced, but I'm not
very sure of the details of the service.
Also, I'm kind of doubtful of the demand for this type of service.
Most computer novices would go with known big brands like Dell and
Compaq, which come preconfigured with all the software and settings,
including internet.
SERVICE 3 - HOME NETWORK SET-UP
-- Per computer (multiply X) $100
-- Install network cards
-- Configure router
-- Configure printer sharing
-- Configure file sharing
For two computers, I think $200 CDN might be a bit steep, since the
minimum number of computers on a network is two. Also, I do recommend
giving discounts for larger volumes. For example, $75 CDN per
computer, and $50 for every computer after 3.
-- Set up shared Broadband Internet - ADD $100 (includes house-call)
This seems like a more or less reasonable price for a service that is
pretty in demand. It is too steep for my taste, but I assume that is
because I already know how to do this.
INDIVIDUAL HARDWARE INSTALL - $40 each
-- Eg: modem, cd rom, video card, etc.
No gripes with this. This is a pretty reasonable price as is.
SOFTWARE INSTALL
-- OS - $65
-- Other software $40
You might want to charge a bit more for the OS setup, and less for the
software setup. Setting up an OS represents at least 5-6 times more
work than the software installation.
EMERGENCY SERVICES & TROUBLE SHOOTING - $???
-- Virus removal
-- Hard drive failure - "unable to read drive c:."
-- Catastrophic system crash
-- Unable to boot to windows
-- Can't get internet
For these services, you will definitely want to charge a flat rate.
Some times you might be able to fix the problem very quickly, and some
times it may take a whole day. You just never know. I think you
probably would want to charge less for the virus removal service, but
for everything else, you'll want to consider the average time it would
take to fix any problem. I'd estimate it to be about two hours per
incident. So two times your hourly rate would be a reasonable price
per incident for the trouble shooting service.
Please do ask for clarifications if you have any more questions about
your pricing. I would be more than happy to answer them for you.
Best Regards,
blader-ga |
Request for Answer Clarification by
pc_doctor-ga
on
18 Jul 2002 09:34 PDT
Hi Blader,
Thanks for the quick response. You've managed to point out a couple
of things that I hadn't thought of, (ie, good point on that 6 -hour
optimization!) and I appreciate your thoughts on my prices. If you
wouldn't mind addressing in more detail the following points then we
can wrap this up --
1 -- Just so I know where you're coming from, what is your experience
in this field? Are you answering from a user stand-point, a marketing
person, a computer professional?
2 -- What are your thoughts on offering house-calls (locally)? I'm a
little trepidatious about sitting for hours in someone's home working
on their PC. However, I wondered if there is enough demand and if you
think people would be willing to pay enough extra to make it worth my
time. If so, how should I charge? By the hour? Flat rate? %
increase over bench price?
3 -- You asked: Will you be installing a virus scanner on the clients
computer and then uninstalling it? Yes, that is my plan. Or running
theirs if they have one. If theirs, I would go online and update their
virus definitions. Good plan? I would do the same with the system
scan by using say Norton Utilities. It takes time to install, run
the scan, and uninstall, but it seems the best approach to me.
4 -- You asked: Troubleshooting: What if an error occurs during the
check up? Will
troubleshooting be included or is their an extra charge? I would
appreciate your perspective on this. How would you handle it ?
5 -- Finally, one brief technical question - this is the only
technical area where I don't have a full understanding and you seem to
be pretty knowledgeable so I thought maybe you could help clarify it
- Hard Drive backup or Imaging. In the case of installing a new hard
drive, it's my understanding that I would use imaging software to make
an exact image of a person's old hard drive and then just copy it onto
their new formatted one. Correct? If so, what about cases where some
of their old data or programs are corrupt? How is that normally
handled?
I appreciate your help --
Pc_doctor
|
Clarification of Answer by
blader-ga
on
18 Jul 2002 12:06 PDT
Dear pc_doctor.
Thank you for your clarification request. I have replied to each
point individually.
1 -- Just so I know where you're coming from, what is your experience
in this field? Are you answering from a user stand-point, a marketing
person, a computer professional?
I don't have any professional experience in the PC support business,
but I can hold my own on the technical side. I'm usually the go-to guy
for my friends when they encounter problems with their PC. So you
could describe me as your basic power user.
2 -- What are your thoughts on offering house-calls (locally)? I'm a
little trepidatious about sitting for hours in someone's home working
on their PC. However, I wondered if there is enough demand and if you
think people would be willing to pay enough extra to make it worth my
time. If so, how should I charge? By the hour? Flat rate? %
increase over bench price?
I do think there may be a demand for this service, especially among
the very novice users. One problem may be that the novice users may
tend to buy entry level PCs from big, established companies, such as
Gateway and Compaq. When the encounter problems, they will usually
know to call the company tech support first.
I think the way to go at it is to charge a bench price if it's a quick
problem, and then flat rate if you go over an hour, to ensure customer
satisfaction. Some problems may take many hours to fix, and the novice
computer user has no idea if you are an honest professional or not.
(I'm sure you are though, just giving the customer's point of view).
Your most significant customers would be those who have encountered
errors with their PC and just don't know what to do. For these, it
would be great marketing to emphasize your flat rate fixes.
3 -- You asked: Will you be installing a virus scanner on the clients
computer and then uninstalling it? Yes, that is my plan. Or running
theirs if they have one. If theirs, I would go online and update their
virus definitions. Good plan? I would do the same with the system
scan by using say Norton Utilities. It takes time to install, run
the scan, and uninstall, but it seems the best approach to me.
I think the service would be the most useful for people without virus
scan already installed. Even the most novice user knows enough about
viruses (through media hype) to run a virus scan regularly, so you
probably won't get significant demand among those who already have
virus scanners.
4 -- You asked: Troubleshooting: What if an error occurs during the
check up? Will
troubleshooting be included or is their an extra charge? I would
appreciate your perspective on this. How would you handle it ?
I think the best approach would be to finish the 10 point maintenance
check up, and include any problems or errors that occurred or you have
found in the recommendations at the end. You could also attach a price
list for your services so they can have you fix them, if desired. I
would think that's a fair way to go about it.
5 -- Finally, one brief technical question - this is the only
technical area where I don't have a full understanding and you seem to
be pretty knowledgeable so I thought maybe you could help clarify it
- Hard Drive backup or Imaging. In the case of installing a new hard
drive, it's my understanding that I would use imaging software to make
an exact image of a person's old hard drive and then just copy it onto
their new formatted one. Correct? If so, what about cases where some
of their old data or programs are corrupt? How is that normally
handled?
If their old data or programs are already corrupt, then I believe you
can safely ignore them, if everything else works. The bad sectors just
won't be copied. (It would be the same as if it were corrupt). If
corruption occurs during the back up, though, then you'll have a
problem. This is very rare, though. Usually it can be handled through
a reformat of the new drive.
If you have any more concerns, please let me know. I would be more
than happy to help.
Best Regards,
blader-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
pc_doctor-ga
on
18 Jul 2002 15:27 PDT
Hi Blader,
Thanks for all the great advice. Just one final clarification.
I am a little unclear about the hard drive imaging. If I understand
you correctly, I should be able to use a product such as Norton Ghost
to create an image of the client's hard drive and then save this image
file on a portable drive such as CD-RW or Zip. (I hope this imaging
uses some serious compression or the zip is not going to cut it:-))
And then I use the same program to copy this image onto a newly
formatted hard drive to essentially clone the old PC to the new drive
?
--- Thanking you in advance PC_doctor
|
Clarification of Answer by
blader-ga
on
18 Jul 2002 15:52 PDT
Dear pc_doctor:
Hi Blader,
Norton Ghost 2002 does support zip and CD-RWs, but to create a
complete image of the drive, this will certainly take more than just
one CD-RW, (and many more ZIPs, for that matter). The drive imaging
software (such as Ghost) is usually used to create a backup of a newly
installed and configured operating system. That will fit on one CD.
However, if you will be backing up a full, used hard drive, that will
take much, much longer and well require much more than just one CD.
Usually, drive images are 1:1 copies and do not actually contain any
compression.
Yes, and then you take the newly created image and you can create an
exact clone of it on a new drive.
If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Best Regards,
blader-ga
|
