Would you do this?

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PHP or PC Repair

Go with creating custom php apps
13
72%
Go with PC Repair
5
28%
 
Total votes: 18

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infolock
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Would you do this?

Post by infolock »

I have been coding in php for a while now, and I'm very comfortable with the language, security, and how to manage my data/documents..

So, right now I'm kinda torn in half as to what I should do...

I want to start a small business, but I'm not sure which route to go. I would like to setup a pc repair shop ( but everyone knows that if I had done this 10 years ago, maybe this would make some money. Today, however, i'd have to charge 15 bucks an hour to even get customers ). The other thing I would like to do, is setup private custom web applications through contracts.

What would you do ?
[]InTeR[]
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Post by []InTeR[] »

What is PC Repair ?
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m3mn0n
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Post by m3mn0n »

You know I had the exact same dilemma. :?

It all boils down to what is best in the long run, well for me anyway. Do you see php bringing in more business and being more suitable for your specific needs and goals or do you see pc repair bringing in more business being more suitable for your specific needs and goals? I also took job security and work conditions into consideration.
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m3mn0n
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Post by m3mn0n »

[]InTeR[] wrote:What is PC Repair ?
Helping everyday people with their computer problems. Or even taking it a step further and working for a large or small company being a Systems Analyst or Network Administrator.
airo
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Post by airo »

Id go with PC Repair, as its what i really enjoy about computing. It gets down to personal prefrence. To me, i dont have the attention span to sit and stare and a screen all day feeding in line after line of code, i prefer to get down and dirty in the case.
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Post by McGruff »

When you make life choices you can decide on grounds of income & prospects or on grounds of what you love to do.

My money would be on the latter - except I don't have any lol.
legaxy
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Post by legaxy »

do a little market research, how many other PC repair places are there near you? what clients would you be expecting, how many people in your operating area are likely to need pc repair... (are you setting up a pc repair shop in an armish town? :wink: )
what can you provide that other pc repair places dont?, such as pickup/delivery etc.

Code developers would tend to make a lot more money i would have thought but thats the New zealand market i guess. my dad writes database software and at the same time serves as a net. admin./sys analyst to most of the people he distributes his product to, has a number of large clients too.

"Enjoy your job, make lots of money, work within the law. Choose any two." :D
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infolock
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Post by infolock »

Thanks for the input. Mostly, there is only 1 pc repair shop in my area, and they are charging outrageous prices. I can easily compete wtih them, and probably even end up with more then half of their clients. As far as companies in demand for php developers in my area, there are none. This town has absolutely no web development businesses in it. That is mostly due to it being such a low populated area ( southeastern ky ).

In a perfect reality, I could do both. But anyone who has started a business knows you must start small first, build your name, and then offer other services since this will be a one-man job for the time being.

I guess what I'll do is just start a repair shop, get my name out, and then start with web development contracting after I build my clientel.

Thanks for the input people, I really appreciate it.
Coco
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Post by Coco »

its not got much to do with where you live...
i live in leeds, where freeserve are based.... and yet theres virtually no web development jobs out there.... not in the last 9 months anyway :(

but its also another of these areas where the only pc maintenance companies are of the outrageous kind
DynPHP
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Post by DynPHP »

Take your seed money and get your MCSE certification then take a job with a government contractor as a network admin or help desk tech. Believe me, the headaches of small business ownership in this economy are not worth it. Maybe 4 years ago when we were all raking it in as web developers/designers, db engineers, webmasters, etc. it was worth it, but not today. Ahhhh the good old days of $75 per hour web development.
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Post by Sinnix »

I used to be in PC Repair... all it was was people whining and complaining about how there stupid computers didn't work... yet 99% of the time it was always ID10T errors. My advice... if you enjoy listening to people whine all day... go into hardware repair. If you enjoy respect and a decent salary... stick to programming. IMHO. 8)
lcidw
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Post by lcidw »

My vision on the market for php applications seems blurred, I don't know yet how easy it is to make money with coding php. (So i chose PC Repair)
I guess what I'll do is just start a repair shop, get my name out, and then start with web development contracting after I build my clientel.
That's what i would do too, start that competing PC Repair shop, and if there's time spare work on a project which you'll bring out later if it's getting at a final stage.
if you enjoy listening to people whine all day...
Been there, as a hobby network administrator in my house of 17 students.. Done that, i'm now asking money if the problem takes too much time :)
lc
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Post by lc »

If you want money... that's easier to make as a good php coder.

But I'd ask myself which I enjoy more. cause that's what you'll be best at.
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Wayne Herbert
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A Contrarian View

Post by Wayne Herbert »

infolock wrote:Mostly, there is only 1 pc repair shop in my area, and they are charging outrageous prices. I can easily compete wtih them.
A few random thoughts and comments.

a) What do you consider "outrageous"? A little simple math will give you a base hourly rate to make a living repairing PC's. Let's say you want to make $40,000 per year after expenses, taxes, insurance, etc. As a rule of thumb, you will need to earn twice as much ($80,000) to cover all these costs. Next, if you work a 2000 hour year (that's 50 forty hour weeks - no holidays like July 4), you must guess how much of that will be billable. Again, as a rule of thumb if you can bill 1000 hours, then you must bill $80 per hour to reach your financial targets. Is this "outrageous"? Now, you may quibble with my estimates, so do the math yourself, but I suspect you'll be hard pressed to come in at less than $60 per hour. Ever notice that virtually every repair service, from car mechanics to plumbers to electricians are all at least $60 per hour? That is reality to support overhead and make a living.

b) Point a) above kind of makes point b) here. It used to be that PC's cost out the wazoo. The differential between labor costs and replacement was very large. Today, that is not so, and even goes the other way... it is cheaper to buy a new one than fix an old one. Look at all the stuff that is trashed these days because the cost of creating is so much less than the cost of repairing. PC's are only going to continue to drop in price. I just don't see how pure PC repair is going to be viable.

c) PHP and open source are a revolution that is just beginning. Who is going to pay you to write software when the applications available are exploding everyday? It used to be that software was an expensive component... now off the shelf makes it really cheap. Only certain software development houses pay money for real programmers these days; for small business, it doesn't make sense unless the application is completely unique.

d) Point c) above is only going to get worse. Coding shops in India, China, and the Phillipines are getting better and better, and soon Vietnam will have enough skills to enter the fray. Until labor costs rise there, you will see much major development move offshore, 'cause it is cheap. Even if I am a manager who believes in "buy American", I've got a budget and problems to solve.

e) There is a glut of techies of all kinds... folks who know how to fix the widgets, code the latest script, blow the newest whistle. While the dot com mania was in effect, it didn't matter. But the reality is that from a business perspective, these are all toys. And most of the techies don't know squat about business.

f) When a small business person walks up to you and says, "I need a website", is he saying:

i) Geez, I love this tech crap... can you fix me up with a site?
ii) I need a way to increase sales and improve my business visibility?

If your next question to him/her isn't "Why do you think you'll make money with a website?", then you are doomed to be one of the masses of techies who cannot see the forest of the business problem from the trees of the techie solutions.

Put another way, the survivors in the IT world today will be the ones that can provide business solutions. If you want success as an independent computer consultant, then learn what the businesses around you need. What is their website status? Annual sales? Potential for growth? Business owners really don't know or care whether their shopping cart is written in PHP or HPH. They want to know what it costs to create and maintain. They want to know what revenue it will generate.

If it were I, I'd be getting educated about business needs in your area. I'd start by calling around, just gathering information from those willing to talk. I'd focus on IT integration... how to take off the shelf parts and integrate them into a business solution. So, I'd be going to the PC repair place asking what kind of guaranteed rate I'd get for $x of referrals. I'd become the value judge for fix verus replace question about PC's.

I'd line up PHP folks to do the integration. I'd find a graphics person, an advertiser, a marketer. I'd offer a small business a Chinese menu of options... everything from a mimimalist implementation of a shopping cart on a cheap ISP to an integrated back office solution with a really slick website. And, I'd show him why paying me $100 per hour right now will save him ten times that much in the future.

Your job is to clarify, to educate, to build trust. You know IT is a complex subject. Your job is to demystify the topic and do it in such a way that the owner knows he can't live without your skills.

I'll sum it up. What is lacking in today's IT world is people who understand how to apply technology in business to generate revenue, beat the competition, and plan for the long haul. You know how to do that, you'll always be in demand. There is no substitute for brains.
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Heavy
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Post by Heavy »

Let's say you want to make $40,000 per year after expenses, taxes, insurance, etc. As a rule of thumb, you will need to earn twice as much ($80,000) to cover all these costs.
This statement is true in Sweden aswell, but for one thing. "twice as much" only cover the taxes.

If you make $1000 in sweden, these socialist morons steal $530 from you. This means you have to make even more money to also cover the other expenses.

Do you know what?
Those taxes they recieve don't cover the government's expenses.

Sweden is going down an evil circle, and its name is Göran Persson. He wants to rule the European Union. Vote for him, and he will drain you aswell.
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