Starting a Small Business Online

[aidan80 9]

I've been thinking about starting up a small online business and putting my IT Technician skills to some use again. I haven't been working as a IT Technician for over 2 years now (since I got here) but have been keeping my skills as sharp as possible.. thanks to VM Ware and some free time.

Back home I managed to build up a reputation as an IT Tech and managed to make tons of contacts which in turn turned into more contacts and more freelance work outside my normal job. I worked hard to ensure there were only happy customers, as we all know just one unhappy customer can do a lot of damage. I'd really like to try and emulate this over here in the US and use the web as a means to get things moving. I'm thinking house calls, general installs, upgrades/updates, some sales etc.

I'd like any advice and all advice on this idea. I'm not sure how it might work in the US with so many big companies over here and with big tech support places popping up all over. we're in central Florida just outside Orlando. I'd happily work as an IT Tech again only jobs appear to be drying up quite fast, unless I want to work for $10 - $11 per hour.. I make more than that right now being a paper pusher

[PlatyPius 5]

Doing the online part of the business is easy. The hard part is advertising in the community to get your name out there. IT work has dried up here in Indiana too, hence me working at a bicycle shop. (although I enjoy it much more and actually make more than most Help Desk jobs pay. lol)

What exactly are you wanting to know?

[aidan80 9]

Doing the online part of the business is easy. The hard part is advertising in the community to get your name out there. IT work has dried up here in Indiana too, hence me working at a bicycle shop. (although I enjoy it much more and actually make more than most Help Desk jobs pay. lol)

What exactly are you wanting to know?

The online part is easy, as you said it isn't easy to get established. I know what you mean, everything is drying up latley... even where I work now, they have put in place a hiring freeze! That place had dozens of jobs when I first applied. A bike shop, thats mad.. not quite helpdesk I'm doing general office work, which is alright but I do miss breaking other peoples computers

[PlatyPius 5]

Doing the online part of the business is easy. The hard part is advertising in the community to get your name out there. IT work has dried up here in Indiana too, hence me working at a bicycle shop. (although I enjoy it much more and actually make more than most Help Desk jobs pay. lol)

What exactly are you wanting to know?

The online part is easy, as you said it isn't easy to get established. I know what you mean, everything is drying up latley... even where I work now, they have put in place a hiring freeze! That place had dozens of jobs when I first applied. A bike shop, thats mad.. not quite helpdesk I'm doing general office work, which is alright but I do miss breaking other peoples computers

You didn't happen to send me an email a couple of years ago looking for some "side" work, did you? Someone from Ireland, who had just moved over here, emailed me about some contract work, and I SWEAR the name was Aidan.... So, have you ever emailed Forest Web Design? lol

[Krikit 1,165]

I might have to hire you Aidan! I'm just outside of Orlando too.... in Lake County. I've been waiting for my future son-in-law to visit to help me out with some stuff, but I've just spent the entire morning trying to stabilize my machine, so I may need someone earlier.

[Sylvia_n_Joseph 3]

IT Tech is something most of our 14 year old kids handle. If not there is always someone in another country willing to do it for $4 an hour. It was a job when no one understood computers but now everyone does so there is no market for it.

[aidan80 9]

Doing the online part of the business is easy. The hard part is advertising in the community to get your name out there. IT work has dried up here in Indiana too, hence me working at a bicycle shop. (although I enjoy it much more and actually make more than most Help Desk jobs pay. lol)

What exactly are you wanting to know?

The online part is easy, as you said it isn't easy to get established. I know what you mean, everything is drying up latley... even where I work now, they have put in place a hiring freeze! That place had dozens of jobs when I first applied. A bike shop, thats mad.. not quite helpdesk I'm doing general office work, which is alright but I do miss breaking other peoples computers

You didn't happen to send me an email a couple of years ago looking for some "side" work, did you? Someone from Ireland, who had just moved over here, emailed me about some contract work, and I SWEAR the name was Aidan.... So, have you ever emailed Forest Web Design? lol

Web design isn't my line of work so I'd imagine it'd be unlikely. That and I've only had my GC for about 1.5 years.

I might have to hire you Aidan! I'm just outside of Orlando too.... in Lake County. I've been waiting for my future son-in-law to visit to help me out with some stuff, but I've just spent the entire morning trying to stabilize my machine, so I may need someone earlier.

We're in Lake County as well.. I'll have to get those business cards printed up soon then!

[aidan80 9]

IT Tech is something most of our 14 year old kids handle. If not there is always someone in another country willing to do it for $4 an hour. It was a job when no one understood computers but now everyone does so there is no market for it.

I wasn't aware that IT Technicians are 14 year olds! If there's so many people in other countries willing to "do it for $4 an hour" then tell me why there are so many organizations starting their Technicians at $15 - $18 per hour in this area alone! Work has dried up to an extent but still..! So everyone is now an expert in and there isn't a market? So when you phone your tech support line that isn't a market? When you go to firedog or geeksquad that isn't a market? Lets not forget all those IT people employed to support companies.. they are what.. getting paid for what? They must all be 14 years old are they?

Your post and your comments I find insulting I just don't understand how you could say what you just said. You must be an expert in the subject ? That or you just talked right out your #######!

[truffles 2]

Hi Aidan,

I use to work for the UK's biggest communications provider ( you know the one LOL!)...I worked more with landline customers but we had a dept that dealt with Broadband issues, routers, software etc etc and as i recall the only time i could imagine anyone been paid $4 per hour ( i doubt it would have been as low as this) would be if you were refering to the outsourced side.....although we always had customer who complained about language barriers to such an extent they HAD to increase the number of UK based Techs to satisfy the customer demand.

I use to have a friend who worked in Technical side and once made a statement to the effort people would happily let their almost teen work on the pc - "#######" it up then called tech support to undo what little Johnny had done - then get annoyed with the Tech becuase of the time the pc had been out of commission!

Customer service is such a humourous field - the things you hear personally and colleagues relate - too funny

[aidan80 9]

Hi Aidan,

I use to work for the UK's biggest communications provider ( you know the one LOL!)...I worked more with landline customers but we had a dept that dealt with Broadband issues, routers, software etc etc and as i recall the only time i could imagine anyone been paid $4 per hour ( i doubt it would have been as low as this) would be if you were refering to the outsourced side.....although we always had customer who complained about language barriers to such an extent they HAD to increase the number of UK based Techs to satisfy the customer demand.

I use to have a friend who worked in Technical side and once made a statement to the effort people would happily let their almost teen work on the pc - "#######" it up then called tech support to undo what little Johnny had done - then get annoyed with the Tech becuase of the time the pc had been out of commission!

Customer service is such a humourous field - the things you hear personally and colleagues relate - too funny

I think I've a fair idea which one! I understand what your friend meant! I've encountered a few people work on their computer or try to "fix" it.. then kill the thing and blame the computer, manufacturer or even the tech for not fixing it! I've also came across a few "cowboy techs" that would, show up and conn a fortune out of the customer and leave them with the same broken junk they had! Lets not forget the screaming customer who had the nerve to complain that there computer wasn't ready and shouldn't be "acting funny".. If they spent less time on "adult" sites the thing wouldn't be "acting funny" :lol:

Customer "service" is a strange thing..

[PlatyPius 5]

IT Tech is something most of our 14 year old kids handle. If not there is always someone in another country willing to do it for $4 an hour. It was a job when no one understood computers but now everyone does so there is no market for it.

I wasn't aware that IT Technicians are 14 year olds! If there's so many people in other countries willing to "do it for $4 an hour" then tell me why there are so many organizations starting their Technicians at $15 - $18 per hour in this area alone! Work has dried up to an extent but still..! So everyone is now an expert in and there isn't a market? So when you phone your tech support line that isn't a market? When you go to firedog or geeksquad that isn't a market? Lets not forget all those IT people employed to support companies.. they are what.. getting paid for what? They must all be 14 years old are they?

Your post and your comments I find insulting I just don't understand how you could say what you just said. You must be an expert in the subject ? That or you just talked right out your #######!

Yeah, I agree with you.

Companies hire me and pay me $20/hour to set up computers, perform hardware/software upgrades, play around with Active Directory, and such. It's kinda hard to get someone to do that over here for $4/hour. "IT Tech" doesn't mean talking to people on the phone and telling them to reboot their computer.... it means knowing what parts are most likely to fail, how to tell, how to replace them, and when to suggest a PC replacement. It also means that the person can roam around in the registry deleting harmful things without screwing up the OS. It means knowing where to look to turn off that annoying-as-hell "You need to reboot your computer" warning that pops up every 15 minutes after a Windows Update. (Hint, my computer doesn't have that pop-up...) Being an IT Tech means being able to install Slackware from a tarball using the command line, and having all dependancies accounted for. How exactly are you going to get your computer to India where the $4.00/hour people are so that they can do that?

[Sylvia_n_Joseph 3]

Talking up my ####### not really. For the typical non certified non degreed tech you throw a couple of bucks over minium wage and you can hire them by the truck load. And yes there are a lot of 14 year olds that can handle that kind of work, although the have to wait until they are a bit older to work over the table. If I look in the local penny saver there are lots of "schools" that will declare anyone with the $$ an IT tech in weeks. Geek Squad pays just over minimum wage. The same for the people that come and support the computer at my desk at work. The cost savings of shipping IT work out of the country runs between 30 and 40% and you also avoid all the additional burden of health care and other benefits.

[aidan80 9]

Talking up my ####### not really. For the typical non certified non degreed tech you throw a couple of bucks over minium wage and you can hire them by the truck load. And yes there are a lot of 14 year olds that can handle that kind of work, although the have to wait until they are a bit older to work over the table. If I look in the local penny saver there are lots of "schools" that will declare anyone with the $$ an IT tech in weeks. Geek Squad pays just over minimum wage. The same for the people that come and support the computer at my desk at work. The cost savings of shipping IT work out of the country runs between 30 and 40% and you also avoid all the additional burden of health care and other benefits.

We all know that the "geeksquads" of the world pay just about minimum but for those that need the experience thats where they start and thats where they learn from their mistakes! Thats also where you get what you pay for, you don't get quality by paying budget! I'd love to meet all these 14 year olds that are computer experts.. show me them.. I'm sure they all have years of experience and tons of degrees and certifications as well do they? All the schools in the world can declare someone an IT Tech but if it isn't industry recognized certification then it isn't worth the paper it's printed on and if there isn't experience to back it up.. might as well got it off a corn flake box. Ok so you think the IT people at your job make a few "bucks" over the minimum and that means what exactly? Shipping jobs out of the country means what? It means you get exactly what you pay for then you come on here and complain about it and insult us who actually work or have worked in the industry by telling us we're what.. worth $4 an hour and are thick?

Correct me if I'm wrong here but thats the direction you appear to be going with this is it not?

[aidan80 9]

IT Tech is something most of our 14 year old kids handle. If not there is always someone in another country willing to do it for $4 an hour. It was a job when no one understood computers but now everyone does so there is no market for it.

I wasn't aware that IT Technicians are 14 year olds! If there's so many people in other countries willing to "do it for $4 an hour" then tell me why there are so many organizations starting their Technicians at $15 - $18 per hour in this area alone! Work has dried up to an extent but still..! So everyone is now an expert in and there isn't a market? So when you phone your tech support line that isn't a market? When you go to firedog or geeksquad that isn't a market? Lets not forget all those IT people employed to support companies.. they are what.. getting paid for what? They must all be 14 years old are they?

Your post and your comments I find insulting I just don't understand how you could say what you just said. You must be an expert in the subject ? That or you just talked right out your #######!

Yeah, I agree with you.

Companies hire me and pay me $20/hour to set up computers, perform hardware/software upgrades, play around with Active Directory, and such. It's kinda hard to get someone to do that over here for $4/hour. "IT Tech" doesn't mean talking to people on the phone and telling them to reboot their computer.... it means knowing what parts are most likely to fail, how to tell, how to replace them, and when to suggest a PC replacement. It also means that the person can roam around in the registry deleting harmful things without screwing up the OS. It means knowing where to look to turn off that annoying-as-hell "You need to reboot your computer" warning that pops up every 15 minutes after a Windows Update. (Hint, my computer doesn't have that pop-up...) Being an IT Tech means being able to install Slackware from a tarball using the command line, and having all dependancies accounted for. How exactly are you going to get your computer to India where the $4.00/hour people are so that they can do that?

You couldn't have said it better! I think that this eejit should refrain from their insulting comments.

[Dan J 277]

IT tech can mean so many different things. From low level helpdesk, to someone who knows linux or freebsd inside out.

Low level helpdesk doesnt get paid much, since its usually dealing with problems between the keyboard and chair. But if know how to configure and maintain linux/freebsd servers, you can make quite a bit. 60,000 to 100,000 depending on your market and experience.