"My Soccer Mom is a Computer Repair Tech?!"
By Ladytekki
Becoming a part-time or full time computer repair technician might be the next big thing for Soccer Moms in Smalltown, USA!
Today, I’m writing about an idea that crosses my mind very often: stay-at-home moms should become computer repair technicians. Odd as it sounds, I’ve talked about it with some of my technician friends and they agree with me— there is a definite need in small towns across America for more computer repair techs who can do basics like running a clean installation of Windows, installing programs, adding upgrades, and so on.
So, I decided to write a little something to spread the idea and also share some of my experiences as a female tech. It’s not the ultimate guide, of course, and if you feel inspired enough to try, you will definitely need to do some research on your own as well. But I hope my experiences will encourage women who are computer savvy enough (wouldn’t everyone on this forum count, more or less?) but may not have thought to try their hand at entering the pro industry.
The great thing is that this “small business” does not require a lot of investment. I know because this is what I do for a living, and I find that without any advertising beyond word-of-mouth, I get by quite nicely.
The main reason, probably, is that most every household has at least one computer (like TVs, everybody’s got to have one), so the market is literally right next door. Several of my customers are my neighbors and they find it very convenient that if they should have some major emergency like a computer melt-down hours before a presentation is due, they have but to walk down the street to knock and beg for help.
Being a familiar face (and something more approachable than the guy at the Geek Squad counter who glares at customers who ask him to uninstall a program for them) is also a big advantage in attracting those who are a little more technologically-uninitiated. A lot of my customers are mothers with teenage children who messed up their machines installing P2P programs or the sort. Most of the time, I don’t even have to open up the case, because my customers just need help with things like software that they’d be too embarrassed or short on time to take to the shop. This is why I strongly encourage technologically adept women, especially stay at home moms looking to make some extra money, to try this.
There is no need to spend money and effort creating a company, either; in fact, I don’t recommend incorporating unless the business ends up being a huge success. It’s better, tax-wise, to declare this income as coming from individual self-employment and attaching the Schedule SE form when filing your Form 1040. Companies like Intel, Microsoft or AMD offer a lot of resources for techs registered with them, but most of that information can be obtained in various other places online.
Having a company for liability protection is a definite plus, but the majority of the problems I’m called in to solve are on equipment that isn’t that high-stake. So if you work from home and don’t have any employees or partners, it’s better (financially for you) to go the self-employed route. If you’re still really worried about liability, a LLC will cover you and it won’t complicate your life too much.
I know there are big companies offering door-to-door services like this already, but most of the current repair shops in my area are linked to bigger electronic retailers that charge huge amounts for their services. Most don’t offer their customers the attention they deserve, or worse—rather than fixing the problem quickly, techs at big shops start pushing to sell things the customer doesn’t actually need. It’s little wonder that taking a malfunctioning notebook into a repair shop is daunting to some customers.
So, that’s what I’ve got to say on the topic. This has been a good trade to me, and I highly encourage stay-at-home moms (and dads!) to give this a try. If you’re reading this newsletter, you’re probably competent enough. Good luck and enjoy—it’s a rewarding and satisfying craft!