re: wrist straps. If used correctly they WILL reduce number of faulty components, esp. if you are a "static" person or you wear static jumpers, scuff your feet on nylon carpets and the air is dry.
anyway, I first started doing repairs when I was 19. I charged £10 an hour then. Now I'm 30 I charge £30 + VAT to businesses and £25+VAT for home users. I call myself an IT consultant not a "repairman" or something. Businesses won't bat an eyelid at this cost and home users with money will see it the same as using a plumber or electrician, whatever. Anyone that gasps at the cost is not worth having as a customer. Sometimes I boost hardware prices as well if I get them trade price, same as any other tradesman.
anyway
1) yes for 11 years alongside my regular job. I do it a lot more now for businesses and do stuff like setup networks, supply whole PCs, get rid of viruses/spyware, install the Internet and patch up PCs etc.
2) this question is ambiguous. I fix other peoples PCs on myown, it is not a team effort.
2a)I don't work for family and friends unless they pay. Everyone who knows me knows "computers" is my job and that I don't find it "fun" to fix peoples PC in the evenings or weekends for free. I explain, "hey you're a plumber, how would you like to come round and look at my toilet for free" and they get it.
3) sooo many. Intermittant stinks. Recently a hardrive went down an my accountants and they hadn't been backing up. I managed to recover the data and offered to replace the HD or get a barebones new PC and transfer some components across to save them money (which they went for). The main time consumer was actually installing all the correct drivers and accounting applications on the PC and setting up the network again etc. Basically jobs are rarely quick. Completely cleaning off a PC of virusus/spyware if it's infested can take a couple of hours min, esp. if the PC is old and slow to reboot. When you get a feel for things you can tell the customers "I charge X per hour and this will take y hours min, when we get to y hours we can reevaulate and decide what to do then". If the problem is deep and they decide not to carry on, the bill is still due. If I supply a PC I say "I'm not a shop, so if you get any problems I won't fix them for free, you can hire me to look into them". If they don't agree, no PC, pretty simple really. This means that everytime they call you for "freebies" you keep a log of the time and bill at a future date. This billing all the time might seem harsh, but if it's your job, you have to log the time and bill for it like a solicitor. If they hire you and you are clear about stuff up front, then there won't be any problems.
4) I stated my charges above.
phew, hope this waffle helps.
anyway, I first started doing repairs when I was 19. I charged £10 an hour then. Now I'm 30 I charge £30 + VAT to businesses and £25+VAT for home users. I call myself an IT consultant not a "repairman" or something. Businesses won't bat an eyelid at this cost and home users with money will see it the same as using a plumber or electrician, whatever. Anyone that gasps at the cost is not worth having as a customer. Sometimes I boost hardware prices as well if I get them trade price, same as any other tradesman.
anyway
1) yes for 11 years alongside my regular job. I do it a lot more now for businesses and do stuff like setup networks, supply whole PCs, get rid of viruses/spyware, install the Internet and patch up PCs etc.
2) this question is ambiguous. I fix other peoples PCs on myown, it is not a team effort.
2a)I don't work for family and friends unless they pay. Everyone who knows me knows "computers" is my job and that I don't find it "fun" to fix peoples PC in the evenings or weekends for free. I explain, "hey you're a plumber, how would you like to come round and look at my toilet for free" and they get it.
3) sooo many. Intermittant stinks. Recently a hardrive went down an my accountants and they hadn't been backing up. I managed to recover the data and offered to replace the HD or get a barebones new PC and transfer some components across to save them money (which they went for). The main time consumer was actually installing all the correct drivers and accounting applications on the PC and setting up the network again etc. Basically jobs are rarely quick. Completely cleaning off a PC of virusus/spyware if it's infested can take a couple of hours min, esp. if the PC is old and slow to reboot. When you get a feel for things you can tell the customers "I charge X per hour and this will take y hours min, when we get to y hours we can reevaulate and decide what to do then". If the problem is deep and they decide not to carry on, the bill is still due. If I supply a PC I say "I'm not a shop, so if you get any problems I won't fix them for free, you can hire me to look into them". If they don't agree, no PC, pretty simple really. This means that everytime they call you for "freebies" you keep a log of the time and bill at a future date. This billing all the time might seem harsh, but if it's your job, you have to log the time and bill for it like a solicitor. If they hire you and you are clear about stuff up front, then there won't be any problems.
4) I stated my charges above.
phew, hope this waffle helps.