Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
As much as you think you don't need one, you will need a printer to print copies of doc-
umentation from time to time. Your printer can be simple and practical or extravagant and
over the top. Whichever way you go, make sure it prints in black and white and on 8.5" by
11" paper. I'm being a little sarcastic when I say this—all printers that you'll find for sale
should have this capability. I suggest a simple laser printer for now, as it's all that you will
need.
Typical price for a new laser printer: $150 to $300.
A Website
You might get tired of hearing me talk about your website in this topic. The reason that it
comes up so often is because you must have one, even if it's a simple onepager, describing
your business, with your telephone number and address. The fact is that some customers
will do research on you, and the only place people research things these days is on the In-
ternet. You want them to find you there.
Your website will be a large part of your marketing scheme and can greatly increase your
customer awareness and reach. Don't know much about websites? Don't know anything at
all? There are companies that will do all of the work for you, but if you're going into the
computer repair business then you probably have a little bit of technological smarts.
Find an e-commerce website solution that provides you with templates, backgrounds, and
the framework for a website. From there, you take your “whiz kid” attitude and make the
premade template your own. Your site will end up being hosted offsite and in a secure loc-
ation; this is good. The last thing you need to think about now is buying a second com-
puter, learning HTML or some other form of Internet language, and scripting a website
from scratch. That can take a very long time in comparison.
Typical price for setting up your website with an e-commerce provider: less than $300, plus
monthly fees.
Office Supplies
You can do a lot of what you need to do on the keyboard of your computer, but you'll really
need to buy a few office supplies: notepads, pens, and paper to start.
Also think about your filing system. You have the filing cabinets, correct? You'll need a
few hanging folders and a box of file folders. Keep all of those business papers organized
and in your filing cabinet! This is a touchy thing for some people I know (me), but once
you get organized, it makes your life so much more, well, organized.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search