Self employment in IT.
One thing I immediately noticed on the Paddy's Bar site - the "Audio=OFF" link doesn't do anything other than change the option to "Audio=ON" - doesn't actually stop the music playing. 
As far as setting up yourself, I know a few folks in the industry that are either one-man-bands or part of slightly larger companies employing between 3-8 people.
My faith in a company only extends as far as my faith in the knowledge of any one of its engineers.
One such company recently fell out of favour with me when it became apparant that I knew far more than one engineer in particular did about the topic in question - but he wanted a big old wedge of cash to do the job. His company lost out, and I just did the work myself in the end as I figured I was the best man for the job.
As said above, if you do go out to offer a service, you do need to be careful about offering a package type service.
Be very clear that you have limited knowledge, and you will quote only for work which you know you can do well.
Also get friendly with other similar businesses, so that you can call upon them for their specialism when its outside your reach. You could attend for free alongside them and learn a thing or two also if the topic appeals.
Personally I'd steer well clear of hardware, since theres so little money in it. Even when it comes to installing it you will struggle to make sensible money at a price that will get you a good rep and chance of repeat business. (You can't really get away with charging somebody £75 to fit a £30 HDD, even if it takes you £75 worth of time - stick to whats really profitable, ie charging for knowledge and experience.)
You may think that £15/hr sounds reasonable for installing a HDD, but remember you need to work your holiday pay/tax/NI/Accountant fees/sick cover/travelling time/etc into that figure as well as factoring for the fact that you'll never get to 100% resource [you!] utilisation. Lots of the time you'll be doing unbillable stuff or even simply waiting for calls.
As far as setting up yourself, I know a few folks in the industry that are either one-man-bands or part of slightly larger companies employing between 3-8 people.
My faith in a company only extends as far as my faith in the knowledge of any one of its engineers.
One such company recently fell out of favour with me when it became apparant that I knew far more than one engineer in particular did about the topic in question - but he wanted a big old wedge of cash to do the job. His company lost out, and I just did the work myself in the end as I figured I was the best man for the job.
As said above, if you do go out to offer a service, you do need to be careful about offering a package type service.
Be very clear that you have limited knowledge, and you will quote only for work which you know you can do well.
Also get friendly with other similar businesses, so that you can call upon them for their specialism when its outside your reach. You could attend for free alongside them and learn a thing or two also if the topic appeals.
Personally I'd steer well clear of hardware, since theres so little money in it. Even when it comes to installing it you will struggle to make sensible money at a price that will get you a good rep and chance of repeat business. (You can't really get away with charging somebody £75 to fit a £30 HDD, even if it takes you £75 worth of time - stick to whats really profitable, ie charging for knowledge and experience.)
You may think that £15/hr sounds reasonable for installing a HDD, but remember you need to work your holiday pay/tax/NI/Accountant fees/sick cover/travelling time/etc into that figure as well as factoring for the fact that you'll never get to 100% resource [you!] utilisation. Lots of the time you'll be doing unbillable stuff or even simply waiting for calls.
Quote from: James_H One thing I immediately noticed on the Paddy's Bar site - the "Audio=OFF" link doesn't do anything other than change the option to "Audio=ON" - doesn't actually stop the music playing.
I did notice this. I bet if you go back again it will be fine or if you switched back to OFF it would have stopped. Even refeshing the page makes it work properly. It only does that the first time you visit the page with a clear cache. Normally it will display ON when the music is playing and OFF when it is stopped. I will try and fix this but I very stupidly deleted the .fla that I created! Need to start again with that one.
It will be agreed not to attempt any work that we are not 100% sure about although as far as home computing/networking both my friend and I are very very confident in our knowledge. This has come from years of already doing this type of work although unofficially.
As for small office work, much of this we would be doing would be simple windows networking which we are also happy with. I will admit that with internet services there are several areas where I am not familiar and will steer clear of. That is why I am advertising "Simple" services. Although as with all of my computer knowledge I can learn fast!
As for hardware it is the service we are offering, setting up routers, wireless etc. I am not going to try and make any profit on the actual hardware but I don't see why I should not source the hardware for the custommer and charge them what I paid for it. I will obviously make the money on setting up etc. I personally think this is better service than sending the custommer to get their own hardware.
Quote from: Sean [. I am not going to try and make any profit on the actual hardware but I don't see why I should not source the hardware for the custommer and charge them what I paid for it.
Oh I can!
When you get your business advice you'll understand much more BUT for starters consider:
Warranty
Product Liability
Extra Insurance
Reclaiming VAT (if you're not registered they can't reclaim it)
Worst case - something you supply catches fire and people or property are damaged. You're stuffed without the right insurance.
OK. I didn't really about all that. Will definitely be seeking advice. 
Would definitely like to supply the hardware (but not make profit on) at some stage if I could as I do think it would be better service.
Would definitely like to supply the hardware (but not make profit on) at some stage if I could as I do think it would be better service.
Just a little point. I know a couple of people in my area who know little or nothing about computers but are somehow making money with websites such as www.theslaneyinn.co.uk
Notice the framed web forwarding to attempt to mask the fact that the site is on BT free webspace and the email address slaney@aol.com !!!!
I know www.paddysbarn.com is definitely no masterpiece but if that is my competition then I am laughing
I have not included the email address on the Paddy's Barn site to avoid spam but when either of the forms are submitted an automated thankyou email is sent back from the email address (@paddysbarn.com)
Must approach the Slaney about a better site, it is only 50 yards from my house with Paddy's Barn about a mile in the other direction.
Notice the framed web forwarding to attempt to mask the fact that the site is on BT free webspace and the email address slaney@aol.com !!!!
I know www.paddysbarn.com is definitely no masterpiece but if that is my competition then I am laughing
I have not included the email address on the Paddy's Barn site to avoid spam but when either of the forms are submitted an automated thankyou email is sent back from the email address (@paddysbarn.com)
Must approach the Slaney about a better site, it is only 50 yards from my house with Paddy's Barn about a mile in the other direction.
With reference to Sean's original question, on my (local) travels I have noticed quite a few small computer shops that have closed. Just wanted to ask if anyone knows why this is happening and is it widespread? I can't really understand it as there are more and more people having computers now than ever before. Can anyone supply an answer or have I got the wrong impression?
Probably because places like PCworld, Currys/Dixons and various on-line shopping places, can offer better prices, and in some cases, better delivery rate/time than an independent. Don`t forget, "the little man" may be quite knowledgable about computers in general, but if anything goes wrong, he has to be able to fix "any" problem which may mean he has to carry loads of stock of bits for hundreds of machines, he may never require, or send out for them, adding to his overheads and time scale.
As pointed out above, it is not only the price you think you can get for an item, you have to add in all the extras to cover your own living costs, tax, insurance, business rates, business insurance, etc etc etc. Overheads are taken out of the profit made on each sale..... no/low sales, equal a cashflow problem, equal close the shop and get "a proper job" 
As pointed out above, it is not only the price you think you can get for an item, you have to add in all the extras to cover your own living costs, tax, insurance, business rates, business insurance, etc etc etc. Overheads are taken out of the profit made on each sale..... no/low sales, equal a cashflow problem, equal close the shop and get "a proper job"
Quote from: Sean Other than our website we have not yet done any advertising but we are getting completely hammered with work through word of mouth. Seams for every job we do there is at least one other job through the people that that person knows.
That's the way to do it. Well done!
Excellent news. As someone who gets by with only fairly basic computer knowledge I know the value of having someone on hand to fix more difficult things so I am sure that your customers are very happy to have you around.
