In this computer dominated society, our reliance on technology inevitably presents a huge range of business opportunities. Helping others with their technical troubles is one of the most obvious ones, and many people already make a good living offering such services in this city. As well as the many sole operators and small outfits there are several mid-sized companies that offer call out technical assistance.
But there's one sub-section of this market that I think is not well catered to (if not largely untapped). And this is to offer one on one tuition to people struggling with their devices, or to those who have bought brand new ones but simply don't know where to start.
There is definitely a substantial and constant demand for this kind of help. I am sure of this because I know someone who used to offer such services. He said he never had trouble getting leads -- quite often just a few pull-tab ads on shopping centre noticeboards would do the trick. Also, he got much of his business from referrals.
Then there's my own experience: I distribute flyers for the services included on this site. Even though they are specifically for lessons in social media and SEO, a surprising number of people call asking for hardware and software help, or just wanting to know how to perform basic computer skills. These people tend to be in the older age bracket.
Clearly there are a lot of desperate people out there. And they want expert helpers to come to see them in their homes a lot of the time. Yes, there are workshops that seniors and others can go to at libraries and businesses (I think Officeworks offers such classes from time to time). But some older people have mobility issues. And others just don't like that group class structure. They much prefer one on one assistance.
This phenomenon is clearly related to our ageing population. While youngsters have never known what life was like without the internet, smart phones, and Facebook, there are still millions of people for whom all this stuff is still comparatively new, and therefore somewhat intimidating.
And helping such people with their tech issues is not as straightforward as it might seem. That's because there's often a lot of emotion involved. As we all know, computers can be exasperating. And for an older person who's quite emotionally delicate, such frustration can be deeply stressful.
Being a guide for these people is not a job that just anyone can do well. After all, there are many people who can fix a PC. But teaching a stressed out senior how to use their computer -- or smart phone, for that matter -- requires patience and understanding. You have to be a bit like a social worker.
This is something I would focus on myself if I were more of a tech-head. But while I certainly know my way around most desktops, laptops, social networks and some blogging and website building platforms I am definitely not a "geek". And quite frankly I find a lot of that stuff really boring. I much prefer teaching people the tactical skills of producing good content, and promoting it on social media.
But if you are super confident with hardware, software, and technical issues, as well as having a good "bedside manner" then there's certainly an endless amount of work out there for you. You should really go for it, in my opinion.
Needless to say, many of the people you'll be helping won't be rich, so charging top dollar would be a bad tactic. But once you solve their problems for them you're sure to get a lot of repeat and referral business as a result. So, after you've been at it a while, I doubt you'll have to spend an awful lot on advertising to keep going. That's certainly not the case with a lot of other business models.
But there's one sub-section of this market that I think is not well catered to (if not largely untapped). And this is to offer one on one tuition to people struggling with their devices, or to those who have bought brand new ones but simply don't know where to start.
There is definitely a substantial and constant demand for this kind of help. I am sure of this because I know someone who used to offer such services. He said he never had trouble getting leads -- quite often just a few pull-tab ads on shopping centre noticeboards would do the trick. Also, he got much of his business from referrals.
Then there's my own experience: I distribute flyers for the services included on this site. Even though they are specifically for lessons in social media and SEO, a surprising number of people call asking for hardware and software help, or just wanting to know how to perform basic computer skills. These people tend to be in the older age bracket.
Clearly there are a lot of desperate people out there. And they want expert helpers to come to see them in their homes a lot of the time. Yes, there are workshops that seniors and others can go to at libraries and businesses (I think Officeworks offers such classes from time to time). But some older people have mobility issues. And others just don't like that group class structure. They much prefer one on one assistance.
This phenomenon is clearly related to our ageing population. While youngsters have never known what life was like without the internet, smart phones, and Facebook, there are still millions of people for whom all this stuff is still comparatively new, and therefore somewhat intimidating.
And helping such people with their tech issues is not as straightforward as it might seem. That's because there's often a lot of emotion involved. As we all know, computers can be exasperating. And for an older person who's quite emotionally delicate, such frustration can be deeply stressful.
Being a guide for these people is not a job that just anyone can do well. After all, there are many people who can fix a PC. But teaching a stressed out senior how to use their computer -- or smart phone, for that matter -- requires patience and understanding. You have to be a bit like a social worker.
This is something I would focus on myself if I were more of a tech-head. But while I certainly know my way around most desktops, laptops, social networks and some blogging and website building platforms I am definitely not a "geek". And quite frankly I find a lot of that stuff really boring. I much prefer teaching people the tactical skills of producing good content, and promoting it on social media.
But if you are super confident with hardware, software, and technical issues, as well as having a good "bedside manner" then there's certainly an endless amount of work out there for you. You should really go for it, in my opinion.
Needless to say, many of the people you'll be helping won't be rich, so charging top dollar would be a bad tactic. But once you solve their problems for them you're sure to get a lot of repeat and referral business as a result. So, after you've been at it a while, I doubt you'll have to spend an awful lot on advertising to keep going. That's certainly not the case with a lot of other business models.