I was recently asked what the Recommended/Required Certifications/Degree(s) are to open a computer repair shop. Truth is, NONE, you don’t need any certification. You do need $50k to $75k to open your brick and mortar shop. You’ll need lots of stock, a good ad campaign to bring people in in the beginning (with great service, word of mouth will take over) and of course a tech & sales person. You would fill one or both of these roles.

Now as far as certification, I would highly recommended you get your A+ and N+ certs. A+ will teach you the ins and outs of the computer, the components, how to troubleshoot them and so on. You’ll also learn about the OS (operating system) and if you take your A+ in a classroom setting then you will most likely be building a computer from scratch.  N+ will teach you what you need to know in regards to networking, people tend to have a lot of problems in this area.

And lastly, READ,READ and READ. Keep up on all the computer journals. Things change on a weekly basis in this business and you need to keep up with these changes.

As a side note, if you don’t have the money to open a brick and mortar shop consider running your shop from home. With a nice looking vehicle with some lettering for your business name, phone number, URL and emphasizing “In House Service” you do well.

It’s all about the service. If you give good service, you’ll have no problems getting customers.