Computer Repairing As Career

Ask yourself this question. What is the biggest invention in the last century? Yes, it’s the computer. This gadget has taken the world in such a humongous way that for some countries, it is virtually impossible to survive without a computer. Every household has at least one computer. Most have more than 2. Imagine the vastness of the market. That’s the reason you see Computers Stores everywhere. Look around you, there are a few computer stores in any one block of the street, each trying to outdo the other selling computers and computer accessories. Does that mean the computer sales market is oversaturated? Yes and no. The computer selling stores are and many new start ups just cannot compete with bigger stores. However, on the other hand, computer repairs is under saturated.

Why are there so little competition in computer repair stores? That is because people has one big misconception. They think that because prices of new computers are so cheap, people would rather buy a new computer than to send their old one for repair. WRONG. Do you know how many people are still slugging away in front of their old near obsolete computers? Millions and millions.

Humans are sentimental creatures. They get attached to things. They get attached to their computers. So there is a vast untapped market in computer repairs. Big computer stores are not interested in repairing old computers. They want to sell you their latest model but there are millions who prefer their old ones. They would rather spend the amount of money, which could probably buy them a new computer, just to repair and to have their old faithfuls running again.

You know, you also don’t need a college degree to be able to repair computers. All you need is a little geekiness, knows how to operate a computer, can read and understand basic instructions and able to handle some very basic tools. You need maybe 3 months of self teaching by reading up some computer repair books and manuals and you are on your way because unlike other electronic gadgets where you need to have knowledge in reading circuit diagrams and memorising formulas, computer repairs don’t need that.

So is it really that easy to repair a computer? Yes, what you need to learn are some basic programs like how to format a hard drive or how to install a new operating systems, because in actuality, you don’t have to really “repair” when it comes to the physical side of computers. You just replace the faulty parts! Nobody repairs a computer’s motherboard. They just replace them with a new one. Nobody can repair laptop LCD screens, they replace the whole bloody screen. That all to it and most modern computers are built in such a way that every part can be dismantled easily. All your customer care is they get their favorite computers running again. So if you have nothing better to do, consider computer repairing a career.

Learn A Trade That Suits You

I have always emphasised on the fact that you don’t neccasarily need a University degree to make good in life. I have to repeat that the age old saying, “Give a man a fish and he will have fish for a day, Teach the man to fish and he will have fish for the rest of his life.” This saying is so so true and I believe every one should live by this rule. Learn something that will benefit you for the rest of your life and you will never go hungry.

Learning something that you can make a living of does not mean you have to attend college or anything. Of course it is best if you can, but if circumstances don’t permit, there are things that don’t need a higher education and yet earn more than any other graduates. The best chefs in he world don’t have any degrees. The best mechanics have no degrees. The best plumbers have no degrees. They all make a more than decent income. The gist is, you have to learn and specialize in one trade and by golly, when you pick up a trade that interest you, make sure you learn that trade and be a master in it.

Mastering a trade takes years and years. The basics are easy to grasp, but the years of on hand experience is priceless. An experienced mechanic can pinpoint the problem with your car just by listening to your engine idling. Experience tells him as he has encountered hundreds of such problems and each time this problem occurs, the engine will sound differently. So he knows just by listening. You will never learn that in college.

You know, I can tell the problem with your fluorescent light and which part is faulty just by looking at it when you switch it on. That’s because I spent more than 15 years of my life making a living as an electrician and I have repaired thousands of fluorescent lights and I don’t even have a certificate in electrical engineering.

Chelation Therapy As A Prevention

In the previous post I discussed about health care and the problems faced by people who cannot afford it. Now lets look at it from the perspective of those who can actually afford first class health care. Do you think they like falling sick knowing that they will have no problem getting the best medical care there is? Of course not. no one, whether rich or poor, wants to fall sick.

While there is not much choice for the poor, choices are abound for those who can afford it. There are so many things and drugs that they can use to prevent illness and the most common illness in advanced modern societies are lifestyle diseases like heart disease, high blood pressure, Coronary Artery Disease and so on. To prevent the unthinkable from happening, or at least to prolong the process of it happening, most turn to something called Chelation Therapy, which is the use of EDTA to bind molecules, such as metals or minerals, and “chelate”, or remove, them from the body. Simply speaking, EDTA Chelation Therapy cleanses our body of harmful toxic.

Due to the nature and ease of using chelation therapy, this form of health prevention is fast gaining popularity among people who are involved in the rat race and has no time for stressful and long exercise periods. Modern chelation can be done by anyone and at anytime as chelation products come conveniently packed in liquid or tablet form which can be carried anywhere the practitioner goes.

Preparing For The Future

In most advanced countries or should I say, developed countries, health care is well taken care off. This cannot be said about countries that are less developed or what we call “developing countries”. The problem is in these type of counties, health care amenities are also being developed and modern machines and medicines usually cost so high that an ordinary man on the street will never be able to afford them. So they turn to government run hospitals and clinics. Now it is not to say that these clinics are any inferior to private clinics, but only private institutions can afford the best equipments because they are making money from their services.

With this realization, the trend these days in modern developing countries that are nearly on the verge of being considered “developed”, people are turning to health insurance as a investment. These insurance offers good coverage in times of emergency and if you are so lucky as not to get seriously sick for your whole life, you still get to withdraw the money when the policy matures.

Now that is for those who can afford to pay the monthly premiums of such a policy. What about the majority who can’t? What does the future holds for them? Forced savings is one method. The funny thing about humans is they adapt very fast to different situations. If they earn that much, they learn to adapt to a lifestyle that will suit their income. Those who earns more will feel that these people won’t be happy with their meagre earnings, but the truth is they have their own kind of joy and it does not mean going for oversea holidays twice a year. They are happy when they see meat on the table and that is their kind of simple enjoyment which to them is better than taking a plane, flying a few hundred kilometers across the continent and spend 2 weeks lazing in the sun.

With this ability to adapt they force save for their old age. I won’t say retirement, as people in these situations don’t retire. They work until one day their boss reject them. Forced saving is a method whereby you commit a small part of your monthly earnings into your saving account. It is a deposit and forget thing. It becomes a ritual. The amount can be very nominal like say 50 dollars monthly and they brainwash themselves to make themselves believe that their earnings is the amount after the 50 dollar deposit. Say they earn 1500 per month, they discipline themselves to believe that their earning is 1450 dollars and they make good and adapt their lifestyle to that earning. After 20 years, when they are out of a job, they will have 12000 in the bank which will allow them to start a small business. Provided they don’t fall seriously ill in the process of course, but that will be something that is up to the almighty won’t it? We do what we have to do.

Search For Untapped Markets

To succeed, there has to be supply and demand. That is the first rule of business and all those who has been to business school would have learned that. Supply and demand works hand in hand. There has to be ample demand to justify the supply. If there is no or not enough demand, then no one will be willing to supply to that demand. Like wise, when there is a demand, there too should not be an over-supply or else whoever is supplying will be burdened with excesses. When that happen quality of services drops.

Having said that, if we can explore into something that has a demand but there are no one supplying to that demand or there are not enough supply, then we would have strike the proverbial jackpot. A field or trade that has not really taken off in a big way, in my observation at least, is the carpet cleaning business. Compare the ratio of plumbers to carpet cleaners in your town and you will see what I mean.

The fact that this is so is because carpets are not as important as running water. I mean, the carpets are there just as an adornment and we can live with dirty carpets for weeks, but we can’t do without running water for one single day. In that theory, the demand for plumbers outshines the demand for carpet cleaners, which is a good thing as not many thinks of venturing into the carpet cleaning business. It makes it a good niche. There are less competition but with an equally if not bigger market than the plumbing business.

The only promotion that needs to be done in this business is to educate your town folks the importance of having clean carpets in your homes. Play up the health factor to the hilt and explain the methods you use keep their carpets clean. Start a small website like what the San Diego carpet cleaners have done and publicise that site all over town. Remember every household has at least two carpets in their homes and many has fully carpeted rooms and living halls. Imagine the size of the market and that is just your town alone. If you are the only one catering to this market niche, don’t you think you have a winning business in hand?

I hope you get the drift of what I am saying. I am just using the carpet cleaning business as an example. It can be any trade or services that your town lacks. It is better to bet on that than to go and compete with all the big boys who are more established than you in a business that is heavily competed.