Computer Home Business Word Count: 537 Summary: When the conversation turned to cool businesses that one could work from home the topic turned to starting a home computer repair business. As my wife and I have had many such chats over the years this one started out as just a routine brainstorming conversation. Then I Googled the idea and things changed. I found out that up to 95% of all Windows computers currently online are plagued with data-mining, offline ad pop-ups, something called parasites, trojans, dialers, ... Keywords: Earthlink,spyware,virus,survey,computer home business,USA Today,chats,home computer repair business,computer home business Article Body: When the conversation turned to cool businesses that one could work from home the topic turned to starting a home computer repair business. As my wife and I have had many such chats over the years this one started out as just a routine brainstorming conversation. Then I Googled the idea and things changed. I found out that up to 95% of all Windows computers currently online are plagued with data-mining, offline ad pop-ups, something called parasites, trojans, dialers, browser hijackers and lots of stuff even meaner sounding than viruses. According to Earthlink, “the spyware and virus problems are getting worse instead of better. Problems with locked up computers are more common and over 225 million computers are infected.” I decided to start a casual survey of my friends. I gave myself a very low key goal of 3 to 5 months to complete the project. I didn't want to appear too pushy or obvious. All I asked was one question and the rest of my presentation took a natural course from that point. My conversation would begin casually and end with....have you noticed your computer is acting funny? Most often the response would be, “sort of. It takes longer to boot up and I get so many pop-ups even with a pop-up blocker, it makes me sick.” My next strategy is to say, well the same thing was happening to me and just about all of my friends. I decided to buy a kit to clean out viruses, some nasty worms, and some stuff that's hard to pronounce. I always get a laugh with that line. Then I continue. “Most of the time I just charge for the program I use for each computer which is about 20 bucks. I’ll take a look at your’s some time, just let me know when. 8 times out of 10 I make an appointment on the spot. Even though I’ve only done this about a dozen times, I’ve banked $600. This mostly because I’m getting referrals, one of which was a small accountant’s office just before the tax season started. I’ve always maintained a private coaching practice so the money is not the main idea behind my project. I wanted to see if what I read had any value. It appears to be a true opportunity that can only get bigger. USA Today reported recently that, “By the turn of the millennium, unparalleled growth in computer and Internet usage resulted in a $300 billion computer service market, comparable in size only to the home improvement market! This sector of the computer industry is now experiencing double-digit growth, and is projected to continue doing so for the foreseeable future." This was based on industry studies by Ziff-Davis. If I ever decide to retire from coaching, I’ll have no problem moving into a computer home business. I recently found a great little company that has designed a complete home computer repair package. If you know how to setup an internet connection on your computer, and access the add/remove programs in the control panel, you can do this. What’s even better about this is my personal experience indicates you can pocket a day’s pay in less than a day.