Looking for a computer repair business plan? You're in the right place.
A repair shop asks a lender or a landlord to believe three things at once: that people will keep walking in with broken laptops, that parts and technicians cost what the plan says, and that the owner can get through the months before the counter pays for itself. How big a loan is sensible? What does a bench technician cost against the tickets that technician closes? What happens if a fifth of the work never arrives?
This article walks through a complete sample plan for a walk-in and on-site repair shop in Omaha, Nebraska, section by section, ending on the financials. Every table is generated from one five-year model, so the numbers agree with each other.
Here's what you'll take away:
- The summary page: see how to compress a repair shop, its funding and its first-year loss onto one page that a lender reads in a minute
- The flat-rate price list: learn how a ticket average of labor plus parts turns into monthly revenue you can defend
- The service-contract line: understand why a dozen small-office contracts steady a shop that otherwise lives on walk-ins
- The opening budget: find out how much goes into tools, a van and parts stock, and how much sits in reserve for the slow months
- The crew plan: see when each technician is hired, and the booked hours that justify the hire
- The five-year profit, cash flow and balance sheet, including parts stock and how fast it turns
- The shortfall case: have an answer ready for "what if revenue is 20% lower?", with the steps the owner takes
The shop is fictional, so take the structure that fits your own business and change the rest.
In this plan
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Summary of the Shop
Pacific Ridge is a computer and laptop repair business that opens in a leased Omaha strip-center storefront on January 1, 2027. It fixes machines at the counter for flat-rate prices, visits small offices for hourly work, sells refurbished laptops and desktops, and signs offices of about five to fifteen computers to monthly service contracts. Founder Dana Whitfield owns 100% of the business and works the bench herself.
The opening costs $210,000: $90,000 of Dana's savings and a $120,000 term loan. The build-out, tools, van, stock and launch spend take $106,500, and the other $103,500 stays in the bank as a reserve for the months before traffic builds.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $352,900 | $580,972 | $779,868 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($69,327) | $33,371 | $78,266 |
| Closing cash | $43,939 | $65,423 | $111,468 |
Year 1 is a loss. Payroll for a founder, a bench technician and a part-time coordinator runs at 51% of revenue while the counter is still filling. The shop loses money on an operating basis from January to July and earns a small profit each month from August, when students and families bring laptops in before term.
Service contracts go from 3 signed at opening to 12 by December 2027. The shop reaches $1,091,744 of revenue and $96,802 of net income by Year 5, an 8.9% net margin after every technician wage in the plan.
A second run takes 20% off every revenue line. With later hires, one hire dropped, a smaller marketing budget, a pay cut for Dana and no distributions, the lowest year-end cash is $8,957 and the shop is profitable from Year 2, narrowly.
The Shop and What It Sells
Legal name: Pacific Ridge, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company. Owner: Dana Whitfield, 100%. Premises: 1,700 square feet in a strip center on a main Omaha road, with a customer counter at the front and a locked bench room behind it. Opening date: January 1, 2027. Stage: the lease is in negotiation, three small-office contracts are signed and the used van is chosen.
Purpose
Fix a customer's machine fast, at a posted price, and keep the small offices that call back.
Goals through the end of 2028
- Close 1,150 bench tickets in 2027 and 1,700 in 2028.
- Hold 12 service contracts by December 2027 and 22 a year later.
- Return a profit in 2028 and make every loan payment on time.
- Add a field technician in January 2028, when visit hours outgrow what Dana can cover.
Five lines of work
| Line | How it is priced | Year 1 share of revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Bench repair labor | Flat rate per ticket, about $90 on average | 29% |
| Parts sold on repairs | Cost plus margin, about $54 per ticket | 18% |
| Small-business service contracts | About $500 a month per customer | 14% |
| On-site and project work | $115 an hour | 23% |
| Refurbished laptops and desktops | About $340 a unit, 90-day warranty | 16% |
The flat-rate board
The counter shows a printed price list so a customer knows the labor charge before the machine goes on the bench. Examples are $39 for a diagnosis, credited against any repair, $59 to fit a customer-supplied battery or drive, $79 for screen-replacement labor, $99 for virus and malware removal and $129 for a clean system reinstall with a data transfer. Parts are extra and quoted before work begins. The $90 average is the mix across the board, not a single price.
Licenses and tax
The business registers with the State of Nebraska and the City of Omaha and applies for a sales tax permit before opening. Whether repair labor and parts are taxable, and how refurbished units are treated, should be confirmed with the Nebraska Department of Revenue; this plan does not state a rule. Customer data handling is covered by a written intake procedure, described under the operating section.
Omaha's Repair Market
The labor behind the bench
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 2025 national median pay of $62,890 for computer support specialists and projects employment in that occupation to fall 3% from 2025 to 2035. The occupation covers help-desk work as well as hands-on repair, so it is a rough guide to bench pay, and Omaha's own rates may differ. The plan sets its wages at $46,000 to $68,000 in 2027 dollars and does not claim that figure as a market rate.
Who else fixes computers
| Alternative | What it offers | Why a customer picks it | How Pacific Ridge differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big-box store service desks | Drop-off repair and setup | Convenient, familiar brand | Posted flat rates and the same technician from intake to pickup |
| Manufacturer warranty repair | Free or discounted repair under coverage | No cost while the warranty lasts | Fast turnaround, and the shop also works on out-of-warranty and mixed-brand machines |
| Independent repair shops | Walk-in repair | Close to home, personal service | Written estimates, a 90-day repair warranty and a business line |
| Freelance and home technicians | Cheap house calls | Lowest hourly price | A storefront, insurance and a contract that survives one person's vacation |
| Managed-service providers | Monthly IT support for larger offices | Full help desk and security stack | Sized for offices of five to fifteen computers |
The table describes offers and where the shop sits against each. It is not a ranking. Prices change often, so none are quoted here; each provider publishes its own.
Where the work comes from
Three kinds of demand overlap. Households bring in slow, broken or infected machines. Students arrive in late summer with cracked screens and failing batteries. Small offices of five to fifteen people have computers that matter and nobody in the building who looks after them. The third group buys least often and pays most reliably, which is why contracts carry the plan.
SWOT
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Founder who still works the bench | Dana is the only senior technician until month 40 |
| Posted prices that remove the fear of an open-ended bill | New storefront with no reviews yet |
| Three contracts signed before opening | Year 1 loses money and uses the reserve |
| Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|
| Offices that outgrow a favor from a relative | A shift in new-laptop pricing that moves customers from repair to replacement |
| Referrals from accountants, dentists and property managers | Big-box stores discounting repair to bring in traffic |
| Refurbished machines as a lower-cost alternative | A technician leaving mid-term |
Who Walks In and Who Signs
The household customer
Typically a parent, a retiree or a remote worker with one machine that has become slow, infected or physically damaged. The customer wants a price before work starts and a date for pickup. Many are not tied to one shop but return if the first visit went smoothly.
The student
Late-summer demand from college students and their parents is the strongest seasonal lift in the plan. August revenue is $39,184 against $16,050 in January, though much of that gap is the new shop finding its traffic. December, at $39,603, is the highest month.
The small office
Examples are a dental practice, a three-lawyer firm, a property management office, a church office or a home-building contractor with a back room of computers. The office manager is not a technician, and the person who usually fixes things is a family member or the least-busy employee. The trigger for a contract is usually a bad week: a lost file, a ransomware scare or a slow network the day payroll runs.
What each group asks for
Households want a flat price and a quick turn. Students want a same-day screen or battery. Offices want one phone number, a technician who knows their setup and a bill that is the same each month.
From Counter Ticket to Contract
The ticket funnel
Every walk-in gets a ticket, a written estimate and a pickup date. The plan's 170 refurbished sales in Year 1 are about one for every seven tickets, and the counter offers a refurbished unit whenever a repair would cost more than half the price of a replacement. Dana or the bench technician quotes at the counter; the coordinator handles intake and pickup. The ticket and contract counts are the plan's own targets, not forecasts built on Omaha market data.
How a customer becomes a contract
Offices come in for a repair or an on-site visit first. After a second visit within a quarter, the technician offers a written quote for monthly coverage: remote monitoring, patching, backup checks and a help line, priced by seat. Contracts run month to month after a 12-month first term, with 30 days' notice. Year 1 needs about 10 gross new contracts to end at 12, allowing for roughly 10% of contracts to leave each year.
| Lead source | Gross new contracts, Year 1 |
|---|---|
| Converted from on-site visits and repairs | 5 |
| Referrals from accountants, dentists and property managers | 3 |
| Chamber and networking events | 2 |
Pricing the contract
An office of eight pays about $500 a month, roughly $62 a seat. A smaller office pays less and a larger one more, and the written quote lists what is included. Fees rise 3% a year from Year 2.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contracts at year end | 12 | 22 | 32 | 40 | 46 |
Three before opening
Three offices signed contracts before opening, introduced by people Dana knows from earlier jobs. Their terms start on the opening day.
Getting Found in Omaha
What the marketing budget pays for
Year 1 operating marketing is $24,000, which is 6.8% of revenue. A further $10,000 of launch spend comes from the start-up funds. The ratio falls to 3.5% in Year 3 and 2.7% in Year 5 as reviews and referrals do more of the work. The office outreach and referral lines, $8,500 together, are what win contracts. Spread over the 10 gross new contracts that is about $850 each, against $6,000 of annual revenue per contract.
| Channel | Year 1 spend | What it is expected to do |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile and local search ads | $8,000 | Searches such as "laptop screen repair Omaha" and "computer repair near me" |
| Office outreach: chamber events, mailers to small offices | $5,000 | Brings in 7 of the 10 gross new contracts, with the referral line below |
| Referral partners: accountants, dentists, property managers | $3,500 | A thank-you for every introduced contract |
| Campus outreach: move-in flyers and student discounts | $3,500 | Brings the August and September volume |
| Website, text reminders and email | $2,500 | Pickup reminders and a prompt for a review |
| Local sponsorships | $1,500 | Name recognition in the neighborhood |
The $10,000 launch spend covers the website and booking page ($4,000), exterior signage ($3,500) and opening-month mailers and ads ($2,500).
Marketing milestones
- January 2027: doors open, three contracts live.
- April 2027: 6 contracts and 40 five-star reviews targeted.
- August 2027: campus outreach in place before move-in.
- December 2027: 12 contracts and $6,000 of monthly contract revenue.
Bench, Van and Counter
The storefront
The shop leases 1,700 square feet at about $20 a square foot a year, all in, which is $34,000 in Year 1 and $38,300 in Year 5. The front third holds the counter and a small refurbished display. The back holds three benches, a locked intake cabinet and a parts room. The lease is for five years with an option to renew, and Dana guarantees it personally.
How a ticket moves
A machine is logged at the counter with a photo and a tag, a technician diagnoses it within one working day, the customer approves the quote, and the repair is done and tested before pickup. The shop's target is to finish most flat-rate repairs within two working days of approval, and to call the customer the same day if a part is delayed. Data is backed up before any reinstall and the customer signs for it.
Parts and refurbished stock
The shop carries the parts that fail most: screens, batteries, drives, memory and chargers for the common laptop makes. Opening stock is $9,000 of parts and $14,000 of off-lease laptops and desktops. Year-end stock is $36,633 in Year 1 and $65,177 in Year 5. Measured against the cost of parts and refurbished units sold, stock turns about 2.2 times in Year 1, which is roughly five months of stock, and 3.1 times in Year 5, roughly four months. Parts suppliers are paid on 20-day terms.
The van and the visit
A used van with shelving and a mobile kit costs $20,000. Fuel, maintenance and registration are charged at $5.50 for each on-site hour, which is $3,850 in Year 1. A visit includes drive time, and the hourly rate of $115 reflects it.
Software and tools
A ticketing and point-of-sale system, a remote monitoring and patching platform for contract customers, and a backup tool. Software costs $8,000 in Year 1 and $15,000 by Year 5. Per-seat licenses for the contract tools are charged as direct cost.
Insurance and safeguards
General liability, errors and omissions, cyber cover and commercial auto cost $9,500 in Year 1. Workers' compensation sits inside the payroll load. A written intake and data-handling procedure covers passwords, backups and the disposal of old drives.
Hours and capacity
Delivery hours are counted at 1.0 hour per ticket, 3 hours a month per contract and 2 hours per refurbished unit, plus the on-site hours. That comes to about 2,500 hours in Year 1 and 6,800 in Year 5. The team has about 2,600 productive hours in Year 1, so demand uses 96% of capacity and Dana works long weeks at the start. August and September peak at roughly 275 hours of demand against about 217 of monthly capacity. A part-time seasonal helper covers about 200 of the missing hours and Dana's evenings and weekends cover the rest. Utilization eases to 92% in Year 3, 91% in Year 4 and 79% in Year 5.
Dana Whitfield and the Crew
Dana Whitfield, founder and lead technician
Dana has twelve years of technical work, the last seven as the senior field technician at an Omaha managed-service firm, where she looked after about 40 small-office accounts and trained two junior hires. She holds vendor certifications in networking and security. Her $85,000 is her own savings. She is leaving to run a shop where she works the bench and sets the prices.
Where the team is thin
Three gaps stand out. Dana has not run a retail counter, has not managed a payroll of her own, and has no experience buying parts at volume. The part-time coordinator runs the counter, a payroll provider handles filings, and two parts suppliers have agreed terms.
If Dana is out
For the first 39 months Dana is the only senior technician. Until the senior hire in month 40, a former colleague has agreed to cover contract emergencies on a paid, as-needed basis.
Outside help
A retired shop owner with 20 years in retail repair reviews the numbers quarterly. Dana uses the Nebraska Small Business Development Center for questions about permits and loan paperwork.
Ownership and the lender
Pacific Ridge, LLC is 100% Dana's. The term loan rests on her personal guarantee and a lien on the van, the bench equipment and other business assets, and the lender receives quarterly statements.
The Money Side of the Shop
The tables that follow come from a single five-year model, monthly for the opening year and annual afterward. The working figures come first, so a reader can follow any total back to a ticket count, a contract count or an hourly rate.
What the shop costs to open, and who pays
| Use of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Storefront build-out: counter, bench room, locked intake cabinet, signage | $22,000 |
| Bench tools, anti-static stations, diagnostic and burn-in rigs, soldering station | $14,000 |
| Used service van with shelving and a mobile kit | $20,000 |
| Point of sale, ticketing terminals, phones, label printer | $5,500 |
| Opening parts stock: screens, batteries, drives, memory, chargers, cables | $9,000 |
| Opening refurbished laptops and desktops bought off lease | $14,000 |
| Nebraska and Omaha business registrations, sales tax permit | $1,500 |
| Legal: entity, lease review, repair terms, service contract template | $4,500 |
| Pre-opening rent and technician onboarding | $6,000 |
| Launch: website, signage, local search listing, opening-month mailers | $10,000 |
| Cash reserve for the ramp-up months and the first parts orders | $103,500 |
| Total uses | $210,000 |
| Source of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Dana Whitfield's savings | $90,000 |
| SBA-style term loan | $120,000 |
| Total sources | $210,000 |
Dana Whitfield puts in $90,000 of her own savings, 43% of the $210,000. The other $120,000 is a seven-year term loan at 9.75%, interest only for the first three months. The lender takes a lien on the van, the bench equipment and other business assets, and Dana guarantees the loan personally. The rate is a planning figure for the example, not a quoted SBA or bank rate, and a lender sets its own terms. Only $106,500 goes into the build-out, tools, van, stock and launch. The $103,500 reserve is the larger part of the raise. It covers seven months of operating losses while walk-in traffic builds, the stock build that follows, and the loan payments that the Year 1 profit cannot yet cover. The same reserve keeps cash positive in the downside run.
Working figures behind the forecast
- Bench work is priced by the flat-rate ticket. Labor averages $90 across the mix, and parts sold on the same ticket average $54. Year 1 holds 1,150 tickets, about four a trading day, rising to 2,450 in Year 5. Prices rise 3% a year from Year 2.
- Parts carry a 38% gross margin, so direct cost is 62% of parts revenue. Refurbished units sell at an average of $340 with a 90-day warranty and a 26% margin. Labor on the bench carries 3% direct cost for consumables, and on-site hours 2%.
- Service contracts bill an average of $500 a month per customer, about $62 a seat for an office of eight, covering remote monitoring, patching, backup checks and a help line. Per-seat licenses for the monitoring and backup tools cost 10% of contract revenue. The shop starts with 3 signed contracts and ends Year 1 with 12, then 22, 32, 40 and 46. Roughly 10% of contracts leave each year, so Year 1 needs about 10 gross new contracts.
- On-site and project work bills $115 an hour, with 700 hours in Year 1 and 2,000 in Year 5. Contracts include remote help but not visits, which is why the visit hours are a separate line.
- Delivery hours are counted at 1.0 hour per bench ticket, 3 hours a month per contract and 2 hours per refurbished unit, plus the on-site hours. That is about 2,500 hours in Year 1 and 6,800 in Year 5. A technician is booked for about 1,500 productive hours a year after intake, travel and shop time. Dana is booked for about 1,100, because she also sells and runs the shop. Against those hours, demand uses 96% of capacity in Year 1, 97% in Year 2, 92% in Year 3, 91% in Year 4 and 79% in Year 5, once the second field technician starts. August and September run well above the monthly average, at roughly 275 hours of demand against about 217 hours of capacity, so a part-time seasonal helper covers about 200 of the missing hours each year and Dana's own evenings and weekends cover the rest.
- Walk-in customers pay when they collect. Contract customers pay by monthly bank debit in advance, and on-site invoices run on 15-day terms. Receivables average 5 days of total revenue, a blend of same-day walk-in payments, prepaid contracts and on-site invoices on 15-day terms. Parts suppliers are paid on 20-day terms.
- Stock is held at 15% of direct costs on top of the $23,000 opening stock. That gives year-end parts and refurbished stock of $36,633 in Year 1 and $65,177 in Year 5. Measured against the cost of parts and refurbished units sold, stock turns about 2.2 times in Year 1 and 3.1 times in Year 5.
- Each salary carries a 27% load for employer payroll taxes, health cover, workers' compensation and a small retirement match. The part-time loads are 15%. The wages in the personnel table are 2027 dollars. Raises of 3% a year start in Year 2 and are charged on their own line. All wages are the plan's own figures for Omaha. For scale, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 2025 national median of $62,890 for computer support specialists, an occupation that includes help-desk work and is only a rough guide to bench pay.
- Rent is $20 a square foot a year, all in, for 1,700 square feet of strip-center retail space with a bench room at the back. That is $34,000 in Year 1. A step to a larger space is not needed in the five years.
- The model taxes the firm as a C corporation at 21% federal and 4.55% Nebraska, after the Year 1 loss is carried forward. The Nebraska rate is the 2026 figure published by the Tax Foundation; later years may differ. In practice the owner could elect pass-through treatment, so the corporate rates serve as a cautious stand-in.
- Distributions of $20,000, $30,000 and $40,000 start in Year 3, and only once the cash balance can carry them.
Revenue by line of work
| Revenue stream | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bench repair labor (flat-rate tickets) | $103,500 | $157,590 | $195,736 | $226,194 | $248,175 |
| Replacement parts sold on repairs | $62,100 | $94,554 | $117,442 | $135,717 | $148,905 |
| Small-business service contracts (monthly) | $49,000 | $105,060 | $171,866 | $236,029 | $290,381 |
| On-site and project work (hourly) | $80,500 | $136,218 | $183,005 | $226,194 | $258,867 |
| Refurbished laptop and desktop sales | $57,800 | $87,550 | $111,819 | $130,035 | $145,416 |
| Total revenue | $352,900 | $580,972 | $779,868 | $954,169 | $1,091,744 |
| Growth on prior year | – | 65% | 34% | 22% | 14% |
Service contracts change most, from 14% of Year 1 revenue to 27% in Year 5, because they bill every month whatever the walk-in traffic does. Bench labor and parts together fall from 47% of revenue to 36% as the mix shifts. On-site work holds between 23% and 24%, and refurbished sales slip from 16% to 13%. Year 2 grows 65% because the 22 contracts at year end average 17 over the year against about 8 in Year 1, and because the storefront trades at full traffic for twelve months. Revenue per full-time equivalent is $141,000 to $173,000, which is high for a walk-in repair counter and reflects a revenue base in which contracts and on-site work make up 37% of Year 1 and 51% of Year 5.
The first twelve months, with the August rush
| Month | Bench repair labor (flat-rate tickets) | Replacement parts sold on repairs | Small-business service contracts (monthly) | On-site and project work (hourly) | Refurbished laptop and desktop sales | Total revenue | EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2027 | $4,950 | $2,970 | $1,500 | $3,910 | $2,720 | $16,050 | ($11,993) |
| Feb 2027 | $5,400 | $3,240 | $2,000 | $4,255 | $3,060 | $17,955 | ($10,578) |
| Mar 2027 | $6,570 | $3,942 | $2,500 | $5,060 | $3,740 | $21,812 | ($7,715) |
| Apr 2027 | $7,200 | $4,320 | $3,000 | $5,635 | $4,080 | $24,235 | ($5,916) |
| May 2027 | $7,920 | $4,752 | $3,500 | $6,095 | $4,420 | $26,687 | ($4,095) |
| Jun 2027 | $7,920 | $4,752 | $4,000 | $6,210 | $4,420 | $27,302 | ($3,639) |
| Jul 2027 | $8,370 | $5,022 | $4,500 | $6,555 | $4,760 | $29,207 | ($2,224) |
| Aug 2027 | $11,790 | $7,074 | $5,000 | $9,200 | $6,120 | $39,184 | $5,183 |
| Sep 2027 | $11,430 | $6,858 | $5,500 | $8,855 | $6,460 | $39,103 | $5,123 |
| Oct 2027 | $10,260 | $6,156 | $5,500 | $7,935 | $5,780 | $35,631 | $2,545 |
| Nov 2027 | $10,260 | $6,156 | $6,000 | $7,935 | $5,780 | $36,131 | $2,916 |
| Dec 2027 | $11,430 | $6,858 | $6,000 | $8,855 | $6,460 | $39,603 | $5,494 |
Revenue opens at $16,050 in January and builds through spring. It reaches $39,184 in August as students and families bring in laptops before term, and December is the highest month at $39,603. Part of that climb is the new storefront finding its traffic, not season alone. The shop loses money on an operating basis from January to July and earns a small operating profit in each month from August to December. Counting the 5-day collection lag, month-end cash is lowest in Jul, when about $41,000 of the $103,500 reserve is still in the account.
Who is on the bench, and from when
| Role | Annual wage | Starts | Year 1 end | Year 2 end | Year 3 end | Year 4 end | Year 5 end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founder and lead technician | $68,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Bench technician | $46,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Counter and dispatch coordinator (part time, about 25 hours a week) | $27,000 | Month 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Field technician | $50,000 | Month 13 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second bench technician | $46,000 | Month 25 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second senior technician (networks and security) | $66,000 | Month 40 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Seasonal counter and bench helper (August and September, part time) | $30,000 | Month 8 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Second field technician | $50,000 | Month 49 | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| Total payroll incl. on-costs | $181,580 | $245,080 | $303,500 | $366,365 | $450,820 |
January opens with Dana, one bench technician and a part-time coordinator who runs the counter and the dispatch calendar. A part-time seasonal helper joins each August and September for the back-to-school rush; the helper does not appear in the year-end headcount. The first growth hire is a field technician in month 13, when on-site hours and contract visits outgrow what Dana can cover. A second bench technician follows in month 25, a senior technician for networks and security in month 40, and a second field technician in month 49. Each hire follows demand: Year 2 delivery hours are almost exactly covered by the team in place, and Year 3 through Year 5 add headroom ahead of the next jump. Dana's $68,000 sits inside costs, so profit in the tables is what remains after she has been paid. Year 5 closes with six full-time people and the part-time coordinator.
Profit and loss
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $352,900 | $580,972 | $779,868 | $954,169 | $1,091,744 |
| Direct costs (parts, refurbished units and per-seat monitoring licenses) | ($90,889) | ($149,629) | ($200,854) | ($245,745) | ($281,177) |
| Gross profit | $262,011 | $431,343 | $579,014 | $708,424 | $810,567 |
| Payroll incl. on-costs | ($181,580) | ($245,080) | ($303,500) | ($366,365) | ($450,820) |
| Rent | ($34,000) | ($35,000) | ($36,100) | ($37,200) | ($38,300) |
| Utilities | ($6,000) | ($6,200) | ($6,400) | ($6,600) | ($6,800) |
| Marketing | ($24,000) | ($26,000) | ($27,000) | ($28,000) | ($29,000) |
| Insurance | ($9,500) | ($10,500) | ($11,500) | ($12,300) | ($13,000) |
| Professional fees | ($3,500) | ($3,800) | ($4,000) | ($4,200) | ($4,500) |
| Software subscriptions | ($8,000) | ($10,000) | ($12,000) | ($13,500) | ($15,000) |
| Card processing (2.9% of walk-in sales) | ($6,479) | ($9,851) | ($12,325) | ($14,266) | ($15,732) |
| Van fuel, maintenance and registration | ($3,850) | ($6,325) | ($8,250) | ($9,900) | ($11,000) |
| Bad debt allowance on contract and on-site invoices | ($1,500) | ($2,800) | ($4,000) | ($5,000) | ($5,600) |
| Shop supplies, thermal paste, packaging, e-waste disposal | ($3,200) | ($4,200) | ($5,000) | ($5,600) | ($6,000) |
| Phones, internet and license renewals | ($3,800) | ($4,200) | ($4,500) | ($4,800) | ($5,000) |
| Training and vendor certifications | ($1,500) | ($2,500) | ($3,500) | ($4,000) | ($4,500) |
| Equipment replacement and new-hire tool kits | $0 | ($3,000) | ($3,500) | ($5,500) | ($4,000) |
| Annual pay raises (3% a year) | $0 | ($7,352) | ($18,483) | ($33,972) | ($56,582) |
| EBITDA | ($24,898) | $54,535 | $118,956 | $157,221 | $144,733 |
| Depreciation | ($11,043) | ($11,043) | ($11,043) | ($11,043) | ($11,043) |
| Interest | ($11,386) | ($10,121) | ($8,672) | ($7,075) | ($5,315) |
| Income tax | $0 | $0 | ($20,975) | ($34,212) | ($31,573) |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($47,327) | $33,371 | $78,266 | $104,891 | $96,802 |
| Start-up costs expensed at opening (legal, licensing, launch marketing) | ($22,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($69,327) | $33,371 | $78,266 | $104,891 | $96,802 |
Year 1 loses $47,327 before start-up costs and $69,327 after the $22,000 of legal, licensing, pre-opening and launch spend is charged. Year 2 turns profitable, and Year 3 earns $78,266 on a 10.0% net margin. Year 4 peaks at 11.0%. Year 5 slips to 8.9% on $96,802 because the second field technician is hired in month 49 ahead of the revenue to fill that capacity, and pay raises have reached $56,582 a year. Tax starts in Year 3, after the Year 1 loss is used up.
Cash in and out
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from operations | ($94,771) | $35,697 | $81,707 | $109,273 | $102,587 |
| Bench tools, van and storefront build-out | ($61,500) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Funding received | $210,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Loan principal repaid | ($9,790) | ($14,213) | ($15,662) | ($17,260) | ($19,020) |
| Owner distributions | $0 | $0 | ($20,000) | ($30,000) | ($40,000) |
| Net change in cash | $43,939 | $21,484 | $46,044 | $62,013 | $43,567 |
| Closing cash | $43,939 | $65,423 | $111,468 | $173,481 | $217,048 |
Cash ends every year above zero, starting at $43,939 in Year 1 and reaching $217,048 by Year 5. Operations use $94,771 of cash in Year 1, stock build included, and the reserve covers it, including the loan payments. Principal repayment begins when the three interest-only months end.
Balance sheet, with parts stock
| At year end | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $43,939 | $65,423 | $111,468 | $173,481 | $217,048 |
| Accounts receivable | $4,834 | $7,959 | $10,683 | $13,071 | $14,955 |
| Parts and refurbished-unit stock | $36,633 | $45,444 | $53,128 | $59,862 | $65,177 |
| Bench tools, van and storefront build-out (net) | $50,457 | $39,414 | $28,371 | $17,329 | $6,286 |
| Total assets | $135,864 | $158,240 | $203,650 | $263,742 | $303,465 |
| Parts supplier payables | $4,980 | $8,199 | $11,006 | $13,465 | $15,407 |
| Bank loan | $110,210 | $95,997 | $80,335 | $63,075 | $44,056 |
| Paid-in capital | $90,000 | $90,000 | $90,000 | $90,000 | $90,000 |
| Retained earnings | ($69,327) | ($35,956) | $22,310 | $97,201 | $154,003 |
| Total liabilities and equity | $135,864 | $158,240 | $203,650 | $263,742 | $303,465 |
Break-even and margins
| Measure | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA margin | -7.1% | 9.4% | 15.3% | 16.5% | 13.3% |
| Net margin (before start-up costs) | -13.4% | 5.7% | 10.0% | 11.0% | 8.9% |
| Payroll incl. pay raises as share of revenue | 51% | 43% | 41% | 42% | 46% |
| Revenue per full-time equivalent at year end | $141,160 | $165,992 | $173,304 | $173,485 | $167,961 |
| Average monthly revenue | $29,408 | $48,414 | $64,989 | $79,514 | $90,979 |
| Monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs | $32,203 | $42,293 | $51,637 | $61,867 | $74,734 |
| Debt service cover (EBITDA / interest + principal) | -1.2x | 2.2x | 4.9x | 6.5x | 5.9x |
Year 1 falls short of the monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs, with $29,408 earned against $32,203 required. Year 2 clears it with $48,414 against $42,293. Debt service cover is negative in Year 1, which means the reserve, not trading, pays the loan that year. It is 2.2x in Year 2 and stays above 4.5x from Year 3.
If a fifth of the work never shows up
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $282,320 | $464,778 | $623,894 | $763,335 | $873,395 |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($77,657) | $2,794 | $38,151 | $77,336 | $91,675 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($99,657) | $2,794 | $38,151 | $77,336 | $91,675 |
| Closing cash | $16,306 | $8,957 | $36,407 | $102,198 | $181,690 |
This run takes 20% off every revenue line in all five years. The owner responds in five ways: every hire from month 13 starts six months later, the second senior technician is never hired, marketing is cut 20%, Dana's pay falls 20% from the first month, and distributions stop. With those steps, the lowest year-end cash is $8,957 in Year 2, and the shop is profitable from Year 2, though barely, at $2,794. Year 1 equity closes at ($9,657), so a lender with a net-worth covenant would be told early. Year 5 profit is $91,675 against $96,802 in the base case. That is a higher margin on lower revenue, 10.5% against 8.9%, because the dropped senior hire and the pay cut recover most, not all, of the lost gross profit.
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Computer support specialists, Occupational Outlook Handbook: 2025 median pay $62,890; employment projected to decline 3% from 2025 to 2035. National figures for an occupation that includes help-desk work.
- Tax Foundation, Nebraska state tax pages: Nebraska's flat corporate income tax rate of 4.55% for 2026. Later years may differ.
- Nebraska Department of Revenue: confirm the sales tax treatment of repair labor and parts before opening. The plan states no rule.
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