In the 21st century, data is the new oil. From small startups to large organizations, everyone relies on data to grow their company. However data is not limited to companies only, we all use data in form of documents, videos, audio, photos, etc. in our daily life.
It can be emotionally or financially devastating to lose our data and therefore people are always looking for data recovery solutions and are willing to pay any price for recovering their lost files. If you have a business mind then the last line must have stuck in your head and you must be thinking that you can make good money by helping people recover their important data.
But how to start a data recovery business, you must be thinking. Don’t worry, in this article, I will walk you through a step-by-step guide to starting a data recovery business. So let’s start!
Quick links
- Is Data Recovery Business Profitable?
- How To Start A Data Recovery Business
- Should You Start A Data Recovery Business? Final Verdict
- FAQs
Is Data Recovery Business Profitable?
Just because something is in demand does not mean it is profitable, there are lots of things that you need to consider in order to make a business sustainable. However, in the case of a data recovery business if you provide good value to your customers then you can easily make your venture profitable, no matter how much competition is there.
Although due to the availability of data backup solutions like cloud storage and external hard drives people now keep a copy of their important data safe with themselves and hence they need less help from a data recovery lab. However, there are still many people who need data recovery services on day to day basis.
According to a report, the data recovery market will reach around $4.1 billion by the end of 2024 and it is only going to grow after that. It’s a huge market and there is no better time to tap into it. Now if you are sure of starting a data recovery business then let’s see how to go about it.
How To Start A Data Recovery Business
I have listed 10 points that you need to follow in order to start your data recovery business.
1. Do The Research
Be it a data recovery business, restaurant, or any other business you need to do the market research before jumping into it. Doing market research will give you a good idea of who your competitors are and what challenges you might face while running your business. Doing the research in advance will help you tackle all the issues related to your business and help you make your data recovery business profitable.
2. Choose The Type Of Service You Want To Provide
You can get into the data recovery business in many ways, you can provide software-related data recovery service or you can opt for hardware-related data recovery service. If you don’t want to provide services you can even sell data recovery tools and software or if you have the knowledge you can also work as a data recovery consultant.
It’s important to choose your niche before you invest your money in a data recovery business. The benefit of working on a niche is that it has lower competition and you can easily get into it and start making some money in no time.
3. Start From Scratch Or Take Data Recovery Business Franchise
Starting a business from scratch is really hard, whereas on the other hand taking a franchise of an already well-established business makes it easier for you to make the business successful.
However, the cons of franchise business are that you may need a lot of funds to purchase the franchise and some companies even take a cut from your earnings. So, it’s up to you, you want to do all the hard work yourself and take a full percentage of your profit. Or go for an already successful business and share your profit with them. There are lots of good franchise business opportunities out there, you can check them out here.
4. Arrange The Money
You need some capital in order to start any business and the same is true for starting a data recovery business. Don’t worry, you don’t need a ton of money to get into the data recovery business. But that also depends on whether you want to start a small business or you want to set up an entire data recovery lab. If you fall short of funds, you can easily take a business loan from a bank to start your data recovery business.
5. Create A Brand
Don’t just start a business, create a brand that people remember and consider a good solution to their problem. When registering your business make sure you choose a creative name for it because the name is vital for the brand.
While choosing a name make sure a domain name is available for it as well and buy it. You don’t have to necessarily build a website just yet but keep the domain name with yourself. It won’t cost you much but will help you make your business into a profitable brand by creating a website later.
6. Choose The Right Location
You can’t operate a successful data recovery business from your basement, you need to have a proper location where you can set your lab or shop. Now which location is good for you depends on the customer you want to serve. For example, if you are serving regular customers then a regular shop in an electronics or computer market would be good for you because people will find you easily.
Similarly, if you are looking to serve only the big corporations then you should have a lab around technology centers, IT parks. As the matter of fact, the location of your business should be such that it is easily accessible to your customers.
7. Invest In Right Data Recovery Tools
Your business can only get profitable if you can deliver results. The higher the percentage of data recovered the better will be the direct impact on the reputation and success of your business. You can’t deliver satisfactory results with cheap tools and software so you must invest in the right data recovery tools.
Your arsenal should be equipped with all high-end data recovery software like Stellar data recovery and hardware like USB stabilizers, Data extractors, Disk Imager, etc. Although these devices are expensive, they provide the best results.
8. Get Certified
You can never know enough, there is always something to learn. So try to learn as much as you can about your business. It will make you a trustable face in your industry and people will prefer you over others and your business will have a higher chance of being profitable.
You should try to get some certifications under your name, not just for the sake of it but you should also acquire the knowledge. You can start by taking this course on Udemy, it takes you through all the concepts of data recovery.
Apart from this, you can also take the following certifications
- Certified Data Recovery Professional (CDRP)
- Certified Penetration Tester (CPT)
- Certified Computer Forensics Examiner (CCFE)
- Certified Reverse Engineering Analyst (CREA)
9. Hire Experienced Employees
Even if you start on a very low scale you won’t be able to handle all the struggles of a data recovery business alone. So you must hire some employees. Now, how many employees you hire depends on the scale of your business but you surely need a few.
Don’t hire interns you will have to teach them the work, it is waste of time and money, especially if you have just started. It’s better if you go for experienced employees who have a few years of experience in the data recovery field.
10. Market Your Data Recovery Business
A business cannot survive in this competitive world if you don’t promote it well. The first thing you should do after starting a data recovery business is to create a website for it because that’s how most people will find you.
If you don’t know to create and rank a website on Google or any other search engine then you can hire an SEO expert. They can help you rank your website in the local search listing so more and more people can find your business. You can also run search engine and social media ads to put your business in front of more and more people.
Should You Start A Data Recovery Business? Final Verdict
No doubt the data recovery business has the potential to be a profitable venture for you. However, there are some challenges in this business such as changes in data storage technology at a rapid rate. So in order to be in the business for a long time, you need to adapt quickly to the rapid technological changes. If you have what it takes then you should definitely start a data recovery business.
FAQs
How Do I Become A Data Recovery Expert?
To become an expert in any field you need to have in-depth knowledge of it. In the case of data recovery you must be aware of various types of file systems, backup and recovery techniques.
What Are Data Recovery Tools?
Data recovery tools are software and gadgets which help in recovering data from a storage device.
How Long Does Data Recovery Take?
There is no set time for it, it may take few hours and even 2-3 days.
