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Computer Business

J

jotajota

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 28, 2004
Messages
79
I have found computer building to be really enjoyable. So my friend and I are gonna try and start a computer building business. I was just wondering if anyone could offer suggestions/ideas. Especially about how to go about purchasing parts at wholesale or close to wholesale prices. Thanks!
 
for parts, i would just say start emailing/calling places that sell parts online and see what they say about discounts for resellers. might have to get a business license in your state first though. otherwise, i would just have to say, don't have to big of an inventory to begin with in case it doesn't work out, plus offer services that other places in your area don't have.
 
I was looking into doing the same thing but building really high end custom systems.
I'm talking water cooled, hidden in a wall with a wall mount plasma and 5.1 surround. I do this for a living anyway (not the computer part) but I want to do it on the side to make more money.
 
To be honest, there is no money in the computer-building sector. It's all about repair/troubleshooting/installs/support. You actually make very little off of computer sells. How many people do you know that are going to want to pay $300+ more for a 'custom' computer, when they could just easily order a cheap Dell and have the 'support' of a huge manufacturer?
 
Mr. Baz said:
To be honest, there is no money in the computer-building sector. It's all about repair/troubleshooting/installs/support. You actually make very little off of computer sells. How many people do you know that are going to want to pay $300+ more for a 'custom' computer, when they could just easily order a cheap Dell and have the 'support' of a huge manufacturer?
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big time truth, at the first place I worked at I made more money in the tech department for individual support than in the two months I worked in sales.
 
ScHpAnKy said:
big time truth, at the first place I worked at I made more money in the tech department for individual support than in the two months I worked in sales.
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that was true for me at best buy except for 2 times a year. I live in south carolina so one weekend a year we have "duty free" weekend where there is no sales tax on items. You can imagine how best buy would blow up around that time. I think on that weekend we did 1.5 million in computer sales alone. Also, Black Friday weekend was one to watch as well. I know we had done over 1.5 million before the end of the day on friday, and we had done over 3 million by the time the weekend was over. This is just in the computer dept and selling mostly sub $700 machines. I think that computer selling could be decent (as in break a little over even), but it is true that the only way to make money on computers now is fixing them. If you did open a repair shop, have like 3 pre-made models, like the old apple marketing campaing, good, better, best. When the people bring in their old 400mhz p2 thats loaded with spyware, tell them you can fix it or give them a better option with a new computer for a fraction of what they paid way back when. If you can do that and start building a client base, you could even offer classes a couple times a week, which would be free with a computer purchse, on how to keep their computers clean. There are millions of options that a dedicated computer person can do to make money on their own, the trick is finding a market that will accept this kind of business.
 
Yup, it's a lot of work. I have a friend that's making some money just for getting rid of viruses and spyware off people's computers.
 
Mr. Baz said:
To be honest, there is no money in the computer-building sector. It's all about repair/troubleshooting/installs/support. You actually make very little off of computer sells. How many people do you know that are going to want to pay $300+ more for a 'custom' computer, when they could just easily order a cheap Dell and have the 'support' of a huge manufacturer?
Click to expand...
well, its still possible to make some good money off of the computer building sector. but repair and whatnot is wat really brings in the money. im 14, and those are the two businesses i run off to the side.

for every computer that ive built (7 in the past year) i have always managed to keep the price at least 150$ under a comparable dell or hp, and still make at least 150$ profit. that may not be much for a business, but thats a fair amount for a 14 year old.

i also run a repair business, which brings in pretty good money. i typically make 40$ a job. people love my service because i personally go over to their house/business, but first diagnosis it over the phone. if i cant help over the phone, i make a house call. people love the fact that i come over and do everything there, so they dont have to bother unplugging it and taking it over to my place. then i guide them through w/e im doing.

just the other day, one of my clients PCs started acting up. i built him a pc almost a year ago (see, first part of the business), and it just started randomly restarting the other day. i diagnosis it over the phone, determine its not an 'easy' problem, so i go over and pick it up (and the second part of the business). i take it back to my place, figure out its the RAM, so i run out and buy some RAM from my boss. since his computer is still under his '1 year warrenty' i eat the cost, and get his computer back to him in under 24 hours.

this computer is THE MOST CRITICAL pc in his business. it handles all of the billing and whatnot, so he needed it back ASAP. now where else are you going to get quality like that?? i build him a high quality computer for less than any other major competitor, turns out somethings wrong a year later, so i diagnosis it, find the problem, eat the cost, and get it back, fully functional, to his business in less than 24 hours.

dell or any other manufacturer probably couldnt get a BOX to your door in that time. not only that, but its at no charge to him.

as long as you provide great quality of service, your business will take off immediately. of course, youre totally legit, so you can advertise and whatnot. i just do this as a service, so i really cant advertise. it be nice if i could. get a lot more business.

sorry for the long post. just wanted to point out a few things. :D
 
SonDogg said:
that was true for me at best buy except for 2 times a year. I live in south carolina so one weekend a year we have "duty free" weekend where there is no sales tax on items. You can imagine how best buy would blow up around that time. I think on that weekend we did 1.5 million in computer sales alone. Also, Black Friday weekend was one to watch as well. I know we had done over 1.5 million before the end of the day on friday, and we had done over 3 million by the time the weekend was over. This is just in the computer dept and selling mostly sub $700 machines. I think that computer selling could be decent (as in break a little over even), but it is true that the only way to make money on computers now is fixing them. If you did open a repair shop, have like 3 pre-made models, like the old apple marketing campaing, good, better, best. When the people bring in their old 400mhz p2 thats loaded with spyware, tell them you can fix it or give them a better option with a new computer for a fraction of what they paid way back when. If you can do that and start building a client base, you could even offer classes a couple times a week, which would be free with a computer purchse, on how to keep their computers clean. There are millions of options that a dedicated computer person can do to make money on their own, the trick is finding a market that will accept this kind of business.
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Gross Revenue and Net profit are two different things. The Best buys of the world make most of thier money ont the high profit extended serivice contracts and accessories afforded them by a large retail space and a high volume of customers. On the other hand you would have the avantage of low overhead.

Offering a 10 year warranty would do it for you. Thats how Hyundi got off the ground. Thier cars still suck but the sell in such a volume that the revenue stream is self sustaining.
 
I have found that networking and structured wiring is very profitable. Where i live suburban sprawl is rampant and we are getting more subcontracts than we can actually handle, to "pre" wire structured wiring systems in new houses.I started my company 4 years ago with just myself out of my house. I now have 5 installers and a secratary. People cant get enough of being connected.

Repair and installations oppertunities will always be available, until people learn how to fix there PC's themselves. Just keep in mind that profit margins on parts are pretty slim these days.
 
yea, i tried to start a busness like that but there are not a lot of people that want a custom computer that expensive. This is a generality but most people that like this kind of stuff and want a cool looking computer with expensive parts dont have the money to spend for someone to make it for them, If they are going to throw that money around they would probably want to buy a computer from a big name company cause they know they will get support and warrentys on it all. I had a few hits from people that wanted me to build a computer but they only had about 600-800 dollars to spend, and they wanted something much better than they could afford. they said theyd get back to me when they got more money. Havent replyed back to me. but good luck with ur buisness. im just trying to soften ur landing if u hit rock bottom with this idea., i didnt mean that in a bad way. if u live anywhere near central vermont send me a message id like to find somone in my area that likes this stuff.
 
I agree with those who are saying that the profits are not much in the custom computer business.

You will make more money as a consultant with lots of contacts. You will also make more money fixing and troubleshooting computers on the side. You can charge half or 75% on what retailers would charge and will automatically become a consultant when they need parts and etc.

Just build up your rep. and everything will go from there.
 
Chelica said:
I agree with those who are saying that the profits are not much in the custom computer business.

You will make more money as a consultant with lots of contacts. You will also make more money fixing and troubleshooting computers on the side. You can charge half or 75% on what retailers would charge and will automatically become a consultant when they need parts and etc.

Just build up your rep. and everything will go from there.
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I have to agree with this although it never hurts to be set for doing everything you are capable of. Best of luck
 
As a uni student ive also considered selling pc's in the past, its finding the people who'll want to buy them thats the problem.
I really have no interest (or time) in offering after sale support, so if I built systems for the average user then why would they choose me over the extras dell offers? really theres no reason for them to do so.
So then theres higher spec pc's for enthusiasts, but anyone who'd be looking into that would probably be able to build it themselves.
Theres not really much of a middle ground that dell and friends also dont cover. Thats open to speculation of course ~_^ But there is already dozens of small shops that sell mid level pc's on ebay so theres some real competition


As for home repairs, I do this in my local area. Mainly its deleting viruses/malware, installing xp sp2 and configuring printers. Its good money (usually charge around £10 a hour) but it is definately not a steady flow of cash.


btw a similar question came up 2 weeks ago which might be good readin'
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=862472
 
TSS Modder said:
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You ain't charging enough for service man, especially if you're using your own vehicle. I charge $25 just to drive out to a customer's house/business and knock on the door. From there I charge about 15% less than what computer shops charge for over the counter work. I made $175 from one customer and it took me 45 minutes to get everything done (setup the guy's 3 computer network, setup his printer to work over Ethernet, transferred data between the systems). You are also incorrect on Dell's service, if you can stand to talk to the tech support guy for more than 20 minutes you'll have me calling you the morning of the following business day to set up a time for service parts in hand! (On-site service is now part of Dell's standard warranty on desktop systems) Which is why I've completely gotten out of the PC Sales business, I don't have the money, nor the space to keep an inventory of parts. I just couldn't keep up with Dell's service and support which is why I'm on a contract with them to do their warranty repairs, it gives me a steady flow of cash to help me develop my business.

Techmedic007: I've been wanting to get into that side of things too because NOBODY here in Amarillo offers network wiring in houses and NONE of the contractors or electricians are offering it to home-buyers because they know nothing about it. I'd like to pick your brain if you'd let me. I know how to do all the work, I just need some advice on who I should be handing out cards to and some of the legal side of things.
 
repairing comps is good money when u live in a small town were most people know eachother. i live in NYC and its VERY hard to find people who need comp help. only close friends and relatives. i cnt take money from ralatives nor close friends. also here every 4th person is ok w/ comps so its hard to find clients.
 
jacuzz1 said:
Gross Revenue and Net profit are two different things. The Best buys of the world make most of thier money ont the high profit extended serivice contracts and accessories afforded them by a large retail space and a high volume of customers. On the other hand you would have the avantage of low overhead.

Offering a 10 year warranty would do it for you. Thats how Hyundi got off the ground. Thier cars still suck but the sell in such a volume that the revenue stream is self sustaining.
Click to expand...

I should have been more clear in my post, I'm sorry. What I was saying is that the only time that I worked at Best Buy and we made money on selling computers, not accessories. Anyone that worked on a Black Friday at Best Buy knows that there is little or no chance of selling a person extra accessories or a service plan on these day's. But what I was not clear about was that yes, Best Buy usually doesn't make a cent when they sell computers, that is why they want salesmen to add in accessories and service planes. When I worked there you were expected to meet certin sales quota's or your hours were cut, and I'm talking service plan on every computer PLUS 20% in accessories in relation to the cost of the computer (so a $1,000 computer they wanted us to have $200 in accessories along with the $200ish service plan). The only way that a small business can make money in relation to computers is by offering service. The only reason I even suggested building your own is that you can build a nice client base if you give a person a reliabe computer, they understand it will be cheap to fix, and you give them the service. And by service I don't mean just fixing the problem, the computer needs to be checked to make sure something down the road doesn't break so that there are additional costs for the customer. For example, a friend brought over her computer that I built. The CD-ROM had died so I swapped it out with an old one I had, in fact I think I threw in a CD burner instead. But a week later her PSU died. The problems wern't related but I fixed it for free and ate the cost. Now she comes to me for everything, not always by choice, but her parents insist. They know that if I'm fixing the machine, it will be fixed and it will work, regarldess of wether I lose money or not. And just from this little cost hit, I added 5 of her friends as customers. Think of it as a car repair shop, and do the exact oppisate of them and you'll be fine.
 
I have my own computer business and the real money is in service...it's almost all profit for me because I have such little overhead (I do it out of my home). I charge $60 and hour for on-site visits and $75 an hour for networking. I'm actually cheaper than many of my competitors. I've been doing this for ten years, so anything less than $60 is just not worth it to me. Of course I don't charge family and friends that, but I definitely don't work for free.

Lyquist
 
wow... ive been undercharging.... i average 20$ an hour. i should should more. :evilgrin:

but also keep in mind that im only 14. and its my dad who chauffers(sp) me. sometimes my clients come and pick me up. :p
 
Mr. Baz said:
To be honest, there is no money in the computer-building sector. It's all about repair/troubleshooting/installs/support. You actually make very little off of computer sells. How many people do you know that are going to want to pay $300+ more for a 'custom' computer, when they could just easily order a cheap Dell and have the 'support' of a huge manufacturer?
Click to expand...
Very good point!
 
TSS Modder said:
wow... ive been undercharging.... i average 20$ an hour. i should should more. :evilgrin:

but also keep in mind that im only 14. and its my dad who chauffers(sp) me. sometimes my clients come and pick me up. :p
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Yeah, you're doing good for a 14 year old whose not using a vehicle. I'm 21 and up until my accident back in December I was using a $24,000 pickup that burns $2/gal Diesel fuel for my calls. Now I'm car-pooling with my dad that lives 20 miles out of town which causes me to fill up every other DAY (A tank of Diesel in my pickup would last me a week runnin around on service calls.) I can't afford to charge less than $25 just to come out.
 
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