Some Business and Legal Advice.....

[imhotepmp]

Im thinking of starting a small business building and selling computers locally(Yea i know, original idea eh??)Well, I plan to pretty much sell them out of my apartment, and I had a few questions which I hope you guys can help me with, esp since alot of you are probably doing the same and this newbie can benefit from your experiences its a long list so thanks for reading it:

1)Advertising Whats the best way to advertise? I was thinking flyers around the local colleges, maybe in my school newspaper.

2)Legal Agreements Should I get people who buy from me to sign contracts? Im thinking of this to prevent people backing out of the purchase at the last minute and me getting stuck with an unwanted purchase. I was thinking of maybe requiring a deposit of x % to insure they dont back out.....feasible?

3)Legalese Source If i were to get contracts or agreements, where could i find these things. I want something semi-professional and since i cant speak a lick of "lawyer" im gonna need some other source for this.

4)Prices How much should i charge above the cost of building the system, i don want to be greedy, but i do want to make some $$$. I was thinking maybe a specific % above the cost as well as maybe a labor fee??

5)SoftwareSince I only have single copies of win9x,nt,etc can i install these copies on each machine i build? im guessing this is a definite no-go

6)Tech support Should i offer support to the person say for the first week or two, in case of any problems. Im thinking this will be extremely time consuming, but will make the cust happy...although unless they do some crazy sh!t, which is very possible, the comp should run perfectly forever if i build it

7)Supply Anyone know of a good distributor or just source for parts, that is relatively low price and reliable? I was thinking of MaLabs, but havent sent in my application yet. also i definitely dont have the capital to buy in bulk..


btw i really dont plan to sell to computer savvy people, because obviously if they are that enthusiastic, what do they need a middleman like me for...
any comment, suggestions, ideas, etc are more than welcome.
thanks in advance
imhotepmp

 

[Viper GTS]

Don't take any of this badly, but here're my thoughts...

There isn't much market for this. Like you said, the computer savvy people don't need you. The one's that don't know anything will simply go down to CompUSA & buy a Compaq.

The market might be there fora reseller of components, though. Most local shops around here don't even charge for assembly. They charge the cost of the parts at their current prices, & no more. The parts are where they make their money.

The other possibility would be specifically building high-end systems. In that market you're not subject to the cost cutting low price war that dominates the normal retail computer market. Your customers are people who recognize the value & quality in brand name components, but want a pre-built rig. Falcon NW is an obvious example of this. An $8,500 PC would never sell at CompUSA, but Falcon NW has one for sale. They're targeting a different market than the big chains, because they know they can't compete with the big chains.

Good luck.

Viper GTS

 

[imhotepmp]

Im not trying to compete with compusa, etc. Im more geared to college students like myself who want a quality comp at a pretty low price, esp when compared to compusa. Im pretty sure that i can build any equilavent pc at a lower price than compusa, staples, good guys, etc. Since theyre overhead is HUGE. Don t you agree. I only need to find people who wish to buy..
imhotepmp

 

[slipperyslope]

I am not saying that it is not possible but you have to realize that the cost of a full version of windows98 second edition is around $150 that alone will run your cost up. Then consider you can build a decent system for $400 by the time you add the equivalent software on that computer you will be looking at $700. You need a reason for someone to buy from you. I just don't think it is feasible to compete with compusa or best buy prices since emachines can make dirt cheap computers.

Quality you can beat but most people have no idea about that.

I know because I work as a Rep for HP on the weekends and I see many people buying emachines over much better HP's and IBM computers everyday. I would never own an HP, compaq, IBM, or emachine computer myself. But you have to realize that people just want a computer that works and get it cheap.

Jim

 

[UG]

If you have to ask, first you have to work for someone else to learn the business from the inside. Then you'll know the answers to your questions wiithout having to ask.

Sad, perhaps, but true.

 

[imhotepmp]

Ok, so I can tell you guys think this is pretty much impractical, but still, humor me