Is there space for a new UK re/e-tailer?

[equk]

That was my original plan, to simply do repairs from home in my spare time in the local area for old people or those not in the know. I don't understand why that would cost £180 per callout...

Doing local repairs and becoming an online etailer are 2 completely different things.

Just seems like a dream

online etailer: webdesign / hosting / support line / employees / stock / office and warehouse space

local repairs: petrol / working out of hours / hardware costs

local repairs would probably be enough demand for a weekend job as most people work in the week, so you are working hours which should be charged double or triple time +expenses

 

[alienware]

As for the call out costs... depending on what the business ends up being - why would I need to charge £180 to pay for me and my time and transportation? If the business went that way and was done out of my home, why would I need to charge £180?

So you don't want to actually make a wage? You'll find out why you need to charge that dude. It's called actually making money from the business. If you are thinking of working from home? Well I wish you luck. Every one wishes they could do that but the reality is you'll need to be god to convince people to hand over their money to what appears to be an amateur. You also better be certified on Microsoft, A+ and all sorts of others (backed up with certificates) as people will want to see that before letting you anywhere near their machine.

I understand why you're telling me all of this, but be realistic.

I am being realistic. That was what you asked for yes? Go and do a business studies course. You'll be told everything I have said.

That was my original plan, to simply do repairs from home in my spare time in the local area for old people or those not in the know. I don't understand why that would cost £180 per callout...

Well as I said. Firstly you need to be certified. Do you think I would let any builder near my house who couldn't show me his city and guilds in the very least? That costs money. Then as I said you need to insure your car for business use. That costs money. Petrol costs money, tax costs money. There's no point in running your car into the ground and not making money.

Honestly, go through the yellow pages, call a few computer businesses and see what they charge for callouts. My mate in Norfolk does them for £100 (undercutting the only competition in his area) and makes hardly anything out of it, it's literally just making sure he gets the callout.

 

[FatMikel]

I really don't think you're being realistic.

The sort of customers I would be fixing computers for (in that part time business) won't have heard of the Microsoft certified and other certification schemes.

Let's just clear this up.

I work full time at the moment. The local repair man job would be just in my spare time for extra money. I'm not living off it.

The e-tailer/retailer business, like said in the OP, was just an idea and thank you all for the replies. It's pretty clear now what it would take to do that (that being mainly buying power, as well as the usual staff, advertising, logistics, office stuff).

However, it has brought up a possible opportunity and that is using my contacts in my current career to get my company to start stocking PC components. It's not a mile away from the sort of things we currently stock (heck we already stock networking equipment). With enough investment, and I'm not just writing this to boast, we would put Scan/OcUK and even the likes of PCWorld almost out of business unless they did something radical.

 

[alienware]

I really don't think you're being realistic.

The sort of customers I would be fixing computers for (in that part time business) won't have heard of the Microsoft certified and other certification schemes.

So you're soley relying on complete idiots who don't know about the internet? Back in the day it was really easy to screw some one out of a buck when it came to computers. People were scared of them. And then along came PC world for somewhere to go if you wanted your hand held and some spotty kid to fill you with crap. However, they did offer (and still do) cheap computers. You'll also need to be VAT registered and registered as a business unless you want to go under the table. But that isn't what you are putting accross. You're talking about opening shops with rooms in them to test components and so on. All of a sudden we are down to you going to people's houses who know nothing about computers and won't ask you to prove you are who you say you are and can do what you say you can do.

Excuse me for playing devil's advocate, but those are all things that you will encounter. If some one is paying you for any thing they won't just hand over their money like the little old lady who calls out a plumber that you see on Watchdog.

As for being realistic? Again, I am. If you want to run any sort of business you need to make money. I am telling you how to. Nothing comes for nothing. Why do you think I don't go around people's houses making tons of cash? Or any one on this forum? I mean sheesh, there's some real professionals here.

You hardly see us all rolling around in cash we have made.

Let's just clear this up.

I work full time at the moment. The local repair man job would be just in my spare time for extra money. I'm not living off it.

The e-tailer/retailer business, like said in the OP, was just an idea and thank you all for the replies. It's pretty clear now what it would take to do that (that being mainly buying power, as well as the usual staff, advertising, logistics, office stuff).

Well if that's what it is to be and you can roll a coin out of it? fair enough. The biggest thing in any business is being established, word of mouth and being at the top of search engines with lots of customers. See the five year business rule.

 

[alienware]

BTW, something else you may find useful.

Let's say that Tom and or Jim and others (who own run and maintain this forum) decided to turn it into a business.

Well firstly this is a highly established forum with an enormous userbase. So it would be pretty easy to start a business using this place as a spring board.

However, I must have visited a thousand forums that were nowhere near as successful. I know that component reviewers don't usually get paid and don't get to keep the parts they are reviewing. They are sent on to other reviewers. So basically let's assume (because obviously it's absolutely none of my business) that Tom runs this site and does what he does through pure passion. Which he obviously has in abundance. He obviously has a buttload of experience too, because just through the sheer ammount of stuff that he gets to handle and play with he should automatically know more than most.

So as I say, let's assume Tom and Jim decided tomorrow to open a sale outlet on this site (kinda like OCUK did with their forums etc). Then yes, he would have the customer base needed to actually make a go of it. Some people would buy from Tom even if he was (and he probably would be !) more expensive than OCUK or Scan, simply as they have a lot of respect for him. Without sounding like an asshole however I personally would not. Money is incredibly tight to me and so I would go with the cheapest every time.

And how long has this place been running? Five years? a few years? And Tom hasn't made it his livelihood yet and neither has Jim. And that says a lot.

There aren't many members who post a lot, but the sheer member base here who visit is enormous. So, at this stage Tom and Jim could actually consider turning this into a business venture. But I dread to think what this place has cost to run and the money spent on Tom running around like a headless chicken getting parts off to reviewers (like VB and others).

It's a labour of love, one that has no doubt cost him (in more ways than one). Yet, that's how most businesses are started and become a success, by absolutely turning your asshole inside out with nothing but hard work.

 

[FatMikel]

I totally get that.

Funnily enough though, I've just had a phonecall to arrange an interview for a different position in my current business which could lead to a position where I could get us offering computer parts/computers in our stores.

How odd.

 

[Diablo]

As a local boy, much as I would love to see another tech company nearby, I just don't see it being viable. I am fickle enough that I will change retailer for the sake of £10, meaning I will drive to Scan instead of Longsight (similar sort of time, twice the distance). The prices would have to be pretty competative, and stuff would always have to be in stock, which is the main reason for changing retailers.

With regards to locals, you would have to offer a real niche, which is going to be hard to make it pay.

For longer distance things (i.e. when I'm in oxford) I always use ebuyer because they deliver next day. Simple as.

Having worked for a small buisness, which is in its third year of operation now, I've seen the sacrifices people make in those years. That means begging people to ferry stuff in exchange for a bottle of wine etc. I hate to say it but unless you have massive initial investments (for website, stock and advertising) you won't make it.

 

[AMDFTW]

there are to many big guns owning a monoply scan,ocuk and ebuyer

they can lower the costs as they buy masses of stuff as has been said,unless you become partnerd with ither of them then its not luck

 

[zak4994]

Aqua-PC's and Immortal Gaming to name but a couple more

I wonder how the people at yoyotech are doing?

 

[Diablo]

Yoyotech have been around long enough to be established, and their shop is in London, which means they can get plenty of people through the door. If I need tech that isn't stocked by ebuyer, and I'm in Oxford I just pop down on the train. They have been around for quite a while and so the PC community knows them pretty well.

 

[NickCPC]

Alien's advice has been great. Before you do any kind of business investment, you need to basically have a sit down and be told that life is tough out there. It is brutal, it's really hard work and some days you will make a profit, others (and especially in your first couple of years), it'll be a loss, and potentially big losses. Setting up something like this is a massive, massive risk. If it goes wrong, you could lose all the cash you gathered to set up the business in the first place - and if you've gone to a bank (as you'd undoubtedly need to do), then you could be risking your house, car and anything else you've used as a guarantee for getting a loan.

Then again, nothing new would ever open if you were scared off by this. That's not to say I'm giving you a golden ticket and a pat on the back to go and set up something like you are suggesting, but I would say thoroughly evaluate the market. Go and knock on random local people's doors (they are your target market anyway!), refine your unique selling points, talk to potential suppliers.

My personal view is that it's a cut-throat industry, and there's market saturation from the big boys as it is. Be prepared to give it your all, and lose it all.