IT Equipment/Electronics Retail Query

1. Have you done any market research to see if people are interested in what you are selling. You could make up a short questionaire and speake to people passing by.

2. You probably would need to put up a deposit for rent, plus have cash to keep you going for a few months until you are established. You would at least need to have some stock to show people what was available

3. You would need a consumer credit licence

http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/credit-licensing/#.UMEDWoaE6Fg

Have you worked in IT before? My advice is to try and get work experience (paid or unpaid) in a similar environment. Learn about the costs and other aspects on the job before you start up.

On the whole, consumer IT hardware is tough to make money on as customers can easily find it online.

If a business customer came to you and wanted a server, ten computers and monitors with Office 2010 and a printer, where are you going to find £6900 plus VAT to buy that kit? If they lease it over three years then you are not going to get your money back for a long time. A lot of IT firms have cashflow problems because their customers take just 30 days to pay up!

Read up on the Sales of Goods act that will apply to you as a business.

Also, if you are selling kit then you will likely need to provide services because you will have some customers who need it set up for them, data transfer from old kit etc. etc. Work out how you will handle that. If you do site visits then who will run the retail shop?

I would look at finance companies and work with them to resell their finance. Lots of car garages do this. You get the money up front for your product and you get commission from the finance company - double bubble. And I don't think you need a consumer credit licence if you use their services (you would probably use their website to process applications and they would do the necessary checks).

There is more money in IT services (selling your time). If you have the skills, I would advise you to get a brochure type website and sell IT services and support (home visits, remote control via the Internet)

If you want to contact me to discuss what you are hoping to achieve and whether it requires, premises, stock etc then please do.

I can also provide you with contact details of Ricoh, Epson, HP, Dell to name just a few.

TurricanII said:

If a business customer came to you and wanted a server, ten computers and monitors with Office 2010 and a printer, where are you going to find £6900 plus VAT to buy that kit? If they lease it over three years then you are not going to get your money back for a long time. A lot of IT firms have cashflow problems because their customers take just 30 days to pay up!

Read up on the Sales of Goods act that will apply to you as a business.

Also, if you are selling kit then you will likely need to provide services because you will have some customers who need it set up for them, data transfer from old kit etc. etc. Work out how you will handle that. If you do site visits then who will run the retail shop?

I would look at finance companies and work with them to resell their finance. Lots of car garages do this. You get the money up front for your product and you get commission from the finance company - double bubble. And I don't think you need a consumer credit licence if you use their services (you would probably use their website to process applications and they would do the necessary checks).

There is more money in IT services (selling your time). If you have the skills, I would advise you to get a brochure type website and sell IT services and support (home visits, remote control via the Internet)

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Turrican has highlighted some of the issues that you need to overcome in fact I think he has been rather restrained in his post concerning payments.

Russjones said:

Hi morrigan.. Thanks for your reply! Very helpful. Do you have experience of what I'm trying to achieve?

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I have over 25 years experience of retail not all in my own business and not specific to IT and Computers. We now deal in office supplies which brings the IT side into some of what we do. I am no expert in the technical side of IT and if anyone came to us with specific requirements or queries we would seek support from our suppliers or from a local business that we partner with.

I can give you pointers and contacts daresay most people on the forum can. Think you should gather as much info as possible not from just me or the others here but certainly use the advice and information to allow you to make more informed decisions.

There are opportunities for grants etc and you do not necessarily have to open a retail premises to go into the industry you are thinking about.

Read some of the other threads about Leasing retail premises etc. Identify who you wish to sell to B2B, Public or both. If B2B a retail premises is not always required.

You need to read through the forum, look for mentor, advisors, do some research before committing to anything.