HELP please!

[EmTek]

Hi all,

I emma, 30, from Kent. I work as conveyancer. I am looking for a buddy/mentor who can provide me
with support to get my business off the ground. My week day, runs from 6am-8pm so email is the best form of contact. I am not a complete div and pick up things quickly. I am willing to pay someone for their time.

My business will consist of 0-4 people, we will be selling IT hardware components and a range of custom built pc's. initially we will be selling on ebay, amazon, as well as our own site. I just want to get a bit more info on...

1. Is it better to go Ltd or stay sole trader?
2. What business insurance will we need apart from the obvious?
3. How can I protect against components been damaged by mishandling, power surge, etc.
4. What health and safety, standards need to be fullfilled before we can ship our custom range?
5. Projected turnover is below 43k for year 1, but is it better to get VAT registered given the nature of my business?
6. If I am not VAT registered, what things can I claim back VAT on if any?

Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.
PM me if you can be of additional support. (will pay for your time of course)
Cheers
Emma

 

[Scalloway]

5. If you are supplying businesses it is better to be VAT registered
6. You can't claim back VAT if you are not registered. It just forms part of your costs.

 

[The Byre]

Do you know anything at all about the custom built PC market and are you IT literate?

 

[EmTek]

@Scalloway thanks

Hi yeah. it will be B2C and B2B. We'll also be renting a couple of units for the business. So It looks like we have to register for VAT.

 

[EmTek]

@The Byre haha no! why do you ask, is it something I said?

But anyway, yes I have pretty good working knowledge of technical products especially to do with computing and have been building computers since I was 16, in the past it was a hobby and for sale but not as a serious business. The idea now is to do it as a full time business.

 

[The Byre]

In that case, I would recommend targeting specific needs, such as 4K film editing (tip - big SSD RAID arrays and dual CPU MBs loaded with 18core Xenons, multiple NVIDIA cards, etc.) or multi-track audio recording with on-board audio processing cards from UAD to cut down on latency (anything above 2ms makes a recording system useless).

If you can out-perform people like Scan Computers in price and performance, there may just be a place for you in an otherwise overcrowded market!

 

[EmTek]

@The Byre Well there will be a custom option for custom needs like music production, video editing, gaming etc. We want to have a managable range 2 low end, 2 low-mid, 2 mid, 1 high, 1 custom. I believe in bang for the buck, quality and customer service and given something companies like scan aren't providing. Don't get me wrong Scan are brilliant and they are one of our main competitors but we want to do what they do for cheaper You're right about the market being saturated but what market isn't? I rather try and fail than not try at all. The scarifice to grow a brand is...sometimes breaking even or making small profits and sometimes a small loss for the sake of image and future growth. There's a lot of people who have bought from scan, msi, chillblast, pc specialists, utopia, box etc and not everyone is 100% happy which tell us there's a place for us.

 

[The Byre]

The only problem is, if you provide for example a 4K film editor with expensive disk arrays and Xeon CPUs, we are talking about many thousands of pounds worth of PC, typically from £5-£10k. Similar prices exist for 3D graphics, audio, multi-media and all the other high-end applications.

If a deal like that goes wrong for any reason, that is a very big hit for a start-up. It's water off a duck's back for Scan, who also provide all the accessories - and there really is not much space at the bottom or the middle of the market.

Good luck anyway!

 

[EmTek]

@The Byre haha thanks. No that's totally right. But our clients aren't going to be the high end market as I think that's a niche. (i.e. custom options will be limited) Our focus is low-mid-high. From all the work we have done in the past we have been able to give people far superior machines depending on their budgets and requirements. Better value than Scan, better than mass produced products bought from PC' world. I think there's a risk in any business thats why we would have a contingency plan. We can give full warranty and support and still make a profit
It's going to be hard as a startup and steep learning curve nevertheless every business needs a starting point. I remember the days when Scan were a very small family business which has steadily grown over the years but that's not say there wasn't any other competition when they lanuched. I know this isn't the 1990's and the same sector but Arcadia Group is prime example of how any business could make it big given the right circumstances.

 

[Simply Business]

Hi @EmTek, good to hear you're looking to get your business going. In terms of your second question...

Public liability insurance will cover you if you cause physical damage to property or injury to members of the public.

Professional indemnity insurance covers you if a client suffers a financial loss due to negligence in your work.

And then you might wish to cover your business equipment etc

Let me know if you'd like any extra info/help at all!