How do I turn building PCs into a little money on the side?

Hey guys I have 5 years of experience building computers and I'd like to put it to some good use by building Pcs to make some money. Do you have any suggestions? Do you already do this and have a secret to success? Also what would be a fair rate/fee to charge? Also I was thinking that I could ship to Canada as well because I could save the Canadians a lot of money. So any suggestions would be helpful.

Put an add out in the paper. Try to find people locally and see if you can get some customers. I would start with really low prices myself. I have thought of doing it (I have assembled family and friend's computers), but I have not went out to the public and advertised them it.Luminouslight

There are a lot of things to consider. Are going to work out of home, or lease some space? Where are you going to get your parts, have you looked up a distributor? Do you know the cost of building certain configurations, ordering in bulk will save you money, whereas custom builds will be more expensive. How will you offer tech support to your customers, you would have to provide Windows Retail if you're not going to offer support. If you do offer support how much is it costing you to fix these computers, and provide support and does your pricing model still allow you to make profit even with support returns?. How much does it cost to ship it out? How much do you have to charge to support your business and make profit. Where are you going to get startup money? You will need to register your company as a legitimate company with United States Government. How are you going to keep track of your customers, their invoices etc? Do you have the means to take down all transactions for tax purposes and other puproses otherwise. Do you have the proper means to keep customer data confidential? Do you know all the laws when it comes to shipping to other states and other countries? Will you need extra employees etc... It's a long process. Are you going to need a website? Will you need to buy advertising to sustain customer base etc...

There are a lot of things to consider. Are going to work out of home, or lease some space? Where are you going to get your parts, have you looked up a distributor? Do you know the cost of building certain configurations, ordering in bulk will save you money, whereas custom builds will be more expensive. How will you offer tech support to your customers, you would have to provide Windows Retail if you're not going to offer support. If you do offer support how much is it costing you to fix these computers, and provide support and does your pricing model still allow you to make profit even with support returns?. How much does it cost to ship it out? How much do you have to charge to support your business and make profit. Where are you going to get startup money? You will need to register your company as a legitimate company with United States Government. How are you going to keep track of your customers, their invoices etc? Do you have the means to take down all transactions for tax purposes and other puproses otherwise. Do you have the proper means to keep customer data confidential? Do you know all the laws when it comes to shipping to other states and other countries? Will you need extra employees etc... It's a long process. Are you going to need a website? Will you need to buy advertising to sustain customer base etc...

Marfoo

use ebay and craigslist to sell and advertise. Keep prices very low at first. like for a 1000$ pc you build sell it for liek 1100. not too much of a mark upDr_Brocoli

Maybe not start as a business. Talk to friends or relatives, and maybe they need small upgrades such as RAM and such.

Then you'll start getting reputation, and before you know it, you'll be building full rigs for people.

Iam currently looking at two other custom builds and would like to know if you might be able to build a computer for me? Check your inbox :)

Iam currently looking at two other custom builds and would like to know if you might be able to build a computer for me? Check your inbox :)

bleedingsouls

Maybe not start as a business. Talk to friends or relatives, and maybe they need small upgrades such as RAM and such.

Then you'll start getting reputation, and before you know it, you'll be building full rigs for people.

ShadowedSight

You could always get a job with Geek squad or something similar. (Sure everyone of us hates Geek squad but you probably have much more experience than they do, making it an easy job.)Duckman5

they wont hire someone with too much experience or knowledge

and try putting out ads in a paper or just around town. advertise on websites. set up your own website. ect

You could always get a job with Geek squad or something similar. (Sure everyone of us hates Geek squad but you probably have much more experience than they do, making it an easy job.)Duckman5

[QUOTE="Duckman5"]You could always get a job with Geek squad or something similar. (Sure everyone of us hates Geek squad but you probably have much more experience than they do, making it an easy job.)UltimateGamer95

The secret is when your big you join forces with me because im your best friend.RedxSniper

From personal experience I can tell you knowing computers is not enough. You need to know business as well. It is very important to know all of the laws that pertain to how you want to run your business the way you want. You need a business license, you need to figure out what kind of business you want to run (sole proprietor ship, LLC, etc...) you need to be able to design a website even if you don't plan to sell on line. How much experience coding do you have? From my own personal experience I can tell you that running a computer business is less about knowing computers, and more about knowing business. My advice would be to read a lot about running a online business first... Oh and give it time my relatively new business (less than 8 months) is just now starting to get rolling.jtschmitz

Be sure to become official partners with any companies whose products you would be selling, so you can legally use their logos. -GeordiLaForge-

[QUOTE="jtschmitz"]From personal experience I can tell you knowing computers is not enough. You need to know business as well. It is very important to know all of the laws that pertain to how you want to run your business the way you want. You need a business license, you need to figure out what kind of business you want to run (sole proprietor ship, LLC, etc...) you need to be able to design a website even if you don't plan to sell on line. How much experience coding do you have? From my own personal experience I can tell you that running a computer business is less about knowing computers, and more about knowing business. My advice would be to read a lot about running a online business first... Oh and give it time my relatively new business (less than 8 months) is just now starting to get rolling.UltimateGamer95

[QUOTE="-GeordiLaForge-"]Be sure to become official partners with any companies whose products you would be selling, so you can legally use their logos. UltimateGamer95

[QUOTE="UltimateGamer95"][QUOTE="jtschmitz"]From personal experience I can tell you knowing computers is not enough. You need to know business as well. It is very important to know all of the laws that pertain to how you want to run your business the way you want. You need a business license, you need to figure out what kind of business you want to run (sole proprietor ship, LLC, etc...) you need to be able to design a website even if you don't plan to sell on line. How much experience coding do you have? From my own personal experience I can tell you that running a computer business is less about knowing computers, and more about knowing business. My advice would be to read a lot about running a online business first... Oh and give it time my relatively new business (less than 8 months) is just now starting to get rolling.jtschmitz

[QUOTE="jtschmitz"]

[QUOTE="UltimateGamer95"] You are wrong there because You need to know a lot about computers to run a computer business otherwise you have no knowledge or experience to stand behind. -GeordiLaForge-

[QUOTE="jtschmitz"]From personal experience I can tell you knowing computers is not enough. You need to know business as well. It is very important to know all of the laws that pertain to how you want to run your business the way you want. You need a business license, you need to figure out what kind of business you want to run (sole proprietor ship, LLC, etc...) you need to be able to design a website even if you don't plan to sell on line. How much experience coding do you have? From my own personal experience I can tell you that running a computer business is less about knowing computers, and more about knowing business. My advice would be to read a lot about running a online business first... Oh and give it time my relatively new business (less than 8 months) is just now starting to get rolling.UltimateGamer95

What's you're current job?

What are your past experiences in jobs that would help you run your own business?

What are your main goals (aside from wanting to make extra cash)?

How much time do you have to put into this new venture?

How much money do you need to start this up?

Is there extra cost in overhead once you start this business?

Will you need to build a website? Can you design your own or will you have to pay someone?

Will you need to purchase new tools? New phone plan? 800 number?

What kind of experience can you offer potential customers?

Are you good at talking with people? Are you good at listening (by listening I mean, understanding what customers want)?

What will it cost to run ad space in local papers? I know a guy that lives in the same suburb as I do in the Twin Cities and in the local paper (he started doing this about 2 years ago when things slowed down) for the city we live in he rents out a quarter page ad that runs every other week with the paper. He said a lot of his work (flooring installation/repair/heating & air condition/electrical type jobs) for repair jobs has more then doubled. Which is good since work for new construction has more than halved in the past few years. He said the cost is fairly cheap and the return in work more then makes up for it.

What kind of payments will you accept (cash, check, credit card)?

What kind of working hours will you be able to provide to your customers?

How will you keep track of business transactions? How will you process refunds?

This is just a small step in the direction of running a business....aside from what jtschmitz said about needing a business liscense and so on. You could be the smartest computer guy in the world, but if you're understanding of how a business works and needs to be ran is less then what Rainman (Dustin Hoffman from the movie "Rainman") knows, you're business will fail.

A lot of those questions are ones that I would like to ask the owner's sons that were brought in to run the business that I work for....those talentless retards don't understand a damn thing when it comes to running a business - they just look at numbers. They're anti-social, they look down on their employees like they're dirt, they don't know how the business runs, they don't know how to do anything in the business.... The only thing they're really good at is yelling at people when they don't understand how something works or why it works they way it does. Now I'm off topic here...

Now if you just want to build computers on the side and try your hand at selling them via ebay or some such.....it probably won't net you very much in return, but it won't be as big of a hassle as trying to start up a business.

[QUOTE="jtschmitz"]From personal experience I can tell you knowing computers is not enough. You need to know business as well. It is very important to know all of the laws that pertain to how you want to run your business the way you want. You need a business license, you need to figure out what kind of business you want to run (sole proprietor ship, LLC, etc...) you need to be able to design a website even if you don't plan to sell on line. How much experience coding do you have? From my own personal experience I can tell you that running a computer business is less about knowing computers, and more about knowing business. My advice would be to read a lot about running a online business first... Oh and give it time my relatively new business (less than 8 months) is just now starting to get rolling.UltimateGamer95

[QUOTE="-GeordiLaForge-"][QUOTE="jtschmitz"]You misunderstand me, I wasn't saying that you didn't need to know anything about computers. But you also need to know a lot about everything related to a business.

UltimateGamer95

[QUOTE="UltimateGamer95"][QUOTE="-GeordiLaForge-"]This is true. It takes a good amount of research to learn everything that you'll need to know. You may be able to find a lawyer that'll give you limited information and advice for free. Otherwise, I would recommend doing as much reading as possible on the subject. You should also be able to contact your local court house for some limited information.jtschmitz

[QUOTE="UltimateGamer95"][QUOTE="-GeordiLaForge-"]This is true. It takes a good amount of research to learn everything that you'll need to know. You may be able to find a lawyer that'll give you limited information and advice for free. Otherwise, I would recommend doing as much reading as possible on the subject. You should also be able to contact your local court house for some limited information.jtschmitz

[QUOTE="jtschmitz"]

[QUOTE="UltimateGamer95"] I do not need a lawyer for crying out loud! I already know a lot about business and besides this is just some money on the side and not a full fledged business. You people are missing the entire point! Ok just tell me what kind of rates would be fair to charge for the system building.Duckman5

[QUOTE="jtschmitz"]

[QUOTE="UltimateGamer95"] I do not need a lawyer for crying out loud! I already know a lot about business and besides this is just some money on the side and not a full fledged business. You people are missing the entire point! Ok just tell me what kind of rates would be fair to charge for the system building.UltimateGamer95

Edit: Of course this does not pertain to selling items like on ebay, craiglist, etc... The problem there is that you can not legally claim yourself as a business when you sell them, which is fine as long as you can get sales. People tend to not trust even larger business and websites, so it could be quite difficult to generate a sale just on a name...

[QUOTE="UltimateGamer95"][QUOTE="jtschmitz"] Please attend a "FREE" small business meeting in your area at the very least. You need to understand that if you sell a single computer, just one, even if it is to your best friend, you must claim it to the government. If you sell it locally and it needs to be taxed, than it needs to be filed just like your taxes at the end of the year. You will need to not only get a business license, but a permit to sell items from your house. All of this is cheap and easy to do, but if you don't do it you will be fined and heavily. It is rather confusing and quite a headache to start a small business, but it is of utmost importance to do it correctly so that you avoid any fines or penalties. As far as prices go, that depends on you and your market. I sell systems where I make little to no profit at all, some systems I "profit" $50 from each system. I built each of my systems withing a certain budget and apply a set fee on how long I estimate it will take me to build it (complete with everything + testing + documents) and go from there. It will be difficult to buy parts wholesale, nearly every wholesaler has a minimum amount you need to purchase at a time, and requires you to start a line of credit with them (credit check). Your best bet is to build the systems you think people want to buy, find the cheapest parts you can and give the customers a fair price. As I said there is a lot of competition so if you can do something nobody else can do, you will generate sales.

jtschmitz

Edit: Of course this does not pertain to selling items like on ebay, craiglist, etc... The problem there is that you can not legally claim yourself as a business when you sell them, which is fine as long as you can get sales. People tend to not trust even larger business and websites, so it could be quite difficult to generate a sale just on a name...

If it is just you doing nice things on the side I assume you would be fine. Don't quote me on that I honestly don't know the legalities of it... But it would be the cheapest/easiest route to take.jtschmitz

[QUOTE="jtschmitz"]If it is just you doing nice things on the side I assume you would be fine. Don't quote me on that I honestly don't know the legalities of it... But it would be the cheapest/easiest route to take.UltimateGamer95

Also, installing free programs like Malwarebytes or CCleaner and informing potential customers what the advantages are of using these programs, will help make them feel at ease and generates free goodwill(It's an accounting term,think of a donation by a large company or philanthropist). Since you intend to CS through e-mail you might need a contingency plan should one of your customers have problems with a build. Things like helping them fill in forms like RMA forms, MIR forms and troubleshooting and maintenance recommendations will help in making you appear as professional for someone doing this as a side income. You should make another email account, or create a business folder in your current one to separate emails from your personal life and your business venture.

[QUOTE="UltimateGamer95"][QUOTE="Duckman5"]You could always get a job with Geek squad or something similar. (Sure everyone of us hates Geek squad but you probably have much more experience than they do, making it an easy job.)Duckman5

Remember, you always have two options:

1. Be honest and turn to be a

2. Rip customers off and laugh at their stupid faces, and be a

In my old apartment building, which was quite large, I had actually built nearly 8 system's for random people in the building.

I had created flyers with sheet's of white paper and a black marker and I wrote "I build Pc's as a pass-time, I have years experience. then I gave my apartment number and how much I charge. I can remember charging $150 per build. And I made holes in each flyer so I could hang them on door's.

They would give me a list of specifications or in some cases, give me a budget to work with and I would actually go on Newegg, put a rig together and bring them over to see what Ive picked out. If they were satisfied, they would order the part's and I would build it.

I had made over $1200 that summer at the age of 17.

In my old apartment building, which was quite large, I had actually built nearly 8 system's for random people in the building.

I had created flyers with sheet's of white paper and a black marker and I wrote "I build Pc's as a pass-time, I have years experience. then I gave my apartment number and how much I charge. I can remember charging $150 per build. And I made holes in each flyer so I could hang them on door's.

They would give me a list of specifications or in some cases, give me a budget to work with and I would actually go on Newegg, put a rig together and bring them over to see what Ive picked out. If they were satisfied, they would order the part's and I would build it.

I had made over $1200 that summer at the age of 17.

DarthIntel

if you do i will tell ppl ur good

if you do i will tell ppl ur good

somegtalover