Starting a computer shop

[krikle]

Hi,

I'm not sure where the correct place to post this is but..here I go.

I'm a computer technician by trade and I've been doing repairs out of my home for several years now. I'm looking to step it up a notch. I've got a business name, business cards, all that... I've recently made contact with a distributor to have access to parts and what not.

But I don't really know how to go about it. I'm looking for advice basically, I guess. Whenever you buy a computer at a shop, you never get the OS disc, but an OEM version of Windows and a product key.

Basically, I'm wondering how to go about getting this. I want to also go into building systems and selling. In order to do this, I would have to have a product key for each system. I'm looking to build a few systems, sell them, sell products and do mostly service. I'm also on the lookout for some good distributors with good prices. I'm in Newfoundland, Canada.

Any and all advice is welcome. I'm still doing this out of my home-office right now. Just looking to go a tiny bit bigger and more formal. If I'm successful with this, then I would move into a rented space.

 

[JDFan]

Microsoft OEM Partner Center

 

[doive1231]

I've sold a couple of computers on eBay. I would say try to give your customers something that the other shops/sellers don't. Whether it is setting the computer up ready for the internet or with the latest drivers or a real OS disc and not just on a HDD partition, the personal touch is something that gets a good reputation for you.

 

[TommyV]

This has nothing at all to do with setting up a business, but thought I would just throw this story out there.

I used to go to a local computer shop for help with things that I couldn't figure out on my own. On my very last trip to these guys, I got laughed at because of the brand of pc that I owned.

When I went to pick it up I asked "is it fixed" and was told "it works like you want it to work" I paid the guy (because I had the dumb that day) took it home to find out that it was still messed up. I downloaded some new drivers from the internet and it worked great. To this day I tell everyone what a sorry excuse that computer store is.

Since then I took my A+ classes and the first thing that we were told was to never berate a persons setup. I guess those guys didn't finish their cert class