Starting a small business in my local town and need help.

[Mrd-wrek]

Background time!

I live in a small-ish town (55K people) in the middle of nowhere (not really) and we have one computer store that isn't some Big Box company. I went to this store recently and was looking through their wares. To my horror, most things were WAY OVER what was found online (I.E. small network adapter: Online? $7.99(shipping included) in store? $30. I understand you gotta make money, but come on! What made it better is I knew far more than the 35-40 year old man did.

So I am planning on starting my own business for computer parts centered around gamers and enthusiasts. But I'm running into some issues...

Can anyone link me with some good info for COMPUTER gaming? I can find console gaming for DAYS but "Computer gaming" is apparently a blanket term for Sony and Microsoft. Sigh...

Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated! Thank you guys and gals.

Mr. D-Wrek

 

[Hellfire13]

wat kind of help r u looking for??? can u be more specific???

 

[Mrd-wrek]

Sure Hellfire.

I need to take my business proposal to the city(and potential sponsors and suppliers) and be able to show them that PC gaming isn't dying and fading away. I'm looking for charts that show computer gaming growth over the years. I need to be able to prove people are playing video games on a computer as much as a console, if not more. All the stuff I find says the gaming industry is a billion dollar corperation, but they are only showing console numbers, not PC. I'm also having a hard time finding CURRENT info. Most things are 2012 listings. Also, if there are numbers for how many people purchase big dollar GPUs/CPUs per year, that will help me show the potential market for having such items in store.

Hopefully that helps?

 

[Hellfire13]

i m sure u can google that information...here is sumthng to start with...

http://www.statista.com/statistics/278181/video-games-revenue-worldwide-from-2012-to-2015-by-source/

 

[Ralston18]

Does your state collect sales taxes? If so, there may be some breakdown by "store" category: shoes, clothing, hardware, hobby, etc.. Varies with the state and the level of detail. Data can often be a couple of years old.

Pretty easy to go online and find existing computer/gaming stores. Count the number of stores in any given area and divide the population of that area by that count. Crude but the rough number of potential customers per store can be very revealing. And the process can be refined as you climb the "learning curve" and refine the data. You can include big box stores as well as another number crunch.

And, based on your competitor's "pricing" would strongly recommend that you do some breakeven analysis. Best case, worst case, expected case and then back up that analysis with some hard facts. Find out what prices you will need to charge - just to breakeven. Then treat the necessary profit and expected income for yourself as an expense. What does that do to your sales requirements?

And consider cash flow as well. As a small business your vendors will want their money up front. Any large customers will want to pay you last.

You will quickly exhaust "friends and family" customers. You will need to continually bring in new customers. Any colleges nearby - that will help but many students are on limited budgets....

Lots of information available regarding how to do a breakeven analysis. You must be objective, realistic, and honest with yourself and the figures.

Remember that you too will be competing with the internet online shopping and big box stores.

Please understand that this is not all meant to be negative. Just realistic.

Having your own small business is very challenging but still the dream of many folks. However, it is also many 80+ hour weeks, heart-breaking, and risky. Know what you can afford to lose beforehand.

 

[Mrd-wrek]

Thanks for the input, these are great tips. I don't take anything negative, so no worries. I appreciate your input. I know this will be a challenge, and I expect nothing but the most upsetting experience of my life. But the potential to do something I love and help others like minded? I'll take it!

 

[Hellfire13]

the gaming industry was rather even between consoles and computers, even a few years ago...but nowadays ppl are more into computer gaming simply because of the superiority of pcs over consoles...u should watch the videos of "linus tech tips" on youtube to understand the stature of pc gaming more appropriately...how they build gaming machines and compare them...
all said and done, u r doin a gud thing there...i wish u all the best in ur endeavour...and plas feel free to post ur queries anytime u want...
cheers mate

 

[Pinhedd]

Background time!

I live in a small-ish town (55K people) in the middle of nowhere (not really) and we have one computer store that isn't some Big Box company. I went to this store recently and was looking through their wares. To my horror, most things were WAY OVER what was found online (I.E. small network adapter: Online? $7.99(shipping included) in store? $30. I understand you gotta make money, but come on! What made it better is I knew far more than the 35-40 year old man did.

So I am planning on starting my own business for computer parts centered around gamers and enthusiasts. But I'm running into some issues...

Can anyone link me with some good info for COMPUTER gaming? I can find console gaming for DAYS but "Computer gaming" is apparently a blanket term for Sony and Microsoft. Sigh...

Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated! Thank you guys and gals.

Mr. D-Wrek

The highly specific and niche nature of computer hardware means that businesses such as yours are best served by online retailers such as NewEgg and NCIX. Box stores, even big-box stores, struggle to make effective use of shelf space.

Even in big cities such as my own, there are only a small handful of "computer stores" and even these places have a paltry selection, instead preferring that sales associates order from a central warehouse as needed. The storefronts are mostly displays, while the back room holds warehouse orders that have yet to be picked up.