Starting a new IT business *Advice Needed*

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I wish to start my own IT business to provide support to local home and SME customers. Another customer base I have a chance of getting into is selling consumables and IT equipment to local schools.

I have set about getting the paperwork to register myself as self employed, etc, etc.

I am looking at finding suppliers and this is where any advice/help would be useful. I see that many of the big brands have Partners (such as Dell) but these seem to provide more in the way of sales and marketing tools. I am looking more for distributors.

Thanks in advance.
 
Most suppliers will be direct competitors so probably can't mention them...

How much are you looking to be ordering? unless it's a fair few K then most e-tailers with business acounts should be fine.
 
Well there is one school that I am looking at, they wish to replace their entire workstations and laptops.

They are looking to move away from their current supplier, I have inside information as I my partner is a teacher there and good friends with their ICT co ordinator.
 
Well there is one school that I am looking at, they wish to replace their entire workstations and laptops.

They are looking to move away from their current supplier, I have inside information as I my partner is a teacher there and good friends with their ICT co ordinator.

Danger Will Robinson. If this is an LEA school then the Auditors won't take lightly to any "insider dealings"...

However that's not your biggest problem. If they do order with you can you get the capital up-front to order the kit? They won't give you any money up front. Also schools & local governments are notoriously late payers. They'll always pay just at the last possible minute. Finally the markup on hardware is rubbish. A lot of work for not much %

Don't get me wrong I think going on your own is a good idea if you can get it to work. Just don't expect it to be easy. You'll have probably 3-5 years before you become profitable.
 
As a teacher I have to fill in a form each year stating if I have any relations that could bid for work so be careful how you go about it and make sure the LA know in advance.

Also are you ready for the support a school may need as machines see a lot of wear and tear.
 
Well there is one school that I am looking at, they wish to replace their entire workstations and laptops.

They are looking to move away from their current supplier, I have inside information as I my partner is a teacher there and good friends with their ICT co ordinator.

Why is a school going to replace all off the workstations/laptops from a newly established one man band outfit?

There is no way you can compete on price with many of the established suppliers in this field and can you offer in terms of value add?
 
I find that a bit of a stupid response. No matter how much research I do and supplier accounts I open there is always no harm in seeking advice from others.

People who are successful at businesses never ask questions. They take chances. Seeking advice is fine, but your going to find all the way through your business adventure your going to be seeking advice week in week out.

Why don't you approach suppliers and market your ideas to them?
 
Don't bother. Saturated market, low margins and little opportunity to make any decent money.

One school wanting a refresh will not keep you going. This is a declining market that would be stupid to start-up in.
 
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