[school project] How do I open an online computer store.

  1. You can buy anything from anywhere. Typically, you'll get better prices for higher quantities. Retail (low quantity) = full MSRP or close to it. Bulk (high quantity) = much less. As the business owner, you can negotiate lower prices. Sometimes, you can get a lower price simply by saying you're the business owner. (You don't need a license to tell people you're a business owner.)

  2. Call your local government office. You may need a license or tax ID, at the least. Either are pretty easy to obtain in North America. Or just tell them you're a student and need help starting a business. Some counties have incubators which will do most of the hard work for you.

  3. Unfathomable amounts of competition. There are literally slave children working themselves raw to drive computer manufacturing costs down. Yes, for your class, you should reconsider. Maybe think of a local niche that would solve problems 1-3, like "/u/AwsmAssasin's Custom Alienware Home Installs," in which you sell the service of custom-building and installing baller-ass rigs for your customers. Bonus: since it's a service business (with markup for purchases made on behalf of your customers), you may not be required to file for a license or charge sales tax. (Check with your local office.)

  4. You're in control, bro. Do whatever you want. Since you're a student, I'm assuming you don't have the money to make bulk purchases which you could leverage for lower prices than, for instance, Best Buy or Amazon in the U.S., but you could charge a premium for custom-builds. Or you could leverage available student discounts to resell at a slight uncharge to reap the margin. Either way, there's some obvious profit you could work towards while still serving your hypothetical customer.

  5. I don't know who told me this, but it's good advice: Your first obligation as a business is to make a profit. The big questions you're asking are each valid, but I know I'd pay a few extra for a guy who could custom-build me a computer for my needs without me having to run around and figure it all out. You don't need much for that, other than a business card, a phone number, and maybe a website. Same could be said for many startups.

/r/smallbusiness Thread