I might start a business building computers

[lespaul_rentals]

I think I might start my own business building custom gaming computers. There are many people who want to have a top-of-the-line gaming machine but have no idea how to build one. They would love to be an idol amongst their friends for having a great computer, and they are sometimes willing to dish out far more than if they were to order the parts themselves and build it from scratch.

I am aware that such companies exist, and they have deals with Microsoft that make it possible to install OEM copies of Windows for far less than the average customer pays.

All this in mind, is this a profitable endeavor? I'm not out looking to get rich quick, I'm just a college student looking to make some spending money.

If things start to look decent, I may get into custom painting cases. It's dirt cheap to do, and you can get some sick results. Would this be a requirement to compete?

Any feedback is welcome.

[AoSteve]

I was going to start that same process. However,when you have the most ultimate machine for sale, someone will have something better. Like the guy who sold his 5.0Ghz< quad core system that ran with N20. I've found that the endevour could be done, but it'd be VERY difficult to compete without some major technical support backing. You'd need an impressive technical support staff to be able to compete with some of the bigger companies, like Alienware for example.

[lespaul_rentals]

I was going to start that same process. However,when you have the most ultimate machine for sale, someone will have something better. Like the guy who sold his 5.0Ghz< quad core system that ran with N20. I've found that the endevour could be done, but it'd be VERY difficult to compete without some major technical support backing. You'd need an impressive technical support staff to be able to compete with some of the bigger companies, like Alienware for example.

Alienware is definitely one of the big names in this business. But not everyone has thousands to spend on those rip-offs. If I go the eBay route, would I have decent luck? How about craigslist, and deal locally? Again, I'm not looking for insane profits.

You do bring up a good point about technical support, though. I wouldn't be able to offer a 3-year whatever-the-heck-happens warranty. More like a warranty against defects in workmanship.

[AoSteve]

Well you have to remember. Many people who would be buying your systems aren't going to be nearly as knowledgeable as you'd hope and "stupid things can and WILL happen." I currently do a LOT of local tech support to the people around here who can't really afford to take it to "the pro's" persay. I've seen where one guy said it just stopped working one day and come to find his IDE cable was plugged in backwards with the drive. "Well, you simply flipped the IDE cable." "How do you do that?? What do you mean??? What the...." LOL But you have that a LOT with simple tech support. When you start getting people like me though, LOL!

[gn2]

Alienware is definitely one of the big names in this business.

Despite this Dell are cutting back on their Alienware division.
(which they bought for a song when Alienware were struggling)

You'll find it very hard to make a living building custom PCs, the market is extremely competitive and the gaming niche is getting smaller all the time.

Good luck though.

[racerraul]

You're shooting a big high right now... no one does that with large amounts of capital...

Start small, keep it local. And offer support. I am already doing this and while slow at the moment, that is good while we build up our support docs. There is more money in suport, look at that as your long term money making source.

Go where the business takes you... you may be somewhere were it might take off, or quite the opposite.

Don't limit yourself to gaming rigs, widen your offerings.

[lespaul_rentals]

You're shooting a big high right now... no one does that with large amounts of capital...

Start small, keep it local. And offer support. I am already doing this and while slow at the moment, that is good while we build up our support docs. There is more money in suport, look at that as your long term money making source.

Go where the business takes you... you may be somewhere were it might take off, or quite the opposite.

Don't limit yourself to gaming rigs, widen your offerings.

Thanks for the advice.

Keep in mind I will not have a shop or place of business. I have thought about starting an actual store/gaming center, but that is a dream for the future. This is something that will be run from my home. I would feel a bit better having more of a professional store or shop to sell from if I were going the local route. If I had enough money for it, I would do this in a heartbeat. But, it really is more of a goal. That's one reason I'd rather sell on eBay, so potential clients don't judge me by my lack of a professional entity.

Maybe I didn't explain myself well enough. My bad.

1. This business would be run from home (my bedroom, specifically). There will be little overhead in this regard. This is a problem as I cannot offer technical support as some have advised, but is it really a problem if I am a very good computer technician who will build it right in the first place?

2. I am not looking to make a fortune or even a living right now. Just some extra cash. A small profit of maybe 50 dollars or so per sale would make me happy.

3. I am not looking to mass-produce machines. It might sound that way when I say "start my own business" but what I'm really looking for is a small, steady trickle of money to eat out with a friend or buy smokes or whatever. I mean, if it gets to the point where I can be making many computers and selling them all off, fabulous. But what I am looking to do right now is build a great system, and sell it on eBay for a slight profit. I would be happy selling 3 or 4 computers a month, in all honesty.

4. I may do decals and/or painting on these cases, giving them a singular touch that many other companies do not offer. While someone could spend 2,000 USD on an Alienware computer, I could sell them a solid system for 800 dollars with decals that will still give them a sense of pride at the LAN party or whatever, and perform very well.

[HappyFeet]

I feel at this point in time, if you are going to go into business for yourself, you really need to specialize. Custom cases is one area where you might have success. If you are good with bondo and painting, you can really make a name for yourself. I have seen some incredible custom computers that people will pay money for. You better be really good though. Just my .02

eg. Ford Mustang themed case with an actual hood scoop on top of the case that blew out air.

[Technique13]

since your posting here im going to assume your an open source junkie like me. you could easily impress your friends by deploying yourself an OSCommerce (open source commerce - its an open source shopping cart online store software that is easy to deploy and free). Redirect potential clients there as your web presence, you never know, it could grow into a nice little business.

however as a rule of thumb, there is not a lot of money to be made in marking up hardware

[steveneddy]

Build for your friends while in college then after graduation go to work for a company like System76 offering them your knowledge of High End Linux Gaming systems.

[.Maleficus.]

As much fun as something like this would be, it probably won't be very profitable. The only way I could see this working is with modded cases, but with PCs like this Asus desktop at Best Buy (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9366633&st=asus&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1218092152998), I don't think that will even be enough to make sales. When you can go to a place like Best Buy and pick up a monster computer (for those who didn't click the link, Core 2 Quad Q8300, 8GB DDR3, Geforce GT220, 750GB HDD) for only $779 it'll be extremely tough. You'd have to be an amazing case maker for that to be a selling point for someone. If you do go through with this though, best of luck to you.