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So many Resellers up in here, but how?

Yasin

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Greetings

I read the 'how to upgrade to Reseller' carb thread but I would like to know how to actually get started. Business-wise.

I'm sure that business for Resellers has to be quite profitable or there wouldn't be so many of you.

Would I have to buy a whole lot of stock and just start selling? What happens with surplus stock? Where do initial funds come from (hardware is not cheap)? Which suppliers are best to deal with? I noticed Scoop has dealer discounts but how would one take advantage of those type of discounts? Do some Resellers have a Tech department? I mean it is generally guys that know how to fix PC's that have PC shops, right?

Reason for me asking is I haven't been able to find work for a very long time and have always been okay when dealing/working with computers.

Please and thank you* and sorry in advance if I am stepping on anyone's toes with this post.
 
It's the truth. By that logic, hobos must be making a killing since there are so many of them.

But in all seriousness, OP, it's a mixture of planning, getting lucky, surviving through the bad times, and focusing on 'whats hot in the market'. There are a million different resellers on here, a couple of them I've been lucky enough to know, and it's never the same formula.
 
images
 
focusing on 'whats hot in the market'
How would you know what is hot? User feedback, reviews, tech news, etc? Do Resellers buy stock and then sell it? There is a lotta risk in that model, I think? Because what if hot stock doesn't sell and becomes not so popular again.
 
How would you know what is hot? User feedback, reviews, tech news, etc? Do Resellers buy stock and then sell it? There is a lotta risk in that model, I think? Because what if hot stock doesn't sell and becomes not so popular again.
yes
 
Evening

Do research within your area see what people/ consumers require and start small perphaps 30/50k investment in some sort of products
in this way you atleast have an inventory onhand when required.

Please do not follow the herd mentality of price matching that in my books is what I call MONKEY BUSSINESS many bussiness/corperations have closed shop before and then blame the famous retailers because they cannot compete.

Have passion for what you do the rest will follow in time...


Regards
 
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Please do not follow the herd mentality of price matching that in my books is what I call MONKEY BUSSINESS many bussiness/corperations have closed shop before and then blame the famous retailers because they cannot compete.
You mean price matching like Game stores?
 
30k is a lotta cash to start off. Was hoping there is a cheaper way to break in. What would you say about fixing PC's and upselling? Is it frowned upon, hopeless, or maybe it is actually a viable option?
 
30k is a lotta cash to start off. Was hoping there is a cheaper way to break in. What would you say about fixing PC's and upselling? Is it frowned upon, hopeless, or maybe it is actually a viable option?
Its really not. That is two mid level GPU's.
Website hosting, advertising and google ad words will chow on that like you won't believe.

Sure, you can start on a platform like carb and branch from there, but then its slower than having your ads everywhere.
 
Be prepared to kiss your free time goodbye, it's 19:13 and I have another... oh, 3-4 hours of work for today? Then I begin again at 7am tomorrow morning. Lunch breaks? Nope. Weekends? Nope. Holidays? Nope.

Margins are tighter than an ant's sphincter. Net margin is around 2%.

Put aside a crap ton of money for accountants and attorneys. MyBB had an article on "starting a business for less than R 200" - that just gets you the name registered. I have spent a six digit figure on hosting, attorneys and accountants in the last year on getting the company to where it is. There are a TON of acts you need to follow, the fines for not doing so can vary from thousands of Rands to millions or even prison time.

Legal fees are (hopefully) a once off, accountants are a monthly expense, VAT is a bimonthly expense, tax is a biannual expense.

Be prepared not to sleep when you get to your first FYE, it's hell.

Due to the expenses you will incur, don't expect to get rich quick. A year down the line I still do not take an official salary.
 
How would you know what is hot? User feedback, reviews, tech news, etc? Do Resellers buy stock and then sell it? There is a lotta risk in that model, I think? Because what if hot stock doesn't sell and becomes not so popular again.
Easy... Look at what Evetech is selling, then undercut them by R100... and give somewhat ok after sales service...
 
A previous employer, who I consider my business role model, said "focus on what you're good at"

I can't tell you what that is, not because I don't want to, but because you're going to have to figure that yourself. Will it work for you? I dunno. It got me this far though

I'm sure that business for Resellers has to be quite profitable or there wouldn't be so many of you.
- It depends on what you consider profitable. Is it passive income or a full-time gig you're after? What kinda bills do you need to pay? How many hours do you want to dedicate to it?

Would I have to buy a whole lot of stock and just start selling? What happens with surplus stock? Where do initial funds come from (hardware is not cheap)?
- Depends on the stock. Sometimes you buy up the rare stuff and make a decent profit, other times you take a risk and make a colossal loss (I'm looking at you 3080 Ti).

Which suppliers are best to deal with? I noticed Scoop has dealer discounts but how would one take advantage of those type of discounts?
Depends on volume/relationship with said dealer

Do some Resellers have a Tech department? I mean it is generally guys that know how to fix PC's that have PC shops, right?
Not a requirement, but can be helpful to cut down back and forth with RMA's and stuff. A decent test bench with parts won't set you back that much

For what it's worth, starting out;

1. Keep it simple. You're not going to be Takealot next week, so don't let things run away from you
2. Research. Understand what you're selling. It ain't "just a motherboard" - helps minimize returns
3. Price isn't everything. It's easy to get disheartened when looking at the competition
 
@Yasin When you keen on which field of trade the bussiness will be based on just start it if all else fails start again,if you can provide food and shelter by way of an honest living no matter what you earn per day per month or even per year the GOAL will be accomplished nothing in life was meant to be easy keep focus.
 
It depends on what you consider profitable. Is it passive income or a full-time gig you're after? What kinda bills do you need to pay? How many hours do you want to dedicate to it?
I'm unemployed for 2 years, married and have a handful of daughters. I need something that pays around R2k, that would be more than enough for us to carry on until I find a job. I have nothing but time and energy at the moment and willing to dedicate 100% of myelf, besides for when wife needs help which is like 99% of the time. I repair things for family and friends but no one values IT stuff so don't feel the need to pay the needy lol. I stay with my mom which is a great help because I don't have to pay rent. I would like it to be a full-time gig if it can feed family. A steady job means I spend less time with the kids again.
 
I'm unemployed for 2 years, married and have a handful of daughters. I need something that pays around R2k, that would be more than enough for us to carry on until I find a job. I have nothing but time and energy at the moment and willing to dedicate 100% of myelf, besides for when wife needs help which is like 99% of the time. I repair things for family and friends but no one values IT stuff so don't feel the need to pay the needy lol. I stay with my mom which is a great help because I don't have to pay rent. I would like it to be a full-time gig if it can feed family. A steady job means I spend less time with the kids again.
If you are keen,

Ever tried your hand at selling sweeties/chocs have a chat with me later perphaps it can be beneficial ;).
 
My advice: Sell services instead of product. It's 100% profit. You don't even have to be particularly good at it, because most people know very little about their operating systems to begin with.

All it takes is one good contact with a small business, something like a beauty salon or car parts dealership. They always know someone else, and the recommendations come in quickly. Even though I have a full time job, the sideline stuff generates a fair bit of cash every few months. These folks are desperate to NOT spend on IT equipment, but they happily pay for the upkeep of their old busted hardware.

I provide them with good refurbished gear that I obtain from reputable dealers, everything is legit and above board. I only buy Dell, Lenovo and HP kit when they need replacement hardware. I maintain the servers, make backups and help out with stupid crap like setting up Outlook signatures - Because people don't know how to do this sort of thing themselves. Easy, relaxed work, R400 per hour.

I have TeamViewer installed on all the machines, as well as an SSH jump box at the sites so I can tunnel in and use RDP instead. VPN in some places where they have their own servers. It works well, been doing it for 2 decades or so now.
 
If you are keen,

Ever tried your hand at selling sweeties/chocs have a chat with me later perphaps it can be beneficial ;).
Wife used to sell food and cake but that didn't work out. I might just take you up on the offer, thank you!
 
All it takes is one good contact with a small business, something like a beauty salon or car parts dealership
Was thinking of approaching family members that are business owners but figured everyone uses MSP's nowadays. Maybe offer services next to nothing for starters to reel them in? I mean a very few rands are better than no rands, right?
I provide them with good refurbished gear that I obtain from reputable dealers
I didn't know companies like this existed. I'll look around in CT but hopefully someone reads this and mentions a few in thread. Please and thank you.
 
Lets see a normal job which I did for 4years+ had me working 16hrs a day and well nights for what a lousy 25k per month saving lives breaking marriages not forgetting the drama + stress involved,

I am older much wiser now if I really wanted to earn 250k/350k per week could have been done 3 years ago ofcourse major risks was attached- rather live life then to chase money simple.
 
Was thinking of approaching family members that are business owners but figured everyone uses MSP's nowadays. Maybe offer services next to nothing for starters to reel them in? I mean a very few rands are better than no rands, right?

I didn't know companies like this existed. I'll look around in CT but hopefully someone reads this and mentions a few in thread. Please and thank you.
Never, ever, charge less than what you're worth. Because once the time comes to correct the price, those very clients will be the first to walk out. Charge what your time is worth. Once I started doing that, I gained better clients - People that realised the value of hiring a guy that does the job right first time in 2 hours compared to a guy for half the price that takes 2 days to get the issues resolved.

Know your worth.

Secondly, Universe Computers in Montagu Gardens sell refurb stuff, as do QStore. The good ones offer a 1 Year warranty on the gear too.
 

I've found that most seek for new ventures wanting to tap into fields that they have zero experience in. 9/10 of those businesses fall flat and will discourage you to try something new again, unless you're cut out to be an entrepreneur. Sometimes the answer is really simple, you're standing on it. Do what you do best. If you already have experience in a certain field and are making someone else money, why not be the competition instead? It works for the company you're working at, right? What line of work are you in, if I may ask?

What you really want is a business based on the recurring revenue model. This will always give your business more stability as your revenues are predictable and occurr at regular intervals.

In most cases it will be easier to grow and reap using the recurring model. One-off sales model (reseller) you acquire a customer and sell one product, while with the recurring model you sell the same product repeatedly to the same customer.

Not saying reselling can't work, but I believe you'll need plenty capital to play in the big leagues. And if you don't have the capital, you'll most probably work your life away.

Be prepared to kiss your free time goodbye, it's 19:13 and I have another... oh, 3-4 hours of work for today? Then I begin again at 7am tomorrow morning. Lunch breaks? Nope. Weekends? Nope. Holidays? Nope.

Margins are tighter than an ant's sphincter. Net margin is around 2%.

Put aside a crap ton of money for accountants and attorneys. MyBB had an article on "starting a business for less than R 200" - that just gets you the name registered. I have spent a six digit figure on hosting, attorneys and accountants in the last year on getting the company to where it is. There are a TON of acts you need to follow, the fines for not doing so can vary from thousands of Rands to millions or even prison time.

Legal fees are (hopefully) a once off, accountants are a monthly expense, VAT is a bimonthly expense, tax is a biannual expense.

Be prepared not to sleep when you get to your first FYE, it's hell.

Due to the expenses you will incur, don't expect to get rich quick. A year down the line I still do not take an official salary.

6 figures in a year for lawyers and accountants reselling hardware in person and via the web, to be compliant? You're doing something wrong or being ripped a second ahole [emoji57]
 
What line of work are you in, if I may ask?
IT support. Social media. Call centres. Did that for around 10 years. I am okay at fault finding and fixing stuff but prefer working with my hands, though. Wasn't a big fan of the corporate scene where not only is the customer always right but your manager, their manager, and their managers manager all need to be sucked up to in order to move a coupla paces forward.

I find repairing stuff to be super interesting, especially when I have to pull out the trusty soldering iron. I studied a bit of CCNA back in 2008 so kinda know my way around networks, at home mostly, because that is what I 'admin' daily.

I'm also pretty good at being a husband for all the women out there that don't mind being a second wife.:ROFLMAO: 🙈:ROFLMAO:
 
What you really want is a business based on the recurring revenue model. This will always give your business more stability as your revenues are predictable and occurring at regular intervals.
Like a model @Scrooloose recommended? Something like that sounds very stable and would def be something I would look forward to doing every day.
 
I'm unemployed for 2 years, married and have a handful of daughters. I need something that pays around R2k, that would be more than enough for us to carry on until I find a job. I have nothing but time and energy at the moment and willing to dedicate 100% of myelf, besides for when wife needs help which is like 99% of the time. I repair things for family and friends but no one values IT stuff so don't feel the need to pay the needy lol. I stay with my mom which is a great help because I don't have to pay rent. I would like it to be a full-time gig if it can feed family. A steady job means I spend less time with the kids again.
Hi there,
I am kinda in the same situation, I have tried becoming a reseller and if you are willing to sacrifice all of your time then you will make it but end up with no family time. What I would suggest is becoming a content creator on Youtube/TikTok ext. You will also need to put in a lot of time but you can do it all from home and if you manage your time well then you can still spent a lot of time with family (I get most work done when kids are sleeping). You can talk about what your passionate about like Gaming or new PC tech. You will most likely fail a lot and take some time to get viewers and likes but you will get there if you keep trying. With content creation and some Forex trading me and my wife are making R200-R1500 per day and we still have a lot of family time. You don't need an initial investment, but I would recommend getting a ring light, a mike and a decent phone if you do not have one. If you have a decent PC that would help, you can use Davinci Resolve for free video editing and OBS Studio for Free recording/Streaming.
 

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