How to build a business

[Juanitology]

Not sure this topic fits in this category but honestly I have no idea where else to post it. Here's the deal, I live in a Argentina, where the components that are available are around 150-300% more expensive than their price in the US because of price-gouging by businesses here and often anything launched in the last 6-12 months isn't even available here. The problem is it's prohibitively expensive to try to import them yourself because of import duty and a lot of extra taxes and having to spend hours of your time filling all the forms and going to the place to pick up international orders, so very few people do it.

 

The game changer here is that the government will be dropping the tariff for computers and computer components to 0% early next year but only for commercial importers, not common folk. So I got on reddit and asked if people would be interested in buying together in bulk if I went through the process of becoming a commercial importer to buy on behalf of everybody. I'm not looking to make money off of this, just want to make enough profit to pay myself for the hours I invest into it. The whole idea is to bring affordable and decent computers to the group of reddittors that supported it and whoever they might recommend it to. 

 

So my question is, does anybody here have experience importing and ordering from suppliers or any general small business wisdom you could share. I'm really exited about trying this, I think it could make a lot of people's lives a little better. But at the same time I have no experience running a business so I'm afraid of fucking up and it's therefore I'd love some input and suggestions from from experienced people in this matter.

[Radeeven]

Skal de virkelig droppe momsen i norge?

There is a good market for cheap computer components in Norway, so i wouldn't hesitate at all. "Enmannsforetak" doesn't cost anything either (i think).

[Hans Christian | Teri]

It's hard to say really. The reason regular stores have incredibly high prices right now is because of import duty and extra taxes, not because of price-gouging. When these go away you will see prices drop dramatically (maybe not immediately, but very quickly). I don't think it will be feasible to go into it personally, you will get worse prices than your local retailers and you will have to go through a lot of trouble. Additionally you say you are not doing it for profit, but paying yourself for the hours you invest is the definition of profit. If you have to pay yourself, you will be offering components at higher prices than local retailers.

[EminentSun]

If your just starting out a very good looking website is one of the most important peices, it's what makes your customers trust you. Make sure you have a picture of yourself somewhere, business casual is the popular style, so t-shirt, suit coat, and jeans against an outdoorsy background. I can't tell you what style to go with, but (as linus reminds us every video) squarespace and their competitors make this very easy.

 

As for the business itself, you should take preorders (importing as ordered) rather then taking on inventory, this allows you to advertise ridiculously low prices for new stuff while your competitors are at the old prices because they imported with the old taxes. After the government's change, prices will drop, but they will still be higher compared to in the US because sellers can make more money. Once taxes are lifted your only strategy is to undercut everyone else, you don't have to sell at an exact monetary conversion from the US price, but try to stick as closely to that as you can, while still cutting out a profit.