Computer Science Graduate looking to Start IT Business in Australia. Feasibility?

[kratosthegodofwar]

Hello,

 

When I finish my degree I’ll be a graduate (I still haven’t graduated) and I have no experience working in IT. I am also looking to start a business when I graduate. Is this possible? Is it a good idea or a bad one? Would it be better to get a job first work for a few years or would it not be a good use of my time when I could get my business started by then? I will be 26 when I graduate (pretty old) I am 22 years old now. 

 

My plan is to start out simple selling computer hardware and then branching out to designing networking solutions for businesses. Has anyone else started an IT business and what has your experience been? Is it difficult to compete with large corporations? What kind of stress levels do you have? Is there any hope of being able to earn a living from this possibly or is there too much competition and not enough customers/too expensive to run the business? In terms of money what amount would I need to get started? How would I get started? What kind of operational costs are there?

[Jumballi]

It’s a bad idea on the fact that you have no experience.

work a year or 2 as it for someone to get an idea of what it is.

 

then find a partner with business experience, as you know how to fix a computer, but do you know how to do anything business related. 

[dizmo]

Yeah, when you graduate that's usually what you become; a graduate

I can't help but feel if you have to ask on here, you're not ready. At all.

What would your business do? Where would you operate from? What's your competition like? How are you going to fund it?

Hardware sales really have very little to do with IT, and have pretty poor margins.

 

Really, most of the questions you've asked are things you should be researching yourself. It's part of the process.

This is a poor avenue to take for that.

[solarflare]

Ill be honest. 

IT is a hard gig to make work on your own atm. 

Retail in IT is worse especially with the emergence of all the online retail outlets. 

Starting a business i dont think i could recommend it with a good conscience you would probably loose your ass. 

 

You are better off finding a good job working for a larger corporate company and just earning $$. 

You will have a degree so you should have quite a easy time getting in somewhere good. 

Get on somewhere doing what your training for now. 

Get as many certs as you can now. 

 

GL 

[dalekphalm]

Running an IT company is mostly consulting and doing IT services like installing and configuring equipment. 
 

You won’t make much on equipment unless there’s no competition. 
 

You’ll need experience doing things like configuring Windows servers and setting up Active Directory, configuring network devices including enterprise firewalls (including static routing, VLANs, etc), configuring enterprise WIFI, installing appliances, configuring SANs, and so on. 
 

You could of course specialize and just do networking for example. But you’d have to be damn good at it. 

[kratosthegodofwar]

24 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Running an IT company is mostly consulting and doing IT services like installing and configuring equipment. 
 

You won’t make much on equipment unless there’s no competition. 
 

You’ll need experience doing things like configuring Windows servers and setting up Active Directory, configuring network devices including enterprise firewalls (including static routing, VLANs, etc), configuring enterprise WIFI, installing appliances, configuring SANs, and so on. 
 

You could of course specialize and just do networking for example. But you’d have to be damn good at it. 

For me networking is just an example. I really want to be the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. It’s incredibly unlikely but it’s not impossible. I’m not looking to be the richest man in the world but it’s possible for someone to found a large business and make millions like Kim Dotcom. I want to be as capable as him. I was looking to do something of that kind. Creating a large corporation based on a type of software/technology. I could do it with friends at uni. 

[dalekphalm]

57 minutes ago, kratosthegodofwar said:

For me networking is just an example. I really want to be the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

So in the case of Gates, you need to be a genius software developer and you need to start working on programming your own brand new operating system from the ground up.

 

In the case of Jobs, you need to find a brilliant electrical engineer to work with, and design an entirely new computing platform and operating system from the ground up.

 

Totally doable, but that really has nothing to do with starting an IT Business - at least, in the traditional sense of the word "IT Business".

57 minutes ago, kratosthegodofwar said:

It’s incredibly unlikely but it’s not impossible. I’m not looking to be the richest man in the world but it’s possible for someone to found a large business and make millions like Kim Dotcom. I want to be as capable as him. I was looking to do something of that kind. Creating a large corporation based on a type of software/technology. I could do it with friends at uni. 

Okay - so you don't want to start an IT Consulting firm at all, from the sounds of it.

 

You really need to figure out exactly what your company is going to do. Either you start a Software Development company and start working on a new <insert thing here> (eg: Operating System, file transfer system, cloud storage platform, etc) - or you start a consulting firm that provides services.

 

They are very different businesses with different business models, and it would be a waste to try and do both (unless the software was something you just work on in your downtime and it's not actually part of the business).

[tech.guru]

I would personally work fulltime and start business as part time hobby. You will get experience and see the success rate and money coming in from the hobby.

 

If it is a good success and you feel you will make more money quit your job.  

[wasab]

How much starting capital you have to work with? 

[Jumballi]

On 12/19/2019 at 10:13 AM, kratosthegodofwar said:

For me networking is just an example. I really want to be the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. It’s incredibly unlikely but it’s not impossible. I’m not looking to be the richest man in the world but it’s possible for someone to found a large business and make millions like Kim Dotcom. I want to be as capable as him. I was looking to do something of that kind. Creating a large corporation based on a type of software/technology. I could do it with friends at uni. 

So you claim you want to be a revolutionary, a man that makes the world tomorrow. Then you need to be working on that now, today. If it's something you believe in, you don't need a degree, but if you have to ask questions like what kind of business to make or are waiting to finish your degree, then you have no idea to make anything off of. If you need to have someone tell you what to make, then that person with the idea isn't coming to you, they're going to an expert and making it yesterday. If there was such a thing as a plan for a successful business in a venture that hasn't been ventured, then it's the same plan as making your local garden variety flower store, equally as difficult and equally as profitable.

[kratosthegodofwar]

On 12/28/2019 at 5:47 PM, wasab said:

How much starting capital you have to work with? 

$5000

[kratosthegodofwar]

On 12/28/2019 at 7:03 PM, Jumballi said:

So you claim you want to be a revolutionary, a man that makes the world tomorrow. Then you need to be working on that now, today. If it's something you believe in, you don't need a degree, but if you have to ask questions like what kind of business to make or are waiting to finish your degree, then you have no idea to make anything off of. If you need to have someone tell you what to make, then that person with the idea isn't coming to you, they're going to an expert and making it yesterday. If there was such a thing as a plan for a successful business in a venture that hasn't been ventured, then it's the same plan as making your local garden variety flower store, equally as difficult and equally as profitable.

I find that overly pessimistic. Everyone has to start somewhere. You have to start at the bottom to make it to the top. The people that don’t want to do this sort of thing don’t have the drive and ambition in the first place. The fact that I am willing to try puts me ahead of people that think inside the box.

[dalekphalm]

6 minutes ago, kratosthegodofwar said:

I find that overly pessimistic. Everyone has to start somewhere. You have to start at the bottom to make it to the top. The people that don’t want to do this sort of thing don’t have the drive and ambition in the first place. The fact that I am willing to try puts me ahead of people that think inside the box.

You basically have two ways of starting:

 

1. Create a proper business plan, and start a proper registered IT business specializing in whatever - create a website, etc - and do that full time.

2. Start an IT business on the side - maybe doing small office jobs first (new computer deployments, server upgrades, networking, whatever) and continue with a regular job at the same time.

 

Ultimately you still need a business plan. You'll need to decide what services you're going to offer. You'll need to decide fees, how much you'll charge, what kind of markup you'll have on any hardware you sell (eg: a server build for a client), etc.

 

What experience do you have? What skills?

[akio123008]

21 minutes ago, kratosthegodofwar said:

I find that overly pessimistic. Everyone has to start somewhere. You have to start at the bottom to make it to the top. The people that don’t want to do this sort of thing don’t have the drive and ambition in the first place. The fact that I am willing to try puts me ahead of people that think inside the box.

The fact that you're willing to try is great, but it's not what @Jumballi meant. The problem is that there's a difference between you and people like Bill Gates (at the moment); Those people had plans, visions of what they were going to do, and then they made it into their business and it turned out to be a success. (for many others, that last thing didn't happen) 

 

You on the other hand try to do it the other way round; you don't know what you're going to do, you just want "a business and success like Bill Gates". You'll need to have a plan first; a vision. Something upon which you're going to build this business. And I can tell you one thing, selling hardware, networking, IT consulting and basically all the things you mentioned aren't going to be it. Those things have already been done by countless people. 

 

On 12/19/2019 at 8:14 PM, dalekphalm said:

So in the case of Gates, you need to be a genius software developer and you need to start working on programming your own brand new operating system from the ground up.

 

In the case of Jobs, you need to find a brilliant electrical engineer to work with, and design an entirely new computing platform and operating system from the ground up.

Even these things, although impressive, have already been done and these tricks won't work once again. (I get the point of this comment though, just wanted to use these lines to illustrate my point) I'm not trying to put you off, I'm just trying to say, there's a chance, but you need to have a plan first.

 

TL;DR come up with something new.

[wasab]

1 hour ago, kratosthegodofwar said:

$5000

You can only purchase an IT consultant franchise with that little amount and if you have no experiences, you won't make a penny from it. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

On 12/18/2019 at 9:37 PM, kratosthegodofwar said:

Is this possible?

Sure, anyone can start a business.

Quote

Is it a good idea or a bad one?

Probably a bad one, though I'm assuming you have a lack of practical experience both in your field of study and in business ventures.

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Would it be better to get a job first work for a few years or would it not be a good use of my time when I could get my business started by then?

Get a job first. You'll gain practical experience and even more knowledge working under someone rather than trying to tackle it on your own. Even if you had a bunch of knowledge on the matter, what happens in the real world tends to be different than what you read in books.

 

Quote

My plan is to start out simple selling computer hardware and then branching out to designing networking solutions for businesses.

The first part is a saturated market and done to death. Plus, you can't compete with larger system builders like Dell and HP who can get discounts on hardware and software licenses simply by buying in bulk. And here's the major kicker: you are tech support. So unless you're willing to service everyone's computer that you've built, you're not going to get very far.

 

As far as designing networking solutions, you may be able to get away with smaller businesses, but again, anything you make, you are tech support. Smaller businesses likely won't have a dedicated IT team.

 

You're still young, you still have plenty of years ahead of you. Starting a successful business is not something that you can do, nor should you do, overnight.

[kratosthegodofwar]

On 1/23/2020 at 2:57 AM, dalekphalm said:

You basically have two ways of starting:

 

1. Create a proper business plan, and start a proper registered IT business specializing in whatever - create a website, etc - and do that full time.

2. Start an IT business on the side - maybe doing small office jobs first (new computer deployments, server upgrades, networking, whatever) and continue with a regular job at the same time.

 

Ultimately you still need a business plan. You'll need to decide what services you're going to offer. You'll need to decide fees, how much you'll charge, what kind of markup you'll have on any hardware you sell (eg: a server build for a client), etc.

 

What experience do you have? What skills?

No experience. Skills: I can program pretty well in Java and am really good at Networking. Plan on learning C++ and Python. I'm good at finances and budgeting. I never waste money on anything and am very specific on how I spend my money. I'm not the type of person to start a business overnight like someone mentioned actually. I posted on here to give myself an idea of what I will do and to test the waters. Once I learn those high level languages I will get together with my uni friends and build something that hasn't been done before. Most probably an AI program or something in AI very sophisticated tailored to a specific product/market.

[Jerakl]

Commenting on this for interest as I've just started a degree for comp sci, and interested in potential avenues if my current plan doesn't work out.
Also, OP, what did you take? Like focus of study wise.

[Jerakl]

On 12/19/2019 at 12:14 PM, dalekphalm said:

*snip*

The problem with both these is (I think) OP needs to have a good knowledge of what's out there already so that they don't end up putting all their resources into making something that was ALREADY made.

The best way to find out what's out there would be experience. I'm by no means a business man, or educated at all really. However I think in this situation if OP wants to design something revolutionary it would be best to get a job in IT, find out what's out there, and through his experience find something that either A) is a niche that could be filled, or B) something that is done poorly that could be redone MUCH better.

Sorry for double post.