COMPUTER CRAZY

Background

Built computer for friends and family for the past few years.

Currently working for another company. Start up capital of £20,000 Live in the heart of Manchester in a

housing estate. Drive Citroen Berlingo van.

Customers

New customers will have of Computer crazy from word of mouth

Newspaper Advert in Manchester Evening Newspaper, after ringing them about an advert in the paper the overall cost was £50.00.

Customers around Manchester will be varied, however I have chosen to build the simple computer, for beginners which are cheap and easy to use.

Competitors

2 main local competitors, after reviewing the competitors business plan Computer crazy looks set to concentrate on home repairs and restoring computers.

Building computers will be a difficult market due to the likes of P.C world and Currys that offer computers for discount prices and brilliant after sales support.

My two competitors employ staff for marketing and mechanics whereas I will be working alone, so it is important that I advertise in local papers.

Target Customers

I have found that the majority of readers for the MEN are the older persons, aged 65+ years.

After carrying out a survey around locals i have found that the older segment very rarely use their computer, let alone have one, and so regular check ups on the computers could also be a market to exploit. 75% of the people surveyed had a computer, those that didn't were aged over 65 years.

Basic computers start at around £350.00 (Dell, 2012) with a monitor. However extra charges apply with speakers and antivirus systems.

Sales Strategy

My set price for a basic computer will be £375, with after sales support being vital. The price will however differ on specification.

1 year warranty will be available at no extra cost, however with an extra cost of £25 there is a 4 year warranty available.

Charges will be £8 per hour for customers, however a slight increase will be charged for irregular customers.

Designing my product

Standard motherboard, case, hard drive, processor, 4gb ram and power - £120

CD Drive-£15 Windows 7home premium- £80.00 19” monitor- £70 Mouse and Keyboard and speakers-£15 Overall cost to build computer is £300 Prices approx to Novatech 2012.

Purchasing Strategy

Keep the same supplier throughout the lifetime of my business and keep good relationships with the buyer

Buy the parts in bulk to receive customer discount of 10% throughout the order, so i will try to only order parts in bulk

Bulk orders should be allowed 2 weeks worth of waiting time, assembly will take approximately 4 hours.

Producing my Product

Firstly I will produce 5 units at one time, and hope to sell those units within 3 days

Parts ordered on demand RAMs and Hardrives are very popular

because evry computer needs them. Will buy parts in bulk to ensure discount,

however there needs to be a certain market for these parts.

The products will be batch produced

Expansion

To expand i would start to rent office space and possibly shed spave in order to produce lots of colmputers providing there is a market for them.

The company could also start to choose more due to deicated customers who rely on Computer Crazy

A larger workforce would also be required

Delivery

Delivery will be entirely relied on the currier and relationships with them.

Delivery will also be reduced due to the bulk orders.

Delivery to customers will be relied on the Citroen Berlingo van.

Quality Control

Products will be checked twice through production, midway and three quarters of the way through production

A deepened check of the products will then take place when it is finished. E.g. running installation updates and programme installations depending on customer requirements.

Load testing software will also be used to test the computer, these cost approx £50.

Raising Finance

Finance to be raised will come from family and friends providing that my business is due to make profit.

Banks may also be interested in providing a loan due to my credit history.

Venture capitalists could also provide come finance in order to expand.

I will gain the funds from family to secure the offer on the computer parts

People Management

My friend will be entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave. (NHS, 2012). If she was to work within the company for 6 months then she would have paid maternity leave, if not i will not have to pay her.

However she could be a strong candidate for the job providing she can find a nanny which is highly unlikely.

I feel that the other candidates would fit the position better because they will gain undertsanding about the business as they will not be on maternity leave for half of the year.

7han 26 weeks. However i think that she would make the ideal candidate if she finds herself a nanny

References

Dell 2012. Desktops PC’s. (on-line) http://www.dell.com/uk [march 27th]

Novatech, 2012. Novatech Barebones. (on-line) “Novatech” http://www.novatech.co.uk/barebones [march 27th]

NHS. 2012. Maternity and Paternity benefits and leave (on-line) http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/maternity-leave-benefits.aspx [march 28th]