Starting A Local Home Based Business

K

krustykobb

New Member
Hi, This is my first post!

Recently I built my first custom PC and I really enjoyed doing it. I would like to do it again, so then I had an idea. I would start a small (not expecting tons of orders) business building custom PC'S for people in my area. I would ask for what their budget would be and if they want any specific components. I would also take the money first (including labor for my building) and then build it and give it to the customer. A few questions I have are; Are there any laws involved whilst doing this? I don't want to get into trouble. And is there a legal age to do this (i'm only 13)

Thanks & Any Advice Appreciated!
 
Hi there. I occasionally do this for people who I know (but I tend to service their PCs rather than build them new ones, but I have built machines for customers in the past) and I'm only 14, so I reckon it should be fine so long as you advertise your machines as they are and don't seriously rip off or con anybody. It's a great way to make money and I built my first custom PC when I was 13 too. :)
 
vistakid10 said:
Hi there. I occasionally do this for people who I know (but I tend to service their PCs rather than build them new ones, but I have built machines for customers in the past) and I'm only 14, so I reckon it should be fine so long as you advertise your machines as they are and don't seriously rip off or con anybody. It's a great way to make money and I built my first custom PC when I was 13 too. :)
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Hi!

Thanks for your advice. I was thinking of putting an advert in the local classifieds to see if anyone would be interested. I would not rip off anybody but I would ask for a little more so I can make a profit. So there's no legal problems with doing this? And Thanks Again :D
 
Yeah sure you want to make a profit, charge like 5% mark-up on your prices and that should do you good. Be aware though that placing an ad in the classifieds may cost a lot of money.

There shouldn't be any legal issues, there certainly aren't in the UK which is where I live. The minimum age of working in the UK is 13, and at 13 you may only work part time (like do a newspaper round or something), but if you are doing this a "hobby" and then selling your machines on, it's not full-time working and thus should be legal.
 
It is an early start, but good one. I will just tell you my strategy, I am a student in comp engineering, what I do is build websites, softwares for people/organizations. From age of 15 I have been making websites, but that was for experience, I was looking for enough costumers but I did not get any of them. At 18 I started engineering in computers, then I saw the different mind sets of people and companies. Slowly as I gathered more knowledge about computers and internet and various programming languages I started building ideas. Even though I was one of the best in my field, I could start of my business.
Then I realized about things that I needed to start of.
1. Team
2. Strategy (Not necessary at the start)
3. Contacts

I really follow the 3 steps that I mentioned I made a team, I got a team of 5 now, that helps in faster production.
Contacts, this was the most important thing that i achieved in college. Through my principle and teachers, i achieved big contacts, which led to big contracts.
I have many projects to do, but I don't have work force, I am starting a company in June, will hire students from August.
Remember make good contacts in school, college and always work with a team. As your business grows make a strategy.

As a 13 year old you can have a decent start, but you should also work on new technology on desktops/laptops. I would say go on with what you have planned. Many big companies like HP, Dell earn profits by targeting other companies, example in my college all desktops are from HPs. also remember a person have a hardware business is the happiest technology type of person in the world.
Sorry if some of this information is misleading or not useful, I just wanted to clear out my mind.
 
The best place to start is to build a machine for somebody, and then they pass on the good word about you and start recommending you to people and then so on and so on, that's how you get more customers. A lot of people at school in my year approach me and ask me to build them systems, it's because they've had their friends and/or other people recommended me.
 
vistakid10 said:
Yeah sure you want to make a profit, charge like 5% mark-up on your prices and that should do you good. Be aware though that placing an ad in the classifieds may cost a lot of money.

There shouldn't be any legal issues, there certainly aren't in the UK which is where I live. The minimum age of working in the UK is 13, and at 13 you may only work part time (like do a newspaper round or something), but if you are doing this a "hobby" and then selling your machines on, it's not full-time working and thus should be legal.
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Ok Thanks. What do your customers think to a 14 year old building their computers? And luckily putting an ad online in my classifieds is free!
 
They don't really mind if their PC has been built or serviced or reinstalled or whatever by a 14 year old so long as it works as functions and they didn't have to pay too much. :)
 
vistakid10 said:
They don't really mind if their PC has been built or serviced or reinstalled or whatever by a 14 year old so long as it works as functions and they didn't have to pay too much. :)
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Ha :D I don't know how to introduce the idea to my parents though. And I don't know what they would think of it. Any Ideas? And Thanks :D
 
Just say to your parents that you're interested in doing this service for others and that you'd like to earn money by doing this work. :) Sit down and talk to them and discuss it. They should be pleased that you'd rather work for your money than expecting your money to be handed over to you on a silver plate.
 
krustykobb said:
Hi, This is my first post!

Recently I built my first custom PC and I really enjoyed doing it. I would like to do it again, so then I had an idea. I would start a small (not expecting tons of orders) business building custom PC'S for people in my area. I would ask for what their budget would be and if they want any specific components. I would also take the money first (including labor for my building) and then build it and give it to the customer. A few questions I have are; Are there any laws involved whilst doing this? I don't want to get into trouble. And is there a legal age to do this (i'm only 13)

Thanks & Any Advice Appreciated!
Click to expand...

Iv seen some of the comments, and i would just like to ask you to be very, very careful. If the people you are living with are on any benefits, something like this will cause complications.

Also, you may want to seek some advice from the citizens advice beurau as im not sure wether this would technically be considered a home buisness as opposed to just a hobby. In which case, you may not be able to do it due to legal reasons such as paying tax etc. And if you are able to do it you may have to sort all taxes etc out.

My advice would be talk to the citizens advice beaureu and make sure your family are not on any benefits that could be effected by extra money like this coming into the household.

Of course you could get away with just doing it. But taxes etc is a very shady area and its always wise to double check.
 
mikeb2817 said:
Iv seen some of the comments, and i would just like to ask you to be very, very careful. If the people you are living with are on any benefits, something like this will cause complications.

Also, you may want to seek some advice from the citizens advice beurau as im not sure wether this would technically be considered a home buisness as opposed to just a hobby. In which case, you may not be able to do it due to legal reasons such as paying tax etc. And if you are able to do it you may have to sort all taxes etc out.

My advice would be talk to the citizens advice beaureu and make sure your family are not on any benefits that could be effected by extra money like this coming into the household.

Of course you could get away with just doing it. But taxes etc is a very shady area and its always wise to double check.
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Hi, thanks for your comments. My family are not on any benefits so would I still need to speak to my citizens advice beaureu? Thanks :D
 
No worries mate, better to be safe than sorry. Anything like this has a lot of red tape. If it ends up being one pc a year for a mate. no biggy, but if you want to advertise it as a service to an area of people then you may run into trouble not declaring it.

Im not 100% it would be classed as a true home buisness etc, it depends on the amount of money you earn i guess but when me and my step father were doing dj gigs (very low key stuff and not very many) i remember he had to go through a process of declaring it and sorting out stuff with relevant people :P
 
mikeb2817 said:
No worries mate, better to be safe than sorry. Anything like this has a lot of red tape. If it ends up being one pc a year for a mate. no biggy, but if you want to advertise it as a service to an area of people then you may run into trouble not declaring it.

Im not 100% it would be classed as a true home buisness etc, it depends on the amount of money you earn i guess but when me and my step father were doing dj gigs (very low key stuff and not very many) i remember he had to go through a process of declaring it and sorting out stuff with relevant people :P
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Thanks, any way of getting in contact with my local citizens advice? Or is there a link somewhere on advice pages? I have been looking and I can't seem to find anything relevant to what I need to find out about. Once again, is there a legal age you have to be to get in contact with them? As i'm only 13. I'm not intending for this to be a 'proper' business at the minute, hopefully just a few orders from people in my city. Thanks :D

EDIT: Or could I email my local council?
 
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mikeb2817 said:
Yeh that should be fine. Like i said it depends how much money you make. Bare in mind pc's dont come cheap. Them few pc's could make you a bit.

You can be any age to contact them :P The organisation is for pretty much anything :P

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/getadvice.htm

Thats the official site.
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Thanks, could I email them under this section? Thanks :d http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/getadvice/consumer_service.htm

EDIT: Found my local bureau email address so probably will send an email in the morning.
 
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Have you spoken to your parents yet? I'd speak to them before you go and email the CAB, because your parents may not be happy with you doing all of this.

I take you're in the UK too?
 
vistakid10 said:
Have you spoken to your parents yet? I'd speak to them before you go and email the CAB, because your parents may not be happy with you doing all of this.

I take you're in the UK too?
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Yes i'm in the UK, I will probably speak to them tomorrow. I will let you know how I get on. Thanks :D
 
Don't worry how your parents will react.You are not doing anything illegal.

Life should be a beautiful thing.Never EVER do something else you do not like just because someone told you that is better for you.Do something you like.Always do something you like AND want and NEVER EVER let anyone to make you a bad mood or hold you down.

Many years ago when I started learning computer programming,95% of the people told me I am not for that and that I should not be doing that.But I just told them to go to hell and I continued learning programming.Few years later I found out that all those people who told me that do not even know absolutely anything about hardware,software and computer programming.So if they do not know ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING about this then how the hell can they know if I am for this or not lol.And today in 2012. I make great software and earn nice money on it and I am also a medical tehnician and work on E.R. (emergency rescue).
So why so many people tell ME or SOMEONE ELSE that YOU are not for THAT?

The answer...THEY ARE LAZY TO DO ANYTHING IN THEIR LIFES AND THEREFORE THEY WANT TO HOLD DOWN OTHERS BECAUSE THEY ARE JELOUS.

Always...ALWAYS do something you like and want.We all have only 1 life.So use it how YOU like and want.



Cheers!
 
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