How to make profit from building computers? And also, how does this sound?

[hightechrex]

Ok, this is what i want to offer.

#1 Discounted services and support on machines built through me

#2 Cheap Warranty and RMA services

#3 Separate machines into 4 categories Causal, Gaming & Media, Business, and Developers.

#4 Give developers and business added control over a longer period of time (sequential upgrades at a discount price)

#5 and MAYBE offer an annual upgrade of equal price and range on a specific part. (maybe cpu, RAM, hard drive, monitor? not sure)


I want to offer all this, at an affordable price for the customer at a pricepoint where i'd still make profit. Any Ideas?

 

[Mushin]

Lots of post and lost of ideas coming from you and there is nothing wrong with this but... might I suggest....

Start off with one aspect that you can wrap your entire business around... at least to start. Grow that into a self sufficient business and then augment your core offering with additional income/revenue streams that fill the gaps in your business.

Lets use your computers builds as an example.
Going head first into offering computer builds can be a time sink. Unless you do a high volume of computer sales, you will spend a ton of time sourcing parts, putting together specs, quoting the price, and possibly closing the sale on almost a 1 off basis.

A better approach would be to build your core business which I think from other posts is more on the service side than on the building side of things...
Eventually you will start to get a feel for how many computer sales opportunities you will have and what types of systems they would be. With that knowledge you can begin to develope a core product set that can be duplicated. This same pricipal can be applied to many things..

Another example could be selling security software. There are many here on Technibble that do not really start off selling security software. Instead they rely on things like Security Essentials, AVG, Etc.. but as their business evolves they realise that they can add to their revenue and margins by becoming a reseller. Essentially their business grows to a point where it becomes necessary or more cost effective to add that element to their business.

So with all this being said. If offering custom builds is going to be a core then really take the time to plan it out.. if note keep it in your pile of down the road things and focus on the core of your business until such a time that you would be crazy to not add that element to you business.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Services and support!
I'd recommend staying away from trying to build cloners for people.
Just the time it takes to gather good components, "motherboard of the month club" parts...receive them, assemble them...you've already lost money for the amount of time you've spent. Not to mention try to price it accordingly to compete in the market. And how about 6 months from now, when those motherboard of the month club parts aren't available as stock...and you need to replace a failed component and can't find out?

Years ago, since I was huge into custom building high end gaming rigs....I started working for a company that had a big computer repair division, and had a growing consulting branch. I started getting into the computer/network support branch, that focused on supporting networks and servers and workstations for businesses. I kept seeing all those Compaq Deskpro dp2000 workstations, IBM and HP workstations...and wondered "Why not build for them?" I quickly found out why. "Support". Tested components, compatible parts.

I focus on supporting small to medium businesses. I have a longtime background in building/repairing computers, and I'm very competent when it comes to the components of computers. But when I walk into a potential business client...and I see a bunch of cloner PCs for their workstations and server(s)...I groan, I want to triple my hourly rates, I pretty much want to walk away. Versus...when I see good business grade 3 year warranty workstations and servers....I breath a sigh of relief and become eager to get this client.

In my opinion, more money is to be made from supporting SMBs...than catering to home users.

 

[hightechrex]

Lots of post and lost of ideas coming from you and there is nothing wrong with this but... might I suggest....

Start off with one aspect that you can wrap your entire business around... at least to start. Grow that into a self sufficient business and then augment your core offering with additional income/revenue streams that fill the gaps in your business.

Lets use your computers builds as an example.
Going head first into offering computer builds can be a time sink. Unless you do a high volume of computer sales, you will spend a ton of time sourcing parts, putting together specs, quoting the price, and possibly closing the sale on almost a 1 off basis.

A better approach would be to build your core business which I think from other posts is more on the service side than on the building side of things...
Eventually you will start to get a feel for how many computer sales opportunities you will have and what types of systems they would be. With that knowledge you can begin to develope a core product set that can be duplicated. This same pricipal can be applied to many things..

Another example could be selling security software. There are many here on Technibble that do not really start off selling security software. Instead they rely on things like Security Essentials, AVG, Etc.. but as their business evolves they realise that they can add to their revenue and margins by becoming a reseller. Essentially their business grows to a point where it becomes necessary or more cost effective to add that element to their business.

So with all this being said. If offering custom builds is going to be a core then really take the time to plan it out.. if note keep it in your pile of down the road things and focus on the core of your business until such a time that you would be crazy to not add that element to you business.

Great advice; i guess the problem is that sometimes I just want to do EVERYTHING. I agree that my plans should show more focus. All of my ideas stem from wanting to "stand out" amongst all the thousands of other people doing the same stuff. And i just fealt that the media side of things was a little untouched. The potential is all there

 

[Mushin]

Great advice; i guess the problem is that sometimes I just want to do EVERYTHING. I agree that my plans should show more focus. All of my ideas stem from wanting to "stand out" amongst all the thousands of other people doing the same stuff. And i just fealt that the media side of things was a little untouched. The potential is all there

Stand out... Yea that is the goal. Focus on that as your core.... standing out from the rest. Find that one thing and run with it.

 

[rsarceno]

I agree with YeOldeStonecat

I used to build clone back in the 90's where IBM PC (8086 or 8088) cost $2000 and the clone sells for half. But now a days, you can get at Best Buy a "NEW" brand name system with AMD Processor / 3GB Memory / 500GB Hard Drive with WIN7 64Bit for $275. Add 2 - 3 years warranty for $49 to $99. Sometime they even have a sale bundle with a monitor.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Compaq+...rive/3426041.p?id=1218401496806&skuId=3426041

The link is not meant to be an advertisement because I don't work for Best buy. Just want to show others it's available for that price.

It's kinds hard to beat that.

 

[Velvis]

My opinion in a few quick points:

1) You can't complete with major manufacturers. Either in price or reputation. If you were just a Joe off the street looking for a computer whos warranty would you belive more in? Dell or Eddie's Beige Box Computer Shack?

2) There is no profit to be made when every manufacturer sells PCs starting at $250. And a $250 computer is fine for 90% of people.

3) The amount of time spent planning, sourcing, inventorying, building, and waranty serrvicing can't be covered to make any money and still be able to come anywhere close to what an off the shelf PC costs.

4) Computers are commodities. People want someone who they trust and can be available quickly to fix their issues. They dont care about a high end sound card. (and anyone who does can build their own)

5) I'd focus on service first and act as a "trusted advisor" to recommend specific computers from manufacturers. I think most people would be happy to spend an extra $50-$100 for your time/recommendations on a specific model from Dell or who ever. If you find them something on sale its essentially a wash for the client. You get paid to recommend it, set it up, and transfer data.

6) Practically all of my personal clients have switched over to laptops and many of the businesses have as well. So I dont think the future is building desktop machines anyways.


Just my 2 cents.

 

[hightechrex]

My opinion in a few quick points:

1) You can't complete with major manufacturers. Either in price or reputation. If you were just a Joe off the street looking for a computer whos warranty would you belive more in? Dell or Eddie's Beige Box Computer Shack?

I'm not trying to compete with major manufacturers. I'm adding it on to my other services for extra cash. Money is lost when trying to compete on the low-end of PC hardware because they are bought by the masses by retailers. Besides people are tired of dealing with the big manufacturers; and are usually willing to gravitate to the next best thing. I want to be the next best thing. Manufacturers do not offer liquid cooling, overclocking, eyefinity, etc. THESE are the services and tweaks that i want to offer with my machines. I understand what everyone is saying and i agree. i'm just a firm believer that when there is a will there is a way. Servicing and maintenance is still a main focus; im just expanding my horizons : )

 

[Paul Rodgers]

I would love to build and sell custom machines, but there is no money in it and it usually ends up being about the same cost or more than a similarly configured pre-built machine. This is due to not having wholesale prices on parts and software. Then you have to warranty the hardware (12 months in the US) and if something breaks you may not be able to get the manufacturer to honor their warranty.

I do not sell name brand computers (desktops or laptops) because I'm not dealing with hassles that those companies bring to the table. What I have done is found a US based company that provides reliable whitebox machines. I am currently selling those, undercutting the big names, and I'm making money on each sale. Take a look at this http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30952 for information on the company.

With that said when I have enough capital I would like to manufacture my own computers.

 

[Velvis]

I'm not trying to compete with major manufacturers. I'm adding it on to my other services for extra cash. Money is lost when trying to compete on the low-end of PC hardware because they are bought by the masses by retailers. Besides people are tired of dealing with the big manufacturers; and are usually willing to gravitate to the next best thing. I want to be the next best thing. Manufacturers do not offer liquid cooling, overclocking, eyefinity, etc. THESE are the services and tweaks that i want to offer with my machines. I understand what everyone is saying and i agree. i'm just a firm believer that when there is a will there is a way. Servicing and maintenance is still a main focus; im just expanding my horizons : )

In my opinion anyone who wants those types of high end features would have the knowledge and desire to build it themselves. And my guess is they would look to an Alienware type company to fill the need if they didnt want to make it themselves.

I also think the days of overclocking and liquid cooling and high end gaming machines has passed for the most part.

I have not had the experience of people being tired of the big manufacturers. My clients have very little care of who makes it. I simply hear, "Who do you recommend?" "Do you have a brand preference?" or "I have been happy with XXXX company, do you like them?" My clients like the warranty and comfort of a known brand. I like the fact that I am not on the hook for a year for something I put together for them should something go wrong.

Either way I don't think there is any money to be made by an independant guy trying to sell high end desktop machines in 2011.

That effort could be placed into far more profitable areas.

 

[rsarceno]

I also haven’t heard of hassle coming from the big manufacturer. If there is, I’m not sure it’s worth avoiding it. I was working with a new DELL where the hard disk failed. I diagnose the problem (5 minutes) and place the call to Dell (30 minutes). Lend the client a loaner machine. The Dell Tech shows up in couple days and fixed the issue. I charged one hr labor fee for troubleshooting plus loaner laptop. Customer is happy, and I’m happy.

Another advantage is R&D. Have you had software/application/firmware upgrade where it breaks the system or maybe a possible security breech. If you’re using brand name, simply download the driver/firmware to fix the issue. How much time will it take you to search each device for each manufacture with a clone machine. Most tech doesn’t even bother doing it, but they guarantee the system is secure. Do you feel at ease, upgrading an external HD controller firmware hoping it’s compatible with the mobo? Have you test it out similar or close to the R&D perform by Brand name.

Have you pushed an application that works on one system but not the other? This is one advantage of Brand name where MOST OF TIME (not always) they use the same chipset.

You just sold a new clone system and after a few months the client ask to upgrade to the new OS version and it’s not compatible? How do you explain to the client if they find out that you could have sold them a brand name for the same amount that is upgradable to new OS.

I normally provide service and not sales but one of my selling point is I can tell my client that warranty applies even if they decide to use another consulting firm.

There’s more but this is just some of the main advantage of Brand name.

 

[Paul Rodgers]

I also haven’t heard of hassle coming from the big manufacturer. If there is, I’m not sure it’s worth avoiding it. I was working with a new DELL where the hard disk failed. I diagnose the problem (5 minutes) and place the call to Dell (30 minutes). Lend the client a loaner machine. The Dell Tech shows up in couple days and fixed the issue. I charged one hr labor fee for troubleshooting plus loaner laptop. Customer is happy, and I’m happy.

Another advantage is R&D. Have you had software/application/firmware upgrade where it breaks the system or maybe a possible security breech. If you’re using brand name, simply download the driver/firmware to fix the issue. How much time will it take you to search each device for each manufacture with a clone machine. Most tech doesn’t even bother doing it, but they guarantee the system is secure. Do you feel at ease, upgrading an external HD controller firmware hoping it’s compatible with the mobo? Have you test it out similar or close to the R&D perform by Brand name.

Have you pushed an application that works on one system but not the other? This is one advantage of Brand name where MOST OF TIME (not always) they use the same chipset.

You just sold a new clone system and after a few months the client ask to upgrade to the new OS version and it’s not compatible? How do you explain to the client if they find out that you could have sold them a brand name for the same amount that is upgradable to new OS.

I normally provide service and not sales but one of my selling point is I can tell my client that warranty applies even if they decide to use another consulting firm.

There’s more but this is just some of the main advantage of Brand name.

Dell is usually pretty good if it is a business class machine. Their residential machine support is terrible.

Clone machine? Wasn't that the 80s with the IBM clones?

Custom machines and whitebox builds are easy to upgrade and in a lot of cases more cost effective.

Your customer buys a new Compaq system and it can't properly run the OS it has pre-installed because HP was shipping those systems with hardware that was ok for the last OS version.

There is a company (Seneca Data) near me that makes whitebox machines. They actually supplied Onondaga Community College with desktop machines.

 

[andcorptech]

Most reply in this thread are against building machines so I would like to add another perspective on this topic.

We build systems for customers, in fact every system we sell is our own build, including servers. I make between $200-300 raw profit from our base system, with servers and high end machines giving much more in profit. On top of that we make money on data transfer and onsite installations. I have just done a rough count on systems sold this year and as of today I have sold 65, with 3 more to be sold next week. That is alot of profit to be "lost" by not selling custom builds.

As stated in here, the "brand" names can do it cheaper. Not quite as cheap as stated above here in Australia, but a fair bit cheaper than my systems anyhow.
So why do people buy from me instead of getting a Dell or HP or other brand built systems ?

Here is my list of why I believe my customers buy from me instead.

1. They trust me to match the system with their needs
2. They know that I will be out to fix it ASAP if things go wrong, For a brand name with RTB warranty, it can take up to 2 weeks for a repair. As an Intel partner we can get cross-shipped parts within 2 days usually, if I dont have a spare
3. I pick what I class as the best components, they may not be fancy but they have very few problems, thus I rarely have to worry about point 2 above.
4. I don't sell machines with bloatware, just the required OS plus any requested software.
5. I will do machines with XP Pro Downgrade, Most Brand names will not nowadays. I will continue to offer this until MS stop the downgrade rights.
6. For businesses we will liaise with proprietary software/system providers to get their critical systems running often prior to delivery onsite.
7. I provide all the discs WITH the system, no having to make them yourself or order a backup from MS

I could probably add many more things to this list if I thought for a while.

As for the comments on it being labor intensive, I have a good system for ordering and quoting worked out now, it takes no longer than it would to order a dell system online. As for assembly, I watched one of my techs build a machine from unopened boxes to functional boot in 15 minutes this week, add 10 minutes to image our preload onto it and test. Thats 25 minutes flat, about the same time or shorter than it takes to get windows to desktop on a "brand" machine. So if you have the system worked out, its no more labor intensive at all.

There is alot of money to be made in building systems if you do it right. Make a good name for yourself so people trust you, don't sell cheap crap and offer over and above what a customer can get if they bought a cheaper DELL or HP. Its often the case people will spend the extra money if they are getting what they see as a personalised custom service.

 

[hightechrex]

1. They trust me to match the system with their needs
2. They know that I will be out to fix it ASAP if things go wrong, For a brand name with RTB warranty, it can take up to 2 weeks for a repair. As an Intel partner we can get cross-shipped parts within 2 days usually, if I dont have a spare
3. I pick what I class as the best components, they may not be fancy but they have very few problems, thus I rarely have to worry about point 2 above.
4. I don't sell machines with bloatware, just the required OS plus any requested software.
5. I will do machines with XP Pro Downgrade, Most Brand names will not nowadays. I will continue to offer this until MS stop the downgrade rights.
6. For businesses we will liaise with proprietary software/system providers to get their critical systems running often prior to delivery onsite.
7. I provide all the discs WITH the system, no having to make them yourself or order a backup from MS


There is alot of money to be made in building systems if you do it right. Make a good name for yourself so people trust you, don't sell cheap crap and offer over and above what a customer can get if they bought a cheaper DELL or HP. Its often the case people will spend the extra money if they are getting what they see as a personalised custom service.

About time someone kinda saw where I was going with this. My goal isn't to compete on a pricing level; but more to offer a premium service. Their is a market out there for these things. And you hit the nail on the head for many of the services I wanted to bring to the table; infact you explained it even better. It's nice to see another outlook on the matter; as opposed to "it wont work" when in business; the only deciding factor on what works and what doesn't is how much you put into it.


Edit: How did you gain a partnership with intel and any others that you have under your belt?

 

[andcorptech]

Edit: How did you gain a partnership with intel and any others that you have under your belt?

We have a Partnership with Intel and Microsoft.

The Intel partnership requires us to purchase at least 50 intel boards or CPU's in a 12 month period from an approved distributor ( In Australia this is Ingram Micro, Synnex or Altech) as well as complete a certain number of online training units to qualify. The training is a pain in the butt as its time consuming, but you do learn some extra things you probably wouldn't learn elsewhere, so it is handy.

The Microsoft one is pretty basic, many of the people on TN would probably have it. Its handy for us as we get marketing phone calls every month letting us know any important information and we also have an assigned sales rep who can come and see us in person if needed. Our rep also holds webinars and conference calls to inform is of major events/product releases.

There are various levels but its too time consuming and probably not worth it for me to move up levels as it seems to focus more on Enterprise as you increase levels. You can go to their website for you country and sign up as a partner for no cost.

We also have some very basic "partnerships" with other manufacturers such as AOC, Coolermaster, Patriot, but this is usually no more than the general public have access to if they so desire ( ie newsletters, direct info lines etc...) The information on these are often sent to us as a forwarding email from our suppliers.

I didnt mention before, but for our High End systems & Servers, I include in the system a 3 yr Onsite 3rd party warranty which only adds about a hundred onto the cost ( thus we only do it for high end stuff). We are the preferred repairer for the 3rd party company anyhow, so we get paid to fix the systems if there is a problem, plus the customer has the added bonus of if they ever move location or we go out of business, their system is still covered by the 3rd party warranty.


I am also planning on adding maintenance contracts to our services next year, and include 1 replacement PC per 12 month contract. I am yet to work out costings but hopefully we can make some good money on it.

 

[hightechrex]

We have a Partnership with Intel and Microsoft.

The Intel partnership requires us to purchase at least 50 intel boards or CPU's in a 12 month period from an approved distributor ( In Australia this is Ingram Micro, Synnex or Altech) as well as complete a certain number of online training units to qualify. The training is a pain in the butt as its time consuming, but you do learn some extra things you probably wouldn't learn elsewhere, so it is handy.

The Microsoft one is pretty basic, many of the people on TN would probably have it. Its handy for us as we get marketing phone calls every month letting us know any important information and we also have an assigned sales rep who can come and see us in person if needed. Our rep also holds webinars and conference calls to inform is of major events/product releases.

There are various levels but its too time consuming and probably not worth it for me to move up levels as it seems to focus more on Enterprise as you increase levels. You can go to their website for you country and sign up as a partner for no cost.

We also have some very basic "partnerships" with other manufacturers such as AOC, Coolermaster, Patriot, but this is usually no more than the general public have access to if they so desire ( ie newsletters, direct info lines etc...) The information on these are often sent to us as a forwarding email from our suppliers.

I didnt mention before, but for our High End systems & Servers, I include in the system a 3 yr Onsite 3rd party warranty which only adds about a hundred onto the cost ( thus we only do it for high end stuff). We are the preferred repairer for the 3rd party company anyhow, so we get paid to fix the systems if there is a problem, plus the customer has the added bonus of if they ever move location or we go out of business, their system is still covered by the 3rd party warranty.


I am also planning on adding maintenance contracts to our services next year, and include 1 replacement PC per 12 month contract. I am yet to work out costings but hopefully we can make some good money on it.

All I can say is. I like the way you think; your post have provided very useful information

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

As stated in here, the "brand" names can do it cheaper. Not quite as cheap as stated above here in Australia, but a fair bit cheaper than my systems anyhow.
So why do people buy from me instead of getting a Dell or HP or other brand built systems ?

Here is my list of why I believe my customers buy from me instead.

1. They trust me to match the system with their needs
2. They know that I will be out to fix it ASAP if things go wrong, For a brand name with RTB warranty, it can take up to 2 weeks for a repair. As an Intel partner we can get cross-shipped parts within 2 days usually, if I dont have a spare
3. I pick what I class as the best components, they may not be fancy but they have very few problems, thus I rarely have to worry about point 2 above.
4. I don't sell machines with bloatware, just the required OS plus any requested software.
5. I will do machines with XP Pro Downgrade, Most Brand names will not nowadays. I will continue to offer this until MS stop the downgrade rights.
6. For businesses we will liaise with proprietary software/system providers to get their critical systems running often prior to delivery onsite.
7. I provide all the discs WITH the system, no having to make them yourself or order a backup from MS

Just some input from the other side though....the above points are not always valid against Tier-1 brands. I'm not saying any side of the "build your own vs resell Tier-1 brands" has a right or wrong side...I just sometimes see arguments against reselling Tier-1 have some points which I feel are not true.

First....we stay away from the "home grade 1 year warranty" systems. Pretty much no computers under 650 bucks. Granted yes we focus on business clients, but we also get systems for some home user clients..and even with home grade clients, we push "business grade 3 year warranty" systems. usually those good systems cost 700-900 or so. That means stay away from Dell Dimensions, focus on Dell Optiplex or Precision. Also stay away from HP/Compaq Presario models, focus on HP Business Desktop DC7000 models. Always Intel CPUs, Intel chipsets, maxed RAM systems.

1 Through available options to customize the systems, we can still customize the system to match the clients needs. Configuring biz grade Tier-1 models still allows this. Selecting RAM, CPU, vid card, optical drive, hard drive, chassis type...those still are valid options
2 Warranty on biz grade is next day replacement of hardware part. If local for us...we get the part shipped to us, receive it next day..and install it ourself. If it's a longer distance client, the vendors hardware onsite warranty support covers that. Just last week I had a client 1 state away...I determined the AC jack on the motherboard of a Dell Lat laptop was faulty. Within 20 minutes of my time spent with Dells online business support chat, they dispatched a Dell onsite tech the next day to replace the board on my clients laptop.
3 This point is dealt with by selecting business grade machines...they come with higher quality components.
4 Biz grade machines usually don't come with the "bloatware" that you get on home grade machines and 399 dollar best buy specials.
5 Biz grade machines were still available with XP Downgrade for quite a while longer, versus home grade models. I haven't looked in a while...as we've moved all new orders for Win7p quite a while ago. Certainly building you own..you probably win in this category for a while longer.
6 Have always been able to do that with biz grade..that's just "best practice" regardless of where the machine comes from.
7 Biz grade models still have the option to get this, and we ensure they do when ordering.

For profit...we still shoot for 20 margin on whatever hardware/software/other costs pass through us. Most basic biz grade workstations configured with OEM office are around 900-1000 bucks all said 'n done. I'm sure for shops that purchase components to build their own in high volume can make more profit per machine..but most of our money is made on our support services.

 

[hightechrex]

Many of you keep stating religiously that you'd make more money in support. No one is disputing that, we all agree. But if you have the knowledge and patience why not build some machines on the side. Profit is profit

 

[red12049]

Many of you keep stating religiously that you'd make more money in support. No one is disputing that, we all agree. But if you have the knowledge and patience why not build some machines on the side. Profit is profit

No. profit is not profit. You trade your time for profit. If you're busy, do you wish to make 25% profit, or 5% profit? If you're not busy and wish to be, do you wish to solicit work that will make you 25% profit, or work that will make you 5% profit? Remember, you only have a given amount of "time."

Your statement above, by itself, is a guaranteed trip to the poorhouse.

Rick

 

[andcorptech]

1 Through available options to customize the systems, we can still customize the system to match the clients needs. Configuring biz grade Tier-1 models still allows this. Selecting RAM, CPU, vid card, optical drive, hard drive, chassis type...those still are valid options
2 Warranty on biz grade is next day replacement of hardware part. If local for us...we get the part shipped to us, receive it next day..and install it ourself. If it's a longer distance client, the vendors hardware onsite warranty support covers that. Just last week I had a client 1 state away...I determined the AC jack on the motherboard of a Dell Lat laptop was faulty. Within 20 minutes of my time spent with Dells online business support chat, they dispatched a Dell onsite tech the next day to replace the board on my clients laptop.
3 This point is dealt with by selecting business grade machines...they come with higher quality components.
4 Biz grade machines usually don't come with the "bloatware" that you get on home grade machines and 399 dollar best buy specials.
5 Biz grade machines were still available with XP Downgrade for quite a while longer, versus home grade models. I haven't looked in a while...as we've moved all new orders for Win7p quite a while ago. Certainly building you own..you probably win in this category for a while longer.
6 Have always been able to do that with biz grade..that's just "best practice" regardless of where the machine comes from.
7 Biz grade models still have the option to get this, and we ensure they do when ordering.

For profit...we still shoot for 20 margin on whatever hardware/software/other costs pass through us. Most basic biz grade workstations configured with OEM office are around 900-1000 bucks all said 'n done. I'm sure for shops that purchase components to build their own in high volume can make more profit per machine..but most of our money is made on our support services.

I agree with most points you make, however, I feel this applies to some locations differently. For example with your points

Point 1. Most systems you cannot select the motherboard you wish to use, I may be wrong but the last time I looked, most of them do not let you select this. The brand/type and expandability of the board matter greatly to me.

Point 2. I live in a small country town, next day service just does not exist here for most things. One of my customers bought business grade via Dell, and it took 5 days for them to even get to look at it onsite. Another has a bunch of business grade Lenovo notebooks. There is a next day courier service for sure, to pick it up and then a 10 day wait to have it returned. Just because they say next day repair, doesn't mean it for many locations. They cover this in their fine print about having to be a certain proximity to their service agents.

Points 3/4/5 - I agree pretty much on all of these, but I can provide the same.

Point 6. This will apply if "I" order the machine instead of the customer buying it direct. Most customers have no clue what they really need to run their software , in particular proprietary or quirky software. Many customers come to me as I build my own systems, and If I was selling HP/Dell etc.. then they can buy direct much cheaper so why bother with me at all ?

I do see your point that what I was saying doesn't apply to all Business level systems, but it certainly is the reason many of my customers come to me.

As for profit, my margins are well above yours, I make 40-50% margin on the hardware, take it or leave it. We do make more on support services for sure but my customers dont seem to mind my pricing, I am now sitting at 70 systems sold so far this year. May not seem alot but its a good bottom line for us at the end of the year.