If I understand you correctly you have a large quantity of used laptops that now have you thinking about opening up another retail location that would be difficult to manage, so you are also thinking about the option of creating an online store instead.
There is always the problem of theft whenever you open a retail store, most of the theft is usually the employees you hire. If you are not directly managing a store, not only will you have to concern yourself about a theft problem, but you also have to be concerned about your best business practices being followed. If you run the second retail location under your same business name, and website, whatever is done at that location will reflect on the other store, and your online presence.
If you hire a manager, there is a chance you might find a good one, but it's not a guarantee. There is another option however, short of creating a franchise. You can either take on a partner, who would help with the expenses, and take on the responsibility of insuring that theft and your best business practices are followed, but this also is an unknown.
There is still another option you might consider, and is a unique business model only a few retailers employ. You retain complete control of the location, the leasing of the location, the equipment, furnishings, etc. But you give a married couple the opportunity for a small investment, to operate the location as there own. I say a married couple because they can work overlapping shifts and will not usually steal from each other. They should also be located geographically to the retail location. So lets say for example your new location costs you 250k to start, you ask the couple to invest 50k to run the business, and you split the profit. You keep tight control over inventory by taking inventory every 3 months. The couple has an interest in running the business correctly because of their investment, and because what they make comes directly out of the profit the store makes, they get a percentage. Now you only have to visit the store a few times a month, you can pop in un-announced whenever you feel like doing so. In your contract you make sure you include that they must follow your best business practices otherwise you take back control of the location and find a new couple.
Personally I think more and more people are purchasing computers online rather in a retail store. You can sell the computers for less and make more profit because you don't have the overhead a brick and mortar building has. Because you are selling refurbished systems, this becomes far more important to consider than if you were selling new computer systems, people expect a deep discount for something that is used as opposed to new.
Of the two ideas you have presented, I believe the online store would be your better choice, your potential customer base is not limited by geographical location, your overhead is far less, and all you really have to do is hire someone to operate the online store and ship your computers.
There is still another option you might want to consider. When I was deeply involved in international trade, I sold thousands of laptops overseas. The majority of the laptops I sold went to the country of Jordan. They were at the time paying top dollar for used laptops, plus the US has a free trade agreement with Jordan. Many times you can get more for used laptops overseas, than you can here in the US.
Just my two cents, if you have questions or comments about anything I have said on this thread, or if I need to clarify something, please post it here, I will follow and answer as best I can. I think this subject is important, and whatever is posted positive or negative would help the forum at large.
Scott
- Outlet Store?
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