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Garmin Fenix 8 In-Depth Review: Worth the Upgrade?

The Fenix 8 is here, bringing with it not just new hardware features, but also the end of the Garmin Epix lineup. Or, at least the end of it for now. Fear not though, that ending is merely in name only, as Garmin has consolidated the products under the Fenix branding instead. Still, the end result is effectively the same: There remains both MIP-based displays and AMOLED displays, albeit with substantially higher prices.

The Fenix 8 instead focuses on two key areas with its hardware improvements: The addition of a speaker & microphone for taking calls (with phone), a new offline voice assistance, and creating voice notes. Atop that, there’s the addition of a depth gauge and related scuba and free-diving functionality. The MIP-based Solar editions also see some solid battery gains with a new solar panel.

Whereas the majority of the changes on the Fenix 8 are focused on its significant user interface overhaul, essentially merging aspects of the Forerunner 965 interface with that of the Epix Pro, while concurrently revamping core widgets, settings, and workout/navigation areas to make it easier to understand, especially for new-to-Garmin users. Albeit as you’ll see, in my opinion, to mixed success.

As always, I’ve been putting all these units to the test with crazy long mountain hikes, runs, rides, swims, dives, and more. Finally, note that Garmin sent over media loaner units to test out. As usual, this review is not sponsored (nor does any company get to preview anything I review), and I don’t take any advertiser money from any companies I review. Once this unit goes back, I’ll go out and buy my own for any future testing needs. If you found this review useful, you can use the links at the bottom, or consider becoming a DCR Supporter , which makes the site ad-free. And, of course, it makes you awesome.

What’s New:

This Fenix release is a bit unusual in that the ‘What’s New’ section isn’t all that extensive. At least in terms of key features. Of course, the first bit isn’t hardware/features at all, but rather the same brand naming re-arranging, specifically:

– Fenix series (MIP-based displays) becomes known as ‘Fenix 8 Solar’ – Epix series (AMOLED displays) becomes simply ‘Fenix 8’ (and the Epix branding goes away)

At the end of the day, they’ve simply consolidated what are two identical watches in terms of software/features (with just different displays) into one brand name. Easy, right? Enduro remains Enduro and a MIP-based display, as the new Enduro 3 (review coming up in the next hours/days).

So then we get to the changes on the Fenix 8 front, and at a very distilled level, there are basically 4.5 changes:

– Adds microphone/speaker for calls/personal assistants – Adds depth gauge and diving-related functions – Increase display sizes for smallest watches (from 1.2” to 1.3, and 1.3” to 1.4”) – [Solar edition only] Revamped solar panel to increase clarity and substantial increase solar-assisted battery life – [Solar edition only] Killed off the smaller 42mm variant (Fenix S variants)

That’s kinda it. There are a slate of software updates below, but the vast majority of them are very minor UI updates. In total, it’s an appealing set of updates, but many of these updates would seemingly have been normal quarterly firmware tweaks. In fact, we’ve seen bigger Fenix quarterly updates from Garmin than the Fenix 8 updates, at least in terms of features or sports/fitness features .

Nonetheless, here’s the long list of little things that have changed (some tied to the hardware changes above are bigger, obviously):

– Hardware: AMOLED comes in three sizes: 43/47/51mm – Hardware: Solar comes in two sizes: 47/51mm – Hardware: [Solar edition only] New edge ring solar panel is far more efficient, and no longer covers display, improving clarity – Hardware: New sensor guard protects microphone and barometer (between buttons) – Hardware: New leak-proof button design using inductive buttons, so no actual hole in the case – Added recreational scuba diving/apnea features, down to 40M with EN13319 certification – Added diving no-fly and surface time features (widgets/data pages, etc…) – Added access to phone assistant via microphone/speaker (with your smartphone) – Added taking phone calls via microphone/speaker (with your smartphone) – Added voice notes recorder (on watch) – Added new offline voice assistant – Added new maps radius zoom UI change – Added new maps North Up quick toggle – Added new maps layer selection quick access menu – Added quick access touch unlock feature (temporarily unlocks touch, such as for a map during workout) – Added new ‘Active Navigation’ menu system while navigating a course/waypoint/etc – Added new consolidated ‘Saved’ feature, to find saved routes/waypoints/etc – Added new dynamic round-trip routing, to auto—change route mid-way to achieve a specified distance if you go off-course (e.g. set for 5 miles) – Added ‘Set a Target’ distance reminder, to remind you to turn around after the half-way point – Added Ski difficulty tracking option – Added strength training plans (4-6 weeks, via Garmin Connect) – Added new watch face editor, and new watch faces – Added new Countdown app to countdown to various dates/events – Added new Focus Modes – Added new online processing of troubled GPS tracks, using internal watch sensor data to correct them – Major redesign of user interface, including widgets, settings, and activity/workout pages – Revamped Notification Center to include Garmin-based notifications (e.g., Morning Report or Daily Summary)

It’s kinda hard to capture the ‘major redesign of user interface’ into a bunch of bullets, as most of it is just moving the cheese around to different places. As you can see, most of the above (like a north-up maps quick toggle) are very minor. Inversely, some like the dive sport profile is sprawling and quite extensive, very similar to their Descent MK3 (more on that in the dive section).

From a Solar-unit standpoint, here’s how the new solar panel impacts battery life when compared to the same sizes of the Fenix 7 Pro Solar editions:

GPS Only: 47mm: From 73 hours to 92 hours 51mm: From 122 hours to 149 hours All Systems GPS: 47mm: From 48 hours to 59 hours 51mm: From 77 hours to 92 hours All System + Multiband: 47mm: From 26 hours to 43 hours 51mm: From 41 hours to 65 hours

Remember, the solar panel is only paired/offered with the Fenix 8 Solar MIP-based units, not the AMOLED units. Here’s the full listing of battery specs:

Moving on, we’ve got the big ticket item here in price increases. The cheapest Fenix offering is $999. The cheapest MIP-based offering went from $799 (Fenix 7S Pro Solar/7 Pro Solar) to $1,099 (Fenix 8 Solar) – a $300 price increase! The AMOLED went from $899 to $999 (again, comparing the least expensive offerings).

And here’s a different view looking at some of the core specs related to sizing:

These price jumps should give many users pause. As I’ve said for 15 years in reviews: You can’t pretend to separate price from the equation. It’s an integral part of any product review, and how real-world consumers make decisions. Even more so when Garmin has had the Fenix 7 and Fenix 7 Pro on near-perpetual sales for the last 6-8 months. Had Garmin kept the prices the same here, and treated it as an annual incremental hardware upgrade (akin to what Apple does, and what Garmin has historically done), then the MIP-based units would have made much more sense.

The Basics:

In this section I’m going to cover some of the non-sports features. Things like daily activity/sleep tracking, updates to the user interface, as well as the new voice features. If you’re familiar with the Venu series, then the calling/voice features are largely the same as those watches. However, the Fenix 8 also introduces a new offline voice assistance and voice notes, which I’ll dive into in the following section.

First up though, is a quick reminder that Garmin’s Forerunner & Fenix watches all feature both 5 buttons as well as a touchscreen. This means that virtually every function/feature can be accessed by either control type. Meaning, if you like touch, you can do almost everything via touch. And if you hate touch, you can turn it off entirely. Your choice. You can even do it on a per sport profile basis.

You’ll notice above, that orange strip between the two buttons on the right side. That hides/protects the speaker and barometer. The design element comes from the Descent, and is carried through here. Also carried over from the Descent diving watches are new “leak proof” buttons. While companies virtually never use “leak proof” in any wording, Garmin does here. And the reason makes sense.

Unlike past buttons which feature a hole in the internal case that the button pushes to activate (with seals/o-rings), there’s no hole here. Instead, it uses an inductive connection to detect the button push. This means there’s literally no hole in the internal case for the buttons. I had no problem with this design during my testing, though it does feel different. Thus, consider that for the first day or two of wearing it.

Moving back to the watch face, Garmin has launched new watch faces here, as well as redesigned how you configure the watch faces slightly. Ultimately, this seems like Garmin’s most customizable watch face to date. Now, I won’t lie: The first time I unboxed this unit, my initial thought was “Dear god, this default watch face is hideous.” But somehow, it’s grown on me, and I actually like it now. Go figure.

Of course, Garmin continues to have the deepest allowance of customization of any smartwatch out there, in terms of watch faces. You can make your own with the Garmin Connect IQ app, you can download thousands more, and even as of a few weeks ago, buy other watch faces too.

Once you get past the watch face, the first thing you’ll notice is the redesigned user interface. Garmin says they understand that having a new user interface for each and every watch isn’t ideal (something I’ve been harping on for years). This is their first go at consolidating these, going forward for new watches. Essentially it blends the Epix Pro & Forerunner 965 together, with touches of Venu 3. Said differently, it’s a threesome.

You’ll notice the first minor changes in the widgets/glances, such as for little charts and such. These are minor, but more polished touches than in the past. For those not familiar, the widget glances allow you to open up a given topic/data area, and then see more details. For example, if I were to tap on the ‘Steps’ one, I’ll see a few more full-screen pages about steps over the last 7 days:

Likewise, the same is true for other watch glances. Here’s the sleep ones:

Speaking of sleep, and tracking, I saw no issues across all of my nights of sleep of correctly capturing the times I fell asleep and woke up. Garmin has continued to make really good strides here over the last few years in this area, specifically around how well it handles briefly waking up early in the morning if you’ve got kids or such (and then falling back asleep). It now handles that correctly each time.

As I note in my other reviews, when I look at sleep accuracy, I focus on the fall asleep/wake-up times. The reason I don’t rate sleep phases/stages, is that the technologies available to do so simply aren’t all that accurate. Comparing against even so-called ‘gold-standard’ options for sleep accuracy are only rated in the 80% range for accuracy. We’d never judge heart rate accuracy against something that was wrong 20% of the time (in a best-case scenario). Thus, it’s silly to do so here. Instead, I’m focused on whether it correctly marks the times I’m actually awake.

I do look at heart rate variability accuracy a bit more closely though, since we can compare that much more easily. The Fenix 8 captures your HRV data while you sleep, and trends it over time (you’ll need 19 nights of initial sleep data first though before it applies the colorful labels). And then from there it’ll give you trending data over time.

In fact, just this morning I looked at the above HRV data and did a solid double take. There was no way my average last night was 83ms, was there? For me, as you can see from my trending graphs, that’s actually absurdly high. Yet sure enough, it was within a few ms of Whoop 4 (91ms), and Oura (92ms).

All of this data, across every metric, is available in the Garmin Connect smartphone app as well, which you can customize and dig quite deep into whatever metrics you desire.

Now, heading back to the watch, one area that’s been significantly changed is the settings menu (as part of the overall redesign). Garmin has essentially re-ordered everything here to have the most frequently used features up top, and then re-grouped them into more logical groupings. This is really targeted at new Garmin users, but practically speaking, it works great for existing users. I’ve got no problems with the settings redesign.

In fact, one of the things you’ll notice in that new settings area, is the new ‘Focus Modes’ feature. This takes loose inspiration from other companies’ ‘Focus Modes’ concept, in that it lets you customize a group of settings for different scenarios, such as Sleep and Activity. I say ‘such as’, but in reality, those are the only two at this point in time. However, Garmin says that they’ll soon expand that to creating your own custom focus modes, and tweaking more settings.

Until that happens, I honestly struggle with the value of this feature (said differently: It’s half-baked). But I can see how down the road you might create a ‘Race’ focus mode, or one for training, etc… But again, we’ll really have to see how things look once they get this all sorted.

Finally, two quick hit-list type items. First up, all the Fenix 8 editions have the flashlight, just like the Fenix 7 Pro and Epix Pro. The LED flashlight is on the front of the unit, and has three white brightness levels, and one red brightness level. I generally leave it on the red light, so at night it’s not blinding. Simply double-tap the upper left button, and the flashlight turns on, and you can then adjust the brightness by pressing up/down on the left side (you can see the red block on the controls in the middle photo below, on the left side of the watch face).

This continues to be one of my favorite features on the watch, as well as my wife’s favorite feature. She is very clear she won’t ever change to a watch that doesn’t have the flashlight (especially useful for checking on kids in the middle of the night).

And then lastly, the optical heart rate sensor in the Fenix 8 is the same as the Fenix 7 Pro and Epix Pro. This is an ECG-capable sensor, but at present ECG is only approved/authorized for people in the US (or those who travel at least once to the US).

With that, let’s get into the new features that depend on the microphone and speaker.

Voice & Speaker Features:

Depending on one’s perspective, this is either the biggest new feature, or second biggest (with ‘Dive’ being the other). Garmin has essentially taken all of the voice features found on their Venu series watches, and then added a few more. In short, these features are:

– Added hardware speaker/microphone (previously it just had a beeper) – Added ability to take voice calls from your watch (requires your phone be nearby) – Added ability to ask Siri/Google/Samsung voice assistants questions via watch microphone – Added offline Garmin voice assistant (no cell phone required) – Added ability to play music back via speaker on watch – Added Voice Notes Recorder

So, let’s get right into it, starting with the new offline Garmin Voice assistant feature. This feature is *entirely* offline, and requires no connectivity to your phone or the internet. It’s designed to do basic tasks on the watch, via voice. To access it, you’ll simply long-hold down the upper right button, which then triggers the microphone listening:

Examples of things you can ask are: “Start a run”, “Start a 10-minute timer”, “What’s my heart rate?”, “Save Location”, “Play Music”, “Show me the timer”, and so on. It’ll then listen to your voice, and a second or so later, show ‘Processing’:

A moment after that, it’ll do whatever it is you used, such as setting this 10-minute timer:

It actually works quite well most of the time, but whether or not it’s useful depends on which task you’re trying to do. That’s foiled further by the fact that you have to physically long-hold the button. Unlike Apple or Google’s voice assistants that are listening constantly, the act of holding the button takes longer than some tasks altogether. For example, in my video, I show ‘Start a run’, and side-by-side, I easily beat the Garmin assistant, in doing it manually.

Whereas for other tasks, like setting a 10-minute timer, the Garmin assistant will beat me, because that’s more cumbersome to do via buttons. However, when you ask to check the timer, you sometimes run into phrasing quirks. For example, I assumed I could say “How much time is left on the timer?” (and other variants). But nope. The correct phrasing is “Show me the timer”. However, these are things Garmin can easily expand over time.

The next assistants are those on your phone, driven by whatever phone voice assistant you have (Apple/Google/Samsung). These are obviously much smarter assistants, powered by the internet, but can’t control Garmin things, and of course, require your phone. To access these, you’ll go into the Apps menu, and then choose phone assistant, and simply speak your question:

It’ll answer back on your phone, not on the watch. It’ll look identical to as if Siri/etc is answering a voice command on your phone, since it’s just leveraging the microphone on the watch, as if it were a headset or such.

Next, there’s voice calling. This will work almost identical to the above, in that it’s simply using your microphone/speaker as a Bluetooth audio device. Except that you can select contacts and dial phone numbers from the watch. You can also transfer the call back to your phone.

From a quality standpoint, this is basically the same as the Garmin Venu series, and is totally fine in a pinch. Just as with other watch-based microphones, it’s not ideal for a long call requiring very high quality, but if you need to make it work, you can. It’s not bad, but it’s not awesome as it’s just not all that loud, but sounds fairly quiet – especially in an outdoor environment.

Still, despite diving with the watch multiple times, the quality of the microphone/speaker is good (an obvious bar for success, but at least worth mentioning). Speaking of which, at the moment, Garmin’s doesn’t eject water from the speaker like Apple and others, but that too is on the way in an upcoming firmware update.

Next, there’s the Voice Notes/Recorder feature. This lets you take voice notes entirely offline. As with the Garmin assistant, this requires no connectivity to the internet. It’s fully internal. To access it, again, you’ll go into the apps menu and select the ‘Voice Notes’ feature, and then tap to record.

By default, it doesn’t geotag the voice notes, but you can toggle to enable that geotagging on a per-note basis. The notes are arranged in a library on the watch. Unfortunately, at the moment they don’t transfer to your phone, but Garmin says that’s coming. Once that happens, I can see this being much more useful. Still, if you’re out for a run and have a brilliant idea for a new thingy, this could be your quick and easy answer to recording said idea.

Lastly, the Fenix 8 supports offline music from Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube, as well as of course MP3 files. All of that works just as it has for the last few years, except now you can play that audio back on the speaker itself (rather than connected headphones). Again, I wouldn’t recommend this in a public gym setting, but if you’re in an area that doesn’t annoy others, then it works well in a pinch. It’ll simply ask you which audio device to use, and ‘Speaker’ is one of those.

Ultimately, all of these features are aimed at increasing the ‘smarts’ on Garmin’s watch. Depending on one’s perspective on talking to your wrist, you’ll find these valuable or useless. I tend to fall more towards the useless camp, as I don’t tend to talk to my wrist. Instead, I was really hoping to see cellular connectivity, specifically aligned to how Garmin does it in the Forerunner 945 LTE and Garmin Bounce watches, where it’s primarily for tracking/safety features.

Getting full cellular connectivity for all integrated texting/calling/etc features under a single number is exceptionally challenging for Garmin, especially when looking at iPhone users, due to restrictions put in place by Apple that limit what Garmin can leverage when talking to an iPhone. For example, Garmin can’t reply back to text messages on an iPhone (from the watch), nor can they access photos in a text message on an iPhone. They can do this on Android, but I suspect there’s less desire to do so, given the majority of Garmin’s customers for this product category are on Apple phones.

Oh wait, one more thing I forgot! Ironically, the very first thing the watch will ask you when you set it up, is the font sizes. You can now adjust the font sizes across a wide range of different sizes, to meet your eyes’ needs:

Everything in this review was just left at the default font sizes. With that, let’s get sweaty.

Sports & Navigation Changes:

Next, let’s look at sports and activities. As there are some big changes here as well. At least in terms of looks and organization – the actual underlying features are almost all identical.

To access the sports modes, you’ll tap the upper right button, just as you always did. And at first glance, this will look similar, but in reality, it works quite differently (I show this in the video, walking through it all). The first thing you’ll see along the top is your top three pinned sports, and then down below are non-sport apps. So in this case, my top-three pinned sports are Running, Cycling, and Openwater Swimming.

To access the rest of the sports, I move sideways to those four dots, which opens up the bigger list. Here’s where I can see all the other favorited sports that aren’t in the top three, as well as other ones I haven’t even used. This sounds like a minor gripe, but I don’t like having to go sideways, then confirm, then down, through the list. It just ends up being unnecessary.

Meanwhile, if you didn’t go sideways, you’d get to the non-sports App list, which is where things like Voice Calling is, and other non-sporty features:

However, let’s assume you’ve selected a sport, running in my case. In this scenario, again, it’ll look similar at first glance. You’ve got your GPS status and HR status up top, and then the start button. However, the big change is that down below are all your settings. It’s one continuous settings arena now – virtually identical to what Suunto has had for a number of years. The idea here being it makes it obvious that Garmin has all these extra features (such as the Daily Suggested Workout listed):

Garmin’s goal here is again, making it easier for new-to-Garmin users to see all these features, which were previously hidden deep in the menus. And I actually like this part of the UI redesign. It doesn’t really save you button presses, it just makes it more obvious these things exist. And it, of course, groups them together.

For example, let’s say we add a course to this. We now have a new ‘Saved’ section, which puts all the saved navigational bits into one bucket (courses, saved location, etc…).

So loading up that course, you’ll see it added to the start screen before I press the start button. Think of this as ‘Lane 1’ (including the settings bits down below), and now you can swipe sideways through three distinct lanes: Navigation/Settings, Your Normal Data Fields, Music Controls. You can see the three icons for this at the very bottom.

Ok, so now we press the start button, and we get into our normal data pages. These are what we’ve always had since the beginning of time with Garmin watches, and you still have them too. Anything you’ve configured the way you want it, is here, in the middle lane (shown by the little hiker icon, since I’m in hiking). It just happened this was a bad still photo of the map loading mid-way, but, you get the point. The map was one of my data pages I had set up. I go up/down through the data pages like previously.

However, now there’s an additional page to the right, for music controls. Spotify, Amazon, etc…are all here. Unfortunately, you can’t get rid of this page at this time, though Garmin seems to indicate that’s coming.

But the biggest change comes if you go to swipe back to the controls page (going left). Here, you’ve got controls, but you’ve also got a new dedicated navigation lane. It’s indicated by the blue rectangle around ‘Spanish Mountains’, the name of my course. In this case, it’s showing 5 hours till completion of the route, though oddly 828m till the next nearby waypoint. Why it splits the difference, I don’t know (nor do I like it).

Where it gets kinda wonky though, is that you can then tap/select that to open up the full navigation set, which is another bundle of navigation-specific data pages. If you’ve been around the Garmin block though, these will likely be duplicates of your normal data pages. For example, this is in the navigation lane (Map page, ETA page, waypoints page):

I like the concept as a concept, but not in execution. First off, I should be able to swipe left, straight into the navigation lane. I shouldn’t have to open it up again from that controls lane. And second, it just all ends up being duplicates of what I already have. And then that doesn’t cover the fact that on the navigation page, ClimbPro just defaults to showing the first climb on my route, rather than my current climb that it shows elsewhere (given I’m 7 hours into this day, I don’t much care about that climb 7 hours ago).

There are some other nice tweaks though; for example, you can tap and swipe a little icon to then unlock touch, otherwise, it remains locked. This makes it much easier to use the touch on a map page but otherwise have it disabled.

Further, on a map page, you can select the compass icon to change the orientation to North Up, or direction of travel. Again, tiny little things.

Likewise, there’s a new option to quickly select various map layers, and toggle them on and off, directly from the map page:

This is handy with the Outdoor+ maps (satellite imagery), where you want to quickly shift back and forth between the different map types, or even other map types as well.

And ultimately, setting aside my quibbles with how the navigation lane works, the underlying watch foundations worked well, as expected. There’s a bit more lag than I’d like in some cases for map tile enumeration, which didn’t seem to happen on the Epix Pro. But it seemed varied as to when it was slightly laggy, and when it was instant.

Further, the second day hike (this 38KM hike) was a great example of when a GPS device, with mapping (specifically topo maps) was absolutely crucial. There were key sections of the route that clearly hadn’t been used in a long long time, and required some moderate bushwhacking. Having the topography side of the maps made it easier to figure out where I could cut through, and where I couldn’t (due to cliffs).

Beyond that though, there’s no changes to things like sensor pairings, data fields per page, training features, etc… All of that is identical. Thus, you can refer to my Fenix 7 Pro or Epix Pro reviews to see all those details, as they are exactly the same here.

I’ll likely expand out this section with all the usual explainers of how to start/stop workouts and such, but everything there remains identical to the past. Thus, let’s focus on some of the other new areas instead.

Dive Functionality:

Of course, one of the two big-ticket features is the addition of dive functionality. That includes both a hardware element (depth gauge, and better sealed buttons), as well as a software element (all the dive computer pieces). Garmin has made dive computers for a number of years now ( 7 years, to be precise ). And in that time, they’ve unquestionably changed the premium dive computer industry. They essentially took a Fenix unit, and made it a dive computer, under the Descent branding. Now, they’re pulling those features back into the Fenix lineup.

And to Garmin’s credit here, they seem to have struck a very strong balance in terms of which features to add from the much more expensive Garmin Descent MK3 lineup (the MK3 is $1,199 for the 43mm, but jumps to $1,599 for the 51mm with air integration).

This means, at a high level, you’ve got the following features:

– Supports scuba dive, apnea (free diving), and snorkel – Supports both air and nitrox – Supports basic dive planning – Has all normal dive computer fields (depth/time/compass/water temp/max depth/etc) – Supports compass lock heading option – Records GPS entry/exit points – Has all the normal ascent/NDL/etc alerts you’d expect. – Has no-fly time, surface interval time – Has full Garmin Dive app log integration

However, the handful of features not available on the Fenix 8 that are available on the MK3i are:

– No Wireless Air Integration (tank module support) – No wireless dive network integration (called ’Sonar’, to communicate between divers) – No Garmin Diver Readiness Score – No Trimix support – No Advanced Technical Diving Modes

There’s also some other minor user interface bits you’ll see different, though most of them are pretty minor and owed more to the Fenix 8’s updated UI than anything (for example, on the Fenix 8 they combine the tissue loading data pages together, whereas the Descent MK3i splits it into two data pages, yet the total content is identical).

Here’s the full chart, from Garmin, on the differences (having used the Apple Watch Ultra with Oceanic’s app, I don’t see any obvious errors in Garmin’s chart):

(I’ll aim to re-create this table in the coming day or so, and add in the Suunto Ocean)

Note that I’ll be spending a lot of time in a warmer water locale come September, thus, expect to see more diving-focused bouts, including directly comparing the Fenix 8, Descent MK3i (with tank module), Suunto Ocean (also with tank module/pod), and Apple Watch Ultra 2 (with Oceanic app):

Ok, with that said, let’s talk about how the diving works. First up, you’ll want to add the Dive option to your sports favorite list. The reason is that by doing so, it’ll automatically trigger a dive when you descend below 4ft/1.6m (just like other companies do, per EN13319 regulations section 4.2.1). You can turn this off though, such as if you swim (e.g. training) regularly, so it doesn’t constantly turn on when you jump in the pool/water. Else, you can just manually open up the Scuba Dive sport profile:

Once you do so, you’ll be hanging out on the Scuba Dive sports page (apnea works virtually identically). This is where you can use the dive planner functionality (to check NDL time for example), as well as configure your data pages/fields (the defaults cover most of what you’d probably want, to be honest).

With that, simply descend. As soon as you go beyond that 4ft marker, the watch will start recording the dive, and start showing you stats appropriately (note the upper portion of this page is different between the two, and of course, you can switch between meters and feet):

You can change data fields by simply pressing the buttons on the side, which iterate through the data pages, just like in any other sport mode. In the event you ascend too quickly, you’ll get alerts for that too:

And same goes for reaching various thresholds around NDL (no decompression limit):

And you’ll also get safety stop notifications too:

Once you reach the end of your dive, by surfacing, it’ll automatically end the dive within 5 minutes. You’ll see a countdown timer show up on the watch, indicating as such in blue:

Then afterwards, all of this gets synced to Garmin Connect, and the Garmin Dive app, where you can see the details of your dives in the dive logbook:

The Garmin Dive app also has the ability to explore various dive sites, and you can upload photos to it that others can see to build a collection around the dive sites. It’s kinda like Strava Maps/Routes for diving, except Garmin owners only. Given the critical mass of Garmin devices over the last 7 years, it covers a heck of a lot of sites.

Finally, back on the watch you’ll see your no-fly time and surface interval, as well as tissue loading:

My only quibble here is that the surface interval time will reset for any water events that go below 4ft/1.6m. Meaning, if you jump off a boat/dock/plank into the water to cool-off, you’ll automatically reset the surface interval, and there’s nothing you can do about that (even discarding the auto-dive doesn’t work at present).

Setting that quibble aside, all of the dive features worked without issue for me on my dives. From a technical standpoint, it all worked well, but arguably one of the things I appreciated the most was the lack of subscription piece. Having used the Oceanic app a number of times diving on my Apple Watch Ultra units, I’ve occasionally had subscription-related issues when Internet connectivity was poor (specifically when out of cellular service, even this past week on Oceanic’s iPhone camera dive housing the issue cropped up again). This sidesteps all of that, because it’s just built-in.

Albeit, I did eventually troubleshoot enough of the case, that all of the underwater photos in this section where taken on an iPhone 15 Pro inside the Oceanic case.

Finally, I want to briefly note about the dive standards used for the Garmin Fenix 8 and Descent MK3i (these standards are also what Apple follows for the Apple Watch Ultra). I do this because any time you talk about water and depth, there’s a weird cult of internet people who try and claim you need a 200m certified device to go snorkeling, let alone diving.

As one who actually owns a dive test chamber, for testing dive equipment, let’s have a fun diversion on exactly how equipment is certified per EN13319. Because yes, I spent €58.86 to purchase the EN13319 international specifications document. You’re welcome.

Within that lovely PDF document there’s a slew of tests that companies do. However, I’ve pulled out the key ones:

– Hammer test (not kidding, there’s an entire separate ISO document on how to do the hammer test) – Static force test of 150n pressure while on a wrist fixture – Pressure test to double the stated/claimed depth pressure – Underwater pressure cycling 200 times to 110% of maximum depth of device claim – Sea water resistance test for 24 hours – Temperature tests cycling between above+below water temps at intervals from 20°C down to 2°C, and air temps up to 60°C – Readability tests, timer accuracy tests, glove tests, responsiveness tests, etc…

But wait, it gets better, there’s actually a specific order of the testing. Failure at any point causes failure of the test. So basically, first you temperature cycle it a gazillion times, then you whack it with a hammer, then you leave it underwater for a day, then press hard on it, then you cycle it 200 times, and on, and on. Garmin has confirmed the Fenix 8 is EN13319 certified against a 40m specification, though contains a 100m water resistance rating (separate from the depth gauge components).

Again, this has to be done in this specific order:

1) Temperature cycling 2) Shock test (hammer) 3) Sea water resistance (24-hour test) 4) Static force wrist fixture test (150n) 5) Pressure cycling (200 times to 110% of maximum depth) 6) Water tightness test 7) Readability test 8) Accuracy test (inclusive of over-pressure test) 9) Dive timer test 10) Operability test (using gloves to push buttons at depth)

As a reminder again, failure at any point causes failure of the *entire* test. And I’m only covering just the durability aspect of this document, let alone all of the other specifications (from exactly when the timers must trigger, their variance allowances, the exact specifications to make artificial sea water, and so forth). I find that once I outline the above though, the ‘thou shalt not snorkel without a 200m certified device’ crowd, silently stops arguing. Point being, going for a 40m deep dive isn’t really a concern here, in terms of durability.

GPS & Heart Rate Accuracy:

In the event you want to save some time, this section is ideal for saving time to skip. The Fenix 8 uses the same GPS components and multi-band/dual-frequency design as the Fenix 7 Pro & Epix Pro. Concurrently, it also uses the same new optical heart rate sensor as seen last year on those watches. And all of my testing shows it results in virtually identical results to those watches, which was quite good then, and continues to be good now.

In short, the Fenix 8 is still industry-leading when it comes to GPS accuracy across every sport I tested it on (openwater swim/bike/run/hike), including across both dense tall building city and very challenging mountainous terrain. This group of GPS leaders includes Garmin, Apple, and Suunto (latest variants specifically). While the optical heart rate sensor also continues to be in the group of industry-leading companies (including Apple).

Nonetheless, let’s take a quick look at some data sets for funsies. We’ll obviously get right into the challenging stuff, to save both you and I time. This is my downtown city test. It’s where I run up and down a tight corridor of buildings that are roughly 20-30 stories tall. And here’s how the Fenix 8 handled :

As you can see, there were no meaningful issues from a GPS standpoint – beating the Epix Pro and basically a wash with the Apple Watch Ultra 2 (they both made some errors on the middle turn). At the same time, I also did short and intense intervals to see how the optical heart rate sensor would react. That too, showed no problems:

Next, here’s a city+mountain+castle run. The castle adds no difficulty for the watch, except the suffering for me to get up to the top of it. This too, showed good accuracy, even as I swept back and forth on the tiny streets of this seaside town (which was packed with tall apartments/hotels lining said streets):

Here’s that result :

Again, I did some intervals here, just for fun:

And again, no problems.

So, switching over to cycling, this time along a coastal road-riding route that was anything but easy GPS. We were constantly up against sharp cliffs, steep turns, and tunnels. Still, no problems :

And meanwhile, on the heart rate side, surprisingly good actually, save perhaps 3 moments where it lost the plot. As always, outdoor cycling is hard for most companies, but we do see Apple beat Garmin in a few cases on this ride, in terms of matching the chest strap.

Same goes for this gravel ride, this time under quite a bit of tree cover at times. Of course, once you add vibrations to a wrist-based optical sensor inside a watch, you start to see accuracy issues. And that applied here as well, with some variations that are normal to see. Still, this time it was Apple’s turn to have more failures than Garmin. As you can see , sometimes it’s just variable who the winner is.

Next, heading up into the Pyrenees mountains for testing, focused here mainly on GPS accuracy. That’s because while heart rate data is interesting, it’s kinda messy to try and deal with 9-10-hour activities where the heart rate is often considerably lower, and you’re also using things like hiking poles for stabilization/etc. That said, for all but a handful of seconds, the optical HR sensors matched the chest strap.

In any case, let’s look at a couple of challenging GPS scenarios, namely really steep sections in dense trees with nearby cliffs, such as this. In this case, the Enduro 3 was on the least-accurate GPS-Only mode (for some battery testing I was doing to see if the tradeoffs were worth it), whereas the other two were in SatIQ (enabling them to use multiband as conditions warranted). In my Enduro 3 review, I’ll show some side-by-side bits where another Enduro 3 watch on my friend was in SatIQ mode (and we were side-by-side the entire day). But for now, my watches :

You can see the two more granular tracks of the Fenix 8 and Epix Pro in SatIQ mode, virtually identical, whereas the GPS-Only Enduro 3 was a bit more free-form (as expected in that mode).

As we move along the overhang of some vast cliffs, all three watches are surprisingly close, but you can see some slight differences on this very steep switchback section.

Whereas on some upper elevation meadows with open air, the three are far tighter together.

This despite the conditions at the time being dumping rain, hail, and wind. Along with never-ending thunderstorms:

Finally, a quick openwater swim (different from the photo above, which also felt like a swim). Or, it was quick until I ran into a flotilla of jellyfish. At least they were pretty:

In any event, as for the actual GPS tracks, those too were pretty, virtually spot-on with the swim buoy. That tiny blip you notice just north of the island is where I found the jellyfish flotilla, and got distracted going underwater taking photos of them. But even then, the GPS tracks were within a few meters of the reference. Here’s the data :

Ultimately, as I said at the beginning, the accuracy here for GPS continues to be among the best (if not the best) in the wearables world. And from a heart rate standpoint, it’s exactly what we saw with the Fenix 7 Pro and Epix Pro last summer, with generally very strong accuracy and only rare mistakes.

Now interestingly, one feature that’s somewhat hidden away, is a new option to automatically process GPS tracks for correction, using internal sensor data. Meaning, if the watch detects that the GPS accuracy was non-ideal during the workout, it’ll flag the file to be analyzed by Garmin Connect online, leveraging the sensor data inside the watch (e.g., accelerometers, compass, gyro, etc..) to try and correct for said bad GPS data. This is specifically for only pedestrian activity and openwater swims (since those are activities that can look at things like arm movement to try and normalize against). The concept sounds roughly akin to what Suunto has previously called ‘FusedGPS’, except it sounds like Garmin is leveraging cloud computing to likely run more variables. Note that map data isn’t part of the correction set (whereas Apple, for example, does use map data for the corrections).

In all of the examples above, I used the end-state files that a consumer would ultimately see. Meaning, the corrected files, and all using the Garmin SatIQ (Autoselect) setting. Note that it *only* will correct non-ideal files. Perfectly fine GPS conditions don’t get corrected.

However, for funsies, through a somewhat convoluted process, I can show you before/after examples. This gets most interesting when you start to look at using the GPS-only setting (the lowest level of GPS accuracy, but the least battery burn), and then letting the corrections sort things out afterwards. I’m going to do a totally separate post with all that data later this week. But it includes plenty of interesting data sets, including extra Fenix 8 watches on my hike in different configuration settings.

(Note: All of the charts in these accuracy sections were created using the DCR Analyzer tool. It allows you to compare power meters/trainers, heart rate, cadence, speed/pace, GPS tracks, and plenty more. You can use it as well for your own gadget comparisons, more details here .)

Battery Testing:

When it comes to battery testing, the unit appears to easily meet the specifications laid out for it, in both smartwatch mode as well as sports/GPS modes. In the case of smartwatch mode, I used the 47mm (medium) sized AMOLED unit in an always-on display configuration. In doing so, I was getting a strong 6 days of battery life despite 1-2 hours of GPS time per day (SatIQ mode). I’ll be spending more time with the other sized models (including the Solar variants) in the coming weeks to plot that battery life, but I only had so many wrists available, and the other wrist had the Enduro 3 on it.

Meanwhile, for GPS battery life, I focused on two longer tests of hikes in the 8.5 to 10-hour range, into the mountains with challenging GPS conditions. For this first hike, the unit was on SatIQ with navigation enabled, and left on the map page *the entire time*. Seriously. Always-on display as well, thus, the biggest battery-burning possibility. Here, you can see the results (the Enduro 3 was also left in map always-on mode, but in GPS-only mode):

The next day, I changed things up. I left the Fenix 8 AMOLED in mostly ClimbPro mode (data fields, which burn less battery than the map page), and did the same for the Enduro 3. However, I also added a GPS-only Fenix 8 as well (connected to a HR strap), to see how that might differ. As you can see, the Fenix 8 in SatIQ mode easily beat the claimed specs for battery burn, and that’s ignoring the fact that the battery specs don’t account for navigation (which burns more battery):

Again, more testing to come on the various models, but everything is looking very solid in this realm.

As a company, Garmin hasn’t gotten to the level of recent success it’s enjoyed without producing great watch products. And from an engineering and technical standpoint, the Fenix 8 is a great watch. I don’t have any substantive issues there, aside from some minor gripes about the new user interface changes seeming a bit unnecessary at times. But like most things, I’ll get used to it. But in terms of features like the new dive functionality, it’s well-executed and importantly, doesn’t feel like a play to make you go out and buy a Descent MK3 instead. For the vast majority of divers, it’ll be exactly what they wanted.

Thus, I suspect people will find themselves in one of two camps when it comes to their opinions of the Fenix 8:

A) Feel that the pricing jump of $200-$300 for MIP-based owners, and $100 for AMOLED owners are unjustified given the lack of non-dive/non-speaker features B) Are thrilled with the new speaker and dive features, and don’t mind the additional cost.

For me, I largely fall in the first camp. I love the new dive features and appreciate Garmin kept most of the features from the Descent lineup. Yet at the same time, I personally just don’t care much for the microphone/speaker features. I rarely use them, and features like audible trail/hiking turn-by-turn notifications that I might actually use, aren’t there (they still rely on your phone). Instead, the much desired cellular/LTE connectivity (for at least safety features), is still missing. That’s hard to reconcile when my kids $149 Garmin Bounce watches have had it for nearly two years, and the Forerunner 945 LTE for three years . I’d have had no problems paying the extra $100-$200 for that.

I get there’s tremendous demand within Garmin for an annual Fenix release cycle. But the key to making an annual release cycle work (à la Apple, Google, or Samsung), is they keep pricing basically the same each year, and bringing in modest hardware improvements, alongside other software/feature improvements. Yes, Garmin does an exceptionally good job the rest of the year in delivering Fenix software features to existing watches (far more than Apple/Google/Samsung) under their quarterly firmware update program. And perhaps the ‘problem’ is they’ve delivered so many of those ‘gifts’ recently, that there just wasn’t much left to give here on Fenix 8 by itself. And, unfortunately for Fenix 7 owners, none of the new UI pieces/features are going back to previous watches.

Point being, while the Fenix 8 is very much the best Fenix (or Epix) that Garmin’s ever made, I think it missed the mark in terms of balancing new outdoor-focused sports features with the new pricing scheme. Especially when you consider the price of the existing Fenix 7 units that are constantly on sale.

Found This Post Useful? Support The Site!

Hopefully you found this review useful. At the end of the day, I’m an athlete just like you looking for the most detail possible on a new purchase – so my review is written from the standpoint of how I used the device. The reviews generally take a lot of hours to put together, so it’s a fair bit of work (and labor of love). As you probably noticed by looking below, I also take time to answer all the questions posted in the comments – and there’s quite a bit of detail in there as well.

If you're shopping for the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED or any other accessory items, please consider using the affiliate links below! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. Even more, if you shop with TPC (The Pro's Closet) , you'll save $40 on purchases over $200 with coupon code DCRAIN40 ! The Pro's Closet has been a long-time partner of the site here - including sponsoring videos like my cargo bike race , as well as just being an awesome Colorado-based company full of good humans. Check them out with the links below and the DCRAIN40 coupon!

Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED

And finally, here’s a handy list of accessories that work well with this unit (and some that I showed in the review). Given the unit pairs with ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart sensors, you can use just about anything though.

Garmin Index S2 WiFi Scale

This wifi-connected scale will track your weight and related metrics both on the scale display and in Garmin Connect (plus 3rd party apps like TrainingPeaks). It'll also then sync your weight to your watch/bike computer, to ensure accurate calorie data.

Garmin Cadence Sensor V2

This is a dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart cycling cadence sensor that you strap to your crank arm, but also does dual Bluetooth Smart, so you can pair it both to Zwift and another Bluetooth Smart app at once if you want.

Garmin HRM-DUAL Chest Strap

This is one of the top straps I use daily for accuracy comparisons (the others being the Polar H9/H10). It's dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart, and in fact dual-Bluetooth Smart too, in case you need multiple connectons.

Garmin inReach 2 Mini Satellite Communicator (2-way)

I never leave cell range without this. Every adventure I do that could leave cellular coverage, I have this with me, and it has native integration with virtually all Garmin watches for seamless alerts.

Garmin Puck Charger (USB-C)

Seriously, this will change your life. $9 for a two-pack of these puck Garmin chargers that stay put and stay connected. One for the office, one for your bedside, another for your bag, and one for your dog's house. Just in case.

Garmin HRM-PRO Plus

The HRM-PRO Plus is Garmin's top-end chest strap. It transmits dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart, but also transmits Running Dynamics & Running Pace/Distance metrics, stores HR data during a swim, and can be used without a watch for other sports. Also, it can transmit XC Skiing Dynamics as well.

And of course – you can always sign-up to be a DCR Supporter ! That gets you an ad-free DCR, access to the DCR Quarantine Corner video series packed with behind the scenes tidbits...and it also makes you awesome. And being awesome is what it’s all about!

Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to post comments or questions in the comments section below, I’ll be happy to try and answer them as quickly as possible. And lastly, if you felt this review was useful – I always appreciate feedback in the comments below. Thanks!

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471 Comments

Do the maps on the AMOLED watch displays at 480×480 pixels have significant better detail or clarity due to the colors or pixel density than the MIP displays at 280×280 pixels?

Yes, noticeably better. As previously on Epix vs. F7. I think Ray had a comparison somewhere.

Dear Ray, thank you. It seems that the Solar versions are not (yet?) available, neither at Garmin nor in any online shop. Is there any information on a delay? Do you have information on availability? Thanks.

I have owned the 5/6/7, the 7 is a massive disappointment. It’s media function / BT connectivity is hopeless and no update has fixed it. The 5 was better, I’ve tried Bose, Sony and Sonos hi end headphones buds, and the drop out is consistent across all devices. Massive fail garmin need proof BT works b4 buying an 8, and tbh feel ripped off

Nhadany issues with my Fenix 7 and aftershox headphones

Is it possible to share the About info on the watch or through Garmin Connect Mobile ? WHR, FirstBeat, etc.

— Also, if it works or when the CIQ App will be updated, i’m looking for Benchmark result to understand if Garmin change the SoC or if it’s only “software upgrade” (i don’t talk about pressure and speaker/mic features).

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-7-series/351371/garmin—benchmark—f7-e2-comparison-positioning

CIQ Benchmark v2 – link to apps.garmin.com Discuss here in the forum – link to forums.garmin.com 3D Benchmark – link to apps.garmin.com

Can’t wait to see the benchmarks. But I think that requires an update to the SDK to support the watch which will also be interesting to see if connect iq apps/datafields, etc get access to more memory

Looks like the SDK has been updated and currently data field on the Fenix 8 have less memory to use than the previous Fenix and Epix. I really hope thats a bug in the SDK as that makes it seem like the Fenix 8 is worse as its equal to what the Fenix 6 could do

I originally would have assumed that the F8 was on a new SOC, however Ray’s response that maps were just as laggy when panning as the E2P and that the FE gets the same UI suggests to me that the CPU/GPU may be the same as before. And there always has been DSP functionality on the F7-SOC which might be utilized for the voice recognition. (and/or simply releasing the throttle on the CPU).

Very much looking forward to the benchmarks.

Going by garmin the fenix 8 finally allows more the 2 data fields and allows 4. So half the memory per data field. Almost makes it sound like the SoC didn’t change so the newer watch doesn’t have any extra memory to allow this functionality.

link to forums.garmin.com

The Venu 3 did support a mic/speaker and with reviews saying how long it takes to process voice data on the Fenix 8 that seems very possible. (The Fenix 7 used the same chipset at the Venu3)

It would seem like a better SoC would have come out since the 945 LTE/Venu 3 (Remember thee Fenix wasn’t the first watch to use the SoC.

The benchmarks of the Fenix 7 almost double the Fenix 6 including more memory for Connect IQ and I’m guessing whatever else is running on the watch natively the Fenix 8 is feeling like even more of a letdown. If they are running the same SoC and none of the functionality that doesn’t depend on the mic/speaker or diving buttons is coming to the older devices (see previous quote of Garmin from Ray) this isn’t looking good

Add to that, I believe all the benchmark data I’ve seen suggests that (benchmark) performance tends to degrade, and never improves with each FW version, and I question if the UI/map lags will get better before a new SoC gets used in the F8P(lus/ro)

Regarding Benchmark, yes the result degrade over time, but difficult to interpret …

Yes, i saw that now on my personal computer SDK 7.3.0 new devices F8 / E2 /E

F8 Series shared most of the sub-components with F7/E2 FRx55/x65.

Software Version: 11.59 GPS: 2.07 Wi-fi: 28.83 CIQ: 5.0.1 BMX: 17.0.9 WHR: 17.00.09 ANT/BLE/BT: 28.83 TSC: 0.19 Senor Hub: 31.11

Software version : 18.12b GPS: 10.01 Wi-fi: 28.17 CIQ: 5.0.0 BMX: 17.0.9 WHR: 17.00.09 NFC : 3.4.4 // WLT : 3.2.2 TSC: 3.05 or 3.04.1 Senor Hub: 31.10

Maybe with the next Beta or Public system for F7/E2 we will receive WiFi / CIQ / Sensor Hub update (Lily 2 receive the Sensor Hub version this week).

I have had the Fenix 5 for five years without issues. ( as long as I clear the memory every 6 months or so). I thought that as soon as the Fenix 8 came out, I would buy it without fail. Now I’m not too sure, do I really want more features than at metal case 965. Not for $£€500?

I’ll see what happens when my Fenix 5 finally dies.

sorry 6 years

Wondering if Garmin advanced metrics like acute load are finally available on the default watch faces? So far that’s been the biggest shortcoming of OLED…

Yup, in fact if you look at the start of “The Basics” section, that first image on the watch face shows my Acute Load in the middle left (827).

Does the watch come with additional Sensor Guards, or are you stuck with the orange one if you get that model? Seems like it will clash with nicer watch straps.

I’m looking to buy my first Garmin watch (coming from AW7). And everybody is talking about the price hike. But isn’t that only true when comparing the Fenix 8 MIP options vs Fenix 7 (Pro)? I thought the Epix (2) Pro options were about the same price when they where first launched as the Fenix AMOLED options now. Or do I have it wrong here? Of course, the price for the Epix has come down considerably (in Europe at least) since then, and if you’re like me and probably never going to use the Dive app or Microphone (I do have a microphone on my AW, but never used it). The only benefit (in the 43mm and 47mm at least) is the bigger screen and the new UI at this point. But since they are not planning to bring any new functions to the older models, I fear I might miss out on useful stuff they may be adding over time.

Actually it made me consider the Enduro 3 with it’s insane battery life. But here you have only the 51mm option, and that might be to big on my wrist. And of course the MIP display, which might be hard getting used to coming from an AW. Has anyone here made that switch? And what are your experiences with it if you have?

Thanks for the review and content. Have a Fenix 6 pro, and was looking forward to upgrading. Ordered the £950 47mm version, but have cancelled. The price is just that bit too much. I will wait for the 8 pro or the 9. On that – when do you think we’ll see the Fenix 9, or the 8 pro? What do you think they might include in these models (LTE?)

Do you have any information on the amount of workouts you can store locally in the watch?

My current Fenix 6 maxes out at 20 stored workouts which is functionally nothing and very annoying to manually remove workouts so that new ones can be synced to the watch.

Was a huge surprise that Spanish El Cort Ingles allowed me to order and collect the one (47 OLED Orange) at the same day – so, 10 hours after the announcement I was holding it and cannot believe!

Quite good after Epix 2 Gray, but need some time to setup and get calm with some new settings.

Prices for American people… Guys that come to Italy and have “dolce vita” with our city, landscape etc… Can’t afford a watch that costs 70% of mean Italian salary (cheapest one). Bye Garmin, dear Suunto…. E

Ended up getting a 51mm Fenix 8 Amoled from my usual dealer.

Got too good an offer to pass on- 20% discount and a free titanium bracelet on top. Selling my watch and bracelet gets it all funded.

How can I get the same deal?

No one, not a single reviewer talk about the fact than garmin cheapskate on the rear cover of their flagship watch. The garmin fenix 8 titanium no longer have a rear cover in titanium, now in simple metal !!!

The patina on the titanium rear cover was so satisfaying.

Its like garmin is loosing the rugged watch to be a regular smarthwatch apple contester. its sad !

You already post that on garmin forums, stop trolling get a life. Just don’t buy it like many others including me.

Has it been confirmed it’s not titanium? If you’re basing it off of the Garmin spec page, that is likely an oversight or a simplification for the overall product line (“fiber-reinforced polymer with metal rear cover” instead of “fiber-reinforced polymer with stainless steel or titanium rear cover”). Garmin is notorious for having a couple minor inaccuracies on the spec page – often saying something *doesn’t* have a feature when it actually does.

Pantani, Why so hostile? some of use don’t go on the garmin forums.

The bracelet seems to be less wide? Not 26mm

I would find very useful to see HR accuracy tests using a rowing machine. I find that wrist HR monitors really struggle compared to straps, by a consistent 10-20 bpm inaccuracy over significant periods of time.

DC, please share some pictures showing F8 MIP display in comparison to F7 to see if any improvement is done.

Thanks for this Ray – looks like you and Des had some fun with recent testing. :)

Fenix 7X user here – Fenix 8 is a pass for me, despite having upgraded with every previous generation of Garmin watch. (Vivoactive Plus -> FR935 -> Fenix 6 -> Fenix 7)

I’m waiting on cellular, and wireless charging like that found on the Vivomove Trend. I concede the F8 is probably going to be a great seller for Garmin for people upgrading from older units, or leaving Fitbit/AppleWatch.

Do you think there will be a Garmin Fenix 8 Pro series? or is it just Fenix 8 only now, unlike the Fenix 7 series which had regular and pro?

Don’t know what happened to my original post, so let’s try again:

Is the mentioned correction of GPS data (when it is deemed unreliable) something new and fancy or just documentation of the correction methods that are already in the older watches? That one seems to mess up my distance and speed for hiking, most likely due to my pace length/cadence and speed being out of sync with the models used for correction. Does this mean you can opt out of that correction?

Thanks Ray, for the nicely detailed review!

It’s new.

Garmin doesn’t have any other correction methods though to date, unless you’re talking the elevation correction for older watches that don’t have a barometric altimeter. But they don’t do anything else.

*Also, not sure what happened to the other comment, I don’t see it filtered anywhere. :(

Thanks for the reply!

There is no documented correction, indeed, but testing and quite a few garmin forum posts suggest it. My hikes were consistently 5-10% shorter than planned or recorded with a FR255 by my wife. Exporting the GPX resulted in correct distances, however. Changing settings in 3D correction, data recording (smart or every second) or any other setting would not help. It somehow kept shorting the distance en reducing the speed although the GPX-tracks seem spot on. I found a post somewhere about the location of the GPS antenna(s). It suggested that since those are located on the top (12h) of the watch, reception is not as good as it can be and to my surprise I have had no odd distances/speeds since rotating the watch to the inside of my wrist (giving it a more direct view of the sky). This is with the exact same watch, same settings and can be replicated walk after walk by just switching the position of the watch. This makes a good case for there being a correction in place already.

Since the actual recorded locations on the track are spot on, it is not (completely) based on fix quality (which is, very much simplified, number of satellites available), but seems to be more based on the signal strength or something like that.

Any chance you are using an HRM Pro/Plus and having that as the source of distance instead of the GPS?

Good one! However, I checked and double checked that as well. Also tested without strap, just in case :) Also, that would not be fixed by wearing the watch on the inside of my wrist. I did contact Garmin about this, but they had no idea about the inner workings. They just suggested that I send it it in, even though the GPS track shows the hardware is working as intended :)

I’m so disappointed about no LTE option. I was hoping to go back to a Garmin watch after I had moved to a Samsung LTE watch. I don’t know what product line managers look at.

What I’d like:

LTE Text and calls Payment system Battery life aka MIPs display Accurate GPS to give me an accurate running pace. Music player

give me that and I’ll buy your 1000 dollar watch.

Why did they release the 43mm watch with the AMOLED display? 4 days battery life in always on mode? That is a joke! This will essentially be a major downgrade from my Fenix 6. Why would anyone buy that?

Because they already had it in the line-up (as the Epix Pro 43mm) and people liked and bought it.

No ECG again. No blood pressure even attempted(or any other health metric). No LTE. No new sensors. Garmin Pay still sucks a bit. No Android Find my network? No Apple Find my Network? This makes a purchase difficult. And then: Garmin thinks it is apple again….waaaaay overpriced. usually you can get 20% discounts easily, but with this watch it wont be enough. even the “old” pricing was expensive as hell, but barely okay with the discounts. With this new pricing scheme I hope the 50% discounts will drop soon!

“[…] given the majority of Garmin’s customers for this product category are on Apple phones.”

Are there any numbers available? Or did they say? I mean, in the US, for sure… but what about the rest of the world? Apple’s behavior on this topic is another reason for me not to get an IPhone….

Funny what you can do these days … I’ve put the 422 (and counting) comments from this forum and asked ChatGPT for the sentiment. For comparison, I did the same with the Suunto Race S for a comparison. I kinda assume that the followers of Ray are a legit audience.

Garmin Fenix 8: Negative Sentiment: 60% – A significant portion of the comments express frustration and dissatisfaction, particularly regarding the high price, outdated charging port, and lack of substantial upgrades.

Neutral Sentiment: 30% – Some comments are more neutral, providing constructive feedback or comparing features without strong positive or negative emotions.

Positive Sentiment: 10% – A smaller percentage of comments are positive, where users express appreciation for certain features like the improved UI, dive functionalities, and larger screen size.

Suunto Race S: Negative Sentiment: 25% – Some users express dissatisfaction, particularly regarding issues with the heart rate sensor, problems with synchronization, and the lack of certain features. There are also concerns about the product’s long-term reliability and Suunto’s customer service.

Neutral Sentiment: 40% – A significant portion of the comments are neutral, focusing on specific questions, technical details, or constructive criticism without strong emotions. These include discussions about features, comparisons, and potential improvements.

Positive Sentiment: 35% – Many users express appreciation for the watch’s design, features, and Suunto’s ongoing support and updates. Comments about satisfaction with the device, as well as comparisons favoring Suunto over other brands, contribute to this positive sentiment.

Hehe, great comment :D

That’s a cool use of AI. 👍

That price is a little rich, considering its competing with the Ultra, with mobile connectivity.

I presume we are (10yrs on from the original Epix!) still limited to 2 IQ Connect fields? :(

Yes, still only 2 IQ fields. This year Fenix launch seems like Garmin is testing how much more they can stretch old tech.

Fenix 8 allows 4 connect iq data fields where each field has half the memory to work in

Great review as always. I understand page layout for apnea mode cannot be customized? How many data fields are displayed? I have a hard time with more than three without glasses

Thanks so much for your awesome and detailed reviews. Kudos! I just received the Epix Pro but am considering returning it for the Fenix 8. However, the $350 upgrade cost is making me hesitate. Coming from a Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, I’m concerned about missing smart features like rapid responses and assistance. Do you think the upgrade is worth it for the similar ‘but not really quite’ features on the Fenix 8?

This review is incredibly insightful, thank you. This is too much watch for me, way to many functions. I have a vivosmart 5 and an older Forerunner 935 watch. This is enough for me.

I sincerely think that there is a limit to what features a watch should have. But, there will always be people that will need the latest and greatest. Thanks.

I have the impression some of the review is only 99.5% fair: the microphone is indeed pretty useless, but I don’t think it the purpose is to start a run or activate the flashlight. Try activating something like an advance function, like look for software update or adjust bed time.

Also, one thing that is often not discussed: thickness. Garmin, please make the watch thinner. It is bulky. We are being used, but thinner watch are nicer.

Sapphire glass is excellent. So excellent in fact that I genuinely question why Garmin would use something else EVER other than selling more watch. I don’t necessarily need the extra GPS band or storage or accessory; but I definitely want a Sapphire glass on any watch; screen scratch makes me sad. Right not, the Sapphire option typically comes for a lot more money, and people don’t need the extra options.

Saphire is more expensive so a watch with it will cost more

I mentioned the thickness in a couple of posts – notably the the AMOLED versions are thinner than both the MIP versions and thinner (signficantly) than the previous generation.

Sapphire glass is nice, but in the past has been shown to make the MIIP screens dimmer. Also, I have never had a scratch on Garmin glass, regardless of Gorilla/Powerglass or Sapphire (cases are a different story). If you are really concerned about it, a cheap screen protector should take care of it.

I realize this is a bit technical, and I’m curious to know if Fenix 8 represents any updates or enhancements over Fenix 6/7 in terms of: * WiFi version supported (6E, 7, etc.?) * Bluetooth version supported (5.0, 5,4, etc.?) * USB version supported – does it charge faster or have faster charging?

For USB I meant faster charging or data transfer rate.

What about a comparison with the Fenix E ? That’s at a much lower price point and seems to miss out on the dive features, but pick up the AMOLED display and new user interface, so seems like a better option than a Fenix 7 or Epix Gen 2 (standard).

Did we finally got rid of the ridiculous limit of two CIQ data screens in sport apps?

Thanks, Ray!

I was hoping to see something like Apple Watch’s Irregular Rhythm Notification which “occasionally looks at your heartbeat to check for an irregular rhythm that might be suggestive of atrial fibrillation (AFib)” in the background without having to record an EKG at a moment in time. Any thoughts on whether we can expect this or whether this may require the next version of the Elevate sensor or at least a different regulatory approval than the current sensor has for EKG?

Will Fenix get the continuous ClimbPro function (not requiring navigating a course) that Edge x40 has?

I don’t know why, but i think Garmin lost this battle to Apple Watch Ultra.

Oh please. “Garmin is doomed!”. Just like 25 years ago “Apple is doomed!”. I’m wearing an Ultra, and I own and use an Epix 2. The Ultra cannot do all the sports things the Epix can, not even close. The Epix is not nearly as good of a smartwatch as the Ultra. Two different devices intended for two separate roles. If you buy an Ultra intending it for sports use like an Epix, you will be very disappointed.

@Ray maker > Hi Ray, thanks for the great review as usual! Quick question: any news regarding ECG availability for the EU? I’ve a Epix Pro (Gen 2) and still waiting for ECG app activation. I know there’s a plan B with fake GPS process but…So I guess it’s the same ECG software gap for Fenix 8 in the EU, right? Thanls!

I have heard that there are missing sailing activities from the watch (Sail Racing and Sailing Expedition). Can these be added from Garmin Connect app?

Wow. What an incredible review. Thank you!

Hi Rey, great early review

will you come out a details comparison between Fenix 7 Pro vs Fenix 8 solar

Epix Pro vs Fenix amoled?

Great review as always Ray, I could stomach the price if Garmin actually provided updates for 4 to 5 years like Apple, Garmin are terrible at bringing new features to older devices, in 2 years this watch effectively becomes defunct, I a massive Garmin fan but I’m seriously thinking of going elsewhere, I certainly will not be paying this price, I will either wait for a sale or buying another brand.

I’ve been trying to get a Garmin HRM for my pool swims since the FR265 optical sensor is way off in the water. But the Pro plus has been out of stock for a couple of months now. Would you know if there is a HRM update or new model coming this year? (apart from the already released HRM FIT of course)

Nice review but what is the purpose of GARMIN? I have a fenix 7 pro solar and very happy whit that one, coming from a forerunner XT735, which was superb already… No ECG yet, that’s a real fail, I know there are issues for EU but so many people want this, instead a more eye catching fancy shmancy display, OK that’s understandable… but diving features???, can you do a poll to see how many of your followers are divers?? I think diving people are not waitiing for a feniw watch… anyway keep up the good work and make that ECG roll out come true as garmin knows you ;-)

groeten uit Brussel

for me this is an easy upgrade choice from 2.5 yr old epix gen2. always having a dive computer with me for opportunistic dips on longer work trips is a big win – I’ll keep my shearwater for the planned stuff. Also the voice assistant for fiddly things like setting a timer is a nice touch – as is the mic/speaker for times my phone is ringing on my wrist but it’s on the other side of the room. flashlight and new HR sensor also a bonus. the strange thing for me is the choice between 47mm and 51mm – the fact that they have the SAME size screen – 51 only benefit seems to be better battery life and a chunkier strap, bezel, makes the 47mm the go to option

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Best Free Antivirus Software for 2024

Keep your computer safe with these tried-and-tested free antivirus tools.

Our Experts

CNET’s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise.

What’s the best free antivirus software overall?

The best free antivirus software is Avira Free Antivirus . This software offers real-time protection against malware like viruses, plus manual and automated scans. Avira Free Antivirus also provides protection from phishing -- a type of fraud involving sending emails or messages pretending to come from a reputable source to steal information -- and ransomware -- a type of malware that locks your computer and requires you to send a payment to unlock it. Avira Free Antivirus also includes a software updater to automatically keep your apps and drivers up to date.

Avira Free Antivirus comes with a password manager plus a browser extension that blocks malicious sites and ad trackers/third-party trackers.

Best of all, you can use Avira Free Antivirus on most operating systems, including Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android. However, some features -- including the Software Updater program -- are only available for Windows PCs.

About free antivirus software

Antivirus software scans your computer for viruses and other malware -- software built for a malicious purpose, often to harm your machine, steal key information or lock you out of your device -- and helps you remove it. 

Most antivirus software offers two types of protection: scheduled/manual scans, which actively search your device for malware, and real-time protection, which detects and blocks malware in attempted downloads.

Best antivirus software

• Real-time protection
• Phishing and ransomware protection
• Automated daily and weekly scans, with scheduling capabilities
• Software Updater
• Safe browsing tools
• Password manager
• Apps available for Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android
• Some tools are only available for Windows users
• Dashboard includes some aggressive upsells

Best Overall Protection

Avira free antivirus.

Avira Free Antivirus uses the same antivirus engine as the paid version of Avira, which consistently receives high rankings in all AV-Test categories . You’ll get real-time protection as well as the option to run manual scans and schedule scans on a daily or weekly basis. This last feature is particularly notable, as both Microsoft Defender and XProtect (the MacOS equivalent to Microsoft Defender) lack the ability to schedule scans.

Other layers of protection include phishing protection, ransomware protection and a software updater that automatically updates apps and drivers. You’ll also get a browser extension that blocks unsafe sites, ad tracking and other third-party trackers. A password manager is also included. None of these features are included with Microsoft Defender, XProtect or Bitdefender. AVG Free Antivirus includes some of these features, but lacks a password manager.

Avira Free Antivirus is available for MacOS, iOS and Android, but certain features -- like the Software Updater -- only work with Windows. There are also many features listed in the dashboard that are only partially accessible without upgrading to a paid version. For example, if you run a System Speedup scan, Avira will find performance issues, but if you click on the option to fix them, you’ll be told to upgrade.

• Built into Windows 10 and 11 and enabled by default
• Regularly updated
• Resource-intensive
• No option to schedule scans manually
• Ransomware protection is very limited

Best Free Antivirus for Windows

Microsoft defender.

Microsoft Defender ( formerly known as Windows Defender ) is built into Windows 10 and 11 and enabled by default. Microsoft Defender consistently receives high marks from AV-Test , and the program is updated regularly to ensure protection against new malware.

Defender provides real-time protection and runs automated scans. You can run manual scans if you’re ever concerned about your computer’s performance or a specific file or program you’ve downloaded. You can also set up Controlled Folder Access, which automatically stops apps from making unauthorized changes to your folders (you can manually exclude apps you trust). 

The one big drawback of Defender is that you can’t schedule the scans yourself; you’ll have to rely on the program’s automatic scans or run an on-demand check. However, Defender can track when your system is idle and tends to run scans during this time.

Windows 10 and 11 will automatically disable its own Windows Defender antivirus when you install third-party antivirus programs. If you uninstall the third-party protection, Windows will turn on its own antivirus again.

• Ability to schedule scans
• Lightweight and easy on PC resources
• Live customer support available for free users
• First scan takes a long time

Best for Real-Time Monitoring on Windows PCs

Bitdefender antivirus free edition.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition offers real-time protection against malware like viruses and spyware alongside ransomware protection. Bitdefender antivirus regularly earns a 6 out of 6 protection ranking from the AV-Test lab, plus high rankings for usability and performance. You can run manual scans and schedule daily, weekly or monthly scans to catch anything that makes it through Bitdefender’s real-time protection.

The free antivirus version covers one Windows or MacOS computer. You can also download Bitdefender apps for iOS and Android. For broader protection including parental controls and a VPN, you can choose Bitdefender Total Security or Bitdefender Antivirus Plus.

• Scan scheduling tool
• Browser extension to block third-party tracking and malicious websites
• Available for Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android
• Aggressively tries to sell you a paid subscription if you click on certain features or perform a “Smart Scan”

Best Free Cross-Platform Antivirus

Avg antivirus free.

AVG Antivirus Free and the paid AVG Internet Security app use the same antivirus cores -- the difference is that AVG Internet Security comes with a full suite of tools, like an enhanced firewall and webcam protection. Moreover, AVG consistently earns high scores in all three AV-Test categories, with the lowest recent ranking being a 5.5 out of 6 for performance.

With AVG Antivirus Free, you’ll get both real-time protection and the ability to manually run Deep Scans to find and remove malware that gets through the initial layer of protection. You can also schedule scans to run on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

AVG Antivirus Free guards against phishing and ransomware, plus provides a browser extension that blocks harmful sites and third-party tracking. You can get AVG Antivirus Free for Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android.

The one drawback of the free version of AVG is the prominent upsells. You’ll be directed to get a paid subscription if you click on certain features. Some of these upsells are rather sneaky, such as the one associated with the Smart Scan. You can run the Smart Scan and see issues it points out -- like vulnerabilities and settings configurations that might be harming your computer’s performance -- but when you click “Resolve All”, you’ll be hit with an upsell.

Factors to consider in free antivirus software

Trustworthiness.

Some particularly insidious malware is disguised as free antivirus software. You download something to protect your computer, and instead, you infect it, leading to stolen data or a locked device.

You can avoid this malware by sticking with trusted antivirus companies. Choose a company from a vetted list like this one, read the third-party tests we link to and make sure the URL you’re downloading from is authentic.

Antivirus software typically offers two layers of protection:

• Scans that search your computer and remove malware. Some programs let you schedule these yourself, while others run them automatically when your computer is idle. You should also be able to manually run a scan at any time.
• Real-time protection that identifies and blocks malware from being downloaded onto your computer. 

Antivirus tools may also block malicious websites and protect you from threats like phishing, but these features are typically only included with premium programs. Similarly, antivirus tools may only provide limited scan scheduling.

Free vs. paid antivirus software

Most free antivirus software programs are created by companies that also produce paid antivirus tools. They typically use the same antivirus engines as the paid versions, so you’ll get the same level of scanning and malware protection you’d get if you bought premium antivirus from the company. However, this protection is often only available for one device per person, whereas paid antivirus tools offer packages for five, 10 or even unlimited devices.

Moreover, paid antivirus software usually comes with additional benefits, such as advanced ransomware and phishing protection. Many companies also offer full security suites that include things like VPNs and password managers alongside the antivirus tools. Check out our list of the best antivirus programs to learn more about these security suites.

System resource use

An antivirus tool’s real-time protection shouldn’t interfere with regular use of your computer. Deep scans will often slow things down by consuming RAM or CPU resources, but they shouldn’t make your computer totally unusable.

Issues with Avast

For years, Avast Antivirus for Windows was the gold standard of antivirus, with consistently high rankings on AV-Test . We've included its antivirus in our list of recommended security app options before.

However, early in 2024, the Federal Trade Commission fined Avast $16.5 million to settle charges that from 2014 to 2020 the company had sold customer browsing information to more than 100 third parties. The FTC claims that Avast allegedly collected the data through browser extensions and antivirus software and sold the data through its Jumpshot subsidiary.

Then-Avast CEO Ondřej Vlček responded to the initial 2020 reports with a statement that he understood that his company's actions raised questions of trust in his company. To address these concerns, Avast terminated Jumpshot data collection in January 2020 and closed its operations. 

We hope there will be no further Jumpshot-style activities and that Avast returns to glory as one of the best antivirus software options. Until then, we recommend using one of the other free options on this list.

Issues with Kaspersky

Kaspersky has historically been another top antivirus provider, earning high marks and awards for virus and malware protection from independent labs. However, in June of 2024, the US government announced a federal ban prohibiting Kaspersky from selling antivirus or cybersecurity software or services in the US or to US citizens due to alleged ties between Kaspersky and the Russian government.

“Russia has shown time and again they have the capability and intent to exploit Russian companies, like Kaspersky Lab, to collect and weaponize sensitive US information, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to safeguard US national security and the American people," Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in the official announcement of the ban.

In a statement , Kaspersky said it "does not engage in activities which threaten US national security and, in fact, has made significant contributions with its reporting and protection from a variety of threat actors that targeted US interests and allies."

The Commerce Department recommends those who use Kaspersky software switch to replacement software from other security companies as soon as possible. To aid Kaspersky customers with the transition, Kaspersky will be allowed to provide antivirus updates to its software till Sept. 29, 2024, the department said.

How we test antivirus tools

We use a three-step process to vet antivirus tools. First, we look at product pages to ensure that a tool is 100% free, and we analyze each app’s features. Next, we look through reviews of the antivirus software -- both from tech experts and from regular consumers on sites like Trustpilot -- to gauge how effective and user-friendly the software is. We also look for scam alerts or other indications of shady business practices at this point.

Finally, we consult AV-Test , an independent company with testing labs for antivirus software. AV-Test runs tests every two or three months (the exact testing cycle varies based on the product and operating system) and provides rankings for protection, usability and performance. An antivirus tool must have at least a 5 out of 6 ranking in all three categories to qualify for one of our best lists.

Other free antivirus software

Malwarebytes: a top-tier tool for removing malware.

The free version of Malwarebytes is one of the best tools for finding and removing malware on your computer. You can use the Malwarebytes scanner if you’re having performance issues and you think your regular antivirus software has missed something. However, Malwarebytes doesn’t offer real-time protection in the free version, so you’ll still need another antivirus software to protect your devices in the future.

Best free antivirus FAQs

What is the best free antivirus you can get.

The best standalone free antivirus software is Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition. The best free digital security suite is AVG Antivirus Free.

Is there 100% free antivirus?

Yes, there are several 100% free antivirus programs available, including built-in antivirus software on Windows and MacOS devices, like Microsoft Defender and XProtect. Additionally, Bitdefender, AVG and Avira are all great options.

Is it OK to use free antivirus software?

Yes, it’s OK to use free antivirus software, especially if you’re strict about following internet safety rules . However, you might want to invest in paid antivirus software if you store personal data on your computer or use your computer for work.

Do I really need a paid antivirus program?

You’ll probably be safe with a free antivirus tool if you’re following basic internet safety rules . However, if you use your computer for work or store sensitive data on it, you may want to invest in paid antivirus software . Many paid antivirus tools also come with additional layers of protection, like password managers and VPNs .

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Hardware Store Business Plan [Sample Template]

By: Author Tony Martins Ajaero

Home » Business Plans » Wholesale & Retail

Are you about starting a hardware store? If YES, here is a complete sample hardware store business plan template & feasibility report you can use for FREE .

So we have considered all the requirements for starting a hardware store. We also took it further by analyzing and drafting a sample hardware store business marketing plan template backed up by actionable guerrilla marketing ideas for hardware stores. So let’s proceed to the business planning section .

If you are looking for a business to start as an entrepreneur and you know you have an interest in running a store, then you should consider starting your own hardware store business. Although you don’t need a college degree to establish your own hardware store, but you would need some form of informal training.

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It would help you to learn how to manage your own store. It is important to point out that hardware store business is one the businesses that can’t go out of fashion because of the role it plays in our society.  The startup capital for this type of business can be considered to be moderate.

As a matter of fact, you can start your own hardware store and then grow it big within a short period of time by reinvesting your profits back to the business. Below is a sample hardware store business plan template that will help you successfully write yours without much stress

A Sample Hardware Store Business Plan Template

1. industry overview.

Stores in the Hardware Stores industry primarily retail a broad range of home renovation equipment and related supplies. Products such as hardware, plumbing, electrical and paint-related tools et al are the most commonly stocked goods you will likely find in a hardware store.

If you are a follower of happenings in the industry, you would have noticed that the industry has steadily improved over the five years to 2017. As the housing market has strengthened and consumer confidence has revived, individuals have started home improvement projects that had been put on hold during the recession.

Low mortgage rates during the period have also encouraged individuals to purchase and renovate new and existing homes. This flurry of construction activity has boosted demand for industry products from both contractors and do-it-yourself consumers. Going forward, revenue generated by the Hardware Stores industry is projected to grow at a slower rate.

The Hardware Stores Industry is indeed a large industry and pretty much active in all the countries of the world. Statistics have it that in the united states of America alone, there are about 19,935 registered and licensed hardware stores scattered all across the United States responsible for directly employing about 148,516 people and the industry rakes in a whooping sum of $24 billion annually.

The industry is projected to grow at 1.3 percent within 2011 and 2016. It is important to state that Ace Hardware, Do It Best and True Value Company have the largest chunk of the available market share in the industry. A recent report published by IBISWorld shows that the Hardware Stores industry has moderate barriers to entry.

The report further stated that high startup costs and the saturated nature of the market may deter new companies from entering the industry. Operators that plan to enter this industry need to consider the capital investment required to establish or purchase a store.

For example, to be eligible to join True Value Company, prospective operators must have a minimum of $150,000 unencumbered cash available for investment, while the total investment to open an Ace store ranges from $823,495 to $1,563,495, depending on store size and other variable factors. Of the total investment, $150,000 to $250,000 cash is needed.

The tough part as it relates to start-up costs most likely are the need to establish a supply of hardware and other related goods from wholesalers or directly from manufacturing companies. This is so because a hardware store business cannot be started without sourcing products for sale.

Regardless of moderate barriers to entry, the competitive nature of the industry makes it very difficult for new operators to break even within a short period of time in the industry.

Lastly, the Hardware Stores industry is pretty much open for aspiring entrepreneurs to launch their business. One good thing about hardware stores business is that the business can be opened in any part of the United States and if proper market survey and feasibility studies are conducted, then you can be rest assured of the profitability of the business.

2. Executive Summary

Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. is a standard hardware store that will be located in High Street, Short North Arts District, Columbus – Ohio.

We have been able to lease a facility that is big enough (a 4 thousand square foot facility) to fit into the design of the kind of standard hardware store that we intend launching and the facility is located in a corner piece along a major road close to one of the largest residential estates in Columbus – Ohio.

Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. will retail products such as hardware, tools, plumbing and electrical supplies, lawn, garden and farm supplies, paint and lumber and other building materials from different manufacturers in the United States and abroad. We are set to service a wide range of clientele in and around Columbus – Ohio.

We are aware that there are several large and small chains of hardware store outlets all around Columbus – Ohio, which is why we spent time and resources to conduct a thorough feasibility studies and market survey so as to be well positioned to favorably compete with all our competitors.

We have an online – service option for our customers, and our outlet is well secured with various payments of options. Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. will ensure that all our customers are given first class treatment whenever they visit our store.

We have a CRM software that will enable us manage a one on one relationship with our customers no matter how large our customer base may grow to. We will ensure that we get our customers involved in the selection of brands that will be in our store and also when making some business decisions that directly affects them.

Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. will at all times demonstrate her commitment to sustainability, both individually and as a firm by actively participating in our communities and integrating sustainable business practices wherever possible.

We will ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards by meeting our customers’ needs precisely and completely whenever they patronize our products. Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. is a family business that is owned by Mike Mendez and his immediate family members.

Mike Mendez has a Diploma in Business Administration with over 5 years of experience in the retailing stores industry, working for some of the leading brands in the United States. Although the business is launching out with just one outlet in Columbus – Ohio, but there is a plan to open other outlets in major cities in the United States and Canada.

3. Our Products and Services

Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. is in the hardware stores industry to service a wide range of clients and of course to make profits, which is why we will go all the way to make available a wide range of hardware and other related products from top manufacturing brands in the United States and other countries of the world.

Our product offerings are listed below;

• Retailing hardware
• Retailing tools and equipment
• Retailing plumbing fixtures and fittings
• Retailing electrical supplies
• Retailing paint and supplies
• Retailing garden products and equipment

4. Our Mission and Vision Statement

• Our vision is to become one of the leading brands in the hardware stores industry in Columbus – Ohio and in other key cities in the United States of America and Canada.
• Our mission is to establish a world – class hardware store business that will make available a wide range of hardware and other related products from top manufacturing brands at affordable prices to the residents of Columbus – Ohio and other key cities in the United States of America and Canada where we intend opening chains of hardware retail stores.

Our Business Structure

Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. do not intend to start a hardware retail store business like the usual mom and pop business around the street corner; our intention of starting a hardware retail store business is to build a standard retail store outlet in Columbus – Ohio.

Although our hardware retail store business might not be as big as Ace Hardware, Do It Best and True Value Company et al, but will ensure that we put the right structures in place that will support the kind of growth that we have in mind while setting up the business.

We will ensure that we hire people that are qualified, honest, customer centric and are ready to work to help us build a prosperous business that will benefit all the stakeholders.

As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our senior management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of ten years or more. In view of that, we have decided to hire qualified and competent hands to occupy the following positions;

• Chief Executive Officer (Owner)
• Store Manager
• Human Resources and Admin Manager

Merchandize Manager

Sales and Marketing Manager

Information Technologist

• Accountants / Cashiers
• Sales Agents / Customer Services Executive

5. Job Roles and Responsibilities

Chief Executive Officer – CEO:

• Grows management’s effectiveness by employing, selecting, orientating, preparation, coaching, counseling, and disciplining managers; communicating values, strategies, and objectives; assigning accountabilities; planning, monitoring, and appraising job results; developing incentives; developing a climate for offering information and opinions; providing educational opportunities.
• Accountable for fixing prices and signing business deals
• Accountable for providing direction for the business
• Builds, interconnects, and implements the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
• Accountable for signing checks and documents on behalf of the company
• Evaluates the success of the organization

Admin and HR Manager

• Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of HR and administrative tasks for the organization
• Maintains office supplies by checking stocks; placing and expediting orders; evaluating new products.
• Ensures operation of equipment by completing preventive maintenance requirements; calling for repairs.
• Defines job positions for recruitment and managing interviewing process.
• Carries out staff induction for new team members.
• Responsible for training, evaluation and assessment of employees.
• Accountable for arranging travel, meetings and appointments.
• Oversees the smooth running of the daily office cum business activities.

Store Manager:

• Responsible for managing the daily activities in the store.
• Ensures that proper records of hardware and other related products are kept and the warehouse does not run out of products.
• Ensures that the store facility is in tip top shape and goods are properly arranged and easy to locate.
• Interfaces with third – party suppliers.
• Controls hardware distribution and supply chain inventory.
• Oversees the workforce in the hardware sales floor.
• Manages vendor relations, market visits, and the ongoing education and development of the organizations’ buying teams
• Helps to ensure consistent quality of hardware, tools, plumbing and electrical supplies, lawn, garden and farm supplies, paint and sundries and lumber and other building materials et al from different manufacturers are purchased and retailed in good price that will ensure we make good profit
• Accountable for planning sales, monitoring inventory, selecting the merchandise, and writing and pricing orders to vendors
• Manages external research and coordinate all the internal sources of information to retain the organizations’ best customers and attract new ones
• Model demographic information and analyze the volumes of transactional data generated by customer purchases
• Identifies, prioritizes, and reaches out to new partners, and business opportunities et al
• Identifies development opportunities; follows up on development leads and contacts; participates in the structuring and financing of projects; assures the completion of development projects.
• Responsible for supervising implementation, advocate for the customer’s needs, and communicate with clients
• Develops, executes and evaluates new plans for expanding sales
• Document all customer contact and information
• Represents the company in strategic meetings
• Helps to increase sales and growth for the company
• Manages the organization’s website
• Handles ecommerce aspect of the business
• Responsible for installing and maintenance of computer software and hardware for the organization
• Manages logistics and supply chain software, Web servers, e-commerce software and POS (point of sale) systems
• Manages the organization’s CCTV
• Handles any other technological and IT related duties.

Accountant/Cashier:

• Accountable for preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for the organization
• Provides managements with financial analyses, development budgets, and accounting reports; analyzes financial feasibility for the most complex proposed projects; conducts market research to forecast trends and business conditions.
• In control of financial forecasting and risks analysis.
• Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting
• Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and policies
• Responsible for administering payrolls
• Ensures compliance with taxation legislation
• Handles all financial transactions for the organization
• Serves as internal auditor for the organization

Client Service Executive

• Ensures that all contacts with clients (e-mail, walk-In center, SMS or phone) provides the client with a personalized customer service experience of the highest level
• Through interaction with customers on the phone, uses every opportunity to build client’s interest in the company’s products and services
• Consistently stays abreast of any new information on the organizations’ products, promotional campaigns etc. to ensure accurate and helpful information is supplied to customers when they make enquiries
• Finds out the customer’s needs, recommend, select and help locate the right merchandise, describe a product’s features and benefits.
• make suggestions and encourage purchase of products
• Provides information about warranties, manufacturing specifications, care and maintenance of merchandise and delivery options
• Bags or packages purchases
• Responsible for cleaning all the products and the store facility at all times.
• Ensures that toiletries and supplies don’t run out of stock.
• Handles any other duty as assigned by the store manager.

6. SWOT Analysis

Our intention of starting just one outlet of our hardware retail store in Columbus – Ohio is to test run the business for a period of 3 to 5 years to know if we will invest more money, expand the business and then open other outlets all over major towns in Ohio and key cities in the United States.

We are quite aware that there are several hardware retail stores all over Charleston and even in the same location where we intend locating ours, which is why we are following the due process of establishing a business.

We know that if a proper SWOT analysis is conducted for our business, we will be able to position our business to maximize our strength, leverage on the opportunities that will be available to us, mitigate our risks and be equipped to confront our threats.

Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. employed the services of a Business Analyst with bias in retailing to help us conduct a thorough SWOT analysis and to help us create a Business model that will help us achieve our business goals and objectives. This is the summary of the SWOT analysis that was conducted for Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc.;

Ability to control stock on hand, experienced work force and having a loyal customer base are some of our core strength. So also, our location, the business model we will be operating, varieties of payment options, wide range of hardware and other related products from different manufacturing brand and our excellent customer service culture will definitely count as a plus for Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc.

A major weakness that may count against us is the fact that we are a new hardware retail store outlet in Columbus – Ohio and we don’t have the financial capacity to compete with multi – million dollars’ hardware retail store outlets like Ace Hardware, Do It Best and True Value Company and co when it comes to retailing at rock bottom prices.

• Opportunities:

The fact that we are going to be operating our hardware retail store in a corner piece property along a major road close to one of the largest residential estates in Columbus – Ohio provides us with unlimited opportunities to sell our hardware and other related products to a large number of individuals.

We have been able to conduct thorough feasibility studies and market survey and we know what our potential clients will be looking for when they visit our hardware store outlets.

Just like any other business, one of the major threats that we are likely going to face is economic downturn. Another threat that may likely confront us is the arrival of a new hardware store in same location where ours is located. So also, unfavorable government policies may also pose a threat to businesses such as ours.

7. MARKET ANALYSIS

• Market Trends

Recent trends in the hardware industry show that external competition has slightly dampened both industry revenue and profit growth.

Hardware stores have shifted business models to deal with heightened external competition and they will continue to be pressured by online retailers and larger home improvement stores. Experts projected that in 2017, the hardware stores industry is expected to profit from growing global economic conditions.

The hardware retail stores landscape has seen tremendous changes in the last 20 years; it has grown from the smaller outlets to a more organized and far reaching venture. The introduction of franchise and online store makes it easier for a hardware retailer to reach out to a larger market far beyond the areas where his physical store is located.

8. Our Target Market

Those who patronize hardware stores cut across all genders above 18 years with the financial means, and who own an apartment or office/business hence the target market for the hardware store business is all encompassing. In essence, your target market can’t be restricted to just a group of people but all those who reside in and around our store location.

In view of that, we have positioned our hardware retail store to service the residents of High Street, Short North Arts District, Columbus – Ohio and every other location where franchise cum outlets of our hardware retail stores will be located.

We have conducted our market research and feasibility studies and we have ideas of what our target market would be expecting from us. We are in business to retail a wide range of hardware and other related products to the following groups of people and corporate organizations;

• Construction and Real Estate Companies
• Banks, Insurance Companies and other related Financial Institutions
• Real Estate Owners, Developers, and Contractors
• The Government (Public works department)
• Schools (High Schools, Colleges and Universities)
• Sport Facilities
• Individuals and households

Our Competitive Advantage

A close study of the hardware stores industry reveals that the market has become much more intensely competitive over the last decade. As a matter of fact, you have to be highly creative, customer centric and proactive if you must survive in this industry.

We are aware of the stiff competition and we are well prepared to compete favorably with other leading stores in Columbus – Ohio and throughout the United States. Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. is launching a standard one stop hardware store that will indeed become the preferred choice of residents of Columbus – Ohio and every other location where our outlets will be opened.

One thing is certain; we will ensure that we have a wide range of hardware and other related products from leading manufacturers available in our store at all times. It will be difficult for customers to visit our store and not see the type of hardware they are looking for.

Our excellent customer service culture, online store, various payment options and highly secured facility will serve as a Competitive Advantage for us.

Lastly, our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package will be among the best within our category in the industry meaning that they will be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and achieve all our aims and objectives.

We will also give good working conditions and commissions to freelance sales agents that we will recruit from time to time.

9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

• Sources of Income

Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. is in business to retail a wide range of hardware and other related products to the residents of Columbus – Ohio.

We are in the hardware stores industry to maximize profit and we are going to go all the way out to ensure that we achieve or business goals and objectives. Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. will generate income by selling the following products;

10. Sales Forecast

When it comes to hardware retail stores, if your store is well stocked with various types of hardware and centrally positioned, you will always attract customers cum sales and that will sure translate to increase in revenue generation for the business.

We are well positioned to take on the available market in Columbus – Ohio and we are quite optimistic that we will meet our set target of generating enough income from the first six months of operation and grow the business and our clientele base.

We have been able to critically examine the hardware retail industry, we have analyzed our chances in the industry and we have been able to come up with the following sales forecast. The sales projections are based on information gathered on the field and some assumptions that are peculiar to startups in Columbus – Ohio.

Below are the sales projections for Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. it is based on the location of our business and other factors as it relates to hardware retail startups in the United States;

• First Fiscal Year: $250,000
• Second Fiscal Year: $450,000
• Third Fiscal Year: $750,000

N.B : This projection was done based on what is obtainable in the industry and with the assumption that there won’t be any major economic meltdown and there won’t be any major competitor within our market space. Please note that the above projection might be lower and at the same time it might be higher.

• Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy

Before choosing a location for Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. we conducted a thorough market survey and feasibility studies in order for us to penetrate the available market. We have detailed information and data that we were able to utilize to structure our business to attract the number of customers we want to attract per time.

We hired experts who have good understanding of the hardware retail industry to help us develop marketing strategies that will help us achieve our business goal of winning a larger percentage of the available market in Columbus – Ohio.

In other to continue to be in business and grow, we must continue to sell the hardware and other related products that are available in our store which is why we will go all out to empower or sales and marketing team to deliver. In summary, Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. will adopt the following sales and marketing approach to win customers over;

• Open our store in a grand style with a party for all.
• Introduce our hardware store by sending introductory letters alongside our brochure to residents, businesses and other key stakeholders in Columbus – Ohio.
• Ensure that we have a wide range of hardware and other related products from different brands at all times.
• Make use of attractive hand bills to create awareness and also to give direction to our store.
• Position our signage/flexi banners at strategic places around Columbus – Ohio
• Position our greeters to welcome and direct potential customers.
• Create a loyalty plan that will enable us reward our regular customers.
• Engage in roadshows within our neighborhood to create awareness for our hardware retail store.
• List our business and products on yellow pages ads (local directories).
• Leverage on the internet to promote our business.
• Engage in direct marketing and sales
• Encourage the use of Word of mouth marketing (referrals).
• Join local chambers of commerce and industries to network and market our products.

11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy

Despite the fact that our hardware retail store is well located, we will still go ahead to intensify publicity for the business. We are going to explore all available means to promote our hardware retail store.

Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. has a long-term plan of opening outlets in various locations all around Ohio and key cities in the United States and Canada which is why we will deliberately build our brand to be well accepted in Columbus – Ohio before venturing out.

As a matter of fact, our publicity and advertising strategy is not solely for winning customers over but to effectively communicate our brand. Here are the platforms we intend leveraging on to promote and advertise Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc.;

• Place adverts on community based newspapers, radio and TV stations.
• Encourage the use of word of mouth publicity from our loyal customers.
• Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Google+ and other platforms to promote our business.
• Ensure that we position our banners and billboards in strategic positions all around Columbus – Ohio.
• Distribute our fliers and handbills in target areas in and around our neighborhood.
• Advertise our hardware retail store business in our official website and employ strategies that will help us pull traffic to the site.
• Brand all our official cars and trucks and ensure that all our staff members and management staff wears our branded shirt or cap at regular intervals.

12. Our Pricing Strategy

Aside from quality, pricing is one of the key factors that gives leverage to hardware retail stores, it is normal for consumers to go to places where they can get hardware and other related products at cheaper price.

In view of that, our prices will conform to what is obtainable in the industry but we will ensure that within the first 6 to 12 months, our products will be sold a little bit below the average price of various hardware stores in the United States of America.

We have put in place business strategies that will help us run on low profits for a period of 6 months; it is a way of encouraging people to buy into our brand.

• Payment Options

The payment policy adopted by Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. is all inclusive because we are quite aware that different customers prefer different payment options as it suits them but at the same time, we will ensure that we abide by the financial rules and regulation of the United States of America.

Here are the payment options that Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. will make available to her clients;

• Payment via bank transfer
• Payment with cash
• Payment via credit cards/Point of Sale Machines (POS Machines)
• Payment via online bank transfer
• Payment via check
• Payment via mobile money transfer
• Payment via bank draft

In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will enable our client make payment for our hardware and other related purchases without any stress on their part. Our bank account numbers will be made available on our website and promotional materials to clients who may want to deposit cash or make online transfer for our products.

13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)

From our market survey and feasibility studies, we have been able to come up with a detailed budget on achieving our aim of establishing a standard hardware shop in Columbus – Ohio and here are the key areas where we will spend our startup capital;

• The total fee for registering the business in the Unites States of America – $750.
• Legal expenses for obtaining licenses and permits as well as the accounting services (software, P.O.S machines and other software) – $3,300.
• Marketing promotion expenses for the grand opening of Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. in the amount of $3,500 and as well as flyer printing (2,000 flyers at $0.04 per copy) for the total amount of $3,580.
• The cost for hiring business consultant – $2,500.
• Insurance (general liability, workers’ compensation and property casualty) coverage at a total premium – $2,400.
• The cost for payment of rent for 12 months at $1.76 per square feet in the total amount of $105,600.
• The cost for shop remodeling (construction of racks and shelves) – $20,000.
• Other start-up expenses including stationery ($500) and phone and utility deposits ( $2,500 ).
• Operational cost for the first 3 months (salaries of employees, payments of bills et al) – $60,000
• The cost for start-up inventory  – $350,000
• The cost for counter area equipment – $9,500
• The cost for store equipment (cash register, security, ventilation, signage) – $13,750
• The cost of purchase and installation of CCTVs: $10,000
• The cost for the purchase of office furniture and gadgets (Computers, Printers, Telephone, TVs, Sound System, tables and chairs et al): $4,000.
• The cost of launching a website: $600
• The cost for our opening party: $7,000
• Miscellaneous: $10,000

We would need an estimate of $750,000 to successfully set up a standard hardware retail store in Columbus – Ohio.

Generating Funds/Startup Capital for Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc.

Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. is a private registered business that is solely owned and financed by Mike Mendez and his immediate family members. They do not intend to welcome any external business partner which is why he has decided to restrict the sourcing of the startup capital to 3 major sources.

These are the areas we intend generating our startup capital;

• Generate part of the startup capital from personal savings
• Source for soft loans from family members and friends
• Apply for loan from my Bank

N.B: We have been able to generate about $250,000 (Personal savings $200,000 and soft loan from family members $50,000) and we are at the final stages of obtaining a loan facility of $500,000 from our bank. All the papers and documents have been signed and submitted, the loan has been approved and any moment from now our account will be credited with the amount.

14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy

The future of a business lies in the number of loyal customers that they have, the capacity and competence of their employees, their investment strategy and the business structure. If all of these factors are missing from a business, then it won’t be too long before the business closes shop.

One of our major goals of starting Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. is to build a business that will survive off its own cash flow without the need for injecting finance from external sources once the business is officially running.

We know that one of the ways of gaining approval and winning customers over is to retail our wide range of products such as hardware, tools, plumbing and electrical supplies, lawn, garden and farm supplies, paint and sundries and lumber and other building materials et al from different manufacturers (brands) a little bit cheaper than what is obtainable in the market and we are well prepared to survive on lower profit margin for a while.

Mike Mendez® Hardware Stores, Inc. will make sure that the right foundation, structures and processes are put in place to ensure that our staff welfare are well taken of. Our company’s corporate culture is designed to drive our business to greater heights and training and retraining of our workforce is at the top burner.

We know that if that is put in place, we will be able to successfully hire and retain the best hands we can get in the industry; they will be more committed to help us build the business of our dreams.

Check List/Milestone

• Business Name Availability Check: Completed
• Business Registration: Completed
• Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts: Completed
• Securing Point of Sales (POS) Machines: Completed
• Opening Mobile Money Accounts: Completed
• Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
• Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
• Application for business license and permit: Completed
• Purchase of Insurance for the Business: Completed
• Leasing of facility and remodeling the shop: In Progress
• Conducting Feasibility Studies: Completed
• Generating capital from family members: Completed
• Applications for Loan from the bank: In Progress
• Writing of Business Plan: Completed
• Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
• Drafting of Contract Documents and other relevant Legal Documents: In Progress
• Design of The Company’s Logo: Completed
• Graphic Design and Printing of Promotional Materials: In Progress
• Recruitment of employees: In Progress
• Purchase of the needed furniture, racks, shelves, computers, electronic appliances, office appliances and CCTV: In progress
• Creating Official Website for the Company: In Progress
• Creating Awareness for the business both online and around the community: In Progress
• Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement (License): Secured
• Opening party planning: In Progress
• Compilation of our list of products that will be available in our store: Completed
• Establishing business relationship with vendors – manufacturers and suppliers of hardware and other related products: In Progress

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Computer Repair Sample Business Plan - Strategy and Implementation

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How to Start a Computer Business

Last Updated: June 5, 2024 References

This article was co-authored by Luigi Oppido and by wikiHow staff writer, Christopher M. Osborne, PhD . Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years. This article has been viewed 200,059 times.

While your dream may be to start the next Apple or Microsoft out of your garage, it is more likely that your desire to start a computer business involves dealing with existing systems via sales, service, or support. With the rapid changes in technology that have already led some to place us in the “post-PC era,” [1] X Research source the job of a computer repair person , for instance, has changed quite a bit from ten years ago and will surely be quite different ten years from now. Beyond keeping up with changing technology and maintaining your expertise, however, starting a computer business requires many of the same skills required of any other small business field — things like a clear business plan, a smart marketing strategy , and outstanding customer service.

Aligning Your Skills and Goals With the Market

• Have you ever dissected, reassembled, or repaired a computer? Are you familiar with all major operating systems? Have you worked in the computer field before? Honestly assess your readiness to start a computer business, or ask someone else with industry knowledge help you make the assessment.
• Completing a degree in the computer field will certainly help you in starting a business, but it is unlikely that most customers will ask to see your diploma. More important is your ongoing gathering of experience, whether through education, training, or employment.
• Certification is a good way to indicate expertise, though. You may want to seek A+ certification from the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), or the related N+ network certification, or become a Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE). [2] X Research source These can help give your business card an air of legitimacy.

• In this so-called “post-PC era,” you may find demand for traditional computer sales, service, and/or support to be much reduced, especially among a younger, tech-savvy population. However, especially in areas with older populations and/or small-town and rural areas, you may find a greater percentage of people in need of PC repairs and support. Remember, you need to keep up with the latest technology; many of your potential customers do not (and will not). [3] X Research source [4] X Research source

• New technology is meant to make life easier, but many consumers find it to be just another layer of confusion. General set-up and troubleshooting tasks, like setting up printers and wireless networks, data recovery and wiping, and media archiving or editing, may remain a viable component of your business, even if PC repair requests decrease.
• If you can prove yourself to be an expert on computers and related technology, and can build a positive reputation, you should be able to find a niche for your computer business.

• If you’re looking to keep your computer business as a part-time job, then keeping your focus on repairs and troubleshooting may suffice.
• Building your business into a full-time occupation, however, may require further diversification of the products and services you offer, perhaps by selling parts, accessories, or entire systems. You’ll need to draw in a loyal client base and build a positive reputation in the community.

Brandon Phipps

Your core goal is to offer benefits to your customers for a fair price. By providing such a service, you can earn a significant income while doing something you are skilled at and helping others.

Succeeding in the Computer Business

• Even if computers are your focus, expect people to seek help and guidance with all sorts of mobile technology, from phones to tablets to watches. You may or may not want to get into the mobile tech sales and/or service business — consider the increased inventory demands, for instance — but being able to provide general troubleshooting, training, and support on the latest devices may prove quite useful. [6] X Research source
• If home service calls are part of your business, the essential toolkit you take with you will continue to shift along with technology. However, you can find a good list of basic equipment you’ll need (for the time being) at https://www.technibble.com/categories/starting-computer-repair-business/ .

• You’ll deal with panicked customers who think they’ve just lost all their important files, irate customers who want immediate help at 10 p.m., and hovering customers who want to supervise (and ask about) every move you make. You need to be able to remain calm , courteous, and patient. As a small business, you’re not likely to be able to match the prices of your larger competitors — the personalized service you offer needs to offset this disadvantage.

• Put some thought to your business name, logos , signage, marketing, etc. Create a professional look that presents your business as legitimate and lasting.
• Referrals will be essential to your business. Always hand out professional-looking business cards to existing customers, and consider offering referral discounts or rewards. Throwing in some free service or equipment is a small price to pay in order to build up your customer base. [8] X Research source
• Especially if you don’t have a storefront, make your business website and/or social media presence appear professional and interconnected to your overall brand.

• Working from home, for instance, offers more flexibility and less overhead costs, but also offers less visibility and possibly more distractions. A well-placed storefront adds to your visibility and helps legitimize your business in the public’s mind, but it comes at a cost and tends to lock you into a more rigid schedule.
• If you focus on computer repairs, working in your own shop may limit distractions and save you time and travel money, but customers may be more comfortable with you working on the equipment in their homes. (Your potential liability is also likely to be reduced when you don’t take the equipment with you.)

Starting a Small Business: Some Basics

• See How to Write a Business Plan for a good primer on the process of creating this important document.

• You may want to save on taxes by having customers pay cash “under the table” and not reporting the income, but this gives your business an air of illegitimacy (as well it should) for your customers. You are better off paying the taxes and appearing (and being) legitimate. [9] X Research source
• How to Open a Small Business offers some nice information on the legal requirements of establishing a business. The U.S. Small Business Administration website is also a great resource; see, for instance, https://www.sba.gov/content/follow-these-steps-starting-business .

• Volunteer some of your time and expertise. Be a supporting sponsor at community events (with the requisite public recognition, of course). Use your advertising and branding to develop a sense of stability and permanence for your business, even in a field that changes as rapidly as computers.
• No matter the nature of your small business, you need to be visible, you need to be reliable, and you need to provide a personalized experience that builds customer loyalty.

Expert Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.technibble.com/moving-wearable-mobile-repair-post-pc-era/
• ↑ http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001553.htm
• ↑ https://www.technibble.com/categories/starting-computer-repair-business/
• ↑ http://www.mytopbusinessideas.com/computer/
• ↑ http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1813630/starting-computer-repair-setup-consulting-business-tips.html

About This Article

To start up a successful computer business, find a way to match your skills with the needs of your local computer market. Assess the training and experience that you have with computers to determine the type of computer business that is best suited to your talents. For example, if you have experience building personal computers, you can use your background to start up a business selling discounted computers that you assemble from parts that you acquire. In addition to your skills and experience, it’s important that you analyze the market around you to see if you can start a successful business. Consider the demographics in your area and think about what type of computer products or services they’re likely to purchase. For example, if you’re selling discounted computer systems, and your area has a large number of older people looking to buy a simple home computer, you may have a market for your business! For tips about how to build your brand identity when you’re starting a computer business, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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A quick list of hardware and software for a new business

No matter what type of business you would like to start, you will need to invest in some hardware and software that will help you run the business.

Some of this hardware and software will help you manage your business better, while some of it will help you stay organised. If you know everything you need to start and run your business, you will be in a better position to plan and budget for it. Below, we will look at some of the hardware and software you need when starting a business.

A Desktop or Laptop Computer

These days, it is almost impossible to run a business without a desktop or laptop computer. A computer can help you run the software you need to run your business, including accounting, email, calendar and other types of software.

When shopping for a computer , try to find one that is powerful enough to handle basic office tasks and go one or two steps above that. If you think you will be working from home or if your business needs you to work outside the office, get a laptop computer. In addition to their portability, many laptops are much more powerful than their desktop counterparts, which is particularly important as many individuals are working from home right now, so you can enjoy a powerful machine anywhere in the house. For those with budget constraints, exploring the option of a quality refurbished laptop can offer functionality at a more affordable price point.

A card reader

If you’re in a service business, then a card reader isn’t important, but for many retailers it is essential. Once you start getting paid customers, you should have a way of accepting payments. Cheques are hardly used anymore, and many people don’t like the hassle of online banking payments. A card reader is one of the best ways to do this. The good news is that it is now easy to get one. All you have to do is reach out to a card machine provider and see what options they have. When choosing a card reader, you might have to consider the fees as well as the types of credit cards they support.

Further, you have to consider how much time it takes for them to complete the transactions. Because you need cash flowing through your business as soon as possible, you should consider a reputable company like who would complete the funding process in your bank account of a transaction in hours as opposed to the few days other providers take to complete transactions. They also have lots of different card readers, which lets you choose one that best suits your business. If you do not know which card reader is best for your business, you can find more information here on the different readers they have available.

An external hard drive

The exchange of information and documents happens in various ways in an office setting. You might send this information via email or other electronic means, but if it is very sensitive data, you might need to use an external hard drive. An external hard drive is also an excellent option if you would not like to store sensitive documents or information on your own server or on a cloud backup. Data masking techniques are crucial for software and hardware security, especially for software companies handling sensitive information. These methods ensure that data remains protected across all platforms.

A networking solution

This is a major investment, so you are allowed to start small and scale up as your business grows. An office networking solution is not only about connecting to the internet but also ensuring all the computers and printers in the office can talk to each other. If your staff remotely, then this doesn’t apply, but for office-based staff you need to make sure that everything connects. You can run a small LAN that connects all computers to the internet without opting for expensive solutions.

Your networking solutions should ideally provide a wireless network. A wireless router can work really well here, where it can provide a high-speed internet connection to all your phones or computers.

Your networking solution should also include a server or a Cloud-based storage solution. If you choose a physical server, this will support your database (where you save clients’ information), file storage solutions and email software. There are several server solutions available, but if those solutions are too expensive for you, there are lots of good, cheap options available online.

Email and word processing software

A business survives on communication. You need a robust email solution, such as Yahoo Mail, Gmail, Outlook, Zoho Mail, AOL, iCloud, and others, that can handle all your business needs. In addition to helping you send and receive emails, your email solution can also include a calendar, a task manager, and reminder functions. All these are important to keep you organised.

Whichever processing solution you use will allow you to type and edit documents and, in some cases, allow you to send emails. If you can, find one that can open and edit PDF files as you might receive some documents in that format.

A robust operating system

Experts recommend that you get Windows 10 Pro installed as your operating system of choice. This is because it is easy to use and has a healthy ecosystem of software and applications. When you use Windows 10 Pro, you get an operating system that is compatible with your email and word processing software, and that has support should you run into any issues.

A high-quality printer

Ideally life is easier if you have a high-quality printer. You might need the printer to print out documents, promotional materials, or things you need to sign. If you can afford it, try to get one with additional functionality like faxing or document scanning.

If you want to get your business up and running as fast as possible, you need the right hardware and software. If you cannot afford any expensive hardware or software, shop around for cheaper alternatives and upgrade as your business grows.

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Hardware Business Plan Template & Guidebook

Being successful in the hardware industry requires careful planning and a well-crafted business plan that lays out the details of your goals and strategies. Writing a business plan can be a daunting task, but with the #1 Hardware Business Plan Template & Guidebook, you can create a comprehensive plan tailored to your specific needs quickly and easily. Learn how to use this powerful tool to ensure the success of your own hardware business.

Get worry-free services and support to launch your business starting at $0 plus state fees.

• How to Start a Profitable Hardware Business [11 Steps]
• 10+ Best & Profitable Hardware Business Ideas [2023]

How to Write a Hardware Business Plan in 7 Steps:

1. describe the purpose of your hardware business..

The first step to writing your business plan is to describe the purpose of your hardware business. This includes describing why you are starting this type of business, and what problems it will solve for customers. This is a quick way to get your mind thinking about the customers’ problems. It also helps you identify what makes your business different from others in its industry.

It also helps to include a vision statement so that readers can understand what type of company you want to build.

Here is an example of a purpose mission statement for a hardware business:

Our mission is to provide the highest quality hardware products and services to our customers; to foster a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment where our team can thrive; and to be a leader in thought, innovation, and environmental stewardship in the hardware industry.

2. Products & Services Offered by Your Hardware Business.

The next step is to outline your products and services for your hardware business. 

When you think about the products and services that you offer, it's helpful to ask yourself the following questions:

• What is my business?
• What are the products and/or services that I offer?
• Why am I offering these particular products and/or services?
• How do I differentiate myself from competitors with similar offerings?
• How will I market my products and services?

You may want to do a comparison of your business plan against those of other competitors in the area, or even with online reviews. This way, you can find out what people like about them and what they don’t like, so that you can either improve upon their offerings or avoid doing so altogether.

3. Build a Creative Marketing Stratgey.

If you don't have a marketing plan for your hardware business, it's time to write one. Your marketing plan should be part of your business plan and be a roadmap to your goals. 

A good marketing plan for your hardware business includes the following elements:

Target market

• Who is your target market?
• What do these customers have in common?
• How many of them are there?
• How can you best reach them with your message or product?

Customer base 

• Who are your current customers? 
• Where did they come from (i.e., referrals)?
• How can their experience with your hardware business help make them repeat customers, consumers, visitors, subscribers, or advocates for other people in their network or industry who might also benefit from using this service, product, or brand?

Product or service description

• How does it work, what features does it have, and what are its benefits?
• Can anyone use this product or service regardless of age or gender?
• Can anyone visually see themselves using this product or service?
• How will they feel when they do so? If so, how long will the feeling last after purchasing (or trying) the product/service for the first time?

Competitive analysis

• Which companies are competing with yours today (and why)? 
• Which ones may enter into competition with yours tomorrow if they find out about it now through word-of-mouth advertising; social media networks; friends' recommendations; etc.)
• What specific advantages does each competitor offer over yours currently?

Marketing channels

• Which marketing channel do you intend to leverage to attract new customers?
• What is your estimated marketing budget needed?
• What is the projected cost to acquire a new customer?
• How many of your customers do you instead will return?

Form an LLC in your state!

4. Write Your Operational Plan.

Next, you'll need to build your operational plan. This section describes the type of business you'll be running, and includes the steps involved in your operations. 

In it, you should list:

• The equipment and facilities needed
• Who will be involved in the business (employees, contractors)
• Financial requirements for each step
• Milestones & KPIs
• Location of your business
• Zoning & permits required for the business

What equipment, supplies, or permits are needed to run a hardware business?

• Accounting software
• Permits to operate a business in the local jurisdiction
• Hardware inventory
• Point of sale system
• Cash register
• Tax permits or certificates
• Shop tools and supplies
• Work tables or benches
• Safety equipment and supplies

5. Management & Organization of Your Hardware Business.

The second part of your hardware business plan is to develop a management and organization section.

This section will cover all of the following:

• How many employees you need in order to run your hardware business. This should include the roles they will play (for example, one person may be responsible for managing administrative duties while another might be in charge of customer service).
• The structure of your management team. The higher-ups like yourself should be able to delegate tasks through lower-level managers who are directly responsible for their given department (inventory and sales, etc.).
• How you’re going to make sure that everyone on board is doing their job well. You’ll want check-ins with employees regularly so they have time to ask questions or voice concerns if needed; this also gives you time to offer support where necessary while staying informed on how things are going within individual departments too!

6. Hardware Business Startup Expenses & Captial Needed.

This section should be broken down by month and year. If you are still in the planning stage of your business, it may be helpful to estimate how much money will be needed each month until you reach profitability.

Typically, expenses for your business can be broken into a few basic categories:

Startup Costs

Startup costs are typically the first expenses you will incur when beginning an enterprise. These include legal fees, accounting expenses, and other costs associated with getting your business off the ground. The amount of money needed to start a hardware business varies based on many different variables, but below are a few different types of startup costs for a hardware business.

Running & Operating Costs

Running costs refer to ongoing expenses related directly with operating your business over time like electricity bills or salaries paid out each month. These types of expenses will vary greatly depending on multiple variables such as location, team size, utility costs, etc.

Marketing & Sales Expenses

You should include any costs associated with marketing and sales, such as advertising and promotions, website design or maintenance. Also, consider any additional expenses that may be incurred if you decide to launch a new product or service line. For example, if your hardware business has an existing website that needs an upgrade in order to sell more products or services, then this should be listed here.

7. Financial Plan & Projections

A financial plan is an important part of any business plan, as it outlines how the business will generate revenue and profit, and how it will use that profit to grow and sustain itself. To devise a financial plan for your hardware business, you will need to consider a number of factors, including your start-up costs, operating costs, projected revenue, and expenses. 

Here are some steps you can follow to devise a financial plan for your hardware business plan:

• Determine your start-up costs: This will include the cost of purchasing or leasing the space where you will operate your business, as well as the cost of buying or leasing any equipment or supplies that you need to start the business.
• Estimate your operating costs: Operating costs will include utilities, such as electricity, gas, and water, as well as labor costs for employees, if any, and the cost of purchasing any materials or supplies that you will need to run your business.
• Project your revenue: To project your revenue, you will need to consider the number of customers you expect to have and the average amount they will spend on each visit. You can use this information to estimate how much money you will make from selling your products or services.
• Estimate your expenses: In addition to your operating costs, you will need to consider other expenses, such as insurance, marketing, and maintenance. You will also need to set aside money for taxes and other fees.
• Create a budget: Once you have estimated your start-up costs, operating costs, revenue, and expenses, you can use this information to create a budget for your business. This will help you to see how much money you will need to start the business, and how much profit you can expect to make.
• Develop a plan for using your profit: Finally, you will need to decide how you will use your profit to grow and sustain your business. This might include investing in new equipment, expanding the business, or saving for a rainy day.

Frequently Asked Questions About Hardware Business Plans:

Why do you need a business plan for a hardware business.

A business plan for a hardware business is important to outline the goals and objectives of the business, such as determining the target market, defining product offerings, creating operational plans and setting financial goals. It also provides a roadmap for the future of the business, helping to ensure that decisions are made in line with those plans. Creating a business plan allows potential investors or lenders to assess the viability of the hardware business before committing funds.

Who should you ask for help with your hardware business plan?

You should ask a business consultant, entrepreneur mentor, or relevant industry experts for help with your hardware business plan.

Can you write a hardware business plan yourself?

Writing a business plan for a hardware business is a complex task that requires research, market analysis, and financial planning. Depending on your skill set and knowledge of the industry, you may be able to write your own business plan for a hardware business. If you decide to take on the project yourself, it is important to do thorough research and market analysis to understand the industry, be aware of any potential competition, and understand the key success factors for success in the hardware sector. Additionally, you should also familiarize yourself with writing a basic business plan, as well as use reliable financial projections to create realistic projections for your venture. Ultimately, it is recommended that you at least consult with an experienced business consultant or accountant before finalizing any decisions related to your business plan so that you can rest assured knowing that your plan adheres to best practices.

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We're newfoundr.com, dedicated to helping aspiring entrepreneurs succeed. As a small business owner with over five years of experience, I have garnered valuable knowledge and insights across a diverse range of industries. My passion for entrepreneurship drives me to share my expertise with aspiring entrepreneurs, empowering them to turn their business dreams into reality.

Through meticulous research and firsthand experience, I uncover the essential steps, software, tools, and costs associated with launching and maintaining a successful business. By demystifying the complexities of entrepreneurship, I provide the guidance and support needed for others to embark on their journey with confidence.

From assessing market viability and formulating business plans to selecting the right technology and navigating the financial landscape, I am dedicated to helping fellow entrepreneurs overcome challenges and unlock their full potential. As a steadfast advocate for small business success, my mission is to pave the way for a new generation of innovative and driven entrepreneurs who are ready to make their mark on the world.

READ TIME: 3 MIN

• July 30, 2019

How to Budget for IT Hardware & Software

Believe it or not ,   tech  budgeting  doesn’t have to be  painful …if you have support .  With  the justification of your  technology  budget  becoming more and more correlated  with KPIs and tangible efficiencies, the explanation of having a  5 -year- old  server that needs to be replaced because it ’s just getting too “old” will not win the day.    

Trying to  secure a maximum amount of dollars   to cover any unforeseen issues with your technology is the wrong approac h and rarely adopted by any long-lasting business.  Your IT budget should be  based on a clear cut   technology strategy  supported by real numbers .  For example, i f you’ve  proposed a project like  migrat ing  a complex  server infrastructure  to the cloud ,  you can easily  highligh t  the operational savings   and tangible efficiencies  as  justification for  an  increase   in  expenses .   

E very line on  your IT   Hardware & Software  budget should tell a story that maps back to your business objectives, to  numbers and  to your  technology  strategy.   Th e work required to justly tell this story  will vary d epending on the complexity and sophistication of your  environment , the size of your organization and projected short term growth, and your long term business goals .  Below   is a   high level   example on how  to achieve  Hardware/Software  IT   budget ing success :  

• Identify the set of hardware or software that need to be upgraded or replaced
• Will your projected revenue growth model be limited if you maintain the same hardware or software framework?
• Refer to https://www.nexustek.com/blog/are-you-prepared-for-business-downtime/ to assist with calculating downtime
• It’s best to connect this section to specific dollar amounts & KPIs
• What is the likelihood that a hacker would enter your infrastructure through aging hardware or out-of-support software? (This will most likely need to be answered by an IT professional)
• It’s best to connect this section to specific dollar amounts & KPIs
• Can new technology be introduced to reduce your hardware footprint and further optimize IT processes?
• Consult with your Account Manager at NexusTek to put together a plan to be used for budget proposals.

Why does IT budgeting matter?

Without  the appropriate  budget ing and planning , you r overhead will be significantly impacted when you are  forced to request and justify expenditures  on a reactive basis . IT spending  and project planning that  takes business goals into consideration starts with   a set  Managed Services Plan   for consolidation and  transparen cy.   

• Similar to a project plan or road-map,  using a strategy for  your 2020 IT budget provides a holistic view of your department and its funding requirements. It lets you quickly determine whether resources are over-committed in one area or another .  
• The budget is a tool that can help prioritize your IT initiatives and validate your ROI. If one of your  proposed initiatives  is  a move to  mobile apps, but your hiring and training budgets are minuscule, you’ve likely set yourself up for failure before you’ve even started.   
• Identify areas where you may be overspending. A  disproportionally high  software budget might reveal that you’re spending on unused or unneeded software licenses or on  support expenses for an older version of a tool , when a   hardware re fresh or  a cloud migration  may be a better return on your investment .   

Presenting  your IT budget  as  the me chanism that runs  your  organization   is the mindset  of every successful business which is a far cry from 10 years ago when  IT professionals were in the background. Building in  your IT budget as an overall business strategy is  imperative.   

Schedule a free consultation with one of our experts to discuss your budget strategy for 2020. We can help you identify gaps in your plan, cost-savings, and more.

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Computer Hardware Reseller Business Plan

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E-commerce internet sample business plan, computer repair business plan, wifi kiosks sample business plan.

Click here to view this full business plan

Executive Summary

By focusing on its strengths, its key customers, and the underlying values they need, American Management Technology will increase sales to more than $9 million in three years, while improving the gross margin on sales and cash management and working capital.

This business plan leads the way. It renews our vision and strategic focus: adding value to our target market segments, the small business and high-end home office users, in our local market. It also provides the step-by-step plan for improving our sales, gross margin, and profitability. In order to implement these changes and improve profitability, we plan to borrow another $100,000 long-term this year. The amount seems in-line with the balance sheet capabilities.

AMT is built on the assumption that the management of information technology for business is like legal advice, accounting, graphic arts, and other bodies of knowledge, in that it is not inherently a do-it-yourself prospect. Smart business people who aren’t computer hobbyists need to find quality vendors of reliable hardware, software, service, and support. They need to use these quality vendors as they use their other professional service suppliers, as trusted allies. AMT seeks to fulfill these needs and become the leader in business information technology for its region.

AMT provides both computer products and services to make them useful to small businesses. We are especially focused on providing network systems and services to small and medium business. The systems include both PC-based LAN systems and minicomputer server-based systems. Our services include design and installation of network systems, training, and support.

In order to accomplish our objectives, our keys to success over the next three years are:

• Differentiate from box-pushing, price-oriented businesses by offering and delivering service and support–and charging for it.
• Increase gross margin to more than 30%.
• Increase our non-hardware sales to 20% of the total sales by the third year.

AMT was founded as a consulting-oriented value added reseller (VAR), became a reseller to fill the market need for personal computers, and is emphasizing service and support to differentiate itself from price-oriented competitors. We have one location–a 7,000 square foot store in a suburban shopping center located conveniently close to the downtown area. It includes a training area, service department, offices, and showroom area.

AMT is a privately-held C corporation owned in majority by its founder and president, Ralph Jones. There are six part owners, including four investors and two past employees. The firm includes 21 employees, under the president and four managers. Our main management divisions are sales, marketing, service, and administration. The service department handles service requests, support, training, and development. At present, we are weakest in the area of technical capabilities to manage the database marketing programs and upgraded service and support, particularly with cross-platform networks. We also need to find a training manager.

Recent changes in the computer reseller market have adversely affected AMT. These include margin squeezes, longer collection periods, and lower inventory turnovers. All of these concerns are part of the general trend affecting computer resellers. The margin squeeze is happening throughout the computer industry worldwide.

The only way we can hope to differentiate well is to define the vision of the company to be an information technology ally to our clients. We will not be able to compete in any effective way with the chains using boxes or products as appliances. We need to offer a real alliance that includes such intangibles as confidence, reliability, and knowing that somebody will be there to answer questions and help at the important times.

Our support services, with which we hope to capture market share will include such services as; training, upgrade offers, installation services, network configuration services, etc. The company will seek to aggressively pursue new opportunities. AMT focuses on local markets, small business and home office, with special focus on the high-end home office and the 5-20 unit small business office. The last study we saw published has retail sales growing at 5% per year, while Web sales and direct sales are growing at 25% or 30%.

There are several different kinds of computer retailers within the industry including:

• Computer dealers: often focused on a few main brands of hardware, usually offering only a minimum of software, and variable amounts of service and support. Their service and support is not usually very good and their prices are usually higher than the larger stores.
• Chain stores and computer superstores: usually offer decent walk-in service, with very aggressive pricing, and little support.
• Mail order: offer aggressive pricing of boxed product. For the purely price-driven buyer, who buys boxes and expects no service, these are very good options.

None of these direct competitors provides the customization and service that small businesses such as our clients truly need.

Small business buyers are accustomed to buying from vendors who visit their offices. They expect the copy machine vendors, office products vendors, and office furniture vendors, as well as the local graphic artists, freelance writers, or whomever, to visit their office to make their sales. Many small companies turn immediately to the superstores (office equipment, office supplies, and electronics) and mail order to look for the best price, without realizing that there is a better option for them at only a little bit more.

We need to effectively compete against the idea that businesses should buy computers as plug-in appliances that don’t need ongoing service, support, and training. Our focus group sessions indicated that our target home office markets think about price but would buy based on quality service if the offering were properly presented. They think about price because that’s all they ever see. We have very good indications that many would rather pay 10-20% more for a relationship with a long-term vendor providing back-up and quality service and support; they end up in the box-pusher channels because they aren’t aware of the alternatives.

We currently depend on newspaper advertising as our main way to reach new buyers. As we change strategies, however, we need to change the way we promote ourselves. We will be refocusing on our core message of service through radio, cable TV, sales brochures, direct mailers and newspapers. We need to sell the company, not the product. We sell AMT, not Apple, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, or Compaq, or any of our software brand names.

1.1 Objectives

• Sales increasing to more than $9 million by the third year.
• Bring gross margin back up to above 30%, and maintain that level.
• Sell $1.5 million of service, support, and training by 1998.
• Improve inventory turnover to 6 turns by 1998.

1.2 Keys to Success

• Differentiate from box-pushing, price-oriented businesses by offering and delivering service and support — and charging for it.

1.3 Mission

AMT is built on the assumption that the management of information technology for business is like legal advice, accounting, graphic arts, and other bodies of knowledge, in that it is not inherently a do-it-yourself prospect. Smart business people who aren’t computer hobbyists need to find quality vendors of reliable hardware, software, service, and support. They need to use these quality vendors as they use their other professional service suppliers, as trusted allies.

AMT is such a vendor. It serves its clients as a trusted ally, providing them with the loyalty of a business partner and the economics of an outside vendor. We make sure that our clients have what they need to run their businesses as well as possible, with maximum efficiency and reliability. Many of our information applications are mission critical, so we give our clients the assurance that we will be there when they need us.

Company Summary

AMT is a computer reseller based in the Uptown area. It was founded as a consulting-oriented VAR, became a reseller to fill the market need for personal computers, and is emphasizing service and support to differentiate itself from more price oriented national chains.

2.1 Company History

AMT has been caught in the vise grip of margin squeezes that have affected computer resellers worldwide. Although the chart titled Past Financial Performance shows that we have had healthy growth in sales, it also shows declining gross margin and declining profits.

The more detailed numbers in the Past Performance table include other indicators of some concern:

The gross margin % has been declining steadily, as we see in the chart.

Both collection days and inventory turnover are getting steadily worse.

All of these concerns are part of the general trend affecting computer resellers. The margin squeeze is happening throughout the computer industry worldwide.

2.2 Company Ownership

AMT is a privately-held C corporation owned in majority by its founder and president, Ralph Jones. There are six part owners, including four investors and two past employees. The largest of these (in percent of ownership) are Frank Dudley, our attorney, and Paul Karots, our public relations consultant. Neither owns more than 15%, but both are active participants in management decisions.

2.3 Company Locations and Facilities

We have one location–a 7,000 square foot store in a suburban shopping center located conveniently close to the downtown area. It includes a training area, service department, offices, and showroom area.

Products and Services

AMT provides both computer products and services to make them useful to small business. We are especially focused on providing network systems and services to small and medium business. The systems include both PC-based LAN systems and minicomputer server-based systems. Our services include design and installation of network systems, training, and support.

3.1 Product and Service Description

In personal computers, we support three main lines:

• The Super Home is our smallest and least expensive line, initially positioned by its manufacturer as a home computer. We use it mainly as a cheap workstation for small business installations. Its specifications include …[additional specifics omitted]
• The Power User is our main up-scale line. It is our most important system for high-end home and small business main workstations, because of …. Its key strengths are …. Its specifications include ….[additional specifics omitted]
• The Business Special is an intermediate system, used to fill the gap in the positioning. Its specifications include … [additional specifics omitted]

In peripherals, accessories and other hardware, we carry a complete line of necessary items from cables to forms to mousepads … [additional specifics omitted] In service and support, we offer a range of walk-in or depot service, maintenance contracts and on-site guarantees. We have not had much success selling service contracts. Our networking capabilities …[additional specifics omitted] In software and training, we offer … [additional specifics omitted]

3.2 Competitive Comparison

The only way we can hope to differentiate well is to define the vision of the company to be an information technology ally to our clients. We will not be able to compete in any effective way with the chains using boxes or products as appliances. We need to offer a real alliance.

The benefits we sell include many intangibles: confidence, reliability, knowing that somebody will be there to answer questions and help at the important times. These are complex products, products that require serious knowledge and experience to use, and our competitors sell only the products themselves. Unfortunately, we cannot sell the products at a higher price just because we offer services; the market has shown that it will not support that concept. We have to also sell the service and charge for it separately.

3.3 Sales Literature

Copies of our brochure and advertisements are attached as appendices. Of course, one of our first tasks will be to change the message of our literature to make sure we are selling the company, rather than the product.

3.4 Fulfillment

Our costs are part of the margin squeeze. As competition on price increases, the squeeze between manufacturers’ price into channels and end-users’ ultimate buying price continues.

With the hardware lines, our margins are declining steadily. We generally buy at … Our margins are thus being squeezed from the 25% of five years ago to more like 13-15% at present. In the main-line peripherals a similar trend shows, with prices for printers and monitors declining steadily. We are also starting to see that same trend with software ….

In order to hold costs down as much as possible, we concentrate our purchasing with Hauser, which offers 30-day net terms and overnight shipping from the warehouse in Dayton. We need to concentrate on making sure our volume gives us negotiating strength. In accessories and add-ons we can still get decent margins, 25% to 40%.

3.5 Technology

We have for years supported both Windows and Macintosh technology for CPUs, although we’ve switched vendors many times for the Windows (and previously DOS) lines. We are also supporting Novell, Banyon, and Microsoft networking, Xbase database software, and Claris application products.

3.6 Future Products and Services

We must remain on top of the new technologies, because this is our bread and butter. For networking, we need to provide better knowledge of cross platform technologies. Also, we are under pressure to improve our understanding of direct-connect internet and related communications. Finally, although we have a good command of desktop publishing, we are concerned about getting better at the integration of technologies that creates fax, copier, printer, and voice mail as part of the computer system.

3.7 Service and Support

• Our strategy hinges on providing excellent service and support. This is critical. We need to differentiate on service and support, and to therefore deliver as well.
• Training: details would be essential in a real business plan, but not in this sample plan.
• Upgrade offers: details would be essential in a real business plan, but not in this sample plan.
• Our own internal training: details would be essential in a real business plan, but not in this sample plan.
• Installation services: details would be essential in a real business plan, but not in this sample plan.
• Custom software services: details would be essential in a real business plan, but not in this sample plan.
• Network configuration services: details would be essential in a real business plan, but not in this sample plan.

Market Analysis Summary

AMT focuses on local markets, small business and home office, with special focus on the high-end home office and the 5-20 unit small business office.

4.1 Market Segmentation

The segmentation allows some room for estimates and nonspecific definitions. We focus on a small-medium level of small business, and it is hard to find information to make an exact classification. Our target companies are large enough to need the high-quality information technology management we offer, but too small to have a separate computer management staff such as an MIS department. We say that our target market has 10-50 employees, and needs 5-20 workstations tied together in a local area network; the definition is flexible.

Defining the high-end home office is even more difficult. We generally know the characteristics of our target market, but we can’t find easy classifications that fit into available demographics. The high-end home office business is a business, not a hobby. It generates enough money to merit the owner’s paying real attention to the quality of information technology management, meaning that there is both budget and concerns that warrant working with our level of quality service and support. We can assume that we aren’t talking about home offices used only part-time by people who work elsewhere during the day, and that our target market home office wants to have powerful technology and a lot of links between computing, telecommunications, and video.

4.2 Service Business Analysis

We are part of the computer reselling business, which includes several kinds of businesses:

• Computer dealers: storefront computer resellers, usually less than 5,000 square feet, often focused on a few main brands of hardware, usually offering only a minimum of software, and variable amounts of service and support. These are usually old-fashioned (1980s-style) computer stores and they usually offer relatively few reasons for buyers to shop with them. Their service and support is not usually very good and their prices are usually higher than the larger stores.
• Chain stores and computer superstores: these include major chains such as CompUSA, Computer City, Future Shop, etc. They are almost always more than 10,000 square feet of space, usually offer decent walk-in service, and are often warehouse-like locations where people go to find products in boxes with very aggressive pricing, and little support.
• Mail order: the market is served increasingly by mail order businesses that offer aggressive pricing of boxed product. For the purely price-driven buyer, who buys boxes and expects no service, these are very good options.
• Others: there are many other channels through which people buy their computers, usually variations of the main three types above.

4.2.1 Competition and Buying Patterns

The small business buyers understand the concept of service and support, and are much more likely to pay for it when the offering is clearly stated.

There is no doubt that we compete much more against all the box pushers than against other service providers. We need to effectively compete against the idea that businesses should buy computers as plug-in appliances that don’t need ongoing service, support, and training.

Our focus group sessions indicated that our target Home Offices think about price but would buy based on quality service if the offering were properly presented. They think about price because that’s all they ever see. We have very good indications that many would rather pay 10-20% more for a relationship with a long-term vendor providing back-up and quality service and support; they end up in the box-pusher channels because they aren’t aware of the alternatives. Availability is also very important. The Home Office buyers tend to want immediate, local solutions to problems.

4.2.2 Main Competitors

Chain stores: We have Store 1 and Store 2 already within the valley, and Store 3 is expected by the end of next year. If our strategy works, we will have differentiated ourselves sufficiently to not have to compete against these stores. Strengths: national image, high volume, aggressive pricing, economies of scale. Weaknesses: lack of product, service and support knowledge, lack of personal attention. Other local computer stores: Store 4 and Store 5 are both in the downtown area. They are both competing against the chains in an attempt to match prices. When asked, the owners will complain that margins are squeezed by the chains and customers buy on price only. They say they tried offering services and that buyers didn’t care, instead preferring lower prices. We think the problem is also that they didn’t really offer good service, and also that they didn’t differentiate from the chains.

4.2.3 Business Participants

The national chains are a growing presence. CompUSA, Computer City, Incredible Universe, Babbages, Egghead, and others. They benefit from national advertising, economies of scale, volume buying, and a general trend toward name-brand loyalty for buying in the channels as well as for products.

Local computer stores are threatened. These tend to be small businesses, owned by people who started them because they liked computers. They are under-capitalized and under-managed. Margins are squeezed as they compete against the chains, in a competition based on price more than on service and support.

4.2.4 Distributing a Service

Small Business buyers are accustomed to buying from vendors who visit their offices. They expect the copy machine vendors, office products vendors, and office furniture vendors, as well as the local graphic artists, freelance writers, or whomever, to visit their office to make their sales.

There is usually a lot of leakage in ad-hoc purchasing through local chain stores and mail order. Often the administrators try to discourage this, but are only partially successful. Unfortunately our Home Office target buyers may not expect to buy from us. Many of them turn immediately to the superstores (office equipment, office supplies, and electronics) and mail order to look for the best price, without realizing that there is a better option for them at only a little bit more.

4.3 Target Market Segment Strategy

4.3.1 market needs.

Since our target market is the service seeker, the most important market needs are support, service, training, and installation, in that order. One of the key points of our strategy is the focus on target segments that know and understand these needs and are willing to pay to have them filled.

All personal computer users need support and service. The self reliant ones, however, supply those needs themselves. In home offices, these are the knowledgeable computer users who like to do it themselves. Among the businesses, these are businesses that have people on staff.

4.3.2 Market Trends

The most obvious and important trend in the market is declining prices. This has been true for years, but the trend seems to be accelerating. We see the major brand-name manufacturers putting systems together with amazing specs–more power, more speed, more memory, more disk storage–at amazing prices. The major chain shops are selling brand-name powerful computers for less than $1,000.

This may be related to a second trend, which is the computer as throw-away appliance. By the time a system needs upgrading, it is cheaper to buy completely new. The increasing power and storage of a sub-$1000 system means buyers are asking for less service. A third trend is ever greater connectivity. Everybody wants onto the internet, and every small office wants a LAN. A lot of small offices want their LAN connected to the internet.

4.3.3 Market Growth

As prices fall, unit sales increase. The published market research on sales of personal computers is astounding, as the United States market alone is absorbing more than 30 million units per year, and sales are growing at more than 20 percent per year. We could quote Dataquest, Infocorp, IDC, or others; it doesn’t matter, they all agree on high growth of CPU sales.

Where growth is not as obvious is the retail market. A report in CRW says Dell is now selling $5 million monthly over the web, and we assume Gateway and Micron are both close to that. Direct mail has given way to the web, but catalogs are still powerful, and the non-retail sale is more accepted every day. The last study we saw published has retail sales growing at 5% per year, while web sales and direct sales are growing at 25% or 30%.

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Computer Support Business Plan

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I Tech Solutions

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">.

I Tech Solutions is a consulting-oriented company, intending to fill in the market need for a professional, customer-focused computer company. The company emphasizes service and support to differentiate itself from more price-oriented computer companies. We are on the brink of penetrating a lucrative market in a rapidly growing industry. The current trend towards an increase in the number of entrepreneurs and competition amongst existing companies presents an opportunity for I Tech Solutions to penetrate this market.

Located at (discussion omitted), we realize that, for us to prosper, we need to be flexible and responsive, to delight clients by providing them with what they want, when they want it, and before the competition can offer it. The company intends to achieve this through a solutions approach that is customer-centric, and in which the customer’s business objectives enjoy top priority.

Once the needs and processes are understood and described, leading edge products and best-of-industry skills will be applied to design and develop a fitting solution to enable the client’s business in the most cost effective way.

Our marketing strategy will be based mainly on ensuring that clients know what need the service(s) is able to fulfill, and making the right service and information available to the right target client. We intend to implement a market penetration strategy that will ensure that our services are well known and respected in our respective industry. Our strategy will convey a sense of quality and satisfaction in every picture, every promotion, and every publication. Our promotional strategy will involve traditional advertising, Internet marketing, personal selling, public relations, and direct marketing, details of which are provided in the marketing section of this plan.

It is important to recognize that make our intangible resources, such as our ability to relate to customers regarding their needs and wants, management style, corporate culture and commitment. These elements will differentiate us from our competitors and contribute towards the development of a sustainable competitive advantage.

In a nutshell, we don’t intend to just market and sell our product and services, but to provide customized services and products that will enable our clients to optimize their output and, assist in the attainment of their goals and objectives. However, for us to attain the above stated we shall need funding from outside investors.

Note : All currency values in the charts and tables are expressed in the Botswana Pula (P).

1.1 Objectives

Our business strategy will revolve around the need to provide quality products and services to our various target customers. This shall be undertaken through the establishment of a professional team and the provision of quality, custom-designed services, catering to the client’s particular needs.

We intend to attain the following objectives:

• Develop a follow-up strategy to gauge performance with all our clients.
• To continuously formalize and measure cross-functional working communication so as to ensure that the various departments work harmoniously towards attainment of company objectives.
• To instill a culture of continuous improvement in beating standards of customer satisfaction and efficiency.
• We are fully committed to supporting growth and development in the economy.

1.2 Keys to Success

The keys to the projects’ success will undoubtedly be effective market segmentation through identification of several niche markets and implementation strategies. The key success factors will include the following:

• Excellence in fulfilling the promise: completely confidential, reliable, trustworthy expertise, and service(s) through the provision of an uncompromising service. This dictates that we have the latest technology, hardware, software, and well-trained personnel so as to deliver this promise.
• Timeous response to clients’ orders: we cannot afford to delay our clients for whatever reason, as this will have a negative bearing on our image, reputation, and future business. We need to be continually communicating with the client, ensuring we provide needs-based solutions.
• Skill and depth of knowledge: Considering the nature of our services and their relative infancy on the market, the skill and depth of knowledge of our personnel is of utmost importance in determining the provision of the service(s) to the end-users.
• Clear product and marketing positioning: Not wanting to be associated with the numerous vendors on the market, we intend to aggressively market our business and the services we provide in order to be at the top of our clients’ minds.
• Leveraging from a large pool of expertise: The company’s various alliances with technological and training partners shall prove invaluable. The skills and intellectual capacity these partners will have in the fields of product support, design and system integration, implementation and execution, lifecycle support and understanding, training, and in the application of new technology are intangible benefits to I Tech Solutions.

1.3 Mission

Company Values

I Tech Solutions is committed to the fair and ethical treatment of employees and stakeholders. This shall be undertaken through implementation of the following company values:

• We intend to be a responsible corporate citizen, fulfilling our obligations as an integral member of society. Our business decisions will give appropriate weight and consideration to social and environmental impacts.
• We intend to provide products and services of uncompromising quality.
• We intend to seek mutually beneficial and enduring relationships in all the commitments that we make, ensuring that they are straightforward and honest. Our communication will be open and accurate, both internally and externally.
• We will intend to uphold all the above company values, promoting our employees to do likewise.

Through implementation of the company values, we believe that we will be able to attain our goals and objectives for the benefit of all concerned, in particular, the communities in which we will operate.

I Tech Solutions is built on the assumption that the management of information technology for business is like legal advice or accounting, in that it is not inherently a do-it-yourself prospect, and requires outside expertise to install and implement it. Smart business people need to find quality vendors of reliable hardware, software, service, and support. They need to use these quality vendors as they use their other professional service suppliers: as trusted allies.

I Tech Solutions intends to be such a solution provider. We will serve our clients as trusted allies, providing them with the loyalty of a business partner and the economics of an outside vendor. We want to make sure that our clients have what they need to run their businesses as well as possible, with maximum efficiency and reliability. Many of our information applications will be mission critical, so we will give our clients the assurance that we will be there when they need us. The above is well summarized in our mission statement which is as follows:

“The company is dedicated to leveraging emerging technologies to provide the highest level of quality products and services, customer service, and security.”

Company Summary company overview ) is an overview of the most important points about your company—your history, management team, location, mission statement and legal structure.">

I Tech Solutions was founded in November 2000 as a private limited company. For most of its initial existence, the company intends to establish close relationships with its various clients, with the intention of expanding in the near future.

2.1 Company Ownership

2.2 Start-up Summary

Total start-up capital and expenses covered include legal costs, business cards, stationery, and related expenses. Messrs. T., S., and P. have provided investment covering much of the starting assets, with the rest of required financing coming from a 5-year commercial loan obtained from Bank Z. The start-up table below itemizes the start-up expenses.

Note : All currency values in the charts and tables are expressed in the Botswana Pula (P).

Products and Services

I Tech Solutions will provide computer products and services to small, medium, and large businesses. We will also be focused on providing network systems and services to businesses. The systems include both PC-based Land Area Networks (LAN) systems and minicomputer server-based systems. Our services include design and installation of network systems, training, and support.

3.1 Product and Service Description

I Tech Solutions intends to provide the following services:

• Financial Solutions ( discussion omitted in this sample plan )
• Network Solutions ( discussion omitted )
• Data Backup Solutions and Services ( discussion omitted )
• E-commerce Solutions ( discussion omitted )
• Hardware Supply and Technical Support ( discussion omitted )
• Paperless Office Automation Solutions ( discussion omitted )
• Training ( discussion omitted )

3.2 Technology

I Tech Solutions will strive to maintain the latest hardware and software capabilities so as to ensure we are continuously at the forefront in our market arena. The one certainty in our industry is that technology will continue to evolve and develop, changing what we market, as well as how we market it. Our aim is to be aware of the implications of this new technology, and utilize it in our existing framework where possible. Complete presentation facilities for preparation and delivery of multimedia presentations on Macintosh or Windows machines, in formats that include on-disk presentation or video presentation are also possibilities.

3.3 Macro-environment

Our macro-environment is exciting. We are in the middle of an unprecedented boom in connectivity and communications, as the Internet offers information technology like we never dreamed of. We are concerned with real value, real changes in the way we deal with information.

Meanwhile, all other signs are positive. The current drive by the government towards a more diversified economy presents an opportunity for our business to propel and excel in our intended markets, benefiting from the support of the concerned institutions and trade bodies. In addition to Botswana becoming an increasing economic hub, we foresee the demand for high quality business communication solutions to be on the rise. Through the undertaking of our business activities, we foresee no difficulty, in gaining market acceptance, provided we deliver the final service timeously, of good quality, and  at competitive rates.

3.4 Future Products and Services

We must remain on top of any new technology, because this is our bread and butter. For networking, we need to provide better knowledge of cross platform technologies. Also, we will be under pressure to improve our understanding of direct-connect Internet and related communications.

In putting the company together, we have attempted to offer enough services to allow us to always be in demand by our clients. However, technological developments have provided us with a new era of opportunities for the various organizations in which we can only guess at the needs. For example, current rapid innovations/development of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) technology presents an opportunity to be realized, particularly focusing on WAP-enabled cell phones that allow individuals to access or send email messages on a cell phone. However, the most important factor in developing future services will be market need. Our understanding of the needs of our target market segments will be one of our competitive advantages.

Market Analysis Summary how to do a market analysis for your business plan.">

The current drive and emphasis by the government on diversification of the industrial base away from the minerals sector presents an opportunity for I Tech Solutions to make a valuable contribution towards achieving this goal. This will result in the implementation of modern Information Technology (IT) services and techniques, transfer of knowledge, and availability of quality brands.

4.1 Market Segmentation

We will be focusing on proactive, market seeking organizations that want to ensure an efficient and effective IT system that will assist in the realization of their business objectives.

Our target companies are large enough to require the high-quality IT management we offer, but too small to have a separate computer management staff. However, our most important group of potential customers will be business executives in large, medium, and small corporations. These are marketing managers, general managers, sales managers, and other decision makers who often need to access company data and information in their various business decisions. They will not waste their time or money looking for bargain information, questionable expertise, or cheap computers and accessories. Our potential clients will include: (discussion omitted).

Another intention will be to offer an attractive development alternative to the company that is management constrained and unable to address opportunities in new markets and new market segments, due to technological shortfalls.

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

Our marketing strategy will be based mainly on making the right service(s) available to the right target customer. We will ensure that our products and services’ prices take customers’ budgets into consideration, and that these people appreciate the product/service and know that it exists, including where to find it. One of our intentions will be to target those innovative or proactive companies contemplating transferring a part of their marketing activities on the Internet, in order to benefit from the advantages offered by this unique system of communication. We realize the need to focus our marketing message and our service offerings.

4.2.1 Market Needs

Since our target market is the product and service seeker, the most important market needs are support, service, training, and installation, in that order. One of the key points of our strategy will be the focus on target segments that know and understand these needs and are willing to pay to have them filled. We realize that all personal computer users need support and service. Many of our target customers are going to be those who cannot get good products or services from the major vendors who focus on high volume orders only.

4.2.2 Market Trends

The most obvious trend in the market is the increasing number of IT firms on the market. This has been true for years, but the trend seems to be accelerating. We see the major brand-name manufacturers being established on the market mainly through agents. Secondly, the computer has become a basic necessity in the office environment and business set-up. The vast improvements in computer power and storage, means that owners are mandated to up-grade or buy new and improved systems, with the former often being much cheaper. A third trend is ever-greater connectivity. Everybody wants to be on the Internet, and every office is looking at having a LAN. However, the major stumbling block for the majority of theses companies is the high cost of installing such networks.

4.3 Service Business Analysis

The following sections provided discussions on who participates in the computer industry, what the competition provides, and what the customer has been purchasing.

4.3.1 Business Participants

We are part of the computer reselling business, which includes several kinds of businesses:

• Computer Dealers : Storefront computer resellers usually offer a minimum of software, and very little, if any service and support. They are concerned with moving as much stock as possible. Their prices are usually higher than the larger stores.
• Chain and Computer Stores : They often occupy a large area of space, decent walk-in service, and are often warehouse-like locations where people go to find products in boxes. They often however charge exorbitant prices for their brand products and maintenance service, if they provide any at all.
• Computer Consultants : These include consultancy companies that mainly specialize in the installation of new systems. Their consultant fees are often very high, especially for small- to medium-sized companies.

4.3.2 Competition and Buying Patterns

The vast majority of proactive, market-oriented businesses understand the value of having an efficient computer system, as well as the concept of service and support. They are much more likely to pay for them when the offering and benefits are clearly stated.

There is no doubt that we will compete more against the box pushers than other service providers. We need to effectively compete against the idea that once a computer is out-dated businesses should buy new ones, when with ongoing service and support, they can be upgraded.

The most important element of general competition, by far, is what it takes to keep clients for repeat business. It is worth making huge concessions in any single service to maintain a client relationship that brings the client back for future services.

Strategy and Implementation Summary

I Tech Solutions intends to win and maintain customers by providing products and services that add value, safety, and are supported by a well-trained professional team with commercial expertise. This is important to the successful implementation of our overall strategy and the need to ensure that all divisions and functions in the organization are working harmoniously towards attainment of the goals and objectives.

Our marketing strategy emphasizes focus. The target customers will include key decision-makers in business, who often order or recommend on behalf of the whole organization, the aim being to obtain an initial order and fully satisfy the customer from then on.

• We intend to initially build image and awareness through consistency and distinctiveness in our product and service provision.
• We intend to focus on delivering quality products and services that produce good referrals, which can then generate revenue. We intend to have a heavy personal selling component, supported by regular advertising we will always be active in our personal relationships with clients and strategic allies, keeping abreast of their needs and wants.
• We are focusing advertising on several key media.

We intend to achieve growth by creating a more enthusiastic customer culture than that of our competitors. The strategy is to grow the business by nurturing customers, differentiating the product/service offering through service and staff behavior.

Through the implementation of a fair, effective, and competitive remuneration policy we intend to optimize our human resource output and advancement. We need the right people in the right place at the right time if we are to ensure optimum growth. We intend to develop our team so that our people can grow as the company grows–a mutually beneficial relationship.

5.1 SWOT Analysis

The SWOT Analysis is a necessity to any start-up, it is an in-depth look at your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. We are in a highly lucrative market in a growing economy. We foresee our strengths as the ability to respond to the market and to provide custom designed technological services. Our key personnel will have a wide and thorough knowledge of the technological services we intend to provide, which will go a long way towards penetrating the market. Below is a summary of the SWOT Analysis.

5.1.1 Weaknesses

• The introduction of new organizational practices and personnel who have not previously worked together presents a challenge to the organization.
• A limited financial base compared to the current major players in the IT industry.

5.1.2 Opportunities

• The Internet. The increasing opportunities of the Internet offer us another area of strength in comparison to the box-on-the-shelf major stores. Our potential customers want more help with the Internet, and we intend to be in a better position to give it to them.
• Service. As our target market needs more service, our competitors are less likely than ever to provide it. Their business model doesn’t include service, just selling the computers.
• Emerging Technologies. The rate of new product introduction in IT presents an opportunity to be explored.

5.1.3 Threats

• Innovation shortens life cycles and hence the need to act timeously on the market. This will recoup new service introductions in a shorter time frame.
• Concerns of decision-makers over ease of access and overall security of electronic transactions may need to be addressed. The recent glitch of the Barclays electronic system, which enabled some clients to access other account holders’ accounts while upgrading the system, proves the very realistic security concerns regarding the use of the Internet.
• The slow adoption rate of new technologies and products in these parts of the world does not bode well for our intended products and services.

5.1.4 Strengths

• Knowledge. Our competitors are retailers, pushing boxes. We know systems, networks, connectivity, programming, and data management.
• Relationship selling. We intend to get to know our customers, one by one. Our direct sales efforts will seek to maintain a relationship with our customers.
• Diversified market segments. The diversity of the products and services we intend to provide will ensure the lack of dependency on one particular market.
• Combination of skills in implementation. The management team intends to jointly develop business strategy and long-term plans with its strategic allies, having wide experience in their respective market and product know-how, and strong technical skills and business know-how.

5.2 Competitive Edge

5.3 marketing strategy.

One core element of our marketing strategy will be that of differentiation from our competitors. In terms of promotion, we intend to sell our company as a strategic ally, not just our products. We intend to offer extremely reasonable prices in comparison to competition, and we need to be able to sustain that. Market penetration through lower prices shall be undertaken where need be, while premium pricing in the case of the upper-end of the market.

We have developed two strategy foci, each based on one main fundamental strategy. The first strategy is about ( discussion omitted ).

Our second strategic focus, that of ( discussion omitted ).

5.3.1 Distribution Strategy

Service provision and consulting will be sold and purchased mainly on a word-of-mouth basis, with relationships and previous experience being, by far, the most important factor. In this regard we intend to provide a service that exceeds customer expectations so as to ensure they refer us to potential clients through word-of-mouth. New business shall be developed through industry associations, business associations, and, in some cases, social associations, such as country clubs.

5.3.2 Marketing Programs

Advertising

In view of the fact that we are new on the market, we intend to undertake extensive advertising of our name and products and services we offer. This is to instill awareness and knowledge of our existence in the marketplace, which shall convert into market share. We intend to advertise in business and IT magazines that are read by our target market and will ensure we are adequately exposed on the market. A constant lookout will be made of any special editions in these various publications, which may provide an opportunity for us to advertise our services and ourselves. Advertising will also be conducted through television, radio, newspapers/magazines, and the Internet. Sponsoring a technology discussion/call-in talk show is a possibility.

Personal Selling

Word of mouth is critical in this segment. We will have to make sure that once we gain a customer, we never lose him/her. To help accomplish this, we must work to establish and maintain relationships. Personal selling will be a powerful form of promotion due to the fact that its flexibility will enable us to match the customer’s needs to specific attributes of our services, as well as giving concise details of what we are able to offer.

Public Relations

Recognizing that we are relatively new on the market, there will be a need to organize an event introducing ourselves onto the market. To this we will invite potential customers, senior officials, possibly including a government minister and other stakeholders, so as to penetrate the market. In collaboration with this we, also intend to place news stories and features in magazines and newspapers to keep stakeholders updated on the latest developments and to increase awareness.

The number of IT companies on the market dictates that the organization needs to promote itself through participation in trade shows and expositions. Not only will these increase awareness of our products and services, but if a particular product or service were to gain recognition, for example through being chosen No. 1 in innovativeness, the organization will be able to take advantage of this in all its promotional campaigns, adding leverage to its reputation and corporate image. An example of a trade show we intend to participate at is BITEC. These expositions will also be a good opportunity for us to network with various organizations and individuals.

Internet Marketing

The company will sell its services over the Internet as it is cost effective to reach a large number of potential clients, regionally and internationally. We also realize that customer/client research is needed before building an effective website, something which is rarely done by existing companies, in order to find out how customers will want to access information and journey through the site.

5.3.3 Positioning Statement

I Tech Solutions will position itself as a reliable solutions provider and trusted strategic ally who makes sure systems work, people are comfortable and conversant with the system, and down time is minimal. Unlike the other vendors/retail stores, we intend to know the customer and go to his or her site when needed, offering proactive support, service, training, and installation. In addition, I Tech Solutions is an ally to our clients’ businesses, and offers them a full range of services, from installation to support.

5.3.4 Pricing Strategy

We must charge appropriately for the high-end, high-quality service and support we offer. Our revenue structure has to match our cost structure, so the salaries we pay to assure good service and support must be balanced by the revenue we charge. Therefore, we must make sure that we deliver and charge for service and support. Training, service, installation, and networking support–all of this must be readily available and priced to sell and deliver revenue. We will charge ( discussion omitted ). This will ensure we penetrate the market upon entry.

5.3.5 Promotion Strategy

Our promotion strategy will be based primarily on informing potential customers of our existence and making the right information available to our target customer. I Tech Solutions intends to utilize an aggressive promotional campaign to introduce its products and services to the market. The intention will be to take advantage of several media sources in announcing the products and services and in the process enforcing awareness of our existence.

5.4 Sales Strategy

I Tech Solutions will receive its revenue streams from a combination of licensing agreements, sales commissions, monthly subscriptions, registration fees, network access charges, service fees, transaction charges, training, promotional incentive programs, and sales of hardware and software. The derived value of I Tech Solutions will come from the key partnerships established and developed in order to deliver a product and service provision of transactionally-based activities, providing opportunity to build brand and loyalty, around which relationship marketing will play a key role.

The sales forecast monthly summary is included in the appendix. The annual sales projections are provided in a table below. It should be noted that as we become established and known on the market we project sales to increase at a faster rate than the initial year.

Note : All currency values in the charts and tables are expressed in the Botswana Pula (P).

5.5 Strategic Alliances

I Tech Solutions intends to go into strategic alliances with several organizations. This will also reassure our customers that they are investing in “winning” products, technology, and service that are maintainable, flexible, and scalable enough to meet future demands.

At this writing, strategic alliances with several companies are possibilities, including X, given the content of existing interest and discussions. By going into strategic partnerships with suitable organizations, we will benefit from being able to concentrate on our core activities in the delivery of our products and services to the end-user, while ensuring that we do not have to compromise on quality of execution or the number of products and services we are able to deliver.

Management Summary management summary will include information about who's on your team and why they're the right people for the job, as well as your future hiring plans.">

The human resources element shall be an essential component in the delivery of the total service. By having enthusiastic, capable, and empowered people interacting with our clients, we intend to build the competitive advantage of being able to comprehensively meet our clients’ needs. We also intend to give our teams enough leverage in decision-making to ensure that clients are handled promptly and to reduce lead-time in actual delivery of the service. It will be necessary to evaluate jobs and remuneration packages against market benchmarks to employees for their tasks to ensure they are competitive.

6.1 Organizational Structure

Our management philosophy is based on responsibility and mutual respect. We recognize the need to be constantly changing so as to adapt to the prevailing environment. We will have a flexible structure allowing for the above to be undertaken swiftly and smoothly. Please find below the job titles and descriptions we intend to have in place for the key personnel. ( table omitted )

6.2 Management Team

In a highly volatile industry with increasing competition, we recognize the need to be constantly changing to adapt to the prevailing environment. The management team extensive expertise and a broad knowledge of the products/services and markets, which, if well planned, will enable the business to realize its goals and objectives.

( profiles omitted )

The management style will reflect the participation of the shareholders. The company will respect its community and treat all employees well. We will develop and nurture the company as a community. We will not be hierarchical, especially considering the rate of change in our industry, which makes it mandatory for us to be highly flexible. Management’s ongoing initiatives to drive sales, market share and productivity will provide additional impetus.

6.3 Personnel Plan

The detailed monthly personnel plan for the first three years is included in the appendix. The annual personnel estimates are included here. We believe this plan is a fair compromise between fairness and expedience, and meets the commitments of our mission statement. We want the company to stay lean and flexible so that we can respond to our markets’ needs quickly. As we expand and increase in size we do expect to increase our personnel.

We will compensate our personnel well, so as to retain their invaluable expertise and ensure job satisfaction and enrichment through delegation of authority. Our compensation will include health care, generous profit sharing, and a minimum of 3 weeks vacation.

6.4 Training

In-house training shall be continuous with regular external training being undertaken, particularly following any new developments in the market. This is to ensure that we are continuously able to anticipate our markets needs–a proactive approach, which is so essential if we are to gain and maintain a competitive advantage. External training will also be conducted to ensure we are aware of the latest products and technology. This will also ensure that our personnel are able to set high standards, or benchmark, using these organizations standards.

6.5 Feedback and Control

(a) We will encourage our employees to put forward any suggestions they might have regarding the improvement of any of the company’s functions–an open door philosophy. Such a culture will enhance innovativeness and creativity in turn leading to job satisfaction and enrichment.

(b) We undertake to continuously formalize and measure cross-functional working communication so as to ensure that the various departments work harmoniously towards attainment of corporate objectives

(c) Important notices and developments will be continuously communicated to employees so as to keep them abreast of developments and promoting a sense of belonging and oneness in the organization.

Financial Plan investor-ready personnel plan .">

We want to finance growth mainly through cash flow and equity. We recognize that this means we will have to grow more slowly than we might like. The most important factor in our case is collection days. We can’t push our clients hard on collection days, because they are in larger companies and will normally have marketing authority, not financial authority. Therefore we need to develop a permanent system of receivables financing, using one of the established accounting systems. In turn we intend to ensure that our investors are compatible with our growth plan, management style, and vision. Compatibility in this regard means:

• A fundamental respect for giving our customers value, and for maintaining a healthy and congenial workplace
• Respect for realistic forecasts, conservative cash flow, and financial management
• Cash flow as first priority, growth second, profits third
• Willingness to follow the project objectives and contribute valuable input to strategy and implementation decisions.

Of these, only the last 2 are flexible.

7.1 Break-even Analysis

The following table and chart summarizes our Break-even Analysis. We don’t really expect to reach break-even until several months into the business operation, as illustrated in the financials.

7.2 Important Assumptions

The financial plan depends on important assumptions. From the beginning, we recognize that collection days are critical, but not a factor we can influence easily. Interest rates, tax rates, and personnel burden are based on conservative assumptions.

Some of the more important underlying assumptions are:

• We assume a strong economy, without major recession.
• We assume that there are no unforeseen changes in economic policy to make our products and service immediately obsolete.

Others include 30-day average collection days, sales entirely on invoice basis, including a favorable deposit policy, expenses mainly on a net 30-day basis, 30 days on average for payment of invoices, and present-day interest rates.

7.3 Key Financial Indicators

We foresee major growth in sales and operating expenses, and a bump in our collection days as we spread the business during expansion.

Collection days are very important. We do not want to let our average collection days get above 30 under any circumstances. This could cause a serious problem with cash flow, because our working capital situation is chronically tight. However, we recognize that we cannot control this factor easily, because of the relationship with our clients.

7.4 Projected Profit and Loss

Initial marketing and training expenses will be relatively high as we seek to become known on the market and staff get trained in provision of our services. This will be brought about by the development of sales literature, advertising expenses, and function expenses. As our market share increases and capital is generated, further marketing programs and the expansion of those in existence at the time will be undertaken, to ensure market development. However, with time, these programs will start generating revenue for the business, which we shall reinvest.

Our projected Profit and Loss is shown in the appendix, with sales increasing steadily from the first year through the second, and into the third year. We do expect to more than break-even in the first year of operation. Our cost of sales should be much lower, and gross margin higher, than in this projection.

7.5 Projected Cash Flow

The chart and table below present the cash flow projections for I Tech Solutions.

7.6 Projected Balance Sheet

The balance sheet shows healthy growth of net worth, and strong financial position. The three-year estimates are included in the appendix.

7.7 Business Ratios

The following table shows important ratios from the computer related services industry, as determined by the Standard Industry Classification (SIC) Index #7379, Computer Related Services.

Contingency Plan

• Another possibility is the introduction of a company or several companies in our niche. The need to undertake aggressive marketing, networking, and delivering a value-added service in our organization is a fundamental one.

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Computer Software Business Plan Sample

Published Mar.03, 2021

Updated Apr.22, 2024

By: Noor Muhammad

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Table of Content

Computer software business plan for starting your own company

Do you want to start a computer software business? Well, the business has immense demand these days. Firstly, because of the introduction of software that enhance business efficiency and productivity. And second, due to the coronavirus that has made people work from home.

Starting this business doesn’t require you to occupy a large space. However, the startup costs are still high. Mainly because of the costs of software and the salaries of software experts.

To make sure that your business is started and run efficiently, you must create a business plan computer software. To help you in making an accurate business continuity plan computer software company for your business, we’re providing here a business plan for software product . This sample business plan software for mac and pc is written for a computer software startup, Tech Solutions.

Computer Software Business Plan Summary

2.1 the business.

Tech Solutions will be a registered and insured computer software business. The business will provide all sorts of management, business, engineering, analytics, and computer repair software. The company will also offer software that allows integration with hardware devices. Moreover, some hardware accessories will also be sold by the company.

In this business plan sample of an online computer repair and sales of hardware and software, we’ll be providing all details of Tech Solutions for your guidance.

2.2 Management of Computer Software Company

To ensure the smooth and successful running of your business, it is essential to first create a business plan template for computer software. In your computer software reseller business plan, you should mention all details of how you will establish your business, hire the staff, purchase the inventory, and software for reselling. Moreover, it should explain a proper management structure that will allow you to cater to unexpected orders, staff problems, and financial issues.

2.3 Customers of Computer Software Company

Tech Solutions identified the following groups of people as its target customers:

• Companies & Businesses
• Engineering Schools
• Others (Retail Stores & General Public)

2.4 Business Target

We aim to earn and maintain a CSAT score above 90% within a year of our launch. Financially, we aim at earning a profit margin of $32.3k per month by the end of the three years of our launch.

Company Summary

3.1 company owner.

Tech Solutions will be owned by Dustin Grant. Dustin is a software engineer who has also acquired a master’s degree in business administration after his graduation. He has worked in a software firm for two years but eventually decided to start his own business plan for software product .

3.2 Why the computer software business is being started

Dustin started the computer software business to be an entrepreneur and earn huge profits. Throughout his academic and service years, he remained associated with software businesses. Therefore, at the time of starting his own business plan for software product , he believed the computer software business to be the best choice for him.

3.3 How the pc software business will be started

Step1: Develop computer hardware and software business plan

The first step to start this business would be to create a computer software and technology business plan. Dustin had adequate knowledge to develop the business continuity plan for computer software company, therefore he did the task himself. If you think that you don’t possess the required skillset to develop a business plan software for apple computers or any other relevant service, you must hire a professional for doing so.

Step2: Define your brand

After planning everything about your business plan for software product , you should step into the execution phase. This is the time to acquire licenses, registrations, inventory, and required software and hardware. Meanwhile, you should define your business values and services so that people can know about you.

Step3: Start the recruitment

The next step is to recruit the most component and skillful employees for your business plan for software product . A good approach is to also give them a few months of training so that they can learn to collaborate with each other.

Step4: Promote & market

After establishing your workplace and workforce, the next step is to promote your competitive advantages.

Step5: Establish a web presence

A strong web presence is inevitable for a software company. Since software services can be provided online, your customers are more likely to search about you on Google. Therefore, to offer your services on a wider scale, it is a must to establish a strong online presence.

Products of Computer Software Company

In your computer software retail business plan, you should also include the services you want to offer. To decide your services, you should study some guide to writing a computer software business plan examples. This will give you a broader idea of what other people are offering in the domain.

The products offered by Tech Solutions are provided below:

• Billing Software
• Asset Management software
• Clear Analytics
• Metric Insights
• SAP BusinessObjects
• StudioCloud
• Autodesk Revit
• JavaScript and more.
• Network Interface Cards
• Expansion cards
• Power supply unit
• Motherboard
• Optical disc drive
• Microprocessor
• Hard disk drive and more.

Marketing Analysis of Computer Software Business

Your business plan for computer software is incomplete unless you have done a detailed marketing analysis in it. Since purchasing software and hiring the persons who can run those software is a costly operation. Therefore, it is a must for you to purchase only the software that are demanded by your target customers. Knowing your target market will help you in understanding which type of software you should acquire. Moreover, by analyzing customers’ buying patterns you can figure out whether or not you should purchase a certain software.

In this computer programs business plan we’re providing the market analysis done for Tech Solutions. Dustin carried out a detailed marketing analysis before developing business plan software for mac computers and other devices. His special focus was to offer software products that weren’t offered by his market competitors.

5.1 Market Trends

The market stats for computer software-related companies are extremely good. According to IBISWorld, market size of $564bn is held just by online computer software sellers in the United States. The trends for business analytics software businesses are also highly encouraging. According to the same source, more than 4.5k such businesses are running in the United States successfully. The business has grown by 22.8% in the past five years, from 2016 to 2021. And is expected to grow more by 13.3% in 2021 alone.

5.2 Marketing Segmentation

The groups of target customers identified by Tech Solutions are provided in this computer software business plan sample.

5.2.1 Companies/ Businesses & Organizations

The first group of our target customers will comprise organizations and enterprises that need management and cloud-based intelligent software to manage their business plan for software product . They are expected to be our potential customers as they will need the latest software support to enhance their productivity.

5.2.2 Engineering Schools & Firms

The second group of our target customers will be the universities and firms that make use of engineering software. They may include design engineering firms, software firms, and manufacturing firms.

5.2.3 Others

The third category includes all other people and businesses who may need software and hardware. For example, retail stores are expected to get billing software from us. High school students are believed to purchase hardware accessories from us etc.

5.3 Business Target

Our business targets are

• To achieve a Net Promoter Score above 50 by the end of the two years of our launch.
• To earn and maintain a CSAT score above 90% within a year of our launch.
• To earn a net profit margin of $32.3k per month by the end of the third year
• To achieve and maintain an average ranking above 4.75 throughout our service years.

5.4 Product Pricing

Our prices are a little higher as compared to our market competitors. It is because of the continuous software support and training we’ll be providing free of cost.

Marketing Strategy of Computer Software Business

In your business plan computer software company you should also include the ways, you will adopt to outperform your competitors. Ideally, you should analyze your competitive benefits, sales business strategy , and forecasted sales in this part of computer software training business plan.

6.1 Competitive Analysis

• Our biggest competitive benefit is that we’re providing free training to our customers. People who will purchase software from us will be given 10-12 days of training so that they can use all the features of the software.
• We are highly customer-oriented. Our collaborative staff will remain in touch with you to provide you expert advice whenever you face any technical issues with the provided software.
• Our software offerings are more than all of our competitors. Therefore, we expect to get more customers than them.

6.2 Sales Strategy

• We’ll establish a strong web and social media presence to reach out to a wider audience.
• To advertise our services, we’ll make use of Google Local ads service, and local newspaper.
• We’ll send our sales executive to several companies and organizations to let them know about us.
• We’ll provide a 20% discount on all of our software for the first month of our launch.
• We’ll provide a 30% discount on all of our hardware products for the first two months of our launch.

6.3 Sales Monthly

6.4 Sales Yearly

6.5 Sales Forecast

Personnel plan

The skills and performance of your employees are the things that will impact your business impression in the long run. To make your startup a success, it is essential to hire your employees with great care. And develop a human resource management plan to help them improve over time.

In this computer hardware software business plan, we’re providing the personnel plan of Tech Solutions.

7.1 Company Staff

Dustin will hire the following employees for his business:

• 1 Co-Manager to manage the company’s operations
• 4 Software Engineers to develop software and train people
• 2 IT Experts to maintain IT systems
• 2 Computer Technicians to help maintain the machinery
• 2 Sales Executives to discover new ventures for the company
• 1 Accountant to maintain financial records
• 1 Store Manager to manage hardware sales

7.2 Average Salary of Employees

Financial Plan

Though opening a computer software business doesn’t require you to rent a large space or procure huge inventory, still, the costs of starting and running this business are high. It is because many business software are very expensive especially those which are cloud-based and agile. And secondly, the salaries of highly expert software engineers are also high. Therefore, the finances of this business plan for software product need to be managed.

The best way for managing your finances, investments, profits, and losses is to develop a financial plan. In this computer software business plan sample we’re providing the financial plan that Dustin developed for Tech Solutions.

8.1 Important Assumptions

8.2 Break-even Analysis

8.3 Projected Profit and Loss

8.3.1 Profit Monthly

8.3.2 Profit Yearly

8.3.3 Gross Margin Monthly

8.3.4 Gross Margin Yearly

8.4 Projected Cash Flow

8.5 Projected Balance Sheet

8.6 Business Ratios

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Hardware Shop Business Plan

Planning to start a hardware store? The extensive marketplace and consistently rising demands make starting a hardware store a lucrative business venture.

Anyone can start a hardware shop, however, a business plan can help you raise funds and map out its scalability for prolific growth.

Need help writing a business plan for your hardware shop? You’re at the right place. Our hardware shop business plan template will help you get started.

Free Business Plan Template

Download our free hardware shop business plan template now and pave the way to success. Let’s turn your vision into an actionable strategy!

• Fill in the blanks – Outline
• Financial Tables

How to Write A Hardware Shop Business Plan?

Writing a hardware shop business plan is a crucial step toward the success of your business. Here are the key steps to consider when writing a business plan:

1. Executive Summary

An executive summary is the first section planned to offer an overview of the entire business plan. However, it is written after the entire business plan is ready and summarizes each section of your plan.

Here are a few key components to include in your executive summary:

• Introduce your Business: Start your executive summary by briefly introducing your business to your readers.This section may include the name of your hardware shop, its location, when it was founded, the type of hardware shop (E.g., general hardware, electrical hardware, plumbing hardware, specialty hardware), etc.
• Market Opportunity: Summarize your market research, including market size, growth potential, and marketing trends. Highlight the opportunities in the market and how your business will fit in to fill the gap.
• Products & services: Highlight the products you offer your clients. The USPs and differentiators you offer are always a plus.For instance, you may include hardware tools, fittings, repair and maintenance as products and services and mention extensive collection, personal guidance, and tool rentals as some of your USPs.
• Marketing & Sales Strategies: Outline your sales and marketing strategies—what marketing platforms you use, how you plan on acquiring customers, etc.
• Financial Highlights: Briefly summarize your financial projections for the initial years of business operations. Include any capital or investment requirements, associated startup costs, projected revenues, and profit forecasts.
• Call to Action: Summarize your executive summary section with a clear CTA, for example, inviting angel investors to discuss the potential business investment.

Ensure your executive summary is clear, concise, easy to understand, and jargon-free.

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2. Business Overview

The business overview section of your business plan offers detailed information about your company. The details you add will depend on how important they are to your business. Yet, business name, location, business history, and future goals are some of the foundational elements you must consider adding to this section:

• Business Description: Describe your business in this section by providing all the basic information:
• General hardware store
• Specialty hardware store (automotive supplies, construction hardware, etc)
• Online hardware store
• Industrial hardware store
• Plumbing hardware store
• Electrical hardware store
• Describe the legal structure of your hardware store, whether it is a sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, or others.
• Explain where your business is located and why you selected the place.
• Owners: List the names of your hardware store’s founders or owners. Describe what shares they own and their responsibilities for efficiently managing the business.
• Mission Statement: Summarize your business’ objective, core principles, and values in your mission statement. This statement needs to be memorable, clear, and brief.
• Business History: If you’re an established hardware store, briefly describe your business history, like—when it was founded, how it evolved over time, etc.Additionally, If you have received any awards or recognition for excellent work, describe them.
• Future Goals: It’s crucial to convey your aspirations and vision. Mention your short-term and long-term goals; they can be specific targets for revenue, market share, or expanding your services.

This section should provide a thorough understanding of your business, its history, and its future plans. Keep this section engaging, precise, and to the point.

3. Market Analysis

The market analysis section of your business plan should offer a thorough understanding of the industry with the target market, competitors, and growth opportunities. You should include the following components in this section.

• Target market: Start this section by describing your target market. Define your ideal customer and explain what types of services they prefer. Creating a buyer persona will help you easily define your target market to your readers.For instance, homeowners, contractors, plumbers, and facility maintenance companies would be an ideal target audience for a plumbing hardware store.
• Market size and growth potential: Describe your market size and growth potential and whether you will target a niche or a much broader market.For instance, the US hardware stores industry was 34.2 billion dollars in 2022. It is very crucial for you to determine the segment of your target market and its growth potential.
• Competitive Analysis: Identify and analyze your direct and indirect competitors. Identify their strengths and weaknesses, and describe what differentiates your hardware store from them. Point out how you have a competitive edge in the market.
• Market Trends: Analyze emerging trends in the industry, such as technology disruptions, changes in customer behavior or preferences, etc. Explain how your business will cope with all the trends.For instance, smart plumbing fixtures have a booming market; explain how you plan on dealing with this potential growth opportunity.
• Regulatory Environment: List regulations and licensing requirements that may affect your hardware, such as business registration, license and permits, CPSA compliance, insurance, environmental regulations, state and federal regulations, etc.

Here are a few tips for writing the market analysis section of your hardware shop business plan:

• Conduct market research, industry reports, and surveys to gather data.
• Provide specific and detailed information whenever possible.
• Illustrate your points with charts and graphs.
• Write your business plan keeping your target audience in mind.

4. Products And Services

The product and services section should describe the specific services and products that will be offered to customers. To write this section should include the following:

• Building materials
• Plumbing materials
• Electrical material
• Safety and protective equipment
• Hardware and fasteners
• Services: Mention if your hardware store offers any niche-specific services to the customers.For instance, a plumbing hardware store would offer services like pipe cutting, pipe threading, fitting and assembly, maintenance and repair, etc.
• Quality measures: This section should explain how you maintain quality standards and consistently provide the highest quality service.This may include ensuring high-quality hardware tools, product testing, evaluation, and training and education of staff.
• Additional Services: Mention if your hardware store offers any additional services. You may include services like fittings, maintenance, customization, etc.

In short, this section of your hardware plan must be informative, precise, and client-focused. By providing a clear and compelling description of your offerings, you can help potential investors and readers understand the value of your business.

5. Sales And Marketing Strategies

Writing the sales and marketing strategies section means a list of strategies you will use to attract and retain your clients. Here are some key elements to include in your sales & marketing plan:

• Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Define your business’s USPs depending on the market you serve, the equipment you use, and the unique services you provide. Identifying USPs will help you plan your marketing strategies.For example, extensive product selection, custom fittings, and repair and maintenance services could be some of the great USPs for plumbing hardware stores.
• Pricing Strategy: Describe your pricing strategy—how you plan to price your products in hardware stores and stay competitive in the local market. You can mention any introductory offers you plan on offering to attract new customers to your hardware store.
• Marketing Strategies: Discuss your marketing strategies to market your services. You may include some of these marketing strategies in your business plan—social media marketing, Google ads, brochures, email marketing, content marketing, and print marketing.
• Sales Strategies: Outline the strategies you’ll implement to maximize your sales. Your sales strategies may include direct sales calls, partnering with local plumbers, contractors, and trade professionals, offering referral programs, etc.
• Customer Retention: Describe your customer retention strategies and how you plan to execute them. For instance, introducing loyalty programs, service offers, discounts on annual membership, personalized service, etc.

Overall, this section of your hardware store business plan should focus on customer acquisition and retention.

Have a specific, realistic, and data-driven approach while planning sales and marketing strategies for your hardware shop, and be prepared to adapt or make strategic changes in your strategies based on feedback and results.

6. Operations Plan

The operations plan section of your business plan should outline the processes and procedures involved in your business operations, such as staffing requirements and operational processes. Here are a few components to add to your operations plan:

• Staffing & Training: Mention your hardware store’s staffing requirements, including the number of plumbing experts, sales associates, cashiers, and technicians. Include their qualifications, the training required, and the duties they will perform.
• Operational Process: Outline the processes and procedures you will use to run your hardware shop. Your operational processes may include inviting walk-ins, assisting customers, making sales, collection and payment, scheduling fittings, store maintenance, and order restocking.
• Equipment & Machinery: Include the list of equipment and machinery required for hardware, such as pipe cutters, pipe threaders, showroom displays, and fixtures, pressure testing equipment, cutting and measuring tools, office equipment, etc.Explain how these technologies help you maintain quality standards and improve the efficiency of your business operations.

Adding these components to your operations plan will help you lay out your business operations, which will eventually help you manage your business effectively.

7. Management Team

The management team section provides an overview of your hardware shop’s management team. This section should provide a detailed description of each manager’s experience and qualifications, as well as their responsibilities and roles.

• Founders/CEO: Mention the founders and CEO of your hardware, and describe their roles and responsibilities in successfully running the business.
• Key managers: Introduce your management and key members of your team, and explain their roles and responsibilities.It should include, key executives(e.g. COO, CMO.), senior management, and other department managers (e.g. store manager, inventory manager.) involved in the hardware shop operations, including their education, professional background, and any relevant experience in the hardware industry.
• Organizational structure: Explain the organizational structure of your management team. Include the reporting line and decision-making hierarchy.
• Compensation Plan: Describe your compensation plan for the management and staff. Include their salaries, incentives, and other benefits.
• Advisors/Consultants: Mentioning advisors or consultants in your business plans adds credibility to your business idea.So, if you have any advisors or consultants, include them with their names and brief information consisting of roles and years of experience.

This section should describe the key personnel for your hardware store, highlighting how you have the perfect team to succeed.

8. Financial Plan

Your financial plan section should provide a summary of your business’s financial projections for the first few years. Here are some key elements to include in your financial plan:

• Profit & loss statement: Describe details such as projected revenue, operational costs, and service costs in your projected profit and loss statement . Make sure to include your business’s expected net profit or loss.
• Cash flow statement: The cash flow for the first few years of your operation should be estimated and described in this section. This may include billing invoices, payment receipts, loan payments, and any other cash flow statements.
• Balance Sheet: Create a projected balance sheet documenting your hardware shop’s assets, liabilities, and equity.
• Break-even point: Determine and mention your business’s break-even point—the point at which your business costs and revenue will be equal.This exercise will help you understand how much revenue you need to generate to sustain or be profitable.
• Financing Needs: Calculate costs associated with starting a hardware shop, and estimate your financing needs and how much capital you need to raise to operate your business. Be specific about your short-term and long-term financing requirements, such as investment capital or loans.

Be realistic with your financial projections, and make sure you offer relevant information and evidence to support your estimates.

9. Appendix

The appendix section of your plan should include any additional information supporting your business plan’s main content, such as market research, legal documentation, financial statements, and other relevant information.

• Add a table of contents for the appendix section to help readers easily find specific information or sections.
• In addition to your financial statements, provide additional financial documents like tax returns, a list of assets within the business, credit history, and more. These statements must be the latest and offer financial projections for at least the first three or five years of business operations.
• Provide data derived from market research, including stats about the hardware industry, user demographics, and industry trends.
• Include any legal documents such as permits, licenses, and contracts.
• Include any additional documentation related to your business plan, such as product brochures, marketing materials, operational procedures, etc.

Use clear headings and labels for each section of the appendix so that readers can easily find the necessary information.

Remember, the appendix section of your retail hardware store business plan should only include relevant and important information supporting your plan’s main content.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

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This sample hardware shop business plan will provide an idea for writing a successful hardware plan, including all the essential components of your business.

After this, if you still need clarification about writing an investment-ready business plan to impress your audience, download our hardware shop business plan pdf .

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Frequently asked questions, why do you need a hardware shop business plan.

A business plan is an essential tool for anyone looking to start or run a successful hardware shop. It helps to get clarity in your business, secures funding, and identifies potential challenges while starting and growing your business.

Overall, a well-written plan can help you make informed decisions, which can contribute to the long-term success of your hardware store.

How to get funding for your hardware shop?

There are several ways to get funding for your hardware shop, but self-funding is one of the most efficient and speedy funding options. Other options for funding are:

• Bank loan – You may apply for a loan in government or private banks.
• Small Business Administration (SBA) loan – SBA loans and schemes are available at affordable interest rates, so check the eligibility criteria before applying for it.
• Crowdfunding – The process of supporting a project or business by getting a lot of people to invest in your business, usually online.
• Angel investors – Getting funds from angel investors is one of the most sought startup options.

Apart from all these options, there are small business grants available, check for the same in your location and you can apply for it.

How do I write a good market analysis in a hardware shop business plan?

Market analysis is one of the key components of your business plan that requires deep research and a thorough understanding of your industry. We can categorize the process of writing a good market analysis section into the following steps:

• Stating the objective of your market analysis—e.g., investor funding.
• Industry study—market size, growth potential, market trends, etc.
• Identifying target market—based on user behavior and demographics
• Analyzing direct and indirect competitors.
• Calculating market share—understanding TAM, SAM, and SOM.
• Knowing regulations and restrictions
• Organizing data and writing the first draft.

Writing a marketing analysis section can be overwhelming, but using ChatGPT for market research can make things easier.

How detailed should the financial projections be in my hardware shop business plan?

The level of detail of the financial projections of your hardware shop may vary considering various business aspects like direct and indirect competition, pricing, and operational efficiency. However, your financial projections must be comprehensive enough to demonstrate a complete view of your financial performance.

Generally, the statements included in a business plan offer financial projections for at least the first three or five years of business operations.

What key components should a hardware shop business plan include?

The following are the key components your hardware shop business plan must include:

• Executive summary
• Business Overview
• Market Analysis
• Products and services
• Sales and marketing strategies
• Operations plan
• Management team
• Financial plan

What's the importance of a marketing strategy in a hardware shop business plan?

Marketing strategy is a key component of your hardware shop business plan. Whether it is about achieving certain business goals or helping your investors understand your plan to maximize their return on investment—an impactful marketing strategy is the way to do it!

Here are a few pointers to help you understand the importance of having an impactful marketing strategy:

• It provides your business an edge over your competitors.
• It helps investors better understand your business and growth potential.
• It helps you develop products with the best profit potential.
• It helps you set accurate pricing for your products or services.

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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