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What I saw was a great opportunity to provide computing technology in a more efficient way. That was the core idea of what became Dell Computer Corporation and that’s one we were stuck over ever since.
I started the business with a simple question: how can we make the process of buying a computer better? The answer was: sell the computer directly to the end customers. Eliminate the reseller’s markup and pass the savings on to the customers.
It hadn’t occurred to me that others hadn’t figured it out. I thought it was pretty obvious. I am sure if I had taken the time to ask, plenty of people would have told me that my idea wouldn’t work -- I have heard that a lot in the fifteen years since starting the business.
Sometimes it’s better not to ask or to listen -- when people tell you something can’t be done. I didn’t ask for permission or approval. I just went ahead and did it.
On January 2, 1984, I went back to Austin earlier than I would have to attend classes, and I did all the things you need to do to set up a business. I registered the company with the State of Texas as “PC’s Limited.” I placed ads in the classified section in our local newspaper.
Through my previous contract with customers and the small ads I placed in the paper, I was already getting a lot of business. I was selling between $50,000 to $80,000 upgraded PCs, upgrade kits, and add-on computer components to people in Austin area. Not long after starting the classes I was able to move from a stuffy room that I shared with a roommate to a condominium with high ceilings and two bedrooms. I didn’t, however, tell my parents for a few months that I moved.?
In early May, about a week before I took my final exam to complete my freshman year, I incorporated the company as “Dell Computer Corporation,” doing business as “PC’s Limited.” We moved the business from my condo to a 1000-square-foot office space in a small business center in North Austin. I hired a few people to take orders over telephone and a few more to fulfill them. Manufacturing consisted of three guys with screwdrivers sitting at six-foot tables upgrading machines. Business continued to grow, and I began to think of what the potential could be if I could devote myself to the venture, full-time.
Where I came from, not going to the college is not an acceptable option. Convincing my parents to allow me to leave school would have been impossible. So I just went ahead and did it, whatever the consequences. I finished my freshman year and left.
After a while, my parents forgave me. And a little bit after that, I forgave them, too.
People asked me now, “Were you scared?” Sure.
But it turned out, the timing for “PC’s Limited” couldn’t have been better.
當時我看到,以更有效的方式提供電腦技術是一個巨大的商機;那后來成了戴爾公司的核心理念,一直奉行至今;
我是從一個簡單的問題開始創業的:如何使購買電腦更便捷?答案是:直接把電腦賣給終端用戶,去除分銷商的加價,并把省下的錢還給用戶;
當時我并不知道其他人沒有意識到這一點;在我看來,那是相當明顯的;我確信如果我當時花時間去問別人的話,會有很多人說我的想法行不通——創業后15年間我聽過許多這樣的話;
當別人告訴你某事行不通的時候,有時不聞不問是更好的辦法;我就沒有去征求別人的許可和贊同;我只是一往直前地去做了;
1984年1月2日,我開學前一點回到了奧斯汀(得克薩斯州首府),我做好了成立新公司的前期準備;我向得克薩斯州注冊了“個人電腦有限公司”,還在當地報紙的分類廣告版面上登了廣告;
通過我與客戶簽訂的預售合同以及在報紙上的小廣告,當時我已經接到了很多業務;我在奧斯汀地區出售升級電腦;升級工具;電腦配件,月銷售額達到5萬到8萬美元之間;開學后不久,我便從和室友共住的悶熱宿舍搬出來,住進了一個高頂雙臥的公寓套間;(然而,我是在好幾個月后才把搬家的事情告訴父母的)
5月初,大約是我大學一年級期末考試前一周吧,我將公司改組為“戴爾電腦公司”,業務和原來公司一樣;公司的辦公地點也從我的公寓搬到了奧斯汀北部一個小型寫字樓里,面積1000平方英尺;我雇了些人接電話訂單,還有一些人負責配送;生產部有3個人,拿著螺絲起子坐在6英尺長的桌子旁升級電腦;業務逐漸擴大,我也開始考慮如果我全身心撲在生意上,公司還有多大潛力;
不上大學在我的家鄉是難以被接受的,要說服父母同意我輟學幾乎不可能;于是我只好毅然不顧地我行我素;在念完一年級以后,我輟學了;
不久,我父母原諒了我;再不久,我也原諒了他們;
人們現在問我:“你當時害怕嗎?”當然害怕;
而結果證明,那個時機成立“個人電腦有限公司”再好不過;
I started the business with a simple question: how can we make the process of buying a computer better? The answer was: sell the computer directly to the end customers. Eliminate the reseller’s markup and pass the savings on to the customers.
It hadn’t occurred to me that others hadn’t figured it out. I thought it was pretty obvious. I am sure if I had taken the time to ask, plenty of people would have told me that my idea wouldn’t work -- I have heard that a lot in the fifteen years since starting the business.
Sometimes it’s better not to ask or to listen -- when people tell you something can’t be done. I didn’t ask for permission or approval. I just went ahead and did it.
On January 2, 1984, I went back to Austin earlier than I would have to attend classes, and I did all the things you need to do to set up a business. I registered the company with the State of Texas as “PC’s Limited.” I placed ads in the classified section in our local newspaper.
Through my previous contract with customers and the small ads I placed in the paper, I was already getting a lot of business. I was selling between $50,000 to $80,000 upgraded PCs, upgrade kits, and add-on computer components to people in Austin area. Not long after starting the classes I was able to move from a stuffy room that I shared with a roommate to a condominium with high ceilings and two bedrooms. I didn’t, however, tell my parents for a few months that I moved.?
In early May, about a week before I took my final exam to complete my freshman year, I incorporated the company as “Dell Computer Corporation,” doing business as “PC’s Limited.” We moved the business from my condo to a 1000-square-foot office space in a small business center in North Austin. I hired a few people to take orders over telephone and a few more to fulfill them. Manufacturing consisted of three guys with screwdrivers sitting at six-foot tables upgrading machines. Business continued to grow, and I began to think of what the potential could be if I could devote myself to the venture, full-time.
Where I came from, not going to the college is not an acceptable option. Convincing my parents to allow me to leave school would have been impossible. So I just went ahead and did it, whatever the consequences. I finished my freshman year and left.
After a while, my parents forgave me. And a little bit after that, I forgave them, too.
People asked me now, “Were you scared?” Sure.
But it turned out, the timing for “PC’s Limited” couldn’t have been better.
當時我看到,以更有效的方式提供電腦技術是一個巨大的商機;那后來成了戴爾公司的核心理念,一直奉行至今;
我是從一個簡單的問題開始創業的:如何使購買電腦更便捷?答案是:直接把電腦賣給終端用戶,去除分銷商的加價,并把省下的錢還給用戶;
當時我并不知道其他人沒有意識到這一點;在我看來,那是相當明顯的;我確信如果我當時花時間去問別人的話,會有很多人說我的想法行不通——創業后15年間我聽過許多這樣的話;
當別人告訴你某事行不通的時候,有時不聞不問是更好的辦法;我就沒有去征求別人的許可和贊同;我只是一往直前地去做了;
1984年1月2日,我開學前一點回到了奧斯汀(得克薩斯州首府),我做好了成立新公司的前期準備;我向得克薩斯州注冊了“個人電腦有限公司”,還在當地報紙的分類廣告版面上登了廣告;
通過我與客戶簽訂的預售合同以及在報紙上的小廣告,當時我已經接到了很多業務;我在奧斯汀地區出售升級電腦;升級工具;電腦配件,月銷售額達到5萬到8萬美元之間;開學后不久,我便從和室友共住的悶熱宿舍搬出來,住進了一個高頂雙臥的公寓套間;(然而,我是在好幾個月后才把搬家的事情告訴父母的)
5月初,大約是我大學一年級期末考試前一周吧,我將公司改組為“戴爾電腦公司”,業務和原來公司一樣;公司的辦公地點也從我的公寓搬到了奧斯汀北部一個小型寫字樓里,面積1000平方英尺;我雇了些人接電話訂單,還有一些人負責配送;生產部有3個人,拿著螺絲起子坐在6英尺長的桌子旁升級電腦;業務逐漸擴大,我也開始考慮如果我全身心撲在生意上,公司還有多大潛力;
不上大學在我的家鄉是難以被接受的,要說服父母同意我輟學幾乎不可能;于是我只好毅然不顧地我行我素;在念完一年級以后,我輟學了;
不久,我父母原諒了我;再不久,我也原諒了他們;
人們現在問我:“你當時害怕嗎?”當然害怕;
而結果證明,那個時機成立“個人電腦有限公司”再好不過;
