Coventry entrepreneur who started business aged 11 hoping new PC-building venture will bring further success

A precocious entrepreneur who started his company aged just 11 is hoping his rapidly growing PC-building venture will bring his business even more success.

James Cousins, now 23, recently launched GeekaPC to complement Geeka Media – his highly successful YouTube channel and associated social media which reviews PC components and rigs, while giving advice on how to construct PCs from scratch.

He recently took 490 sq ft of additional space at the Business Innovation Centre in Binley – part of the University of Warwick Science Park – to base GeekaPC, adding to the existing 1,218 sq ft of space already occupied by Geeka Media.

The new venture allows customers to buy the PCs shown on Geeka Media’s videos if they would rather not build it themselves – something that viewers had demanded for more than a decade.

GeekaPC sells entry-level gaming PCs, right the way through to advanced racing simulators aimed at motorsport enthusiasts.

And after selling its first 100 systems to customers, James is hoping to speed up turnarounds and scale up the business while having his long-term sights set across the pond.

James said: “Geeka Media had been doing well for a while, with revenue from YouTube advertising and affiliate links to the products we review in our videos helping to grow the business.

“But almost from day one, our viewers had asked us if they could buy the PCs we had built straight out of the box.

“It’s something I had wanted to do for a long time, but wasn’t able to achieve until recently after bringing in some brilliant talent and growing the business at the Innovation Centre.

“After launching GeekaPC, it’s taken off fantastically. It is now bringing in around half of our total income alongside Geeka Media’s revenue.

“We’re aiming to scale up our turnaround time from seven-to-ten days to two-to-three days, which will hugely increase our competitiveness and allow us to hire even more staff.

“Our long-term goal is to establish a presence in the USA, as more than 70 per cent of Geeka Media’s viewers are based there. We’re keeping an eye on its ever-changing approach to tariffs, but it could be a highly lucrative market for us.”

After it became clear how well GeekaPC was doing, the Business Innovation Centre was able to sit down with James and find a solution to secure both ventures in the same building – fostering tenant growth and ongoing landlord and tenant collaboration.

James added: “Having the three separate units for Geeka Media, GeekaPC, and general administration has been so important for the smooth running of the two businesses. Keeping things separate has made their management so much easier.

“Being here at the Business Innovation Centre strikes the right balance between having storage and a pleasant working environment. A warehouse would solve the storage issue, but it wouldn’t be appropriate for recording our videos or bringing clients in, and standard offices have never been right for us either.

“We’ve already had positive conversations with the centre management team around how they could manage our deliveries should we scale up as planned.

“We’ve also benefitted from the other businesses here too. For example, JDF Accountancy was able to set up GeekaPC as a company and ensure everything was compliant as we were preparing to launch.

“I opened my first ever office here five years ago, so it’s great that we’ve been able to stay here throughout the growth of the business.”

Emma Turner, centre manager at the Business Innovation Centre, said: “James and the Geeka team are a fantastic example of how a business can grow from a creative idea into a brilliant success story.

“We have been there from the start to support James and Geeka along their journey and we look forward to watching the businesses grow.  We work together with all of our tenants to facilitate their goals and vision through expanding office space, encouragement of collaborative working through the wider university community, signposting to business support, and more.”