So... I'm starting a business.

[Starfox64x]

So one thing i've been doing over the past month or so is create a financial plan in order to get a business loan in hopes of starting an online retail business... I'm pretty proud of what i've gotten done so far, and hopefully within a month i'll be selling stuff.

So, what it will be is an online retail business selling shirts, accessories jewelry figurines and other thing related to popular pop culture figures fro mmovies, TV, games, comics, cartoons, etc. Basically if it's a thign that had a fanbase, i'll be marketing towards them.

Now, of course i'll have shirts and hats and generic stuff like that, but i also plan on having more unique items. handmade things by true fans of the shows. Knitted stuff, sewn stuff, laser cut in the garage, things that were made wit hthe same passion that the fans of the show have, not just by a machine in a workshop with an 'officially licensed' logo on it.

My goal is to get $5000 loaned to me, that way i'll be able to get a nice variety of designs (at wholesale price), a good amount of stock to start off, and some play money for more unique items as well as and fees that might come along...

I've got my stock pretty much figured out... Got a couple of sites lined up, a couple of people who have agreed to sell me a bulk order of their handmade items, and i even have someone from Valve contacting me Friday to discuss wholesale of their products... my only issue is actually getting a site...

Now, i have a friend who used to do HTML and ran his own sites that i will try to get in contact with... but if that falls through i have no idea how to get a site going... I've seen a few 'start your online store for free' things, but i dont trust them... after all you get what you pay for... And i don't mind paying for a quality site... but there's just so many shady places online that i can't think of who to trust... I saw that Kotaku had a deal where you could get a domain name for $20, $100 off their regular price... but what i have to do after that... no idea... I just hope my friend still lives where he use to... but if not, any help would be great...

But, i also plan on going to conventions, local events, etc in hopes of getting some business, which won't be as hard i think... expensive maybe, but not hard...

So, any advice? thoughts? anything you'd like to see in the shop?

[Accellerant]

Although I don't have any good suggestions for creating websites, I do have some questions for your shop.

What makes your shop unique and advantageous compared to other online retailers? Even if it's to bring everything that has had a fanbase under a single umbrella, is there really still a market for X fanbase?

Example: I LOVE Spaceballs, but is there really anyone out there who wants Spaceballs memorabilia?

Also, when it comes to selling other peoples creations, how would it beat e-bay and how would you handle situations when lawyers challenge you with proprietary rights?

Starting a business is admirable, my grandfather started his own shoppe many years ago and he loved every minute of it. But because he didn't think it through, it fell over on itself sadly. This resulted in years of debt, accompanied with a dose of stress. I'm sure you have things thought through, but I ask these questions because I just don't want the same to happen to you.

[Starfox64x]

Although I don't have any good suggestions for creating websites, I do have some questions for your shop.

What makes your shop unique and advantageous compared to other online retailers? Even if it's to bring everything that has had a fanbase under a single umbrella, is there really still a market for X fanbase?

Example: I LOVE Spaceballs, but is there really anyone out there who wants Spaceballs memorabilia?

Also, when it comes to selling other peoples creations, how would it beat e-bay and how would you handle situations when lawyers challenge you with proprietary rights?

Starting a business is admirable, my grandfather started his own shoppe many years ago and he loved every minute of it. But because he didn't think it through, it fell over on itself sadly. This resulted in years of debt, accompanied with a dose of stress. I'm sure you have things thought through, but I ask these questions because I just don't want the same to happen to you.

1: i hope to eventually bring more unique things to the market, like handmade objects that fans have made to a broader market. I have one person i'm chatting to who knits pokeballs, I want to go around and find more people who will sell me their handmade items so i can sell them, Something unique, something that you can't find in a store. Sure you can buy it from them online, but sifting through all the layer of internet to find them would be hard, i plan to dig them up and present them to the world! although because this might be a bit more pricey i may have to wait a while to get REALLY into that portions of my businesss.

2: Again, digging through ebay is hard.... looking throug ha shop and spotting something cool is much easier and i think happens more often... i mean i would love to buy one of these pokeballs and sifting through all the pages of plastic pieces of crud would lessen my desire for it.

3: As for lawyers, i assume you mean from Hasbro and whatnot? Its under free use. As long as i dont take anythign DIRECTLY from them, it's my own artistic interpretation... Thats why we have DBZ Abridged after 5 years. it may contain video from DBZ, but because they A: Add their own artistic interpretation, IE: A parody, theyre legally allowed to do it as long as they say "hey, this doesnt belong to us" than they're okay, and that goes the same for anything else.

If you mean lawyer from the people i'm buying from, i plan to inform them that my intent is reselling their stuff and advertising for them as well.

4:Thanks, i understand, and thats why i'm trying to research everything i can... I'm actually going to the IRS tomorrow to see what sort of taxes and registration things i need t oget through... along with the bank to see about opening another account for said business.