I have an idea, but where do I start?

[G-Diddy20]

Some good advice there Italian, it's appreciated.

I really, really would be willing to put the work and would even consider it fun, but I just am not quite sure what angle I would like to shoot from. I mean, an ebay business is certainly something that could be lucrative, but my real ideal setup would bee one that worked selling things on ebay and had it's own website.

I don't think I am afraid of failure, I just am not quite sure what angle to shoot from and how to get everything started. Another great quote from MJ that you might like that I heard is, "I can accept failure, I cannot accept not trying."

G

[Sniper]

G-D,

The point is... Do Something... You can always course correct, based on the feedback you receive from a test launch...

[spex x]

[ QUOTE ]

spex, do you have any other ideas that a person in my position might look into with regard to some type of an e-business.


[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry man, I'm a B&M kind of guy. I do no e-business at all. If it were me, I'd look into taking that money and buying an already existing little business - maybe an Orange Julius in a mall or something for like $150k. But then again, I don't have the technical skills necessary to get involved in e-business, and e-business is clearly the fastest growing retail segment.

But you can't buy an Orange Julius online (although you can probably buy the recipe). When people are in the mall, thirsty for an orangy treat, there is P-D extending the frosty, orange goodness... Think of it!

[G-Diddy20]

but spex i don't have 150k or any credit history with the bank???

since i wrote this i was brainstorming with a friend of mine, and we think we can put together and run an online shoe store. (athletic shoes)

we will be able to buy our shoes and sell them at a 60-70% markup. He and I both think there is a big market for this out there among kids our age in college and HS age athlete's wanting to spend mom and dad's money.

Anyway, we have some decent advertising idea's, a shoe source, and a lot of other idea's to get things going, but there is a lot of things we are not familiar with to get eveything started. Things such as, how and where or even is it necessary to get some sort of license to sell things over the internet, where do we go to get a website started up and a domain, what's the best way to keep track of our sales/inventory, our tax situation, etc. You know the real basic stuff that most sophomore's in college don't know about. Anyway, if anyone has any advice or help it would be greatly appreciated, PM or on here. Thanks,


G

[xPeru]

Advice on this could run into volumes ... My 2c.

1. Don't spend any money on anything unless the business will collapse unless you do. Almost all first time business owners fail to grasp this and waste money. Eg don't buy desks - Jeff Bezos used old doors when he started Amazon; don't buy pens and paper, you should always take the free ones on offer at your accountant's and lawyers offices. You get the idea.

2. Spend money like water on your lawyer and accountant. Buy the best, they will help you not go bust in year 1. But, you need to study law and accountancy so that you can evaluate their advice. You need to be an expert in the law and taxation as it affects your business. Don't worry, it's only about 0.1% of their professional knowledge, but it's life and death for your business.

3. Ideas are cheap and easy. Execution is all-important. just choose a business that interests you, then work out how to do it better. Was DOS the best OS? No, Bill Gates was the best businessman. Doing it better doesn't mean being radical, even a 1% improvement can win you a market.

4. Pile it high, sell it expensive. The best businesses are those which have high margins and high volume. A lawyer is low paid because he sells his time to one client. A business man makes money because when he has done his work, it can be sold many times to many clients.

Enough, GL and go for it.

[KidLifeCrisis]

G-Diddy shot me the below questions in a PM, and I wanted to answer what I know here to share for all in case others come across this thread with the same questions.

[ QUOTE ]
we have some decent advertising idea's, a product source, and a lot of other idea's to get things going, but there is a lot of things we are not familiar with to get everything started. Things such as, how and where or even is it necessary to get some sort of license to sell things over the internet, where do we go to get a website started up and a domain, what's the best way to keep track of our sales/inventory, our tax situation, how to make money from people advertising on our site eventually, etc. You know the real basic stuff that most sophomore's in college don't know about. Anyway, if you have any advice or help it would be greatly appreciated, get back at me whenever you can, thanks in advance

[/ QUOTE ]

Here's what I've got to offer one by one...

[ QUOTE ]
how and where or even is it necessary to get some sort of license to sell things over the internet

[/ QUOTE ]

To sell things online, you don't need any license as far as I'm aware. However, I would check with your specific state to see if there are any regulations. If you could provide your state where you intend to sell from, that could help. (I'm also assuming you're in the US, right?)

If you are going to sell with a friend, I would definitely suggest forming a business entity. There are several kinds, as you'll see in the link here, but the one that most people in your situation tend to use is a limited liability corporation (LLC) or perhaps a limited liability partnership (LLP). An LLC provides the benefits of a corporation (personal asset protection due to liability, etc.) while alleviating some of the requirements and necessities a corporation imposes (double taxation, meetings, less paperwork, etc.). I don't know much about an LLP, so I'll leave you to look that one up unless someone else here can provide more info. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

In any case, I suggest not jumping into something without this. Some people decide to go the route of a general partnership, but I would not recommend this. It can easily result in arguments and disagreements that won't be settled and can ultimately result in the end of a good thing (your business and even a friendship). Forming some kind of business entity will force you to decide who does what, what the business will or won't do, etc.

[ QUOTE ]
where do we go to get a website started up and a domain

[/ QUOTE ]

There are lots of options for you here. One of the biggest out there is GoDaddy, but there are definitely many others. Almost always when you buy web hosting, you can buy a domain name at the same time so that they will be tied together without any additional work on your part. Some things you'll want to look at for hosting include file space, maximum monthly transfer, operating system (Windows or Linux basically), programming languages available, database type available, etc. The reason I recommend GoDaddy is because their basic package offers everything you will most likely need for a basic webstore that it sounds like you're trying to put together. Plus they're cheap (about $45/yr for both domain name plus hosting).

[ QUOTE ]
what's the best way to keep track of our sales/inventory

[/ QUOTE ]

There are undoubtedly many options available here, but I've never used any myself. Someone here can probably offer more information than I can. However, doing a simple search on SourceForge for "inventory tracking" led me to something called Profuturus Inventory Tracking System that uses PHP and MySQL, both of which would be available if you registered through GoDaddy or a similar hosting plan.

If that's not what you're looking for, try doing a Google search for "inventory tracking" or "free inventory tracking". Hopefully that can get you started.

[ QUOTE ]
our tax situation

[/ QUOTE ]

I suck at taxes myself. To be honest, my dad still helps me with my personal taxes at home, and I've never filed business taxes to date. Things I've done online have been as a sole proprietor, and they've basically all just started in 2007. Everything before that is educational background or work I've put into things that weren't online until this year. Hopefully someone else can provide some insight on this.

[ QUOTE ]
how to make money from people advertising on our site eventually

[/ QUOTE ]

For advertising, this is a niche in itself. You could use Google AdSense, Yahoo! Publisher Network, or something similar. However, you may be looking for something to target at bigger companies to advertise in a specific space on your homepage or in an e-newsletter for all I know. I'm not sure if there are specific programs online that assist with managing with this (there probably are).

The best way to get advertisers for meaningful money is most likely to get in touch with the companies you'd like to potentially advertise on your site and try to tell them about what your site is (brief but interesting) and why they would want to advertise there. Don't be imposing, make it sound like it'd be something that would benefit both of you. Make it sound like a friendship almost, but a business friendship really. At least, this is how I would approach it.

When you are getting advertisers, make sure you both agree on what is being offered and for what price. If you will be rotating their ads with other advertisers, make sure they know this. They don't want to load up your site and not see their ad when they should just to have them demand their money back.

That's about all I have to offer. Like I said, I hope some others can fill in where I couldn't answer. And the best of luck to you. Let me know when you get a domain and your site running, I'll want to check it out. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[JoshK]

don't use godaddy as a domain provider. Just google and see why.

[G-Diddy20]

joshk could you provide me with a good domain provider then...

[KidLifeCrisis]

[ QUOTE ]
don't use godaddy as a domain provider. Just google and see why.

[/ QUOTE ]
There are haters on just about any provider you'll come across. For the ratio of haters to total users of GoDaddy, I'm sure you'll find similar ratios of haters:users at other domain/hosting providers.

I've used GoDaddy for at least 4 domains with hosting and have never had a problem with them, which is why I mention them. There are of course other options available and other opinions that are not the same as mine.

[BradleyT]

Godaddy has a stupid "rule" that says if you are reported to be spamming and found guilty they can take your domain from you. This is whether or not you use them for hosting - just registering your domain with them is enough for them to take it.