----- Original Message -----
From: Bradley McMillan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2001 6:34 PM
Subject: RE: [ogf-d20-l] Would-be d20 authors?
> obstacles I see in putting together a small company is capital. I've seen
> you people throw out a ton of great ideas, and you've all been very helpful
> in outlining what it takes to be successful. Most of what gets discussed
> requires funds, though (get a lawyer, printing, advertising, etc.). How do
> people deal with that issue? What options do you have (or is starving and
> pouring your personal funds into the project the only viable option)? I'm
> curious to hear people's opinions on this.
Well, few people have gold-pawed road to get into business. But its not rocket science
either.
Really, its amazing how many excellent web-tools exists right now to help you. dot
com pyramid
played out its game with VC and naive investors, but left *tons* of very useful stuff
laying around
in web-space. Can't remember any other time when cost of starting business was so low
as it is
right now. Basically you just need a computer, fax and spare 1000-2000$ to start
something. Heck, 5
years ago it was ***PAIN*** just to get merchant account. And now - who needs them...
Don't try to cover all bases at once (lawyer, advertising, etc). Set small, achievable
goals at
first. Goals that won't require much financing. Of course you won't sell 10 000 copies
in first
month that way, but if you sell just 1000 a year, and get say 10$ for each, you can
play with 10K
next year. Then hopefully 50K in year after, and 100K on third. On 4th its possible
(even if
unlikely) you could even quit your day job ;) ( Well, and of course you will have pure
zero amount
of free time during that period, and a bit less then that on weekends. )
5-minute recipe for web-based publishing business:
Create project plan, timetable with milestones and budget. Create material. Learn
Photoshop and
printing process (tons of resources on the net and www.adobe.com ) For small run of
1000 books I
*guess* cost will be about 1-2$ per book of simple design. ( Sorry, never printed
books, only
silkscreen/software boxes - may be someone here can give you better prices for book
printing. )
Local small print shop will be happy to run this job for you. Setup your website:
stick to simple,
clear, white pages (and never ever use dark backgrounds.) Open an account with PayPal
or DigiBuy to
charge customers for orders on your site. Final step is to find fulfillment house:
the company you
will send the crate with your books so they can ship them to your customers from
website. No
recommendation here - deferring this to gurus on the list (we are working only with
software
fulfillment houses). There is Wizard's Attic, but I doubt it will work with such a
small company.
That's it - unless you done something wrong, now you have running system what accepts
and fulfills
customer orders and makes you money. Sure its small, but what do want for 2-3K$
startup... Bottom
line is: you *can* start business just with 2000-3000$. Real question is: are you
ready to invest
and risk your OWN money to back your own ideas? If not, don't be surprised that other
people fell
even less inclined to do the same. Everything is in your hands....
Resources:
http://www.delbusinc.com/ - low cost incorporation in Delaware. If you plan long term
- incorporate
in home state right away.
http://www.paypal.com/ - online transactions
http://www.digibuy.com/ - online transactions
http://www.uslaw.com/ - legal
http://www.printingforless.com/ - printing
http://www.yahoo.com/ - not search - categories. find a business, and go to its
*category*. This way
you get a list of alternative providers of this service, and can match prices, find
better one, etc.
http://balder.prohosting.com/ - free web hosting
http://www.intermedia.net/ - commercial web hosting
http://www.bcentral.com/ - business services
http://www.google.com/ - the only real search engine. Best tool to learn new things.
- Max
