Seriously need Business help

[tmckinnin]

First off my business idea is running an online business selling japanese toys/collectors/general collectors/fans items/products etc

the name of the business is called japan central toys and already have a facebook and twitter account

the business will be using middleman services or having a distribution client and using them to sell items among other things

a few things that i need help with

Funding/investment/finance but are not loans where i have to repay back to people
unclear whether or not i should have it as a home based business or have an office to start off with due to amount of stock i will have
building an e-commerce site for free or as little cost as possible, I have setup an ebay store or an ebay business site but eventually will need an e-commerce builder to incorporate paypal,social media etc

The reason behind it becuase I don;t want a life of working 9-5 etc and waking up everyday doing the same thing day in and day out
I don;t want a life where I get a job, wake up every day commute, go home, rest, then weekend rest etc grow old, get married etc then retire at age 70 etc then die thats not life

I want to do something based on my hobbies so hence i want to start my own business besides there is lack of jobs for young people anyway

so any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[faradaykeynes]

How sure are you about"age 70 etc then die"? ....
There are plenty of open source options to do e-commerce website, like Zencart, prestashop, Oscommerce, opencart, Magento etc etc. I would suggest go for Prestashop , nice platform, easy to manage and lot of payment gateway option like paypal, google checkout etc

and yes business is not 9to 5 thing, in early days it takes lot more time for long

 

[zanygame]

Before you will get any investment you will need a good track record, either personally with a successful history in marketing Etc. Or with your business and a couple of years of reasonable sales. You will also need a good business plan.
And... IMO "I want to do this job because I'd like to work on a hobby of mine" is not going to sway many investors.

 

[zanygame]

Before you will get any investment you will need a good track record, either personally with a successful history in marketing Etc. Or with your business and a couple of years of reasonable sales. You will also need a good business plan.
And... IMO "I want to do this job because I'd like to work on a hobby of mine" is not going to sway many investors.

 

[tmckinnin]

well i really want to start this busines becuase I am not going to get a job where i am doing the same thing day in and day out

companies only have so much that they can give people to do

for graduate companies work for 2 yrs, then offer to work for another x amount of years then do the same thing day in day out grow old start a family etc, then retire then die thats not life

i need to start my own business to avoid this happening to me, it may suit most people but thats not a life for me regardlesss of payment

also u work get paid at the end of each month yeah that only excitement people get no way
I need something that fun, and exciting and appeals to me so starting a business is what i need to so regardless

I dont want a boring a life, i want something that is fun

 

[chalkie99]

So, to sum up then, you can't be arsed to get a job even to save up enough to fund your own business so want someone to "fund/invest/finance you and don't want to pay anything back?

Sounds like a plan.

 

[Billmccallum]

guessing you're young!!!! google The Princes Trust and have a chat with them, also look for youth enterprise agencies near you.

 

[Alan]

I dont want a boring a life, i want something that is fun

Running your own business isn't necessarily fun.

And running an e-commerce business isn't necessarily interesting, every day get orders - pack orders - send out packages, get returns, update database, update accounting system, order more stock, check advertising campaign. Every day the same.

If you want fun, become a comedian, an actor, a stuntman, a racing car driver, what ever your idea of fun is.

If you want interest (in a business environment) become a project manager and work on different projects.

 

I dont want a boring a life, i want something that is fun

Money may give you certain freedoms.

But fun depends on what sort of person you are.

 

[zanygame]

well i really want to start this busines becuase I am not going to get a job where i am doing the same thing day in and day out

companies only have so much that they can give people to do

for graduate companies work for 2 yrs, then offer to work for another x amount of years then do the same thing day in day out grow old start a family etc, then retire then die thats not life

i need to start my own business to avoid this happening to me, it may suit most people but thats not a life for me regardlesss of payment

I understand this. I have my own company, its exciting, I love my job, even in these difficult times. BUT It took a lot of work and savings to get here. You can plan for this exciting life, you cannot expect someone else to just give you the money and set you up because you really want it.

Also I would agree with Roibot the type of business you are describing (retail) isn't necessarily that exciting. It can be a daily slog of trying to make enough to buy food and pay bills. However on a good note, if you can find a bit of humility, lose some of your disdain for other people and you are as driven as you sound. You will achieve your dreams, whatever they turn out to be.

 

[tmckinnin]

I really want to Pursue this business, because I not going to work for some big company wake up everyday and do the same thing day in and day out

also e-commerce others are saying not as exciting but its based on my hobbies/interest = anime/tokusatsu/japanese/sci-fi etc so the stuff i will be selling and stock and all that wont bother me as I like packing stuff and updating records etc

even though setting up a business is hard, i want to do things my way

another reason is that if i work for someone i have to do things their way and do as your told and become another number in their big crowd of staff sort of thing and thats not life

I want to dictate my own life and not be told what i can and cannot do, also there are very few businesses employing people for social media

we living in a digital age of social media and many companies employ people and pay them to go on facebook and twitter and thats something i want to do however there are very few firms employing people to do that so why not do it myself and incorpoate it into my business

Also i want the freedom to run things the way i want to and have freedom to go online more and check emails and go on social media,
if u work for someone very little chance you will go online reason being like out of date computers, internet slow,company monitors internet usage etc

so i want to have more freedom and direct my own life and not be told by bosses what i can and cannot do and start and finish when they tell me fair enough running a business is 24/7 but its a business u enjoy doing

hence why i want to have my ow business, my own life regardless of what anyone tells me

 

[Deleted member 61074]

Funding/investment/finance but are not loans where i have to repay back to people

all funding has a price, the one that will provide you with the freedom you require will require repayments ie borrow £1000 pay back £100 per month - as long as you make the payment there will be no outside interference.

Other forms of funding include business partners who will want to protect their investment by having a say in your business.

Cant see anyone handing you cash without strings!

 

[WolfStores]

Hi there,
It is refreshing to see young people with ambitions to set up their own business.
I agree with you that we live in a digital age and that it is quite exciting to work with your own ecommerce website and social media. It is relatively easy to get your own online shop up and running. I would also recommend Prestashop (free open license ecommerce platform) or CubeCart (you would need to pay for a software license and optionally a copyright/branding removal key).
A word of caution though. No matter how nice and professional your ecommerce shop will look you will only sell if your products are good/popular and most importantly reasonably/competitively priced as compared to other online sellers. So I would recommend that you research this before you go out and start spending money on your ecommerce shop

 

[tmckinnin]

well the stuff i am selling is popular but i need to do it anyway besides lack of jobs out there so why not create your own job

 

[blueskycreative]

Hi there, mmm I would say that you are going to need to put some cash into this yourself...

You won't find anyone to invest in your stock for you to make the profit...

It will take time for a website to get going...for people to find it...this takes money to market it or the drive from you to mega push it...

We can help with free hosting ... just google: blue sky creative

You will see our free packages and can set up a wordpress site in a few clicks using fantastico in our control panel...

Then I suggest you invest about $50 in a wordpress e-commerce theme you like... google : theme forest and check out their templates for wordpress...

E-bay is a good place to start but those items are already flooded on ebay and you may find it hard to make a profit...

but goodluck, you will need it...and drive to do it!

 

[ZedS]

Just a note: I understand your point and yes, the unemployment rate at the moment is appalling. But business IS tough especially in the first year or so, working day and night non-stop to try and establish it, not to mention being financially unstable as you don't have a wage so no guaranteed income every month. You will face challenges and make losses - but if you're passionate and remain determined, it all pays off.

As for an e-commerce website, for a successful one which will bring you customers and ensure they're satisfied with the online shopping experience, I'd recommend you speak to a professional web designer who can apply their expertise and also implement important features such as SEO so your website shows up highly in search engines. As a web designer myself, I'd be glad to help you so feel free to private message me and we can discuss.

 

[tmckinnin]

there has to be some kind of finance available to new start ups also i will make this business work and will go ahead of it regardless of what people tell me becuase there no jobs only the boring ones and there no fun jobs out there for anyone like social media jobs or testing for products like duvet tester for john lewis or food tester or other fun jobs or even any out door jobs

also there no data entry jobs where u get paid to type stuff up all day or even any part time jobs where u work like 3 days a week or even half days like that so hence why i need to start my own business

 

[Alan]

Are you 18-24 ? Have you checkout out the government backed 'startup loans' scheme?
http://www.startuploans.co.uk/getting-started/apply-now/