# How to get business off the ground?



## ash213 (Feb 19, 2009)

Limited budget due to unemployement/credit crunch.

I am trying to start a business, want a decent web site but cant make one for sh*t.

In addition, i wish to sell on ebay but these b*stards are charging 40p per listing. I have over 100 items to sell, this will cost me in the region of £50+ to list + a % of the buy it now price of every item.

What do you guys suggest? from UK by the way


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## revelry press (Sep 3, 2008)

Have you checked out etsy.com?


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## ambassador (Mar 14, 2009)

hey Check out wix really easy to use i just started my buisness to and i can tell you that it is great and when your done making your website write free domain in google and you can make a .co.nr address ! All for Free !


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## lindsayanng (Oct 3, 2008)

yea.. co.r domain is VERY easy to remember! (sarcastic) 

The truth is, you have to spend mone to make money. If it was just that easy, everyone would be a millionaire


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## mrbigjack50 (Jun 9, 2008)

eBay store...? and use something like godaddy premade templates to make website... pretty easy and can be customized alot, had a girl do it for me for an old website ... or have Lindsey do it haha


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## ambassador (Mar 14, 2009)

Ok well than you can just make it a www.wix.com/yourname/yourname thats what i did and It worked fine


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## lindsayanng (Oct 3, 2008)

worked meaning what?? Generally the FREE stuff doesnt get you that far in means of money. Yea, LOTS of people have those free stores/websites and yea, they make some money. but i dont know anyone who has been able to quit their jobs doing it. Usually, if you want a to start a business with the idea of making it your only source of income, then you have to go all in or none. Thats the great thing about being a business owner. If you are passionate about what you do, there should be no doubt in your mind that you can make it work. 

My husband quit his rather lucrative truck driving business (he owned it) to become a professional photographer. Now, photographer, especially wedding photography, is a market that is VERY VERY saturated.. especially now with the whole digital age and anyone with a decent camera and a mac claims themselves as a professional. But guess what, we jumped in. Yea, i was nervous, but we bought more equipment, built an awesome website and created a professional look right from the start. 

About 8 months later and out of the 9 months left in the year for 2009, there are only about 10 or so weekends that arent booked. Meaning, just about every weeked for the year of 2009 is booked with a wedding or some other photoshoot. You HAVE to be passionate, you HAVE to put money into a business to make it a real business, and you HAVE to do your research on the market you are selling to.


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## mrbigjack50 (Jun 9, 2008)

Lindzzz has a good point about you gotta put it all on the line or else you won't end up anywhere..

Ask yourself the following:

Am I willing to do anything to make my dreams come true?
Whats a vacation or holiday?...
8-5 work day/ Try, when you wake up till you can;t work no more and than fall asleep at work with x acto knife..
Putting all your money on the line than spending any money you make from biz to put back into biz so it grows...
Do you have a GF? Ya say bye bye too all that...
Hang with friends every night and drink... ya Hah.. OK..
bandages for cuts? Try duck tape and paper towels..


Now pick out 3 things from what I said, can you live without them? Than damn kid, your not wanting it bad enough because I did all of the following plus some...

Any successful businesses person will back this up : )

As for website and all that crap, well you don;t need alot to start a biz honestly start little by little and reinvest in it


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## lindsayanng (Oct 3, 2008)

> Do you have a GF? Ya say bye bye too all that...


Hey, thats not REALLY true if your GF is in on it with you.. I was in on the photography businessa nd i have to say, without me it might not be where it is.


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## mrbigjack50 (Jun 9, 2008)

That because you got special husband to have you as a companion : )

Believe me all girls i knew, who were pretty smart and artistic helped me a tad but couldn't handle the stresses of running a biz : )


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## fast1 (Mar 12, 2009)

mrbigjack50 said:


> That because you got special husband to have you as a companion : )
> 
> Believe me all girls i knew, who were pretty smart and artistic helped me a tad but couldn't handle the stresses of running a biz : )


i second that mate


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## mrbigjack50 (Jun 9, 2008)

I been without a girl for 2 1/2 years woohoo, but since my last girl i grown so much : )
From loosing everything i worked for because I was giving up everything I did to move with her to NYC and telling "all Clients" I am done ... To do better business than I ever did with the factor of restless nights and loosing man friends...


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## lindsayanng (Oct 3, 2008)

yea, when you start a business, you DEFINITELY have to be upfront with whomever you are with. You will have to make a LOT of sacrifices with your time AND your money. ALL of the money you make for the first 6 months usually goes RIGHT BACK into your business. Most business owners don't take a paycheck for up to a year.


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## ambassador (Mar 14, 2009)

Yea but i dont think this guy is like going to quit his job i think he just might be an Adult or whatever just trying to start a little business thats all


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## lindsayanng (Oct 3, 2008)

Well. How do you know this. Getting a business off the ground is getting a business off the ground. Starting a small side business is something differnt. Why don't we let the OP say that


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## ambassador (Mar 14, 2009)

Hey thats fine with me just trying to be a help to this guy !


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Let's not make this thread into a debate  Feel free to address the original poster's question, but it's not OK to attack other members ideas.


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## ambassador (Mar 14, 2009)

Okay sorry about that ... well hope that the guy finds the right place to get his domain and stuff like that ...


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## TshirtGuru (Jul 9, 2008)

ash213 said:


> Limited budget due to unemployement/credit crunch.
> 
> I am trying to start a business, want a decent web site but cant make one for sh*t.
> 
> ...


The b*stards you speak of need to make money too, so calling them b*stards isn't right just because they are charging for their services. If you aren't going to pay them for their services, make your own website. Most hosts have easy template setups now you can do with limited knowledge of graphics/coding or none at all.


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## GraduateClothing (Feb 22, 2009)

TshirtGuru said:


> The b*stards you speak of need to make money too, so calling them b*stards isn't right just because they are charging for their services. If you aren't going to pay them for their services, make your own website. Most hosts have easy template setups now you can do with limited knowledge of graphics/coding or none at all.


I agree, now days there are so many templates and how to make..... out there that it is not hard to create your own website.


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## tiger24 (Jan 11, 2009)

lindsayanng said:


> yea.. co.r domain is VERY easy to remember! (sarcastic)
> 
> The truth is, you have to spend mone to make money. If it was just that easy, everyone would be a millionaire


Very true but it is how you spend it too!
I am starting an athletic clothing brand it is killing my bank account!


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## aarondkeogh (Apr 1, 2009)

OK, the guy who started this post also said he was unemployed / hassle free and just wants to start up, it's kind gone too a Jeremy Kyle show argument, can someone give some good advice for the initial question please.


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## JordanP (Apr 11, 2009)

Ash213, try Shopify.com. They are great and we've been using them since we launched Smoofer.com back in October. We designed our own template ourselves, but that have plenty of great templates already. The whole thing is a breeze. Really!

Best,

Jordan Plener
Vice-President


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## mlsalters77 (Nov 7, 2008)

ambassador said:


> hey Check out wix really easy to use i just started my buisness to and i can tell you that it is great and when your done making your website write free domain in google and you can make a .co.nr address ! All for Free !


Hi,

I just started using wix and I'm building my site. are you selling your stuff directly from the site? like, do they have a shoping cart or something like that? or did you have to create an exturnal site for that?


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## Chemik (Jul 13, 2009)

Godaddy offers $10 domain names and you can find cheap web hosting on ebay or even through godaddy themselves. Excellent posts by some on here , all depends on how far youre wanting to go with it . Are you wanting just something on the side? Or are your eyes set on an empire such as Mac Ecko. Its all in how hungry you are. Marc began selling shirts out of his mom's garage and his company is now worth 1+ billion .


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