Yeah, it’s THAT scary starting up your own business; at least one where you have to carry an actual inventory that has to be ordered out three months in advance.
So here’s the deal. Originally the plan was very much just to purchase a few comics a month, put them up on an ebay store for cover price, collect the money, rinse and repeat. It was a simple plan and frankly it would have worked. The wrench in the works was that the distributor I am going through, Diamond Comic Distributors, stated that I wouldn’t be able to order through them with just an ebay store. The reasoning was that I needed an actual Internet store face where customers could purchase new books (and stuff) from me, but more to the point, to make sure I wasn’t ordering nice merchandise at wholsale prices and marking it up to ebay standards and thus reaping a nice hefty profit. Now I can sympathize with that. It’s certainly not good for the comic market, which is still amidst recovery after a severe crash in the mid-90′s, to go and make it even more unapproachable than it currently is. The problem, well, not problem but “situation”, I am now left with is having a real business needing to be prepared on the Internet. Even moreso is I need to have a real comic shop, which is a whole kind of situation unto itself. The problem with comics are that you have to order out two months ahead. To further add to the problem, the content of said comics changes every single issue. So one book can be hot as lightning and sell out, but you go to adjust your order by maybe another 4-5 copies, and within two months when the adjusted order finally gets to you, the series has cooled a bit and not only might you be stuck with those 4-5 extra copies, but possibly even another 3-4 copies from your original planning.
Now any comic book retailer would definitely tell me, “Cry me a river.” I mean this is pretty much par for the course for them. Unfortunately I am in two particular positions your typical comic retailer isn’t in. First off, the typical comic retailer has been doing this for years, and so sees the patterns on what to order. Now granted I’ve been buying and reading comics for almost 20 years and thus can see books selling out on the racks week to week. However, there is definitely a difference between noticing a book is sold out in a certain week vs. keeping track of the life cycle of a gven book on the racks.
The second advantage a comic retailer has over me is that they have already started. They already started with new or no stock, acquired inventory, grew the business, etc. So at this point if they order 2-3 copies of a book, they will likely see their money back on the book within a few weeks or a month or two. Not only do I have to worry about it taking that long to see my initial investment back, but I have to look at advertising or marketing of some sort just to get the word out there in the first place to drive business to my site.
I’m certainly not crying about it, just stating the facts, and the facts as they stand are pretty scary. What started out as a way to make a little money on the side has turned into a full fledged business. Now part of what is tempering that fear is a very generous compliment I was paid years ago by John Bergman (who has quite an exciting massively multiplayer space combat game in Vendetta Online. He had once told me that one thing I never had to worry about was succeeding at anything I put my mind to. The compliment went along the lines of “You have this talent that whenever you put your mind to something and pour your undivided attention into it, you excel completely at it.” Well John, I’m hoping you are right on this, because my fear is at such a point now that throwing myself at this is all I can do to subside that anxiety and tell myself that I actually can do this.
So yeah, every other shop in tbe world has an advantage over me. Pretty much no way around that. So what am I going to do about it? The way I see it there are a few things that are directly under my control that I can use as an advantage over the competition. First, while this shop isn’t my livelyhood in that I already have a full tie job, it IS my livelyhood in that I am going to be sinking quite a bit of money into it initially. If I allow it to fail, the cost would end up being probably the most significant cost of anything I have ever put money towards. However, that is still definitely an advantage. With other money coming in, hopefully with a slow or false start I can moderate that in with my existing job and reach a nice equibilrium between the two until things do take off.
Next up is customer service/satisfaction. If there is one thing I truly believe people who work directly with me would say about me, it is that I do everything in my power to make sure that anything I am working on is done properly, quickly, and to the “T”. It is my goal and determination that every order that is placed through my site be filled immediately, shipped instantly, and that when the customer opens his package he isn’t just thinking “Cool, I got the books I want,” but is instead thinking “Wow, I can’t believe how fast these arrived. And they are in great condition and I saved a bit of money to boot.” I want them so thoroughly satisfied with their order that they come back the next week and see what else I’ve put up, and the week after that and the week after that one as well.
Finally, this is something that I’ve been both a part of and wanting to do for the better part of two decades. The first part is important as I really feel I know what comic buyers want. A perfect example is Lone Ranger #1. I am hedging a few bets on this book, but from what I know of the industry, I am pretty confident this book is not only going to hit big, but is going to be pretty hard to keep in stock as well. Early thoughts on the book are ecstatic and the western genre as a whole has been ready to burst into the comic inustry for a while now… All it need was the right book as a catalyst, and this will be that book. As for wanting to do with for a while, trust me when I say that while some who know me might never heard me talking about wanting to open a comic shop, those who know me well and for a long time know that just isn’t the case. On the contrary, it IS something I’ve wanted to do for the better part of two decades, and as a matter of fact came very close to actually starting a brick and mortar store just a few years back. What stopped me back then? Frankly, the same things that are right now, but if you never try, you’ll never succeed.
I’m taking your compliment to heart John. I am putting everything I can into this to make sure every customer I get walks away satisfied and knows how appreciative I am of having the opportunity to serve them. I am going to do everything I can to ensure that I am offering something to the comic buyers out there. That I am not just some guy who has money to burn (because I don’t) looking to make a buck on something or using this as some way to kill time while making a few extra dollars on top of it.
This is a dream for me, and one that I want to be able to toss into the “Came True” column.
So check back here and soon I will post details of my official grand opening. And if you or anyone you know enjoys reading comics, remember to check it out in September. Even if it just means ordering a single book that may have sold out at your local store, that is the only chance I need to show you exactly why I am getting into this business.
www.badgercomics.com is coming soon.
