The "business in a box" at 4L or free, hurts the way to do business in SL?

Hi

I was planning to develope skins, prim air, prim clothes and shapes... but after seeing that there are MANY MANY "nusiness in a box" selled at 4L, as a newbie, im affraid that business are killed in SL.

What do you think?

Is ppl still doing good business in SL? Which kind?

i give away free business in a box stuff (it makes good freebies and saves me time lol) and I have no problem selling my own stuff. The market is saturated with that stuff and its all identical people when they shop want to see something different. My place is different because everything comes from me and I make it. They buy it and like it too. I also get requests for things which i put on a list and the name of the person who made the original request. I eventually (although it takes me a couple of months) get to their request and usually send them a free copy for suggesting/requesting it and put itup for sale. So far that method has worked well. If they are in asking me if I can make something its obvious they can't find it on the market so I fill that need

Mostly I make clothes ,but I make skins once and awhile and full avatars as well and hair and some boots for variety

Businesses in Boxes suck rocks. They are stupid, evil wastes of time. But, yes, people do still make money in SL. BiB aren't destroying the economy. To make money, you have to have a unique, high quality product, which takes time, effort, and imagination. Period.

I agree... But could such Business in Box not be something to make the start a bit easier? A base to start working on to create a business like you describe?

I mean, we give new people also starters kits to give them a push in the right direction.


Morwen.

IM me ingame 'Animations' I'm building a market at this moment aimed at ppl like yourself, and I want small original creators.

Bibs "aint got nothin`" on a real business. Dont fret.

I don't know if that remark was aimed at me....

But anyway... here at the company where I work, we started about 3 years ago with what I would call a "Webshop in a box". It gave us the oppertunity to explore, to test and to learn.
From there our IT people buildt a complete proffesional webshop directly connected with the applications/databases we use here. With many tools for our customers to use and profit from.

I fail to see why a "Business in a Box" cannot be used for the same. To learn, to test, to explore... and then to move on what a bigger more professional shop. Some kind of starters kit...

Morwen.

Hi,
No, i did not even read your post. It was in response to the OP`s worry

Or the brass neck to just copy someone who does...

I think that's a legitimate use...as a starter template. Sort of like a "waterfall in a box" for landscapers. You get the basic patterns...textures, objects, sounds, lights, etc...and then modify them to create YOUR individual thing. A BIAB could be used the same way.

Just so long as the people who buy them realize that they ARE just a template, and using them without extensive customization (i.e., substituting your own original content) is no route to success.

Morwen, while your efforts to create "Business in a box" oppourtunities may be honest and well-intentioned, the majority of them are rip offs - selling the same freebie crap (or stolen merchandise) to unsuspecting newbies, and making a quick buck off the innocent.

The major difference between a "Business in a box" and a RL "Website in a box" is that the web product is giving you tools and templates to *present* whatever it is that you want to sell or advertise on the web, where the Business in a box is selling you the actual *products* you hope to sell. With a website in a box, it still won't do you any good if you don't have a worthwhile business or product or information to put out there on the web. I mean, you can use it to make a website about your collection of dead twigs, but that won't help you create a viable business from nothing.

When someone offers a "Business in a box", they hold out the hope that you can buy that product, and with no other creative ideas or business plan suddenly start raking in money. But if the "product" was that good... why is the BiB merchant selling it to you? Why don't they sell it themselves, and rake in the cash? In most cases, it is because they *know* the market is already flooded with identical low-quality goods. But a newbie who has bought into all LL's hype about how great SL is as a place to make money doesn't know that. Until they pay for it and set up their store, and wonder why they make almost nothing in sales.

There are millions of people in SL, and most of them are trying their hand at making money here, with what they sell. Less than 2% earn more in SL than they spend on SL. Those few that do are the successful entrepreneurs who have come up with a unique, high-quality product or service that puts them above the flood of low-quality knock-offs. It takes creativity and a lot of hard work to make a profit in SL. It isn't something you can buy in a box.

Business in a Box is a real business like kids selling Lemonade in their front yard is a real business.

Maybe what we need here is new terminology.

Let's call the ripoff get rich quick thingie loaded with freebie items the "Business In A Box".

Let's call Morwen's idea...a package that contains (I would think) some billboard objects or a vendor object, and "buy" scripts, and maybe some signage templates, and links and hints for advertising on SLexchange and secondlife.com forums, and advice on pricing, customer service...you know, all the "stuff" you need to set up a business except the actual merchandise...we could call that an "SL Instant Merchant's Package", or SLIM Pack.

Ah, I see. I think I had the wrong idea about "Business in Box" by comparing it with the "Webshop in Box" I have experience with (I was in that team as commercial person, not a technical one).

I think that the terminology purposed Lindal Kidd is good one.

Thank you for explaining this to me.

Edit: If such a "SL Instant Merchant's Package" doesn't exist yet, there might a small business oppertunity here for someone .

Morwen.

I don't think the "Business in a box" concept has hurt legitimate, well thought out businesses any more than a grade-school kid on the street selling his hand-drawn pictures is hurting the professional advertising art business. It's usually a whole different class of product. If you compare the typical things a "Business in a box" merchant sells to popular competing items, it's usually no contest. The people who pour hours of time and tons of creative effort into designing their own unique products will, in most cases, have a far superior product.

As I said in an earlier post, less than 2% of all the people who play in SL have a positive cash flow. That means 98% or more spend more money buying L$ and paying membership fees and paying for land than that make in profits. And less than 1% make anything close to a salary that they could rely on as their sole occupation, from what they earn in SL.

Yet 2% manage to make some sort of profit here. I do, with my texture sales and my work as a sim designer and builder. But the time and effort that I spend to do that is as much as I would spend on a second full-time job. And my profit is no better than I might make in RL cleaning tables and taking out the trash at a fast food restaurant. (Though the work is infinitely more pleasant!)

If you put in sufficient effort learning how to make a product or service in SL, and do a good job marketing that product or service, you might become part of that 2% who succeed here. You stand a far better chance than someone who expects to buy a box and sell what is in it at a profit.

But but..... that is how the business woman in me was born...


Morwen.

Morwen, there probably is an oppourtunity there, yes.

Most malls and a number of individuals offer free kits for setting up basic vending systems. The Lindens themselves years ago created a "store in a box" that is essentially a flea market booth to display products in on your own land. And there are classes at places like The Shelter and New Citizens Institute and Teazers where you can learn how to make products and how to run a business in SL. But I can't recall a single "starter kit" that puts all that together - the tools, the scripts, and most importantly the straight talk business advice to get someone over the hump from 'newbie' to 'successful business owner'.

you know, when i was a brand new newbie, i bought a BiB but never opened it. hmmmmm i wonder where that is, and what's in it?....

It pissed me off so bad one day. I'm in this store and recognize purses this person has on the wall for sale at a very high price that should be free. Just out of curiosity, I hit buy to see the contents and see if they were named the same as the freebie ones I had in my inventory (they were). As I was about to go about my way in disgust, I accidentally hit buy. So now here I am with a box of freebies that ended up costing me $500L. Ridiculous.

As I turn the corner, I'm noticing more and more freebie selling. Then I look up and see my FAVORITE hair designer's hair sitting there in a box with other hairs for $300L. This made me wanna be sick. Hair is incredibly hard to make. Ripping off someone style and sticking it in a business box is wack, so uncool.

Making this story short, there were mostly freebies being repackaged as business in a box. There were also alot of copybotted items (like that hair) being sold. As a matter of fact, I've yet to find a legitament business in a box. I managed to find the place hunting for skin (false advertising blows), and I couldn't believe the nerve of this girl. Sometimes I wish you REALLY could kick people's asses in SL because I'd have some people on my list.

But like Jesseaitui said, BIAB are NO comparrison to the real hard work of content creators. Don't let BIAB bring you down to not even trying. The only people that are sure to fail are the ones who never even try.

probably fodder for a whole new thread, but i was nodding feverishly to this (for same reasons - theft).....

I suppose I just wish that people had to be held accountable for their actions in SL. Some of us take SL very realistically when we are talking about our businesses. Someone outright stealing your things should have penalties. The Lindens can definately look and see who was the initial creator.

i have several bib i have bought. mainly for some of the clothes and shoes. but, the biggest part of my clothes and skins i buy. i will sometimes wear the freebie clothes. i like to keep them around for girls that need the skins and clothes. i will give them to newbies that need them to get away from that new look. i always on the lookout for new clothes.

Okay.

My question was more or less in taht way, if we put a lot of effort in develope carefully products... can we expect to have good sales or, as opposite, people the freebies kill the market?

Im doing research, even in the business in a box market, just for learn a little here, a little there, etc.

But was i was trying to resolve is if the SL market worth using a lot of time and effort trying to develope high quality.

Yes, if you put in sufficent effort and creativity, it is worth the effort. A well thought out business with good products can be quite satisfying and successful.

Golly...you mean I just GAVE AWAY a profitable idea? What, AGAIN?!

Just kidding, Morwen...take it and run with it. We'll talk royalties later.