Online business anyone?

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Well it's been 3 months since I graduated with a diploma, and despite my daily applications - can't get so much as an interview!

I am considering setting up an online business from home, specialising in filmmaking gears and consumables. The idea coming from being a former film student, I noticed that there's only 2 retailers in this city of 4 million (the biggest in this country), and the prices of their goods are appalling.

Comparing the prices of the following with oversea listings, all in converted currency including shipping:

1) Padded belt - overseas: $25, here: $85
2) Clapper board - overseas: $30, here $120

...and so on.

So does anyone have any advice for setting up a home business? Though I don't even have the experience of setting up a lemon stand, I do have a few grands for investment.

Appreciated!

Business is not rocket surgery stuff.

Costs of goods < Prices sold at = Profit.

That's really about the only thing that matters. The difficult part is the sales process & marketing - that's where the devil is in the details.

Speaking of details, a few you have yet to mention or have overlooked:

Cost of goods in low volume - chances are the places you'd compete with buy larger quantities than you will be able to, so your costs will be higher per unit. Chances are the retailers in other countries may be selling a lot higher quantity than where you are, too, further lowering their costs and enabling them to retail for less.

Cost of import/transportation - everything from shipping fees to customs duties & taxes & excise fees etc. There's a good chance that this is why prices are so much higher where you live than in other countries & there may not be as big of a spread in retail profit margins as you assume. Then again, it could simply be that rents and wages are higher where you live - and if you're doing the online thing out of your spare bedroom, there may be ample opportunity. The numbers never lie.. just make sure you get all the numbers so you can do the math and make decisions.

Cost of shipping to customers - packaging & shipping are not cheap. Figure out what it would cost to have things delivered throughout the city or country, or account for your time & vehicle expenses etc if you intend to drive around and deliver yourself. This will further erode the difference between the prices you're comparing, and might even make it cheaper for customers to just go down the street to a local shop and buy stuff vs. paying a lower price for goods and too much money for delivery.

Variety of goods - chances are that potential customers buy several different items from each supplier. If you invest everything you have into one type of good and try to sell it, you may have potential customers unwilling to switch to you as a supplier unless they can also buy other related items as they likely have an established relationship with their current providers and buy a bunch of different things. They may pay more for the item you're selling, but it enables them to pay less for something else so they're ok with it. A business school instructor of mine made the mistake of buying a truckload of sandpaper and then had difficulty selling it at even deep discount prices because he was unable to supply other items.

Big ticket items - since it's online, don't exclude the possibility of reselling others' stuff that you don't ever buy, see, or touch. It's entirely possible to setup accounts and agreements with larger distributors/resellers etc and resell their stuff online, have funds automatically transferred along with shipping details, and they drop-ship to your customers. You keep the difference for facilitating the transaction and being able to gain the customer via your site.

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