DoAdventures as the guy responsible for building and running such sites and brokerage stores (which is what you are talking about building here) as Renderosity & Renderotica, as well as worked with Daz3D with Dan Farr, Chad Smith and Chris Creek, I took a look at your idea (which I think is a good one) and you seem have a pretty good idea in which start with... however, you still need to factor and consider a few things:
1.) Server acquisition, on/off site maintenance, bandwidth costs and such, I'd suggest speaking with
badtimetales as I know that he is in that business and can point you in the right direction or even possibly help set you up if needed... he is a damn good guy and personal friend.
2.) Marketing/Advertising... you need to factor in marketing/advertising and costs associated with such, not just for the website and domain name, but also for the customers who use your system and sell on your website. So, social media presence will be important, Discord management and Customer Service Reps will be needed... but you really want to be able to SELL the product you are brokering. I can share with you ideas that will help speed up the process and help you out in some capacity, if you want.
3.) Staffing... make sure the business/website is properly staffed, you CAN NOT do everything yourself!! When I started Renderosity, I had a nice size and experienced staff such as my friends and partners: Diane Griffith, Ed Arsenault, Colm Jackson, Roy Riggs, Traveler, Legume, Clint Hawkings and few others... the point is, despite starting out, you are going to have a RUSH of traffic of people checking the site out, they will have questions, LOTS of questions, you may have server performance issues that you will have to deal with, you will have some ass-monkeys that will just spam the forums and create havoc... the thing is, it will be TOO MUCH for just you to deal with; so, BUILD A STAFF of trusted and experienced people that you can rely on and have them in positions that they are best suited for. Also be sure to BUDGET INCENTIVES for your staff, something that is given for their hard work and time, be it access to games and products you will be brokering (be sure the clients you broker know that you'll be doing this) or a paycheck for their time... THAT should be budgeted along with start up and advertising costs and within the percentage that you will claim from the people you broker for... account for website maintenance fees, bandwidth costs (particular burst fees), advertising fees/costs, staffing costs, Internet Merchant/Gateway/processing fees and staffing fees/payroll.
4.) Accounting... you are going to need some one that is SKILLED in keeping your books, making sure payroll and broker payouts go out ON TIME! Someone that can provide quarterly/yearly tax forms for your staff and brokers. Someone that can pay the bills and keep the servers up and running, maintained, managed and bandwidth costs. And someone that can work with your processors and help you gather the info of area/location sales tax, collect it and pay it out to the appropriate areas/locations.
5.) Time & Management... understand, what you would be undertaking is a shitton of work!! Say goodbye to your free-time and holidays... DEFINITELY HOLIDAYS!!! Understand that people LOG IN when they have time in their day and the best time that they have to scour and interact is freaking HOLIDAYS!! You want a holiday? This is where your staff can help, having a business partner that will alternate holidays/breaks with you, someone to manage staff, having staff that have a loyal following with customers that can help customers comes in VERY HANDY.
Understand, you are talking about building a large social network and store, know that it will be VERY DEMANDING of your time, it will REQUIRE HELP, it will REQUIRE ADVERTISING and you will have to focus on HOSPITALITY and BUILDING lasting relationships/friendships with your customers and brokers, you will have to be an ORGANIZER, a good HOST, be DEPENDABLE, be SOCIAL, be able to OBSERVE, ADAPT and OVERCOME situations PROFESSIONALLY, KNOWLEDGEABLE or have someone that is KNOWLEDGEABLE about the business and industry... be CLEVER to see where your competitors fail and either fix it or don't apply it in your business plan, be SERIOUS to stick with it and make it work and lastly be HONEST!!!
People will be relying on you for their livelihood, counting on you to get paid when you say they are getting paid, get their tax forms when the end of the year rolls around or quarterly. They are going to want someone that will be OPEN and HONEST with them if a processor or Internet Merchant Account changes or... in the case we just seen with Steam or Itch.io, able to TIMELY INFORM your brokers of the changes that need to be made and time for them to make adjustments to their own business and livelihood...
DO NOT BE LIKE ITCH.IO and send your customers and clients to another place to get their information from (like Reddit)!! Keep all your shit IN-HOUSE and in an area they are familiar with and are a part of.. you can make the same announcements elsewhere.. but DO IT ON YOUR SITE FIRST and NOTIFY your brokers using Site Mail or Messaging...
That's just part of it, a good chunk of it... and the most important keys, as I said there is more and also stuff that will come at you that you will have to adapt too, but that is the biggest chunk...
I am always open to talk to, help if I can and provide you some insight and stuff... all you need to do is ask.
Good Luck,
~Jack D. Kammerer Jr.
P.S.: Oh and proof of me and Renderosity... fuck me, another note to add... have a good looking website designer and logo creator and graphics!
