Thoughts on this business idea

[JoshP]

I'll try to keep this as concise as possible. I am almost done univeristy and am trying to think of a business idea.

First a little about me. I am 23 years old and have a 2 year community college business diploma with a focus on accounting and a 3 year university degree with a major in business admin and a minor in history.

I have worked retail for about 8 years. 5 at an electronics store and going on 3 years at a music/movie store.

My business idea is nothing revolutionary. It will be a bricks and mortar store that will sell new and used movies, cds, and video games. In addition to the sales it will also rent movies and video games. As well as having a store, I will have a website that people will be able to buy product, check out upcoming new releases, that sort of thing. Stuff that doesn't sell well at the store will be sold on eBay.

There are no stores around here that offer all these things under one roof. Maybe this is for a reason? We have Blockbusters, Wal-Marts, pawn shops, and video game stores here, just like any other city, but there are no stores that attempt to do what I am wanting to do.

I am just looking for a general thumbs up or thumbs down from people. After looking at this city's demographics I feel confidant that this business would work, but am curious to hear others opinions.

[jamiestrong]

many companies out there already do that... think blockbuster!

[JoshP]

True, they do that with the movies and games to an extent. They would definetly be a big competitor.

[akula]

My business idea is nothing revolutionary. It will be a bricks and mortar store that will sell new and used movies, cds, and video games. In addition to the sales it will also rent movies and video games. As well as having a store, I will have a website that people will be able to buy product, check out upcoming new releases, that sort of thing. Stuff that doesn't sell well at the store will be sold on eBay.

There are no stores around here that offer all these things under one roof. Maybe this is for a reason? We have Blockbusters, Wal-Marts, pawn shops, and video game stores here, just like any other city, but there are no stores that attempt to do what I am wanting to do.

I am just looking for a general thumbs up or thumbs down from people. After looking at this city's demographics I feel confidant that this business would work, but am curious to hear others opinions.

no josh, not a good opportunity
go to the library at ur college and borrow a book like the portable mba to read the chapters on opportunity recognition and selection...particularly focusing on how sucessful entrepreneurs like fabrice grinda or frank addante choose what startups to get into..or how venture managers like fred wilson make their investment decisions

at this stage, you're pretty clueless, get an education in entrepreneurship to avoid being a hazard to your self and others..your thinking about opportunity selection is uneducated and unstructured, which results in you being interested in dog opportunities (like this movie rental nonsense)

[JoshP]

Hey thanks for the reply. I will definetly check out that book. My question back to you is this.

Do you think that a new business could succeed in an industry which is in its mature phase?

The reason I ask this is because I have a lot of experience in the movies and music background, and it would have been nice to put that to good use. At the same time I am not so stubborn that I would abandon reason and go ahead with a business idea that I felt would succeed and others would think would fail.

I definetly wouldn't say I am clueless. Maybe selling movies, games, and cds isn't the most revolutionary idea, but I feel that there is a demand for it here which isn't being filled. Sales in cds and dvds are up at my store by 15-20% compared to last year, and last years sales were up compared to the year before. I have done my homework in this area, and am aware of current trends, etc. The industry might be shrinking, becoming more digital, etc. but in my area the industry is doing quite well.

I guess another question I would pose is this. Would you rather work at a job or for a company that you aren't really interested in but are successful and make a good living, or would you rather work in a field you are passionate about and the industry isn't as opportunistic?

I guess if you are primarily focused on making as much money as you can then you will do whatever business it takes to achieve that goal.

Anyways, thanks again for the reply.