Starting a Skateboarding Business on a Budget

by Dana Bradley

Published on this site: September 14th, 2006 - See more articles from this month

If it was up to many skateboarders, they would do nothing else but spend eight hours per day skateboarding. Many people consider skateboarding more than just a weekend hobby. Many skateboarders enter competitions and other events to earn money. But how does one make this a full-time career? There are a handful of alternatives for a skateboardprenuer.

A skateboarder who has artistic talent can design tee-shirts for skateboarders. All one has to do is purchase a small to medium order of tee-shirts to start out with. Start out with white and black tee-shirts and have it professionally screen printed or if you have a computer, you can purchase software very inexpensive and design it yourself. Think of a price that is high enough yet affordable enough for your clients. For example: if it cost $7 to have your designs professionally screen printed and $2 per wholesale tee-shirt that's $9. In order to make a profit from each shirt, the recommended retail price of your tee-shirt should be $14 - $18.

Technology of today allows an entrepreneur to sell their goods online. You can have your online store up and running in less than 72 hours. Take the tee shirt that you designed and have then professionally photographed specifically for the internet. You can save money and purchase a disposable camera and take photos yourself but you will not receive the same quality as a professional photo. If hiring professional local models are beyond your budget, recruit your friends or place a free ad in your local news paper for volunteers. In most cases, you may find a few professional models who will pose for free just to build their own portfolio.

As a new online business owner, you can have still photos of your tee-shirts or you can hire professional models wear yourtee-shirts while holding a skateboard. This will give your website visitors an idea of how your tee-shirts will look on them.

A Skateboardprenuers' Website & Store

Imagine every time a visitor enters your online store they see a flash animation of a young man skateboarding. While you are getting your tee-shirt designs together have a professional graphic designer and web designer to sprinkle a bid of flash onto your site. You do not have to go overboard with the flash because many people still do not have high-speed internet. Remember, less is more when it comes to flash animation.

Starting any business takes hard work and dedication. If you manage your time efficiently, you can spend a lot of time doing what you love, which is skateboarding. A skateboarder who has a successful business whether its online or off-line is in a better position than someone who has a dead-end job or a skateboarder who isn't earning any money at all.

Dana Bradley: If you are considering starting a business there are several websites that offer merchandise that will keep you up to speed with the latest skateboard gear such as http://BuySkateBoardGear.com.