INTRODUCTION
I would like to credit Ceera Murakami for this wonderfully concise way of explaining the art of starting a business in SL.
I would also like to preface this guide by saying that there are many different types of vendors in SL. There are those who are "playing" without serious intentions to make money. There are those who want to jump in and start business right away, either quickly discovering they have a knack for it or failing. And then there are those who slowly gather together the resources and skills to build a truly successful business through tenacious effort. And finally I'd like to say that customer service is a vital aspect of most businesses in SL. You'll need to have time to do this if your business warrants customer support.
On with Ceera's insights.
SUCCESS & WORK
I own several successful businesses in SL. I make a profit here every month. And I work my tail off to do it. I make clothes, I build, I script, I terraform... I even create whole sims. It took me over a year to build my businesses to where they always made me a profit, and after more than two years it still isn't even close to earning me a full-time wage. I put in 20 to 30 hours a week and earn very little more than I would with a part-time minimum-wage second job. (Though the work is a lot more fun than flipping burgers!) Out of the MILLIONS of people who play SL, only 2 to 4 percent make a profit regularly, and less than half of that actually make a living working in SL full-time. Just a few thousand people out of well over 10 MILLION accounts!
Yes, you can certainly make things and sell them with no real intention of making a profit. But this article assumes that you don't want to spend hours of effort and work just to lose money!
Building a successful business in Second Life is no different than building one in real life. It takes lots of time, and effort and skill, and a certain amount of luck and good timing, to make it work. It also almost always requires an up-front investment of real money.
CAUTIONARY ADVICE
You can't be successful by buying a "Business in a box" and just throwing it up in one corner of a cheap mall. Those are rip-offs aimed at innocent dupes, almost always selling you stuff that is available free. It's like the people in real life (RL) that will sell you a "Business idea starter kit" that is nothing more than a list of postal addresses and web sites for free information on how to start a business, from government websites and offices. As others implied, those who pay for a "Business in a box" soon find they are one of thousands of other poor suckers selling exactly the same low-quality items, that any experienced Player will avoid like the plague. If these products were really so successful, the person offering them would be running those stores and raking in the profits themselves, and not selling the "great money making idea" to others.
Be aware also that using real-world brands, logos, and copyrighted material is illegal, unless you have a license from the company that owns those copyrights and trademarks. Yes, you'll see people selling "Nike Shoes" or other merchandise based on copyrighted game characters or bands... just like you'll find street corner vendors in big cities selling shoddy knock-off of name-brand merchandise that aren't licensed. Go to a flea market in the real world and you're likely to find quite a few low-priced items with Disney characters or other popular images, but that are made in Mexico or China, illegally and without license to do so. It's still illegal. DON"T DO IT.
HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL
So, how do you really do it? How do you be a business success in SL?
Take Your Time
First, you need to spend enough time in SL to get to know what the market is like. Shop. Travel. Play. Make friends. Get to know what is already available, and what people like to spend money on. Part of that is learning the sorts of things YOU would be willing to spend money on. In this period, be prepared to whip out your own credit card and purchase a supply of L$ with real money, (or pay for a Premium membership so you get 80% of that fee back as a weekly allowance, called a stipend) so you have some initial funds to start with. Do your market research, while you have fun just *playing* in SL.
Learn the Skills
Next, learn the skills that people pay for, and that match your initial training and background and interests.
* Making textures requires artistic talent, and skill with graphics applications, like Photoshop.
* Building requires skill in using the in-world building tools - a skill you can only get good at with hours and hours of practice in-world, and which benefits from skill as a texture artist (so you can make your own custom textures) or access to purchased texture sets.
* Does fashion interest you? Making clothes in SL requires both a knowledge and skill in fashion design and skills as a texture artist and in some cases as a builder (prim shoes, skirts, and other prim clothing parts).
* Being a scripter requires skill as a programmer, using the LSL programming language. Many products in SL will benefit from adding scripts that you write. (door and window scripts, animation scripts, etc...)
* Custom animations and pose balls. A very specialized area. Requires external software that can make animation files.
None of these skills are anything you're likely to develop overnight. Take the time to practice these skills, and practice making all sorts of things. You may be surprised how difficult it is to make an apparently simple item. Or you may find you have a real knack for making something else. Be prepared to spend MONTHS learning to do a task well.
Find Your Passion
Then, find a niche that you think you can do well in. Is there an existing product that you can do better than what is currently on the market? Is there and item that you'd love to buy, or that your friends would love to buy, but that you just can't find, in spite of extensively searching for it? Anyone can make a simple T-shirt, and MILLIONS do. Competition in areas that have a lot of other merchants will make it very difficult to be a success, unless your product is different or better in some way.
Then, and only then, make a bunch or products. Price them competitively, based on your market research. then rent some space in SEVERAL malls, or buy land in at least two sims and set up your own stores. Visibility and advertising are very important, just like in the real world. Very few customers will come to your residential-area home to buy an item hidden under your bed. But if your products are available in a lot of malls or shops, especially if those locations are well-advertised and get lots of paying customers going through them (NOT camping chair zombies!), you'll get a lot more sales. They can't buy your stuff if they never see it.
Good luck!
OTHER WAYS TO MAKE MONEY
There are other ways to earn some L$ in SL without an extensive skill set. But virtually all of those require a large amount of time investment, and many also have up-front costs.
Camping? There are places that will pay newbies to sit in chairs or on dance pads. It's a scam to inflate the 'popularity' rating for a store or business, and pays the equivalent of a few pennies per hour. You pay more for the electricity to run your computer, and even a minimum-wage job in the real world pays far more per hour.
Dancing, strippers, escort services? People will pay to watch your avatar dance, most often nude, or to have virtual sex with them. Requires a willingness to behave that way with strangers. (Do you REALLY want to be a stripper or a prostitute?) Requires an up-front investment in high-cost skins and clothes and hair, to get good tips. May require that you provide custom animations or pose sets to entertain your clients. And a minimum-wage job in the real world still pays far more per hour.
DJ's, Musicians, entertainers of other sorts. There are in-world classes, or 'club schools', where in a few hours and for a fee you can learn the basics for being a DJ or doing similar work. Sort of like attending a "Bartender school" in RL. You still have up-front costs, you still have to have talent as an entertainer, and you need to find a place that will hire you. Expect long hours and low pay, unless you are very unique and entertaining.
Real Estate? Some people make a lot of money buying low and selling high in the land market, or buying land and renting it to others, It requires a large, high-risk cash investment and LOTS of time to dabble in Real Estate, just like in the real world.
There are other ways to earn money as well, but I've listed most of the ones people encounter. To find others, you'll have to look around and learn how SL works.
~ Ceera Murakami
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