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Franchising is a viable business model to grow virtual business GIANTS in Second Life


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Can we just acknowledge the two humping elephants in the room.

- Freebie reselling under the guise of srs bizness. It always comes back to reselling freebies with a little "value add".

- If OP put a fraction of the effort into working out a coherent RL business as he does "educating" on these forums, he would have a terrible business and several orders of magnitude more money.

 

 

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Y'all do know this will be, at best, a multi-level marketing scheme, right?

An RL franchise model almost always leverages geography, as many have already noted, and as they've also noted in SL that's as near to worthless as makes no difference. Yeah, there are specialized affiliate vendors that make L$ in very select markets (e.g., roleplay items in suitable roleplay regions), but when everything is a Marketplace click away -- and with Marketplace purchases having many advantages over in-world buys -- this can never scale beyond narrow markets where the immediacy of demand outweighs the superabundance of supply.

So to succeed, it can't be about "location location location."

I think it was @Bitterthorn who picked up on manpower or, really, acquaintance as the analog to location in a franchising model that might be valid for SL. That is, franchise to monetize word-of-mouth instead of geographic proximity. SL "influencers" such as bloggers already act as a very poorly compensated form of franchisee: they make the stuff sell, and do it for free. So our franchisees need to work for less than free. How will they be motivated to pay for the privilege to grind?

One way is gambling, where every sale-to-acquaintance has a chance of paying out a little pot of money. (I believe that's how fish get hunted, despite the average per-hour payout being substantially less than the cost of electricity.)

Another, which has more of a "franchise" feel, is a "multi-level marketing" pyramid scheme where the franchisee only starts making L$s when they've recruited other franchisees, who share a slice of each sale-to-acquaintance with all the levels higher up their particular recruitment chain. Sort of a vampire clan of moneygrubbing.

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You remind me of a caveman how is trying to make fire by rubbing two eels together, this happens after that you tried to hit two magpie together to make a spark. But in the same time the rest of the caveman's are outside having a mammoth bbq. 

 

What I'M saying is that you trying to solve a no existing problem with the wrong tools. 

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5 hours ago, Maryanne Solo said:

My new breedables franchise. Message me for details! 😍
^o^ 

3f8c3b666ed56f5c38d92580b86f8021.jpg

But wait! I can help you make it even better. We'll create a creators commune where, we'll franchise your new breedables. I'll be in charge of the franchising, I'll support you emotionally and spiritually, but not financially and we'll split it 80/20. I get the 80, you get the 20. I know it sounds like a ripoff, but think about it: the more we franchise, your 20 will soon surpass my 80 with just 5 franchises and you'll be making 100 percent to my 80. So, you'll probably have to work on getting more people to get the ball rolling too while you're also creating, but in the end all your hard work will end up working for me, I mean you!

Also, we need a face for this. I'm challenging you to be the face of the venture. I think it'll make my, I mean your customers feel better about spending their money. Just think of how much of a weight off your shoulders it would be to let people know what you look like and not be hiding behind an avatar? This isn't really for you of course, even though I'm quoting you. This is for all of those people that want to challenge themselves to be better!

Secondlife could be the next big thing, bigger than Fortnite, bigger than cryptocurrency! All it takes is a little vision. All I'm asking is for your hard work and for you to sign this legally binding contract for you to be my real life slave.

Whaddaya say? Up for a challenge?

\0...0/

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15 minutes ago, Janet Voxel said:

But wait! I can help you make it even better. We'll create a creators commune where, we'll franchise your new breedables. I'll be in charge of the franchising, I'll support you emotionally and spiritually, but not financially and we'll split it 80/20. I get the 80, you get the 20. I know it sounds like a ripoff, but think about it: the more we franchise, your 20 will soon surpass my 80 with just 5 franchises and you'll be making 100 percent to my 80. So, you'll probably have to work on getting more people to get the ball rolling too while you're also creating, but in the end all your hard work will end up working for me, I mean you!

Also, we need a face for this. I'm challenging you to be the face of the venture. I think it'll make my, I mean your customers feel better about spending their money. Just think of how much of a weight off your shoulders it would be to let people know what you look like and not be hiding behind an avatar? This isn't really for you of course, even though I'm quoting you. This is for all of those people that want to challenge themselves to be better!

Secondlife could be the next big thing, bigger than Fortnite, bigger than cryptocurrency! All it takes is a little vision. All I'm asking is for your hard work and for you to sign this legally binding contract for you to be my real life slave.

Whaddaya say? Up for a challenge?

\0...0/

Couldn't decide between loving this or laughing!

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I am observing and seeing that everyone (or at least from most people) thought process when thinking about selling something in Second Life is oriented around selling a 3D product (bodies, hair, nails, skins, clothes).

There are services in Second Life as well (and I am not talking about escorts). Admittedly there aren't many services but it would be cool and good for SL economy if there were even more services developed (a service economy can be created). Services from business support, graphic design, social media advertising to services of helping people with some disabilities and many others. I am talking about organized paid services.

When I think about business in Second Life my thought process is different from everyone because I think about things as a programmer who thinks in terms of automating processes.

I am working on or rather upgrading one of my oldest products to change it into a franchise these days. I will not mention the name to not be accused of advertising on forum but to me it makes perfect sense and I see an opportunity for it to grow into a biggest franchise example in Second Life and as it grows it will help many. It may happen or it might not. I am enjoying researching,  thinking and working on it.

I would like to thank everyone who is posting and expressing their opinion or even a critic about franchise business model.

Like I already posted I think in some other topic. Everyone is viewing the world from their own perspective. The greatest inventions and breakthroughs in science, tech and business have been made by people who were able to see the world differently than everyone else.

And to those few individuals here who are making fun of other people that think differently and are able to see things from many different perspectives... If you're one of those that is enjoying in act of social bullying then know that you're actually making fun out of yourself - highly probably because you don't have anything smart to add to discussion.

We are living in an open society where different, skins, views, perspectives and diversity is celebrated. If you are intolerant and can't accept others with different views then that is a serious problem within you.

93597853_3187937168097999_22195137027076

Edited by Wili Clip
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On 3/8/2021 at 11:36 AM, Wili Clip said:

cultural differences and differences in taste and their fav hangout places SL users have.

If these diferences keep the Hamberg people from visiting the Chicago people's sim, wouldn't they also tend to mean the hamberg prople wouldn't be very interested in the Chicago people's products?

 

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29 minutes ago, Wili Clip said:

I am observing and seeing that everyone (or at least from most people) thought process when thinking about selling something in Second Life is oriented around selling a 3D product (bodies, hair, nails, skins, clothes).

There are services in Second Life as well (and I am not talking about escorts). Admittedly there aren't many services but it would be cool and good for SL economy if there were even more services developed (a service economy can be created). Services from business support, graphic design, social media advertising to services of helping people with some disabilities and many others. I am talking about organized paid services.

When I think about business in Second Life my thought process is different from everyone because I think about things as a programmer who thinks in terms of automating processes.

I am working on or rather upgrading one of my oldest products to change it into a franchise these days. I will not mention the name to not be accused of advertising on forum but to me it makes perfect sense and I see an opportunity for it to grow into a biggest franchise example in Second Life and as it grows it will help many. It may happen or it might not. I am enjoying researching,  thinking and working on it.

I would like to thank everyone who is posting and expressing their opinion or even a critic about franchise business model.

Like I already posted I think in some other topic. Everyone is viewing the world from their own perspective. The greatest inventions and breakthroughs in science, tech and business have been made by people who were able to see the world differently than everyone else.

And to those few individuals here who are making fun of other people that think differently and are able to see things from many different perspectives... If you're one of those that is enjoying in act of social bullying then know that you're actually making fun out of yourself - highly probably because you don't have anything smart to add to discussion.

We are living in an open society where different, skins, views, perspectives and diversity is celebrated. If you are intolerant and can't accept others with different views then that is a serious problem within you.

93597853_3187937168097999_22195137027076

The problem I think you keep missing Wili is that the industry you are talking about already exists across the internet and is not specialized in one game or place. Second Life greatly undervalues creators and custom work, and most people here are not looking to pay hundreds of dollars for custom rigging or code or artwork. I know plenty of people with talents such as that who play second life and create things for Second Life, but their primary focus is one of a half dozen firms or websites that help them freelance and be paid what they're actually worth. 

Translating something like that into second life requires Second Life to grow significantly. In the grand scheme of things second life is a very tiny market. This is a niche social world with niche appeal. I admire your ambition to make it into something more but I think you might be better served using your skills on other platforms if your intention is to build a large business with capabilities to franchise or expand into a startup. 

Yes, creators make money in Second Life. I've casually made a few hundred dollars just through small bits of custom work, and I have a friend who pays her rent on the back of her second life business. But the amount of time that goes into a product determines how many people need to buy it before you break even on your time and costs (if you had to hire someone else to handle parts you could not). If I spend 6 hours on a custom skin for a furry Avatar (as an example of one the bigger markets of SL), I need to sell that skin enough times to make 22500 Linden just to make minimum wage. So... Around 34 sales. 

You talk a lot about money and growth and franchises and a dozen buzzwords related to business. When people call you on those buzzwords you claim that it's because everyone sees things from different perspectives and that they don't understand your vision. I'm not saying that you don't know anything about business but I am saying that you don't seem to know anything about presenting your business. if you want to present this as a business you need to give a business reason why people should opt in. That means it has to pay enough money to warrant their time and energy to you. 

If you want to create a makers commune where people share skills and information for the joy of it you need to stop advertising it like a business.

And moreover, please try to understand why the vast majority of the forums finds your approach abrasive. You don't need to give any credence or time to trolls but there are lots of people in your last four threads who have genuinely tried to communicate with you about the issues in the ideas you present or the ways you present them and you have dismissed them all. 

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14 minutes ago, Lillith Hapmouche said:

Blabla, social bullying, bla, "look at me, I'm extra special"... if it had any chance to make money, it would exist by now.

History is littered with examples of things that existed but didn't take off till someone marketed them differently. Pet rocks, Cabbage patch kids, slinky's etc etc. Products that made millions or even billions after someone with some promotional ingenuity took over. There is nothing new under the sun except fresh ideas but they seem to be in short supply here.

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  I think they are trolling because your post usually evolving around assumption and assumption not a perspective.

Important details not clarified and causing misunderstanding.

A few examples:

On 3/8/2021 at 6:28 PM, Wili Clip said:

Now most people don't have skills, talent or time to learn designing or 3D modeling to a level where they could create a marketable products.

You can meet blender / 3Dmax experts in SL but they will not bother making money from their skills inside SL. Because most of them making decent income in RL job and SL not worth to effort.

This is also applies programmers, you are a programmer compare C#, PHP, Java with LSL difference very simple LSL very limited language with very limited functions you have to use many work around to create project in your mind.

Ask yourself is it worth your time? Because you can get same results in less time at other platforms.. which means more work with less time spent.

On 3/8/2021 at 8:47 PM, Wili Clip said:

I set all the rentals at non profit per prim price as my goal is not making profit from rentals just to cover the tier/rent I pay for it and also I want to help other people.

You need to define "non profit per prim price" 1 prim for L$1? 1 prim for L$0.25

On 3/8/2021 at 9:53 PM, Wili Clip said:

I like to support people who create something that can benefit other people - just like open source.

Did you try to help some one without expecting anything in return? On forums or on wiki? or anywhere? If you did my apologies I made a false assumption. But I didn't see such a content from you.

2 hours ago, Wili Clip said:

I am talking about organized paid services.

What is organized paid service? A virtual company? or is this a group, forum where you can find people you want to hire?

Good luck with your  "franchising project".

Edited by RunawayBunny
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2 hours ago, Wili Clip said:

When I think about business in Second Life my thought process is different from everyone because I think about things as a programmer who thinks in terms of automating processes.

That thought process is the same as the majority of Second Life. The whole thing with creating here is that you don't have to make hundreds of the same thing. You make one. You set it for sale. The system makes the copies whenever someone wants to buy one. A creator doesn't have to be there for the sale and they don't have to restock anything. It's already very automated.

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6 hours ago, Wili Clip said:

Services from business support, graphic design, social media advertising to services of helping people with some disabilities and many others. I am talking about organized paid services.

It seems you are talking about many things.  As far as services, I once thought a good idea would be to have a mesh avatar making school with lots of tutorials and people there to answer any and all questions.  I mean even take the shape.  We can only have one shape in SL and some people think there are two shapes - one for the head and one for the body...plus other problems from Classic to mesh shape.  And, there then are appliers and BOM.  I once thought I might want to start this kind of mesh avatar making school, but I don't know that much about making a mesh avatar and so I thought I'd hire people who do.  But, it's a lot of work and time to get something like that going plus people are putting out a lot of money just to make a mesh avatar and then to pay for "school" on top of that cost might not work though it could save them money in the long run as when I first became a mesh head, my first two mesh head purchases were a waste of money.  Anyhow, I give the idea to you as I have decided I don't want to do it.  Maybe something like what I'm talking about here would work for you.

Also, I wanted to add.  I think you are talking about some kind of help franchises.  I'm not sure that would work.  The networking for help needed is our WANTED section here on the forum where people can place an ad for one-on-one help or custom work.  

Edited by FairreLilette
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I find that if I want to learn something, there are enough resources available - here and on the internet; blogs and YouTube etc - for me to learn. If I need a script, I have enough contacts to know who to contract for that work. If I want to have multiple locations, I go out and rent multiple locations. I once had an affiliation relationship with the previous owner of Frank's Elite. I gave her a fraction of my sales for the use of space on her popular sim which attracted people who were most likely to buy the stuff I sold back then. Furthermore, I had product in full service wedding sims. At any time if I wanted these relationships to change, I simply had to pick up my vendors and leave the sims. My point is, there are already all the resources/opportunities available that franchising would produce but without the loss of profit and hassle.

Edited by Mercedes Avon
Grrr Typos.
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10 hours ago, Wili Clip said:

There are services in Second Life as well (and I am not talking about escorts). Admittedly there aren't many services but it would be cool and good for SL economy if there were even more services developed (a service economy can be created). Services from business support, graphic design, social media advertising to services of helping people with some disabilities and many others. I am talking about organized paid services.

Wili

Yes, there are services. The problem with selling services (including escort services)in Second Life are:

1. Difficult to scale. You are selling time against cash. Your time is limited.

2. Heavily underpaid. Bitterthorn already explained why.

3. Almost every service you might offer, you can get for free in SL somewhere, if you know the right people or the right community.

You might be able to establish a service business. Yes, some do really well (including escorts), but you will never be able to scale it enough to make it interesting for somebody buying into a franchise.

And why should one anyway?

What a franchisee expects as the bare minium is for one being part of a recognised brand and exclusivity in a predefined market.
It takes a lot of time and money to establish a known brand.

How would you do that?

Edited by Caroline Takeda
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One more thing.

There are at the moment around 5000 SL users who do make a reasonable amount of money  through or with SecondLife (I am one of them, if you are interested I tell you how). Compared to the amount of activ users (around 600.000 per month), that is not a lot.

Does that mean 595.000 User are stupid or not able to do create a substainable business/income?

No. 

It means they are not interested. At all. They are interested in other things. Socialising, creating, meeting people, do fun things, slex. It is a hobby for most, not a source of income or a business opportunity.

That already kills the idea of becoming a franchise GIANT.

You need more than your own motivation and vision to do business. You need to find enough others with the same motivation and vision.

That is just not there. There is no big enough market for franchise concepts.



 

Edited by Caroline Takeda
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5 hours ago, Caroline Takeda said:

You need more than your own motivation and vision to do business. You need to find enough others with the same motivation and vision.

That is just not there. There is no big enough market for franchise concepts.

I never think in terms of what is currently there. I always think in terms of what could be there in the future and what are the steps to get there or make it happen. I chose to be an entrepreneur as I always had many ideas about how things could be better and I like growing things. I am not doing it primarily for money - though I need to be keep making it to be able to build bigger and bigger things.

I am not one of those people who are frustrated because things with Second Life and Linden Lab didn't take the course like they could for SL to become much bigger. Instead I've decided to try to find ways and help other virtual businesses to grow bigger in Second Life. I like the challenge and I am receiving support from many people who also want that Second Life becomes much bigger.

When I learn something from doing business in SL I communicate things to Linden Lab and even if they don't decide to use it or try it at least it gets them thinking and its kind of out there on shelve for maybe being considered or used in future.

I have a foot in between the door of crypto industry because that is where the next technological paradigm shift is happening. When the time is ripe or if something was to happen to SL I can make my transition to there. I like Second Life, I have my friends and connections in Second Life and I work from Second Life.

My company is not from brick and mortar and I don't need to commute daily to work. It is for me the advanced way to work and Second Life for me is a virtual office. I can work whenever I feel like and from wherever I like and that is the company culture I want to build for my employees if I ever have them. Actually I don't even like the idea of having employees because their interests and goals can not be aligned with goals of organization. I would much prefer to have co-owners or employees in form of stakeholders who own shares and are aligned with goals to make things better and keep making company grow. I can't imagine myself being employed and not having freedom in life and I'd not want that for anyone who I care for or my friends, colleagues, other human beings. I've always seen employment as a form of volunteer slavery. You are selling yourself for money but you will never have anything (unless you invest your earned money wisely - which most don't succeed).

In the near future such things as crypto contracts will be possible (think they already are) and cooperation with other people who you can not trust because they're from another continent will be possible. It would be possible to build a similar service in within SL using L$. For example 2 parties step into a business agreement for some work to be done and there is a 3rd party who receives collateral from both parties that gets released according to contract if both parties respect the contractual agreement and work/job gets done. Yes can not be applied for all cases and there is problem of enforcing IP. But enforcement of IP and patents has always been problematic for in within SL. 

I've been building my business, products and brands in SL for 10 years. I am here to stay.

For the problem of not being able to be paid for skills and time comparably to what real life companies pay you on job market I've already managed to solve at least for myself/my own business needs and other content creators who cooperate with me. We don't pay each other in L$ but instead we trade with each other work and time. I am a programmer and for my friend 3D designer I create or help around programing solutions for product and in return my friend designs a 3D object that I need for my business. Or if there is trust we can set split commission on my friend's product that I helped to make and in return I set split commission on another product that my friend helps me with.

 

Edited by Wili Clip
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To reply to someone else..

I am not participating on this forum to look for love or approval from fellow forum participants. I have love and support from a community of 37 000+ people in my group and from over 400 000 people who experienced my products in SL in last 10 years. Which is admittedly not really so much but the numbers could / would be much bigger if Second Life on overall was much bigger.
I don't need to prove my value to anyone here on this forum through words - I do that through my creative endeavours and measurable results.

I am also not here to get into arguments with other people or to challenge anyone on their understanding of semantics or to question someones logical reasoning. That is why I don't reply to those who want to ridicule or question my sanity, logical reasoning or pragmatic competence.

If someone can not accept my style of expressing myself in a written form and the way I talk that is really not my problem. If someone is bothered they can simply choose to ignore my posts or comments on forum like I do of those who I perceive as negative and destructive. I am what I am and I am happy with myself. If they feel like they need to grow hatred towards me then that is not my problem but is a problem of their lack of tolerance and acceptance of people from different cultures who were raised in different countries with different values, views and life experience. When someone has more experience its is nice and admirable when they share it in a constructive rather dismissive way.

But the world is as it is and people are as they are. I am ok with it. If someone is being negative or destructive I can just simply remind them of it and mention that there are better ways to be. If they become more positive and friendly its up to them. I am not going to hate someone who is growing hatred towards me - doing that is wasting energy and I prefer to spend my life energy in creative ways.

I don't ridicule anyone. I am not disrespecting anyone. My knowledge is limited to what I've managed to experience in life and what I learned. I am still learning and I like learning. We are all learning about things through life.

I like participating on this forum because it lets me practice my writing and improve ability to form my thoughts and thinking about things into words. A lot of people on this forum are very intelligent and from comments.

 

Edited by Wili Clip
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2 hours ago, Wili Clip said:

But the world is as it is and people are as they are. I am ok with it.

That's the whole problem right there. You're ok with the world being messed up and doing nothing to change it so you're just going to keep on keeping on while you watch the world burn.

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18 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

That's the whole problem right there. You're ok with the world being messed up and doing nothing to change it so you're just going to keep on keeping on while you watch the world burn.

If its not in your power to change it the alternative is to stress yourself out. If you're not a president or in position of power you can't do much about it and even if you are usually it takes whole generations for things to change (the old ways dies and the new ways are let to emerge).

Edited by Wili Clip
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