How do I go about setting up a business here? or should I get a job first?

[InspiredJohn]

Really new here.. what's the best way forward in both respects? 

[InspiredJohn]

Really new here.. what's the best way forward in both respects? 

[Ziggy21 Slade]

I think it depends.

Mostly on what business you are planning to run, if you are planning on renting land, getting a job helping someone with their rentals could provide invaluable experience, similarly if you want to run a club, a few weeks working in one should teach you there is no money to be made : ).

If you plan to create and sell, I would suggest you just get on with it, you are going to need the practice if you are really new, go to some classes if you need to, they are free and enjoyable and are a great way into the creation game.

heres a couple of useful links...

http://xdfusion.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/how-to-start-a-business-in-second-life/

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Selling-in-the-Marketplace/ta-p/700193

Aha! I see from your other post that Art is your thing, there are many types of business owners here, some just do it for the enjoyment of owning a business, some aim to make tier and maybe pay for some clothes, others want to make profit and cash out to RL, if you are the latter I would advise to forget about Art Galleries, the product itself will be too subjective to sell in large numbers, you wont be able to charge enough to make it worth your while adding to the collection and you are essentially competing against every other artist that ever lived, since many unscrupulous residents are quite prepared to upload and sell anything they find in google images. The good news is, if you have skills in this field there is plenty of money to be made here in SL, but you need to start thinking like a Lifer and that can take some time, get yourself to some classes first, it will start to open your eyes to the opportunities.

If you want to go down the job route, check out the Inworld Employment section here, not all, but many advertisers will want you to be at least 3 months old though.  

[Tiffy Vella]

Step one is to find out what it is that is the most fun for you in SL. Then do it a lot until you are really good at it. Many people would agree that the best businesses are often the ones that exist not merely make money, but instead offer something that the owner is passionate about.

Personally, I'd skip the SL job thing, and dedicate the time to learning (lots of great classes are available, with good people to meet in them), and practising (if you want to build, go and play in a sandbox). Other people will recommend exactly the opposite, I'm sure, and with good reasons. But any active involvement will teach you general skills, and truly every single thing you can learn about life in SL will come in handy at some stage.

 

[Chelsea Malibu]

There are many post here on the board with advice for people who want to become merchants however, they key to SL is to remember that it's just a game and whatever you do, you do for fun.  Make a hobby or a game and see what you can do but don't mortgage the farm to do it and realize, it's a lot of work and dedication when you start any business.

I've been building and selling here for 5 years which I do because I love to create and nothing more.  The fact that it pays for my fun in the game as well as some of my RL expenses is a plus but in the end, I treat this as just a game.

[Sassy Romano]

What the others have said.  Ziggy is saving up enough money to cash out to buy a Hawaiian.

Anyway, welcome to SL, as I tell everyone, "leave now, while you still can".

Looking at your RL bio, it would appear that you have an affinity for solutions around IT.

You could translate some of that here or you could do something completely different, (or just use the money you make in RL to buy L$ and play around here instead.)

There are always opportunities for support products such as web to inworld products, i'm not going to give specifics because that's for you to create and market but also, just bear in mind that there may be existing incumbent products but always room for new entries.

For this sort of venture, you'd need to learn scripting and how to integrate SL objects with web solutions and then how to market to the SL community.

Bottom line though, yes, do what's fun for you.

[Nalates Urriah]

Deciding on what business you may want to open requires some knowledge of SL. Also important is knowng what is going on and what the Lindens are doing and planning. The forums give you some idea, but Lindens tend to say little about what's coming next. So, what they typically say is, '...we just released (some feature) see the wiki for more info...'

There are some blogs that give a deeper insight into SL and the Lindens. You still need some common sense and some knowledge of how real businesses work so you don't get sucked into the delusion corporate robots run and work at Linden Lab. 

Check out these blogs:

• Gwyn's Home - Gwyneth provides deep philosophical insights into SL and the Lindens. I don't always agree, but she is a favorite of mine. If you want to understand the complex connections and interactions in SL and virtual worlds, this is a must read. Articles can be several thousands words, but worth reading. I send all the people that say my posts are too long to her blog.
• New World Notes - Usually a quick read, interesting, and often controversal. Written by Wagner Au or in SL Hamlet Au, he covers mostly SL and all its aspects. Hamlet was an LL employee at one time and has worked for Blue Mars. He helped me with advice to get my blog going. If you have time to read only one blog, this is probably the one.
• Daniel Voyager's Blog - provides a quick read and touches on many aspects of SL and related virtual worlds news. Written by a young enthusiastic person it is an upbeat news source for those with curiousity about SL. 
• DGP4SL Blog - Darrius provides more of critical take on the Lab. I've got to admit some of the Lab's business decisions seem to indicate a poor understanding of business. Darrius provides in depth information about SL Search and how to optimze for it. Good for people selling in the SL Market Place.
• Daily Look - The Fashion Blog - If you are into fashion this is the blog to follow. It is a composite of many fashion blogs and fashion designer's blogs. There are 100+ new posts per day. So, one could spend their life just looking at the pictures.
• Dwell On It - Is Tateru Nino, a professional writer, covers SL and LL and provides statistics on SL. She has a good business sense and provides good insight into changes in SL and LL marketing. She has a history with SL and is often more knowledgable than some of the Lindens.
• Hypergrid Business - This blog covers the OpenSim and SL grids. They cover many business aspects and include the human side that gets into the drama. That may sound bad but an SL busness person needs to know what is happening in SL drama. The RedZone was such a case. Merchants were trying to protect their shops from copybots and RedZone claimed to offer protection. It was latter revealed that was not the real purpose. The Owner/creator of RedZone is now in jail, RL jail.
• Nalates' Things & Stuff - My blog. I cover LL and third party viewers and developments in SL technology coming from LL. I'm interested in things that affect us in SL and OpenSim. I think SL is technical and try to simplify the tech or at least explain it in my writing. Obviously you should read my blog several times per day... teasing...

From these you should get an idea of what is happening in SL, what is important, and some idea of the direction SL is headed.

The SL Forum is a good source of help and news. It is more current happenings than a look into the future. Also, many posting in the forums are uninformed providing their delusions as answers and information on which to base business decisions is questionable. Great tutorials, but question most advice, tech or business. That doesn't mean there are not great people provideing excellent help and advice. It just means you must be skeptical until you know who is who.

The best advice given in here so far is to find what you find is fun and enjoyable and pursue that. Just learn about SL before commiting any serious money or time.

[InspiredJohn]

Thanks a lot guys for the really helpful info. From my point of view I want to currently just get used to the place, perhaps get a job to earn in game money to buy cool stuff but if there is scope for actually creating something that people will buy and will bring me a little RL money too then so much the better. 

I may go to some classes on how to make stuff..  I was wondering... what big companies if any at all still have a presence in SL? are Intel still here? I know that some use this as a place for virtual meetings etc.  

I would maybe like to design places for business functions.. it sounds so boring I know but here I can let my imagination get the better of me. Come up with some really cool stuff. 

Failing that i guess it is just a case of thinking well I want to do this. Renting some land maybe and setting something up and seeing how it goes. If it doesn't work then it is no skin off my nose as it is SL not RL.  Even though the level of commitment needed i can imagine is just the same as with a real venture.. and I am self employed anyway? do I really want to get involved in another business here?.. or just make and create and see how it goes? 

god talking about doing your best to let go of your normal life. I was a half robot half dragon when I first came here.. then I thought that was far too stupid. But I am going to go for the Morpheus look soon.  

[InspiredJohn]

Hmm I think I am going to take some time settling in.  See how it all pans out here. Just really having fun exploring right now. Many thanks for the links I can refer to at later stages.