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Developing a marketplace for ASD artists, craftspeople, and businesses

Slithytoves

Slithytoves

Oblique Strategist
That's it. I've just read a thread by our friend King_Oni about the economics of supporting the Autism community, and I've decided to go public with an idea that a few of us here have been playing with.

What we're proposing is an online marketplace, reminiscent of Etsy, where artists, craftspeople, and small businesspeople with ASDs can sell their work and advertise their services. There would also be an education and advocacy component of some kind. Ideally, the site would not charge any user fees, so those who promote their talents with us would keep every penny of what they earn.

Is anybody interested in helping to brainstorm the development of a site?

If it existed, would you use it to enhance your own income?

What ideas or questions might you have about a venture like this?

Could any of you offer us web development skills, online business knowledge, or search optimization expertise to make it happen?
 
I would have an interest with this. However, we would need some form of fund raising to cover the costs to host he site. I'm willing to help with the costs for the first year. I can share my development knowledge and offer as much support as I can. However, we still need a web developer to help with the site. Count this penguin in for this project :penguin:
 
I think it sounds great! I have an etsy shop but nothing up there right now. I'm also a graphic designer but never really excelled at web development so I wouldn't be much help with that, but if you need anything in print I would love to help. I know a bit about the advertising world too. Just the other day I was thinking about ways to raise awareness about ASDs and I think this would be a great way of doing it. For some reason I keep seeing the words 'Aspies Unite' in my head and it gets me motivated. Lol. I would love to stay in the loop for this. Great idea!!!
 
Count me in, I have Photoshop and Dreamweaver CS5 skills although they are a bit rusty as I haven't designed anything in two years I was about to redesign my own sites. Happy to work alongside someone else.
 
I don't have any of the necessary computer skills you describe. But I have run a small Ebay and forums based business for a few years, so could probably contribute to discussions on sales methods. I would also try to participate as a hobbiest artist.
 
I'm definitely interested. Have been doing artwork my whole life but cannot handle the in-person stuff like regular galleries. When someone has helped, I have sold work. Can help a little with costs for the getting-going phase. This is exciting. Willing to help brainstorm, etc. I don't do web design but have been in commercial art on and off over the years both school and jobs. Yes, I would like some income from it, as I don't have a job right now. But, I'd pay it forward too.
 
It sounds like a great idea :)

I don't have any expertise in terms of computing or commercial elements, but I have alot of experience of online shopping ;) so could make suggestions about what features would be beneficial for the customer.

Slithytoves said:
What ideas or questions might you have about a venture like this?
Click to expand...

Could self-diagnosed people sell their work via the site?
 
Vinca said:
It sounds like a great idea :)

I don't have any expertise in terms of computing or commercial elements, but I have alot of experience of online shopping ;) so could make suggestions about what features would be beneficial for the customer.



Could self-diagnosed people sell their work via the site?
Click to expand...

I don't see a problem if you're self diagnosed, and input from a 'mystery shopper' is always an asset :)
 
Glad to see a few people interested up front. Let's see who else chimes in, then we can start talking in earnest. Watch this space!

As far as I'm concerned, self-diagnosed Aspies are just as Aspie as anybody else and would be more than welcome. The person who first shared this idea with me is self-diagnosed, too. We may have an angel investor for the up-front costs, though if we can find development people like Penguin (thanks!) within our own ranks who could provide development help for free, that would of course be ideal. If any of you have friends you speak with privately on AC with this sort of background, please point them to this thread.

I have fundraising and marketing experience. I also have graphic design skills, but I think enough others here have similar talents that we could spread the work around. Everybody who wants to be part of making this happen should be given a chance to shine, IMO.
 
I say for all of us work together, our lives will get much better. We have lots of great people here and I can see something like this going very well.
 
Slithytoves said:
Is anybody interested in helping to brainstorm the development of a site?

If it existed, would you use it to enhance your own income?

What ideas or questions might you have about a venture like this?

Could any of you offer us web development skills, online business knowledge, or search optimization expertise to make it happen?
Click to expand...

1. I'd be interested in brainstorming.

2. Probably not an income-enhancer for me. Not sure what I have to sell.

3. A few to start...
  1. Do you have a business plan?
  2. How will you measure success?
  3. Does the site inherit its policies from AC or does it have its own?
  4. What roles and collateral (financial and otherwise) are essential for success, and are they present? If not, how could they be acquired? If so, how durable are they?
4. Don't know if I have relevant skills but depending on how you move forward, I could probably generate some proposals. I'm leery of jumping at something and then having to back out.
 
After reading Aspergirl4hire , I decided I would share Business Model Canvas


Though banks don't normally accept it to get a loan, it a good way to start evaluate an idea. There was a post I wrote Technology Competition last November. From attending the event, I learn it didn't have to be technology based, but any business idea as a whole. For the event they had us work with Business Model Canvas. It did helped many people during that weekend.

For the business program I'm taking, I had to make a business plan. Should a business plan gets created for this project, I'm willing to ask people I know in the business community for feedback.
 
Sounds interesting. Have you looked at hosted marketplace tools like these?
I don't know if they allow users to manage their own stores or how you would deal with things like shipping.

If you want to dig into the code yourself, maybe something like Drupal commerce, Woo Commerce, or Magento would speed up development.

Or you could use something like Drupal to showcase each artist, but then have each artist independently signup for an externally-hosted marketplace like Volusion (or whatever ecommerce platform they want). If you go that route, then each person could choose what method they would use to sell their products/services. Some types of services might not fit into a typical e-commerce platform.

Digital Ocean has good hosting for $5/month.

I don't have a lot of free time at the moment, but could help brainstorm ideas.
 
113 thanks for your recommendations

I sure more people will share their ideas as well. From there we need to evaluated which solution works best and who can help with what. I'm liking all the contribution people made for this post so far.
 
113 said:
Sounds interesting. Have you looked at hosted marketplace tools like these?
I don't know if they allow users to manage their own stores or how you would deal with things like shipping.

If you want to dig into the code yourself, maybe something like Drupal commerce, Woo Commerce, or Magento would speed up development.

Or you could use something like Drupal to showcase each artist, but then have each artist independently signup for an externally-hosted marketplace like Volusion (or whatever ecommerce platform they want). If you go that route, then each person could choose what method they would use to sell their products/services. Some types of services might not fit into a typical e-commerce platform.

Digital Ocean has good hosting for $5/month.

I don't have a lot of free time at the moment, but could help brainstorm ideas.
Click to expand...

I have set up and used this type of store software in the past and would consider it the way to go rather than creating bespoke software. It is easy enough to change the front end coding to give the look that's wanted and much of the SEO is built in. I used WorldPay back then to cover the financial transactions and shipping but there are easier systems around now, as you've pointed out.

Sounds like a plan ;)
 
I've owned several small businesses & am planning to open a gallery in the next year...just looking for space to purchase right now.

Very interested in helping with this. Excellent cause & funding should be easy to raise.

KICKSTARTER is where to go for investment capital & talent.

Who is in charge? Someone needs to lead this effort to get it off the ground.
 
I don't doubt that there are those among us with both the technical and creative talent to design such a web space. ;)

I myself don't see what sorts of talents I could contribute...well, maybe some language based tutoring or something, I'm pretty good at that.

As for overhead, well...that would be the biggest hurdle here. Kickstarter has been mentioned, which could be worth a shot...I don't know.
 
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