If you were to start a new business right this minute, what would it be? Describe it.

If I were to start a new business right now, it would be a home-based, online, knit goods shop.  I would need to create a business plan and figure out how much money I would need to start the shop, but the way I would do business initially would involve keeping as few supplies as possible in my house.

First, I would purchase a knitting machine and setup an online store, probably on a site like Etsy to start with.  Once business picked up, I could hire someone to design a separate website with a catalogue and shopping cart system for me, but I won’t need that to begin.  I would list off all of the products I am able to knit, and include an option for customers to get a quote on the cost for a custom item by email.

I would charge, for each item sold, an amount of money equal to the cost of the yarn and other items (buttons, zippers, etc.) used, plus a flat rate for my having to use my knitting tools and the federal minimum wage for one quarter of the number of hours it would have taken me to make the item with just my hands and knitting needles.

I would buy yarn and other supplies as needed for each new order.  When I could not fulfill orders in a reasonable amount of time anymore, I would buy a second knitting machine and hire a second person on commission to help me fulfill them.