A cliché known to all. A journey known by few.

In a world where we have everything at our finger tips, how is it possible that most people don't finish up with what they wanted? How many dreams have passed you by, How many come back to you on those idle Tuesday evenings?

Our needs, desires and demands from life change with the dynamic variability of responsibilities, experiences and circumstance, but the world of your dreams is still and will always be there. Right at your finger tips, if only you could reach them.

We are an example that you can just go out there and get things. You can make something happen. And if you wish, you can leave a mark our shared canvas on f infinity. Whether you want to launch a product, change career or even travel the world, You can learn how to anything, and with work and courage you can start a journey of your own. This blog aims to help you do just that.

So, where should we launch our products? Whilst selling from our own website would generate the best returns, I am aware we don't nor won't have the large amounts of customer traffic that other e-commerce stores can provide.

Amazon and shopify also offer storage distribution and inventory management, although all of this, of-course, comes at a price, a heavy one, which would almost certainly double the costs of the buisiness. Although the price would negate the need to wrestle spreadsheets, family members and friends for support in these areas.

Both companies charge a monthly fee to host a store, aswell as add on fee's which vary with each sale item/item number, and service provided.

https://www.stylefactoryproductions.com/shopify-vs-amazon

Or we could go it alone. We could boldy go on our own journey and find our feet on the way. As we absorb information on inventory management, supply chains and distribution

After a long time in waiting, a whole handful of setbacks and blind alleyways, ladies and gentlemen, we are live. The website is published, We have contacted causes which we aim to support, the product orders are processing with our suppliers. Samples will be arrving shortly and FINALLY! we hope to start raising money for local community causes during the December christmas period.

For the past few days we have been contacting suppliers and designers of winter clothing.

If U.K citizens are having to choose between heat or eat, then it makes perfect sense in keeping our consumer's friends and families warm over winter.

So far we have contacted around 10 suppliers from Alibaba and are in the stage of negotiating to find the best deal for both us and our suppliers.

One thing to look out for an Alibaba is the region of your business. As some communication may be restricted between nations based on law or shipping limitations.

We figure, it will be more cost effective to find our own shipping agent, which is an option that we are currently researching.

On launch, we aim to raise money for community projects by selling merchandise. "But which product should we start with?" This decision brings many questions.

"Are people gonna buy t-shirts in winter?" In Britain, probably yeah, but "do t-shirts allign with the message of our cause?" errm maybe.

"Which products will help us break even quickly in order us to start helping community causesquickly?"

"how much is the shipping gonna cost."

"what risks are we willing to take, or able to mitigate?"

"How much am I willing to invest in this?" after-all, when the time comes, we may not make any sales whatso-ever."

These are all questions we are asking ourselves, (and suppliers.) The thought of losing money in this climate is a scary one. But then I remind myself of our principles, This project is about giving, sharing information, building a community, setting an example and of-course learning along the way. You cannot put a price on that.

A Buddhist story: A seasoned Guru advises a frustrated a follower. Our frustrated follower climbed 83 peaks through the ice and mist of a treacherous mountain path, to reach his beloved Guru, who listens to his subject, pauses and utters, "Everyone has 83 problems, yet some people have 84."

The frustrated follower thought solemnly to himself, "wtf!? that's not the advice that I climbed this dang mountain for!"

On the way back down the ice and mist of the treacherous mountain, it occurred to our now, frankly miffed follower, "the 84th problem is taking issue with the existing 83."

No matter what your journey, challenges will always occur on the way. Suppliers will offer ridiculous quotes, Technology won't always work the you think it ought too and you'll sometimes feel like giving up and throwing your rectangles at the wall. The way to solve your problems is not to complain of them, but to face them. They may not go away but perhaps when you explore them, you may always find another route.

Sometimes, or alot of times even, Life can get in the way. We withdraw or hold ourselves back from our ambitions for an array of reasons. It can often feel like a project is too big. Thoughts can creep in like, 'there's too much to do' or 'this is probably gonna fail.' Sometimes I feel vulnerable about putting myself out there, and failing publicly. We all have self doubts from time to time. But the only way to truly fail, is to give up.

I work full time, I like to go to the gym and cook my meals. I coach sports, and on top of all that, my physio and chiropractor insist on booking me in for voluntary torture every Tuesday. It can be hard to find the time and it can be easy to find the excuses to not do the work. I am human and I have to deal with all of this, just as you do too.

Like most of this stuff, buying a domain name, i.e a website name, is surprisingly simple. So far, the entirety of this project hasn't required me to know anything about computer programming or astrophysics.

First you need a website name, check the name in your internet toolbar, if the website domain doesn't have a website in that address, chances are you can buy it from a domain retailer like godaddy.com or namecheap.com Go daddy is seemingly the largest provider however after watching another class on skillshare, I learned that namecheap.com offered a cheaper service with a similar level of customer support. And trust me, after locking yourself out of your own domain several times, the 24/7 customer support will be a godsend!

There are many options when it comes to designing a website, From Wordpress, Weebly, Adobe, The list is endless, each interface has its own strengths and weaknesses. See here for more available options https://blog.appsumo.com/web-design-software/

Long story short, I chose to run with Google sites. With Google, You know you are always going to get two things, Simplicity and security. Whilst google sites is not the most sophisticated or customisable tool to build a website, for a 30 year old, (almost) self proclaimed 'technophobe' Google sites makes it straight forward and easy to get stuck in straight away. Drag and drop, write, drag and drop some more. The next few days are gonna be dedicated towards putting this thing together.