CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Ok, I want to start a tape transfer service. I'd be able to transfer VHS, 8MM, and High-8 MM video to DVD, cut the static, and put in decent chapters and a simple menu (well, hopefully... I'm gonna see what I can do when I actually get the new comp, but let's say I CAN do all of this)

I need to know what I"m gonna have to do to start this... Taxwise, legalwise... Somewhat Pricing wise... I figure I'll charge 30 dollars per hour of tape, that's 60 bucks for a full tape... I'm gonna have all the stuff I need to do this in a month, I think... What would it take to start this as a business? I mean, I've seen this running 40 bucks per hour of tape... I figure, if I get the Hard cases (those normal DVD cases) for about a bucka piece (including the blank DVD) and maybe 3 dollars to send, then that'd cover everything I needed...

I know I need a license to start my own home business. I know NOTHING about this, but I know this is something I could do, and better than I've seen offered. It's just the business part I'm not sure of... So, um, this is all I have so far... Any help?

i'm thinking of advertising in the penny saver... I don't want THAT many customers, I'd only really need like 2 or 3 a week to help cover school costs...

I’m majoring in Management and Marketing; so I had to create a business plan for one class. The site that really helped me out the most was: http://www.sba.gov

It has a great guide on starting up a business:
http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/startup/basics.html

After your done reading it, I’ll be happy to help answer any of your questions.

You'll want to look into your city code regarding home-based businesses. It might even be online; you can probably find out that way how to go about getting a business license. (In my case, it was really easy. I put in the application, paid a modest fee, a fire inspector spent about 30 seconds in my home office, and that was it.)

A while back I was going to start an anime and imports store (great idea, wrong city) and I bought a book called "Small Business Kit For Dummies". I HIGHLY recommend it. It's got an idea on how to raise money for the business, how to make a model plan, and other tips for starting up. Of course, the best part is that it has pretty much every tax form you'll need on a CD-ROM that it comes with.

Heck, I'm glad I bought the book and I never even opened the store...

Out of curiosity, what device are you planning to use to transfer the material onto DVD with? My sister and I did a lot of that over the holiday(converting old home video VHS's to DVD), and the machine we used was a pain in the butt, it kept rejecting the information and messing up the DVDs . . .

The machine I was gonna use was gonna be a computer... I was going to use my VCR and my Hi-8 Camera to play the stuff to the capture device (I was thinking an "All in wonder") and use very simple editing software and DVD authoring software to take the dead air (static) out of them, separate them into logical chapters, make a very simple menu, and burn them. I figure it should take at most an hour of monitored work and 5 hours alltogether per DVD...

Those settop DVD burners are lame... I'd do better than that with the computer!

Bobtheduck wrote:Those settop DVD burners are lame... I'd do better than that with the computer!

Yes they are, and yes you would.

Check out Link's link. It's a VERY good place to start. You'll get lots of handy tips and great information.

And yes, the computer CAN do much better than any off-the-shelf box could do. You'll have to find a good software package and take the time to learn it, though.