Has anyone here ever tried to start an /aco or similar adult business? My business partner and I just tried launching a Dakimakura business that we had worked on for the last year, and learned quite a bit that I wish we knew ahead of time.
Curious if anyone else out there has tried and succeeded or failed, and what you learned from it? Or if anyone out there has any questions about similar start ups that I could try to answer.
(I'm posting some western Monster Girl pics I've got. Some original from our campaign, but most random.)
>>367264
The biggest thing I took away from starting our business was that not enough time was spent showing off the product to non-friends. We really needed some unfiltered feedback earlier. Friends are great for that very first rough draft, but don't be afraid to get yourself out there as wide as possible and receive that brutal early feedback. The quicker you can learn and iterate, the faster you can determine if your product is viable or not.
>>367264
>>367278
Another learning is you need to build a name for yourself as early as possible. While we started getting our name out as early as we could, even half a year wasn't enough to build up a critical mass of followers. The type of name you build for yourself is critical. You need to always add value and be respectful. It takes thousands of little steps to build up your reputation, and one stumble can put you back to where you started or worse.
>>367293
Critiques are more valuable then positive comments. If you're starting a business you are hopefully making decisions based on what you feel was the right thing to do. It's more helpful to have others point out mistakes, something you overlooked, missed opportunities, or other avenues to explore then it is to have someone say good job and a pat on the back. Never take offense to someone's honest feedback, and never dismiss it as not valuable. No matter what, a potential customer provided you an insight and you should find a way to address it. Otherwise you're just missing out.
>>367360
Any questions in particular?
Do you something you love. Starting a business doesn't happen overnight. You need something that you feel passionate about, and don't mind letting go or postponing other hobbies you may have had. If you can't look forward to working on your business, it's going to just be something you end up dropping and all your existing effort goes to waste. Even more, when you do work on something you love, I guarantee there will be parts you hate doing like filing paperwork and figuring out the tax laws for your area. This makes it all the more important that you enjoy that parts you are passionate about.
Does being an artist and taking comissions count?
>>367450
Sure! Why wouldn't it? I'm always very impressed by artists who can build up a following and turn their art into a full-time career. There are tons of avenues to explore like Patreon, Kickstarting art books, or just commissions on a blog or art hosting page.
Learn from your mistakes. I know we made mistakes trying to launch our Kickstarter, some of which I alluded to in previous posts. Ultimately I've taken away from my experience knowledge on how to make our next that much more likely to succeed. Hopefully I've shared some of that with you. Don't be afraid to make mistakes or fail, just make sure you learn from it.
