I think I've got it

For most of my adolescent and adult life I’ve been trying to figure out how to make a living from my passion for science fiction.

When I was in high-school I was determined to publish my own comic book series… had dozens of characters and story-lines worked out. It would have been really cool. But I realised the South African comic-book market was very small… and even smaller for locally-published product. The meagre profits gained wouldn’t have offset the expense involved in publishing it. I gave up on that idea.

I’ve had several other ideas over the years, but they all involved winning the lottery… not easy to do.

But yesterday I was thinking and I came up with a pretty cool plan: I want to become a gaming retailer.

I would love to open a shop providing comprehensive gaming solutions… CCGs, RPGs, CMGs, board games and, of course, computer and console games (including the necessary hardware). I would also like to have an in-house facility for tournaments and events, as well as just chilling with fellow gamers.

I know, it’s gonna be lank expensive to organise a premises for something like that… especially taking into account the fact that it’s a very niche market that’s very close to being flooded.

For that reason I’m thinking I should start it online… a kind of mini amazon.com type arrangement specifically for gaming stuff. I would have to maintain a low profit margin in order not to price myself out of the market, but since the overheads for a website are relatively low, I’d be able to do just that.

I already have most of the contacts I need to pull it off… I just have to build relationships with computer and console gaming distributors, and acquire some e-commerce skills, and I’m all set.

Once I’ve saved up enough capital I can open my shop.

It’s not a cash-cow, and it’s not going to make me rich. But maybe if I keep at it and manage it carefully, in a few years I might be able to become a professional gamer of sorts. That would be super cool.