My New Hydro Shop

Green Inferno · May 9, 2011

Dj1209 said:
Yeah I figured an online store would be easier not having to deal with the entire store, and I should be able to manage it myself. Yes a great looking website is important same with the advertisement, I will post a sample to the site as I create it.

Zencart, Prestashop, Opencart and Magento are really good eCommerce platforms for a website. And they're free.
I usually will use Zencart, I think it's the most customizable.

You can get web hosting for like $5 a month. I use Hostgator.

see4 · May 9, 2011

Dj, there are 4 hydro shops in the area, htgsupply is in southborough, and there is another store near haverhill and a few others in the south shore.

I like your idea of starting another one... but here's your basic idea about starting a biz.... first I suggest you spend some time on sba.gov -- then you will need to research suppliers and wholesalers, then you will need to get a resellers license and permit, then you will need to located space to lease, then you will need to register a business in the town you decide to do business in and with the state -- it is a very lengthy process, and takes full time dedication -- sba.gov can show you how to apply for business loans to get you up and running -- and there are websites out there that can help with that too, like prosper.com and google sites for 'social investing' -- I have a few links that I can supply you with if interested...

And there's a possibility if your idea is good I may think about talking with you -- Im looking to start a business, and I have a little cash to invest with -- might be something worth looking into...

You do know though, hydrostore owners don't make much money -- the overhead is fairly low, but so are the profits in a competitive market.

see4 · May 9, 2011

Ahh, you're already talking about the web side of things. Yea, Magento is hands down the best (OS) shopping cart system.

Green Inferno · May 9, 2011

see4 said:
Ahh, you're already talking about the web side of things. Yea, Magento is hands down the best (OS) shopping cart system.

The first shopping cart software I used was Shopsite. Worst $30 a month I've ever spent. I then switched to osCommerce. I didn't care for that one either.

Magento is probably the most professional looking one that is free. I've used it a few times, I have no complaints. Easy to learn.

see4 · May 9, 2011

Green Inferno said:
The first shopping cart software I used was Shopsite. Worst $30 a month I've ever spent. I then switched to osCommerce. I didn't care for that one either.

Magento is probably the most professional looking one that is free. I've used it a few times, I have no complaints. Easy to learn.

Yea, osCommerce is good too, but geared more for folks who are technically capable and who wish to completely customize their system from the core. Magento is great for those who dont want to spend money on technical folks, and focus more on delivering a compelling front end. Im technically capable, and enjoy Magento, but wish it was more object oriented and less dependencies than osC. But yea, definitely right, Magento is much more professional looking out of the box.

Green Inferno · May 9, 2011

see4 said:
Yea, osCommerce is good too, but geared more for folks who are technically capable and who wish to completely customize their system from the core. Magento is great for those who dont want to spend money on technical folks, and focus more on delivering a compelling front end. Im technically capable, and enjoy Magento, but wish it was more object oriented and less dependencies than osC. But yea, definitely right, Magento is much more professional looking out of the box.

I mostly use and recommend Zencart, I know it inside and out. But out of the box, it is kinda lame. It takes a lot of work to make it look good.
I have a whole folder of templates and plugins for Zen. Os is decent if you know how to edit the css style sheet, and know how to install plugins.
Os and Zen is pretty much the same thing. As is tomatocart, I like tomatocart's control panel, it is windows based.

Dj1209 · May 10, 2011

see4 said:
Dj, there are 4 hydro shops in the area, htgsupply is in southborough, and there is another store near haverhill and a few others in the south shore.

I like your idea of starting another one... but here's your basic idea about starting a biz.... first I suggest you spend some time on sba.gov -- then you will need to research suppliers and wholesalers, then you will need to get a resellers license and permit, then you will need to located space to lease, then you will need to register a business in the town you decide to do business in and with the state -- it is a very lengthy process, and takes full time dedication -- sba.gov can show you how to apply for business loans to get you up and running -- and there are websites out there that can help with that too, like prosper.com and google sites for 'social investing' -- I have a few links that I can supply you with if interested...

And there's a possibility if your idea is good I may think about talking with you -- Im looking to start a business, and I have a little cash to invest with -- might be something worth looking into...

You do know though, hydrostore owners don't make much money -- the overhead is fairly low, but so are the profits in a competitive market.

Never heard of them and sure as hell couldn't find them when I was light shopping, ill be sure to get back to you with a complete business plan if you are serious about investing.

My New Hydro Shop

Green Inferno

Active Member

see4

Well-Known Member

see4

Well-Known Member

Green Inferno

Active Member

see4

Well-Known Member

Green Inferno

Active Member

Dj1209

Well-Known Member