Magic Arrow's Guide to Creating a Successful Sythe Business!

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Reasons for making this guide
I wanted to make a guide that people would actually find useful. I also wanted it to be something the majority of people were interested in. Many people on Sythe do not realize how some of the smallest things you can do actually have the largest impact on the relative success of the business. I wanted to help those people, and to others who were curious as to how some people make a decent amount of money on this website.
To use this guide, you will need the following
- People skills
- A good amount of money to invest
- A decent reputation (Optional, but recommended)​

In the business cycle, there are four stages. Establishment, Growth, Maturity and Post-Maturity. This guide will be focussing mainly on the establishment phase, because it is undoubtedly the most crucial stage of the business cycle. I will cover a basic growth plan too. This guide will teach you how to start, maintaining and profit off a developing business. You should pay attention to some things others may not pay attention to, as ultimately that could be what makes you more successful than he is. I will commonly refer to my pin selling shop as an example in this guide.​

Business Phases Glossary
Establishment – The period where the business has started operation. Usually, little to no profit is made, and the business is only looking to get on its feet. You should expect to put out more money than you get in this phase. This phase is often what lays the foundation of the business. If you survive this phase, you’re well on your way to making a successful business
Growth – The period of time when your business is rapidly growing. Your sales are increasing and you’re making more money. This is often the period where business owners choose to expand their business. ​

You’re sitting one day, browsing through Sythe, and you curiously wander to the Market section of the website. You see a thread with thousands of replies, and you ask yourself "Why can't that be me?” So you go to that thread, and take a thorough read through it. You assume the owner of that business is making a decent pile of cash and is gaining a lot of trust, so as you’re going to sleep that night you think and decide that you want to start up a similar service to make money. ​

This is what happened to me when I decided to go into pin selling. I was curiously going into the now removed pin sales area, and I saw Skele_Master's pin shop. I decided to start my own pin shop then and there.​

Before your idea into place is harder than it seems. You may think it's as simple as going to the section and starting a thread but it's not! Before going into any business in general, you have to do as much research on the product as you can. You also have to transfer a good amount of money to invest. This money is going to be used to buy products for your business, advertise your business, and expand it. Knowledge is power, and money is power. You should also find a reliable wholesaler before starting your business, because without one it's useless.​

When I was going into pin selling, I transferred money from my bank account. In the three days that I had free to wait for it to complete, I researched the Pin sales market. At the time, there were about ten different popular sellers, people like Aje, Skele_Master, Unb4nn3d, Matthew905. After a good amount of research, I established that the average pin price was $3.5, the majority of sellers were not from Australia and that none had a selling price below $3. I was also lucky enough to have an honest wholesaler, selling me my product for almost half what the others were paying for.​

After you have the money to invest readily available, you create something unique about your business. Most businesses have a simple "buy your product and leave mentality". You should try to have something in your business that no-one else does. This is so you can attract customers to your business. You should never start by selling your product above its market price. That drives away customers. You have to realize that at the beginning, you will make very little money at best. You will probably be at loss for the first few weeks. You should have spare cash, about as much as you spent on the products, to spend on other feature in your business.​

After having about $300 to invest, I contacted a few staff members and asked them if they would be interested in co-running the business with me. My original idea was to find out how I can maximize shop trading hours. After a few polite answers of no, one staff member at the time, Stuart, accepted my invitation. He was from the United Kingdom, and I was from Australia, so I was still selling pins while I was sleeping thanks to him. I was also the only business at the time to have a staff member.​

Okay, now that you have your idea, product and money ready, it’s time to deliver. You should contact all your Sythe friends on MSN, informing them that you are about to open a Sythe business, and that you want their support. Ask them for advice, as well. Make them feel connected to the business. Now you’re ready to make the thread. It is recommended that you buy some graphics for your shop, though not essential. Although the layout is completely up to you, some general rules do apply. You should divide your thread into three magical parts; Introduction, Product and Review. The Introduction section tells them about your product and a little about yourself. You basically say what you are selling and why people should use you. This is a good place to put what is unique about you business, too. Then comes the product. Here you should include your price, stock and contact details. Lastly comes your customer reviews. This is usually your vouches. Click post when done.​

Take a look at my current thread layout as an example. Feel free to ask me for help with this step.​

This is it. Your thread is up, its layout looks good, and you’re awaiting your first customers. You should have an opening day special. Decrease price, even if you are selling at cost price. Do not worry if it takes a few hours to get your first customer, he’ll come eventually. When he does come, there are a few things you must do. These are things that some other people neglect. I can’t stress how vital this part is. ​

• When he contacts you, be very friendly and polite. If he says “Hi”, say “Hi, how can I help you sir?” Sound professional and use perfect or close to perfect grammar.​
• Make sure he feels safe trading you. Do not rave about how trusted you are or how many products you’ve sold. ​
• Never say you are busy, unless you’re going to be absent from the computer for a while. In which case, you politely say something to the effect of “Hi, sorry, I’m just about to leave, I’ll get back as soon as I can, and if you need me then I’ll promptly get to it”.​
• Be prompt. Do not waste time on pointless matters. You should be polite all the while. Try to get things done as quickly as possible.​
• Do not act stupid or immature in front of a potential customer. Some people, including myself, have been guilty of being tempted to block the buyer for a few seconds, saying that I scammed him before hand. Then logging back on and telling him it was a joke. While it might seem funny, and the buyer will almost certainly take it as a joke, you do not look professional.​
• Make sure the customer is satisfied after the trade is done. Ask him if he was satisfied. If he says yes, be polite and tell him something like “Thanks for using Magic Arrow’s Guide Service”. ​
• Understand that not all people are blessed with English being their first language. If a buyer is confused about an aspect of your service, do not rudely tell him to read the thread again. Try to explain it to him as best you can.​
• After the trade is done, do not persist in asking for a vouch. It again shows that you’re unprofessional. Ask once, politely, and if he refuses, repeat “Thanks for using my service anyway”. The majority of the time he’ll end up vouching anyway, just because you have shown that you will not break an arm and a leg over a vouch.​

Now that you’ve gotten a few sales, and have made back a little bit of money, re-spend that money advertising your business. Ask popular users, especially staff members and prominent users if they are willing to sell you some signature space for a few dollars. Aim to have about four to six signature advertisements. That way, your shop is being noticed outside the section that your thread is in. If there are any community activities going on, ask the thread creator if he is willing to sell advertisement space within his signature. Chances are he is. One thing though, and that is one that many people neglect and don’t realise is that the most effective type of advertising is actually free, and that’s word of mouth advertising. If a user is satisfied using your service, not only is he likely to come back but there is also a decent chance that he’ll redirect others to your shop if anyone ever asks him if he needs that product. Remember, sometimes the best thing in life are free. This also happens in business.​

When outside the product your selling’s section, be mature, polite and helpful. You should also consider gaining a donation rank, as it shows that you contribute to the community. You should keep in mind that sometimes Sythe regulars need to buy a pin, and if they see you conducting yourself in an orderly manner outside the product your selling’s section, chances are they will give you more consideration than some person you have not seen. Do not assume that just because you’re outside your business section that it does not in some way shape or form affect the reputation of your business, because it does and in a huge way. Remember, reputation is very important to any business, and unnecessary negativity should be avoided at all costs.​

You should never over or under stock. This is where some business loses its customers. As a general rule, always have stock in the business to last an average ten days of sales. If you are unable to adequately restock, try and find alternative products to sell, in small quantaties to ensure that you are at least satisfying one market group and the time between the stock being available and you losing stock is valuable time you can use building up on your reputation.​

By this I do not mean being a staff member, but I mean having a good relationship with powerful members of Sythe. This does not necessarily mean staff, this can be Sythe regulars, active users respected users and other product business owners. These people are often asked question by newer users when they want to find a product, and if they see you as a good person they are likely to redirect them to you and help increase sales. There are so many positives to this, and it is so easy to add about ten or so users and talk regularly with them.​

Another thing modern day Sythe business neglects. You should add the other popular people who are selling the same product as you, and maintain a good relationship with them. Discuss business regularly, and try to help them as much as you can. You might wonder why it’s good to help the enemy, because it’s possible that one day you might need their help, and when that day comes and pays dividends you’ll realize. This can be in the form of a loan, wholesale products or customer redirection when they are out of stock. ​

Boast about this, just because it is a much better weapon than vouches, trade value and product sales. When you tell someone that all or most of the people you’ve sold have been satisfied they can no longer say they are better than you, because the best they can do is be equal to you. You’ve automatically gained the upper hand, and you can now use this as a punch line or attraction towards your business. If your customers are happy, so should you, and if they are satisfied, then you’re satisfied. If the opposite is happening, understand that something is not right and refer to my tips in this thread to see what you aren’t doing and what you can do better next time.​

If you’ve done the above, your business should have survived and now should have a decent reputation. This is the ideal time to expand your business. You should always look to sell products similar to yours. For example, if you’re selling Runescape upgrades, try expanding so that you can sell Runescape® and Funorb® upgrades. This way you appeal to a wider customer base, and the more people who have interest in your products, the larger your sales will be and your profits will increase. Don’t try to over expand the business, this often leads to failure, because if you have too many products, and so many of those products are being sold at a slow rate then your business will not have adequate funds to purchase fast selling products. It’s very simple.​

If the time comes were real life issues have caught up with you and you no longer have the time to keep up with your business, it’s time to close down. You should sell all your products, and then cash in on the profits that have come through. Because Sythe is a privately owned website, you cannot sell you business to anyone. However, if you’ve been a good owner, and one day in the future you decide that you want to re-open the business, your reputation will be available to use. Do not decide to go on and be silly just because your business is ready to close down. Do not take it as an opportunity to scam, either, because although it will be kind of a cash in, you’ll lose the reputation that you’ve built up, and if you ever want to restart a business it’ll cost you to start building up that reputation again!​

Just to use my previous pin shop as an example, I’ll set a timeline in chronological order without dates to show you how I built the now defunct Pin Palace and then turned it into a successful upgrade service.
• Decide to go into and make a pin business
• Contact staff members to see if any would agree to work with me, WoW moderator Stuart agrees
• Pin Palace is opened, and as an opening special pins are sold at a bargain price of $2
• Stuart is forced to leave.
• I decide to recruit administrator Finn, sales rapidly increase
• Finn leaves Pin Palace
• For the first time, I am running the business solely on my own. Profits increase dramatically.
• Pin Palace now has an immaculate reputation, and is among the top five pin shops
• Personal best of 200 pins sold for the month of April
• Forced to close the business as I am leaving for Lebanon
• Sythe bans pin shops, introduces upgrade services
• Magic Arrow’s Upgrade service is set up.
• Profits are high. 100% success rate of fulfilment of the guarantee of maximum 24 hours delivery time.
• Shop is currently among the top three​

Footnote
Thank you for reading this guide. If you choose to follow it, please thank me in this thread. This guide was written 100% by Magic Arrow using his own personal knowledge. If you wish to re-use, edit or re-make any part of this guide, please ask for written permission.​

 

Very nice guide

 

Thank you.

 

Decent guide , although business's on sythe can be hard to start up because of the amount of people doing it.

This should really help others

+1

 

I said they should do research, and told them how they would stand out.

 

Usually, by providing a good and reliable service, you can "stand out".

The guide was very informative and I'm thinking of starting a business myself.

 

Thanks.

 

Wow, very in depth. Thank you for sharing this :]

 

Glad people like it.

 

Good guide dude, I'll definitely use it. Thank you.

 

Hope your business will be as successful as mine!

 

Amazing guide. Will probably follow it in future.

 

Glad you enjoyed.

 

Thanks. Great Guide. I really like the sig advertising idea, did you ever have to pay over 5$ for a sig slot?

 

Signature advertisements are pretty cheap. You can probably get a couple of people to put one in for a couple of dollars, like 2-3. Enjoy.

 

Magic Arrow,
This is one of the best guides I think I have ever read. Your wording, your categories, you concepts, all are fantastic.

Beginning : Your introduction was good. You set up what was going to be talked about what what concepts you would be teaching.

Content: Your whole guide was great. You almost took the reader on a ride through everything a business owner must do to be successful. I really liked how you included a timeline on your own personal successes. The signature advertisement idea was really good too. You also made it clear that to be successful you have to excel in all areas of your business. In all honesty I couldn't find one thing wrong with this guide.

Closing: At the end you talked about if you cannot keep up with or satisfy costumer needs, you should stop. I really like this thought, and feel that many people on sythe try to drag out their business, even when they should stop.

I would rate this guide a full 10/10, great job marrow.

 

I want to start a business, but i have no idea what i would do. I have 5 paid scripts, but theres already like a thousand skill trainers. I only have like a buck in my papal, so i can't buy pins or scripts. Any ideas? Pm me please.

 

Wow. I'm new, and I'd gain a reputation and partner with someone before opening my own business, but this is a really fantastic guide. You can see you put a lot of effort into it, and you seem like a knowledgeable and intelligent person. Thanks for the guide, and I think I'll be using you for my upgrades soon!

 

You're stuck between a rock and a hard place. The only thing you can do is offer training services, which would make minimal profit anyway. The way Sythe interacts with Runescape these days makes it difficult to find decent products to sell, with the major three businesses being GP, Upgrades and Accounts. However, I have a suggestion for you. Depending on how good you are at Runescape, you could probably offer a service like questing or maybe even firecaping. Both are decent money makers.

Haha, thanks.

This guide took me a while to make, but I'm satisfied with how it turned out. =D

 

Wow, very nice guide, marrow

really well thought out and put together really nicely. This guide should be put as a stick in the Community General system or a auto message to new sythe members, i think it would help them get accustomed very quickly

Once again, great guide! 10/10!