bthoreau llc | Application Preview
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General Information
Business Registration Number: 1403295400022
Location: Saint Paul, MN, United States
Length of Operation: 1-5
Number of Employees: 1-10 Employees
Annual Gross Income: Less than $100k
Annual Gross Expense: Less than $100k
Open to Loans: YES
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Funding Usage
Start-up expenses, inventory, small team of employees/interns, business licensing, travel, photography equipment, and computer hardware/software.
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Business Plan
I've built two startups already, and have expertise in digital marketing, social media marketing, web development, branding, copywriting, and graphic design. I also have access to industry leading technology and am rapidly acquiring/curating on the finest sports trading card collections. I have various items being auctioned off at Heritage Auctions, and have managed to generate revenue with my partner via ebay and local trade shows. However, best means of growing my business will be through the professional network I have built in a short span of time. I have been offered affiliate marketing from two of the upcoming Artificial Intelligence businesses within the sports card industry, which will generate immense traffic to my platform. I plan to also leverage my relationships with some of the major "card breakers," and hobby shops in the industry, such as Coulee Cards and Black Tie Breaks, affording me relative notoriety as an individual collector. I have already developed code, a "blue ocean" business plan, and a beta model of my planned e-commerce/luxury auction platform that separates me from my competitors, and curated one of the finest collections of sports cards, and secured Affiliate Marketing and API access to intellectual property from an Artificial Intelligence Platform. The high-end sports collectible/auction industry is facing regulations that will wipe out a significant amount of existing Hobby shops. I live in the Twin Cities, which currently does not have any quality sports card hobby shops, in such a large market. A brick and mortar location is only secondary to my primary operation, which is to build an interactive, online hobby shop, with featured month auctions/sales with cutting edge technology. I already have experience and a strong network within the global luxury auction network(i.e. Sotheby's, Heritage Auctions, Goldin, Bonham's, etc.). My competition is complacent given the relative lack of competitors on a regional level. Their primary means of revenue will undergo extensive regulation, however, my business model takes entirely different approach, in curating individual, graded, incredibly rare cards, versus the "wild west" of card breaking companies, dependent upon wholesalers and is entirely unsustainable. I have the technology to solve a massive asymmetrical/imperfect information gap within the sports trading card industry, where every single vendor treats eBay sold items comparisons like the NASDAQ for gauging fair pricing. Everyone is chasing the same products, and are incredibly shortsighted in their approach to building inventory. I have already generated revenue within the first few months since I entered this industry, as I noticed the parallels to the luxury auction/gemstone circuit I currently work in. My business and approach to building out my inventory is akin to that of venture capitalists and day traders, whereas I apply technical analysis, such as Fibonacci Charts to guide my investments. Many actors in this marketplace miss the larger picture by not viewing their trading cards as investment assets. I will also provide and have secured contacts for consignment, ensuring my limited luxury exhibitions and sales will be the finest in the industry.
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Self Identified Competition
In my eyes, with the approach I will take, I don't foresee any competitors as of yet. Google search any sports cards hobby shop and you can see the lack of innovation or attempt to recreate the experience of actually going to a hobby shop. Therefore, my competition would be some sort of spectrum. On one end is the average brick and mortar hobby shops located in small cities and towns, followed by the larger hobby chains with a decent online presence with a national reach, such as, Steel City Collectibles or Dave and Adams. Then on the high end of the spectrum is the luxury auction platforms such as Goldin and Heritage, however, the sports trading card industry is but one part of their immense portfolios. Said luxury auction houses are also geared towards a different type of product, out of touch with the flourishing younger demographic, seeking items such as Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth cards, entirely out of reach for the overwhelming majority of die-hard hobby enthusiasts. I believe I covered this extensively in the previous sections. I could go on and on about the differentiating factors. The primary one is arguably my general vision for the future of the industry, and filling the gaps in the marketplace that are entirely overlooked, or simply accepted as the modus operandi of every vendor I've come across. Simply put, I am going to innovate and employ cutting edge technology, to bring the absolute best hobby shop experience and exhibition, unconfined to boundaries of brick and mortar shops and the complacency of the rest of the marketplace. 3D, Artificial Intelligence, comprehensive product information, access to the rarest cards outside of the old school baseball target market, which is on its way out. The traffic I generate from my affiliate marketing deals and access to cutting edge technology will afford me the chance to help others showcase their collections without having to pay dreaded eBay fees and one-sided consignment deals one is offered if fortunate enough to get in contact with the legacy Auction Houses. Ebay, shortsighted/complacent Hobby/breaks, and the big auctions houses are going down. This marketplace, like any other, will belong to those who innovate.
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Contact Applicant
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