How to start an online store

This title may be a little misleading, due to the fact that my experience is limited in starting an online store.  But I wanted to share what I know so far, though my earnings have been slim.  I've decided to start a sporting goods store www.fourthquartersports.com.  If you were to click on this link you would see that the website is still under construction, due to the complexity of installing zen-cart for a beginner.  It will wear you out, but its free, so I press on.

The number one priority in setting up an online store is finding a domain name.  I used www.netfirms.com, I like them better then Go-Daddy because they are more conservative in their values.  Once that is complete, I used hostgator.com to be my website server.  I also created a logo on www.logogarden.com.  That logo won't compete against Nike or Fedex (with the subliminal arrow) but its not bad for a beginner.  So far I'm out about $75, and feeling pretty good about things.  That is great compared to starting a brick and mortar retail store.  But reality set in as I realized that there is a great deal of competition in the sporting goods arena.  Never-the-less I have decided to plug along.
When I returned home from being out of town, I started to set up my business in Utah.  This was a bit tricky as you need to accomplish several things, and it has to be in order.  First I went on the Utah.gov website https://secure.utah.gov/osbr-user/user/welcome.html.  This is the go to website and answers many questions. I called them to make sure that my business name Fourth Quarter Sports was still available, and to my joy it was.  Next I contacted the IRS to get my employer identification number.  You'll need this as you set up your business.  Back on the secure utah website I did the one stop online business registration.  This took care of my LLC, (which is important for protection), my business name, and it generated a utah sales and use tax number.  I took all of this imformation down to the utah state tax commission 210 N 1950 W, slc, utah.  Everything was finalized there, and I was able to get my customer tax id number so I could set up shop with vendors.
With all this in hand I started searching the web for "setting up vendor accounts for sporting goods".  I looked for those that would drop ship my products right to the customer.  This alleviates stocking up items at home.  There are many companies that are happy to do this, but your margins become thinner.  I was surprised to link up with several wholesalers, even while my website was still under construction.  While I have great hope that my business will do well, worst case scenerio is I'll have some products for family, friends, and my team, at wholesale prices.  I've also starting learning my way around computers, and the science of SEO strategies for Google, bing, and yahoo.
Now I'm off to the hardest part yet for a beginner like me; installing zen-cart.  While there are many good shopping carts out there, I'm whats called (a tight wad), so I'm going with the free, super complex shopping cart system (Zen Cart).  I am super excited to be selling great sporting good products, and apparel such as Nike, Ogio, Port Authority, Sport-Tek, Russell athletic, active wear, outer wear, and the list will continue to get bigger.  Please stop by www.fourthquartersports.com, and like us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fourth-Quarter-Sports/168308039985288, and follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/fourthquarters/lists.  Oh and again if you know of a 6 foot 5th grader, with great basketball skills, living in the Lehi, Utah area, let me know.  We are thinking of putting together a traveling team, that travels exclusively to Montana and back.

The real world of Recreation sports

I am a coach of an 11 year old competitive basketball team.  We have been together for 3 years now.  We've practiced once or twice a week for three years, and had games once or twice a week.  They have improved dramatically, but so has the competition.  Through teaching I believe that we grow more than we ever could otherwise.
Now for the reason that I write this post.  Over the past year, I've done several one on one tryouts. Each time I'm quite excited to see who's coming, because according to their parents, their son is the next Michael Jordan.  They tell me in their email that their son is tall, very athletic, a great shooter, learner, listener, and so on.  But they never even come close to measuring up.  Little do their parents know just how good these kids get, playing competitive basketball over several years, compared to recreational ball.
All of these kids that I've watched in tryouts, have only played recreation basketball.  While some of this is good, I believe it handicaps them.  In our recreational league they are forced to wear a colored wrist band, and guard only the opposing player with the same color.  You can not steal the ball, but you can walk all over the court, and never hear the whistle being blown.  I remember a player picking up a ball and running all over the court.  Are you kidding me.  And I'm not a yeller, but I will admit I was getting irritated.  All of this to slowly help them, and be as fair as possible (everyone gets a trophy).  But in the end the opposite occurs.
We have taken the same boys, in the same grade and put them into competitive ball.  They are forced to learn the rules and abide by them.  They must learn how to protect the basketball while dribbling, and passing, otherwise a turnover will occur.  And they have to learn how to break a press, keep their head up while dribbling, and work on the fundamentals of the game.  In this manner, these kids grow by leaps and bounds.
Now back to the latest tryout.  Micheal Jordan was suppose to show up.  I was excited as we were needing a big, polished player.  And according to his mother he was just the man for the job. In his first layup attempt, he dribbled down the court with his head down, he launched from just inside the free throw line, and almost missed the backboard.  No problem I said to myself, lets give him another shot.  His mother had told me that he was a great three point shooter.  So I tested his shot.  The shot was a two handed shot, starting under the left hip.  During his windup, it appeared he almost did the letter "O" with the ball.  His release was under his chin, both hands crossing each other, and then quickly falling to the floor.  We kept shooting so I could bring out the good three point shooting in him, but to no avail.  I was absolutely astonished.  So we did some more drills so it looked like I was taking a hard look at him, and then it was time to face the mother.
I told her that I could see some good things in him, but there was no way I could put him on the floor against these veteran players.  They would eat his lunch, and send him crying home.  I recommended that he really work on the fundamentals.  I gave her a homework basketball sheet, and told her to consistently do it, 3-4 times a week.  She was saddened, and just like any good mother she tried her best to sell him.  Luckily afterwards she told me that she teaches dance, and she understands the different levels.  I told her that her son could come and work with us to try and get better, and after a while we could try and get him on somebody's team.
In summary, I applaud all the mothers that think their boy is the best.  But I have learned not to get my hopes up too much.  If your boy is almost 6 feet tall and is in fifth grade give me a call.  We'd love to have him on our team.  Recreation basketball is good at times, but very damaging as well to those that want to move on.  But in the end, those that are most consistent in all that they do, will win out.  If you want to give you boy or girl the edge in any sport visit http://www.fourthquartersports.com.  Soon this store will have many different tools for improving ones game.