Expert: Dan Pepper - 3/24/2009

Question
I'm 23 years old and have team of about two friends that are interested in starting an adult website. Interestingly enough we want it to be a soft core site. We live in nyc, however I'm considering registering the business in CA or NV if that even possible. That my first question. Second I don't have thousands of dollars to spend on a website, plus spending another thousand dollars every time I need some legal advice. Are there more sites like this with more elaborate information we can learn from, and basically do most of the work ourselves? Because In our case a dollar save is not only a dollar earned, buts also whether or not we will be able to put up this site. I really appreciate the help in advanced.

Answer
Chris,

Regarding your question, it is possible to register your business in CA or NV; whether that is advisable or not depends completely on your particular business situation and planned structure.

For your next question, if you do not have much money to spend on a site or getting the critical legal advice you'd need, your options are few.  You did not indicate what type of site you want to start, or whether you plan on producing your own content.  You could potentially operate an affiliate site and not have to spend too much money up front, but you'll certainly need to learn how to promote and market the site properly, which when done correctly, can become costly.

My best advice is to do your homework.  Check out websites like xbiz.com and ynot.com to see what others are doing, ask questions in their forums, and find out what works and what doesn't.  If you want to start producing your own content, you would be well advised to pick up the excellent guide at www.theadultbusinessformula.com.