Here the answers. Sorry for the delay.
(1) Who are you ? What is your background ?
My name is Eric Morales and I have been involved in the Bitcoin community since April this year. I believe this industry is an amazing idea that can blossom into something huge and lucrative, by providing all the transactional services to merchants through a host website. I have been searching for a viable business for a few years now, and BZ would be my third business venture. I started a small wholesale company back in '07 while I was still in high school and the experience taught me a lot about what it took to make a business work. This year I started BitCoinWebHost and I was finally able to gain valuable experience on how to make a business profitable. I also started my business BitPorium to learn how the retail market worked. The dedication and time I have put into BitPorium has taught me a lot about dealing with customers.
(2) What other user names do you use / have you used on this forum ?
I have only used BitCoinWebHost on this forum.
(3) What makes BZ unique in the marketplace ?
BZ will allow merchants to provide their products to the bitcoin community without having to deal with the technology that makes everything work. A merchant can simply sign up for our service and immediately reach their customer base and focus only on dealing with customers, adding products to the store and accessing any orders that come in. The merchant will not need to worry about web site maintenance, running a Bitcoin server or even verifying payments.
(4) Who do you consider the top 5 competitors to BZ ?
In the bitcoin community, I have not seen any other business that would directly compete with us.
(5) How will you compete against each of them ?
BZ plans to make a portal which will allow customers and merchants to find people to trade their products and services with. Customers will be secure in knowing that each transaction must go through authorization by both the customer and the merchant.
(6) What is your target merchant ?
BZ is here to help anyone who wants to sell their products or services to the bitcoin community. Anyone who wants a simple and easy to use merchant interface, and wants to focus on customers and not on the technology side of running a website, will find BZ a great option.
(7) What would be the average annual revenue in BTC of a typical merchant ?
I don’t like to speculate on the potential earnings of a business. Some businesses will make more than others, just like any venture.
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What would be the average annual profit in BTC of a typical merchant ?
Again, I don’t know how other people will mark up their services or products, or the situation others are in.
(9) What, if any, restrictions would you place on what a merchant can sell through BZ ?
BZ must comply with all US laws in this category. Anything considered illegal by law, will not be allowed for sale on our site . For example, BZ will not allow a merchant to sell prescription drugs or any drugs that are regulated. No explosives or guns of any kind, or any illegal transactions.
(10) What will your pricing model be for these merchants ?
I have not yet chosen a specific pricing model but I am leaning towards an industry standard of 5-15% commission on sales. It all depends on further research.
(11) How do you intend to promote / advertise to these merchants ?
BZ will not advertise to an individual merchant, we will focus on advertising BZ as a whole. Similar to how Amazon or eBay promote their services; Individual merchants will also able to promote their products/services through our website.
(12) How have you reached a current valuation of 40,000 BTC for BZ ?
The current valuation is not 40k BTC. It is actually just 10k BTC. I chose that value because that is how much I think this endeavor is worth at the moment.
(13) Where is BZ registered ?
BZ is currently only registered on GLBSE. A business certificate is pending, as well as registering as LLC status.
(14) How many people are employed by BZ and what are the terms of each of their employment ?
Currently I am the only person working on BZ. All current needs are being outsourced until we can hire on permanent staff.
(15) What assets does BZ currently own ? (What would the shareholders be acquiring a 25% ownership of ?)
BZ currently owns its domain name. Shareholders will be acquiring 25% ownership of potential future income .
(16) When do you intend to start allowing merchants to operate through BZ ?
I plan on opening BZ to select merchants within the next two months, after the site is developed and fully tested. BZ will then completely open its doors to anyone, a month after that.
(17) Who owns the remaining 75% of BZ ?
I own the remaining 75%
(18) Do you intend to pay dividends to share owners ? If so, at what frequency ?
If it is decided to register as an LLC, then Dividends are required by law and will be paid out at an interval decided through member votes.
(19) What business information will you make available to shareholders ? At what frequency ?
All financial information will be open to all members for reviews as needed.
(20) What is your objective in selling 25% of Bitcoin Bazaar through GLBSE ?
My sole objective in selling 25% of the company now, is to raise enough capital to get everything started. These funds will be used to get the site up and running, developed and hosted on a scalable infrastructure.
(21) What other businesses do you own / partly own ?
I currently own BitCoinWebHost and BitPorium.
(22) What other businesses do you operate / partly operate ?
I operate BitCoinWebHost and BitPorium.
(23) What is your current occupation ?
I am a college student on my second year, and my occupation is running my businesses.
(24) How many hours per week will you aim to commit to BZ operations / activities ?
I plan on working 30-60+ hours per week on BZ, in order to build a successful website that the community can trust to conduct business. Creating the proper bonds and providing the safest and most secured service in this industry, will allow BZ to gain competitive advantage. Since the competition in this industry is relatively low, earning the pioneering title is absolutely attainable. My goal is to make BZ the market leader in the industry by focusing on a broad differentiation strategy.
