I know this has been done to death by the likes of TemplateMonster.com, coolhomepages.com/store and Ilayouts.com as well as many others, but I think the internet is a HUGE marketplace and I could find a niche somewhere in there. I also have heard that these templates from the big guys are terribly coded and that it’s a major drawback as to why some people don’t use them. I am a fairly accomplished designer and know my way around photoshop pretty well. I also am fluent in xhtml and css/tablelesss designs. So, I think I can create 20 sharp looking templates, code them with easy-to-read css and xhtml, and put them up for sale for around $25-$40 each. The problem I encountered with templates was the reselling of stock photos. I went around to numerous stock photo sites, and each said they don’t allow you to re-sell their work. The exception to this was www.sxc.hu. It allows this, AND they are completely free.
Of course I would email the author to get permission before using it, but I don’t think I would run into any trouble. I think I could set this up with a free shopping cart, use paypal to collect the payments, and have a decent income. The major expense would be in my time. To get 1 template designed and coded would probably take a good 5 hours or so. Multiply that by 20, and that’s a substantial chunk of time. I would have to work on it after 5:00 every day, and some on the weekends. But, that’s by no means out of the realm of possibility. So, I may end up implementing this business in the near future. If I need inspiration, I can just peruse through the many other template stores and use them to guide me.
We’ll see how this goes though. But, if I do it, I am just going to go for it. I will have a very loose business plan and not let any “noise” slow me down.