Ask John: How Can A Fan Start A Distribution Company?

Question:
i been intersted in manga and anime for years but i been thinking of starting my own biz in distributing anime and manga ie comic/novels and games made by fans only i have no idear how to start what should i do

(Editor’s note: Question published exactly as it was received.)

Answer:
I want to be encouraging and supportive of anyone seeking a career in the anime industry. However, I also feel a responsibility to give informed and realistic advice. In order to satisfy both of those precepts, I’ll try to be helpful, but I can’t be very detailed or specific. I’ll also need to be harsh, but I don’t wish to be mean spirited. First, and I think foremost, anyone interested in joining the anime distribution industry, especially in an executive or influential position, needs to be educated. The ability to communicate effectively with grammatically correct sentences should be an immediate concern. Business involves money, and no one will want to invest or risk money on someone who doesn’t inspire confidence. I mean no offense, but messages full of spelling & grammar errors do not create an impression that the writer is someone who’s intelligent enough to manage a professional business. Intelligence also includes having a grasp of business and economics. Anyone licensing and selling a product has to understand marketing, inventory management, resource acquisition, budgeting, and a myriad of other financial necessities. A distributor has to be able to acquire product, and has to capture buyers to sell the product to at a mark-up that recovers expenses and generates profit. A prospective distributor will need to know how to establish a legal business, compose and negotiate contracts, accept and make payments, hire and fire employees. All of these responsibilities are partially common sense, and partially a result of training, education, and experience.

Small, independent American manga distribution companies including Drama Queen, Seven Seas Entertainment, Icarus Comics, and Go Comi have all become relatively successful. Many of America’s major anime distribution companies, including AD Vision, Central Park Media, and Media Blasters started as tiny start-up companies founded and developed by enterprising individual owners. These examples prove that it’s possible for motivated individual anime fans to start their own distribution companies from scratch and succeed.

To establish your own company, you’ll need to come up with a name and start-up capital, then apply for a business license and tax identification number. That will incorporate you as a professional company. Next you’ll need to find and convince an artist that you can successful and profitably distribute the artist’s work. After you’ve negotiated a contract with an artist, you’ll need to fulfill your promises by paying for the publication of the work and selling it. If you’re a distribution company, you’ll want to contact and convince wholesalers or retailers to buy your publications for re-sale, which may be much more difficult than you imagine. You may find that major retailers refuse to even communicate with you because you’re a small company, and you may find that wholesalers and retailers will be hesitant to deal with you because you’re an unproven company with an unknown product. Assuming that you’re able to afford to pay for publishing, and able to pay your contracted artists, you’ll need to promote your products and do all that you can to make them sell well. If your initial product does sell well, use the profit it generates to repeat the process with another artist or another product. With some luck, your business will continue to grow.

I must warn you that actually establishing an anime or manga distribution company is difficult, and making such a company profitable is even more difficult. I have every confidence that it’s possible for a single motivated and determined anime fan to build a publishing company from the ground up, but I wouldn’t recommend the pursuit to anyone but the most absolutely determined and motivated fans. Good luck!