Webtogs is an e-commerce startup, aiming to sell outdoor clothing and equipment. Many of the founding members have been involved in the UK internet scene for some years, with practical experience of starting up service orientated companies in the past. But, the core team has, apart from Phil, very little retail experience.

TogBlog is our (unoriginal it must be said) attempt to produce a “warts and all” commentary on the process, the highs and lows and the general buzz behind attempting our launch and continuing journey on this scale.

Why? Well, several reasons:

Firstly, we’re big supporters of the emerging socially responsible aspects of the net. We believe that in our small way we might be able to help other like minded teams do the same thing, but better. It’s really not our aim to stand on a soap box and post away about how brilliant we are. We really want to get a community buzz around what we’re trying to achieve, with useful feedback from other like minded people. If, through sharing our experience, someone avoids some of our mistakes, then it’s worth doing (no really!).

Secondly, whenever I speak to people who don’t know what I do, as soon as I tell them I’m about to start an e-commerce website, more often than not, I get the “Oh I want to do that” or “I’ve got a great idea for an online shop”, etc. Based on this limited sample, we think (perhaps egotistically) that this is something people will want to read about.

Finally, (being honest) it’s a good way to get our name out there and hopefully some sales!

So how far are we willing to go with this?

The short answer, pretty far actually, it’s largely up to (a) how we feel and (b) what you want to know. We want to keep the post count as high as we can, and would love to hear from others in a similar scenario to us.