I must also congratulate you.  In most cases, you will never get rich working for somebody else.  Before doing anything, you have to do market research as to what shoes are selling and where.  For instance, Adidas shoes may be more popular in New York than Texas.  Once you have the products down, it's time for basic accounting.  Make sure that you can float the expenses for a year or more.  Pretend as if you will never sell a pair of shoes the first year.     Once you have this down, begin reading marketing books and carve our your niche.  I began my business at 25 and have learned a lot.  You're in for a fun ride, but never stop working and never stop learning.  If you strive to be the best at what you do, you'll end up in the top 10%.  Get 'em.  

VLW, Congratulations on the decision to open your own business! Fortunately for you, the City of Nashville has some great online resources developed especially for the small businessperson. Take a look at: http://www.nashville.gov/work.asp which has a ton of great information to get you started and help you understand the process. Also, the state of Tennessee publishes a great starter's guide for small businesses in .pdf format that you should definitely check out (http://www.state.tn.us/ecd/pdfs/SGB_smart_guide_2010.pdf). Finally, find a good mentor, write a solid business plan and stay passionate about wht you do! Best of luck to you! Regards, Tony O

vlw2006, Congratulations on wanting to start your own business. Business.gov has a lot of resources that will help you along the way. Take a look at our 10 Steps to Starting a Business in TN Another large part of starting a business is financing. Take a look at our Ultimate Guide to Financing. If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask them here. JimD

You can do it everything online and for free. 1) Open a Blog and offer your product there. Write post every day and read about SEO 2) Create a Facebook Page 3) Create Twitter 4) Open an Ebay account

why don't you trying to bussiness online using facebook?

First of all, my congratulations on a smart and mature decision! When looking for information on starting your business, you have three options: 1) Visit or call your local Secretary of State office 2) Talk to the folks at a nearby SBA (small business association) 3) Visit a lawyer   In case you would like to get some more general business-related info take a look at my bookmarks   Good luck!