xerxesmcc
Citizen
Supporter
Commerce Department
Construction & Transport Department
xerxesmcc
Economist
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2021
- Messages
- 574
- Thread Author
- #1
Firm Name
Costco
Which grant pool are you applying for?
Innovation, Startup, Research and Development (R&D)
How do you plan on using your grant funding?
Costco is a startup relaunch (currently located in a CBD rental location) with a proven track record. From 2020 to 2022 I built and ran Costco into the #1 company on DemocracyCraft (top 3 for the majority of my time online) providing hundreds of jobs to suppliers and employees and changing the way the economy ran. I'm rebuilding it for today's market, and this funding goes toward three things: a permanent home, the semi-automated systems our model depends on, and the stock to launch.
Use of funds ($130,000):
Permanent HQ plot — $85,000. We've identified a plot near spawn listed at $85,000 to serve as Costco's permanent headquarters. If it falls through, we'll secure a comparable property and post the updated allocation publicly. We intend to operate as a fully transparent company.
Construction & player housing — $23,000. Building out the HQ and the affordable apartments above it. The goal is one location that gives players both a job and a home — cheap starter housing for new players sitting directly above the shop that employs them.
Semi-automation systems — $9,000. This is the core of the business and where the innovation lives. We're building furnace, farming, and collection systems to make mass XP generation genuinely attainable, so we can sell fully-enchanted gear affordably and keep it consistently in stock. There's a clear gap in the market right now: enchanted gear is either overpriced or perpetually out of stock, and our semi-automated processes are designed to close it.
Initial stock & operating capital — $13,000. To launch our miner and farmer job programs and stock day-to-day goods for players.
I want to address the elephant in the room: yes, the majority of this budget goes toward the plot and construction, so why apply under Innovation rather than Construction? Because the property isn't the goal — it's the foundation the innovation has to stand on. Costco is a startup relaunch, which fits this category squarely, and the entire reason we need a permanent HQ is to house the semi-automated XP and production systems that are the actual heart of this business. The building is the shell; the innovation is what goes inside it. You can't build mass-automation infrastructure on a short-term rental I might lose next week. Construction is a means to an end here, and that end is the semi-automated processes and machines this grant is built to support. Funding the plot funds the innovation - they're the same investment.
I'm personally committed to this well beyond talk. I've already put 20,000 of my own money into the company, including on a gold drill to dig out space for operations. I'm not looking for a handout - I'm asking for backing to turn a proven concept into a permanent fixture of today's economy, one that creates jobs, houses new players, and fills a real gap in the market.
Ideal Grant Amount $130,000
If awarded, I intend to use the grant money allocated to me for its intended purpose on which it was approved for, and provide a breakdown in my application thread of how the funding was used.
Yes
