First I think you need to believe in your project and try to do your best to make it succeed. Before you buy a script do not forget to check the "search engine friendliness" of the script. If you have a good script and good content for your website you can easily sell it later and offset your loss to some extent. But do not expect to get all your money back when selling a startup project.
True, but it usually costs $20 a month for a subscription and there is usually a large sign up fee. And tons of ppl don't want to pay that amount. Also, these sites cater to higherstakes, and not low stakes. This site would be kind of like my personal blog, only it would feature a video section. I wont be able to teach ppl how to make $200K a year, but I could make a losing player into a winning player. Anyway, I have several students who I teach for $20 an hour (you can find me on the 2+2 poker forum). I think they would disagree w/ you about me not being qualified to teach. Anyway, the point I am making is: I'm heavily involved in the poker community, I know about evry single site I am going to be competing with. I think my niche is good. Even though there are some great contenders, I think I cater to a different niche. I found some cool scripts/templates though, so I think I wont spend too much money on my site: http://www.iscripts.com/visualcaster/?scheme=11&pid=19 http://www.iscripts.com/multicart/index.php http://www.epicwebstrategies.com/11-free-magazine-style-wordpress-themes/ would using these 2 scripts and 1 template be a good way to start if I dont want to lose all my money?