[Game Over]

Whatever happened to Chloria? Every time I go to it, it's down. Did Shiisho give up on it for Elidiun? XD /somewhat off topic.

Anyways, you definitely need at least 1 dedicated developer for your site. Most avatar sites that pop up now a days are just a php forum with mods thrown together. You'll need a developer to make you custom things so that you can stand out. I'm pretty sure there are no up to date avatar systems available. You can always build nice layouts in Dreamweaver. It's what I use for site building.

You should probably also look for more than 1 artist. Only having 1 artist will lead to her being burnt out pretty fast if you plan on having regular updates item wise.

Also, from stuff I've seen on other sites, make sure the people you hire are mature individuals. Nothing like immature teenagers to ruin a site's reputation.