Hmm don’t understand the comment, I was refering to Ally’s comment about working for free. LMAO as up to that point was having a sh*t day and it was relevant to a situation at work is all. Sort off along the lines of “pay peanuts, employ monkeys” sort of thing.
Since I run the risk of further alienating (through incessant use of sarcasm and rapier wit), the P8 fraternity, I’ll give you a serious response to this thread. You give no details of your back ground so excuse me if I’m teaching you to suck eggs.
1. Give this some serious thought. Everybody wants to help along, get involved and hopefully make some cash from the sport (or maybe just play for free), but seriously is it worth losing your homes for???? You could be liable (unlimited liability) for any debts incurred by the business over and above your original financial investment. You either need serious cash behind you (usual stuff: Lottery winners, kill off wealthy relatives, illicit drug / protection racket funds, shops is a money laundering front etc), or be able to lie, embezzle and cheat money from a bank somewhere. Banks are no longer queuing up to lend money hand over fist to people for anything. Despite low interest rates and loan affordability, the economic outlook is bleak, and the FSA is insisting that bank’s reign in reckless lending. Opening a shop is an expensive undertaking do not underestimate this.
2. OK, so you’ve got the cash, commited to this venture, and gung-ho to continue. How long do you think you can run a loss for? A parallel should be drawn to PGI versus the new UK Paintball Fanzine. I’m not insinuating the magazines are in direct competition, but Rancid’s comments re running at a loss for a long time and having the support of Teddy Bear monthly or whatever as a “Cash-Cow” for a loss-making product is highly relevant. Also PGI is a quality glossy publication, although I’m sure PGUK aspires to this, the costs involved are huge and (although I wish them well), likely not achievable at first. Draw a parallel to shops and think where you would rather spend your money (substantial amounts of). Compare this to the magazines where both can (propably) co-exist due to their low cost to the consumer. Once you’ve sorted this, then think can you price compete with the existing outlets?
3. Customer base. OK so you open up a shop in London. Are we not approaching saturation point with Paintball shops as it is. Smartparts, Rekka, LPS and a new place just opening up in Dartford (to name a few), and London starts to look like a saturated market. All of these places also have firm customer bases. This is not a sport where people walk-in of the street and think “hey I’m just passing and fancy a new IR3 fly or Eclipse Impulse”. People seem to support a specific outlet with which they have rapport and trust with. If the average spend is about 3-6 grand a year on Pball, that amount of cash is only going to go to a business you trust. I personally use LPS whenever possible due to my marker choice, the great service and assistance. I think many other ballers who favor certain outlets mirror this. Hey, I’m not saying don’t go ahead, just look at your competition with care. Obviously certain retailers specialise with certain products, look at this and work out where product gaps lie and whether this can be either exploited or synergies lie. I mean opening up a shop which supplies Impulses just down the road from Smartparts in Bexley is gonna be pretty dumb. However open up a store in west London that is a Dye outlet and you might begin to corner the market. This will require careful consideration of your target consumer base.
4. Conusmer base / cash cows. Pretty much 90% of P8 population thinks “Bling Bling is King”, however expensive the Platinum to Titanium Dust Fade IR-Baboons are, is there enough of a profit margin to supply these at say 1 a week, or do you need to nuture and develop your cash cows (rec-ballers, paint only customers, people who still wear shock horror cammo!!!!). Business and investments often fail because people misread the market and are too aspirational in their approach. Of course you have to roll out the red carpet, complementary blo-jobs, small brazilian children etc for the Paul Colliers, Mr Pink’s and myself who P/X their markers every week, but don’t forget the 16 year olds who save their pocket money for a case of paint / Spyder etc. Alienate either consumer group at your peril!
5. You said shop, but don’t neglect other sales / distribution methods (Internet and delivery). This should influence your choice of location. Ok fantastic to have a shop next to Nike Town on Oxford street, but the cost of this location plus additional distribution costs make this a dumb choice. OK I use the most facetious of examples, but people are willing to travel out of town to feed their passion, an outlet / warehouse on the outskirts of town (with good transport links) would be a great location opposed to London per-se.
6. Staffing. Staff have to be knowledgeable, friendly and passionate about the sport and product. Obviously you feel passionate, but are you and expert on Solenoid springs on Impulse Visions, perform a trigger job on an Ir3 in under 20 mins, know your product, talk good game, inspire aspirations in your customer base? Again I’m not inferring you don’t know, but people like Smartparts, LPS etc can and will perform fixes quickly, often for free and explain the procedure to the customer. This will of course bring repeat custom and cash money.
7. Brand Image. Decide if you need a Strong Brand Image and association. Synergies can often be gained from other “extreme sports” (is Paintball an extreme sport, I don’t personally know), perhaps this is a marketing ploy to be exploited? Sell BMX gear, and for every Mongoose you sell give away a free game of Paintball as an introduction. Associate Pball with other activities and lifestyles and you may be able to pick up increased / repeat custom etc.
8. Look at who and what your suppliers are. It’s no good saying or quoting the latest gear e.g. Dye tops and Pants if you can’t get em for rocking horse sh*t. This will only piss of your customers who will go to other outlets who are gonna have prior claim to new stock. Don’t be a fly be night merchant promising stuff you can’t deliver. Nothing will get you a bad name quicker than this.
9. Perhaps you should look at marketing a unique product and work from there. Read how Dye developed on the back of the first 100 Boomstick barrells (this month. Look at tie ins / influences from other sports / products and see if you can come up with something beneficial and desirable not used in Paintball. Believe me if you think hard and laterally enough there are very very obvious crossovers and synergies to be gained. Unfortunately I’m not telling you what, because this issue has been kicked around at a fetal stage with some associates on the boards (not to say we haven’t miss read the market though).
Of course you will likely have considered all the above with care, but please be absolutely sure on some aspects of the above, or your business will possible be in trouble before it even starts. The last thing you want is to open up a business, get in trouble, and then have some nasty venture capitalist like myself coming in and asset striping you for 50p.
If you have thought of the above apologies for the long-winded note, very quiet at work this morning and fancied a waffle. Wish you luck if you do go ahead……..
