Paintball Store

[badlandsrox]

Hey everyone, i was just wondering if you guys have any suggestions on opening up a paintball store, either online, or an actual store. I have been planing on trying to open one up, but i was wondering if you guys have any ideas/suggestions...?

[Paradox313]

i would suggest getting a co-owner and a small lot
start from there and work your way up
try and also make it an online store and maybe make a field
if too much money get a loan or somethin
but thats my opinion

[badlandsrox]

I was thinkin maybe run it mostly offline from the beggining, and possibly using half of my barn as a store/shop/warehouse, that way i could run it from home, and save on the rent from anywhere else

[TheRedBarron]

Time, Money, Patience, Knowledge all of these are required to run a shop either online or local. It takes ALOT of money and ALOT of time. Unless you can afford to sacrifice both of these I would drop the idea. You are not going to make your money back fast, and remember that expanding too fast is the worst thing you can do. Keep into account that you need to have a customer base that will keep buying, you need to be able to stay on top of the most recent gear and prices, and if it is an online store you would have a hard time selling on here, because A. Durrell has most of the customer base, B. You will have to beat all online stores prices. Lastly remember the time aspect, you are looking at long days crunching numbers, figuring out what you are going to keep in stock and what you will have to order, figure out how much paint you need to order and when to do so figuring prices, searching for wholesale accounts, looking up info...

Starting a shop is a big commitment and if you are going to follow through with it you need to take all of this into consideration...

[mv540]

Originally Posted by TheRedBarron

figure out how much paint you need to order and when to do so figuring prices, searching for wholesale accounts, looking up info...

.

Where do i order paintballs. do anyone of you gat some phone numbers or webpages?

I`m planning on open a field, so I need that info pliz

[bamf-hacker]

Pev's Paintball sells wholesale to fields and stores, at least I think they do. I would check with them.

HacKeR

[timmyshoota]

Contact Procaps, they distribute directly to fields and stores.

[durrell]

Originally Posted by TheRedBarron

Time, Money, Patience, Knowledge all of these are required to run a shop either online or local. It takes ALOT of money and ALOT of time. Unless you can afford to sacrifice both of these I would drop the idea. You are not going to make your money back fast, and remember that expanding too fast is the worst thing you can do.

Very true. It's also extremely difficult to keep a live inventory of products online when you, in fact, do not have a live inventory. Unless you have the capital to start a physical STORE, it's not worth getting into. The amount of competition is outrageous and very difficult to deal with, especially when many people violate MAP publicly instead of doing the legal "add to cart, then see the low price" that big stores do.

Keep into account that you need to have a customer base that will keep buying, you need to be able to stay on top of the most recent gear and prices, and if it is an online store you would have a hard time selling on here, because A. Durrell has most of the customer base, B. You will have to beat all online stores prices.

This is true as well, thankfully the members of this forum have been 100 percent supportive and given me alot of business. If you do decide to get into it, you're going to have to build a customer base on customer service.

Lastly remember the time aspect, you are looking at long days crunching numbers, figuring out what you are going to keep in stock and what you will have to order, figure out how much paint you need to order and when to do so figuring prices, searching for wholesale accounts, looking up info...
Starting a shop is a big commitment and if you are going to follow through with it you need to take all of this into consideration...

Yes, I'm going to college next year to get my business degree with hopes of that helping my business flourish when we decide to open the field. One thing he didn't mention is the amount of state and federal paperwork and licensing required to operate a business of any kind. There's tax forms, wholesale forms, sales tax ID's, business licenses, and then taxes at the end of the year. It's all alot of work, but it can be rewarding..

[timmyshoota]

The paperwork thing is important. My co-worker opened up a smoothie stand and he's gone through mounds of paperwork with the state and federal government. Its a big oversight when opening a business.

[TacTownKilla]

Originally Posted by Paradox313

i would suggest getting a co-owner and a small lot
start from there and work your way up
try and also make it an online store and maybe make a field
if too much money get a loan or somethin
but thats my opinion

So open up a store, field and online store all at once? Heck why not put up some bill boards and make a whole chain of stores... May i surgest one thing at a time.