Business tactics.

[Carrel]

Hey guys,

I have thought of an idea for an airsoft skirmish site (CQB). I'm just wondering on what kind of financial margins I should aim for. The site would be 3350 square feet.

What would have to be considered, obviously the site rent or purchase, the insurance, UKARA. I'm wondering what kind of things to expect and an approximate cost of an average site just to check if this would be a viable avenue to go down.

Essentially my business idea is to rent a warehouse and have skirmishers put in a membership which will cost them £X amount per month. However to start of the site the place would use the more common strategy of paying to play for the first year or two until there is more activity.

Once the 1 or 2 year mark is met and the site is in a position to change its structure members would be gathered and signed up with no fee's to pay (only when they come to the site), once there are enough members it would switch to a monthly fee for members which would give them more value for money and still provide a profit margin for the business.

So instead of paying every time you go to the site you would pay a monthly fee and skirmish as much as you want. What I want to provide is a site which will grow and reduce the fee's as more members join. Of course then there would be a minimum fee for members so that the profits would then still be there.

I just want to get some figures of those of you who have insight into running a site and your opinion on whether this would be a viable option for a business model before I go to far into details.

Cheers guys

 

[Lozart]

Some things to consider -

Utilities; you will need to provide toilet and handwashing facilities, electric lighting possibly heating in some areas. Don't forget to budget for toilet rolls, soap, handtowels, refuse disposal etc.

Supplies; most people would probably expect to be able to buy pyro and/or ammo at the minimum so you'll need to set up deals with a supplier (maybe go with sponsorship from a local airsoft retailer?)

Food and drink; if you're doing all day events you may want to look into catering or bare minimum selling snacks/soft drinks via vending machine (machine leasing comapny then does all the work and you get a cut).

Also and MOST importantly you'll be dealing with the general public. This will be the most pain in the arse aspect as EVERYONE you deal with will a) have a problem that "you just don't understand" or B) don't think you're "doing it right" or c) think it's their god given right to wreck anything and everything that isn't theirs.

I doubt anyone here would be able to give you any sort of numbers without seeing the overheads of the building/staff etc but I hope it works out for you. Too many people are guilty of sitting back and never really making things happen for themselves (me included)!

 

[Suzuki Yamamoto]

I don't think that the membership idea is the way to go for a Airsoft site, keep it simple with walk on fee's. You'd have to have a lot of skirmishes for people to get the most out of a monthly membership scheme.

Walk on fee's and consumables is where you stand to make your money. You want as many skirmishers on site as is possible. Players safety comes first when thinking of this and also think of the size of the site and the kind of games you can play through the day, you can then get a better idea of ideal player numbers for your site.

If you've got any idea of how to do a business plan, then do a SWOT analysis and be brutally honest about everything.

This is just my opinion and I hope you find it useful.

 

[sp00n]

oooh one think i found out recently, if your proposed site is anywhere near (150m i was told) a dwelling, forget it, you wont get insurance etc

 

[Suzuki Yamamoto]

oooh one think i found out recently, if your proposed site is anywhere near (150m i was told) a dwelling, forget it, you wont get insurance etc

And I also think you have to be 50m away from a public highway.

 

[Lozart]

And I also think you have to be 50m away from a public highway.

Not so sure about that, The Malls at Reading is on a road. If the OP is proposing an indoor site in a warehouse that would be less relevant as long as there were no open windows.

 

[Suzuki Yamamoto]

Not so sure about that, The Malls at Reading is on a road. If the OP is proposing an indoor site in a warehouse that would be less relevant as long as there were no open windows.

Indoors should be fine, but I'm referring to outdoor sites. Sorry, I should have put that in before.