Starting an indoor field

[lord1234]

Well folks, after much thought i have decided to start an indoor field. Only problem is I don't know much except for the perfect location in my area for one! I also know about the insurance deal...pretty much a dollar a head...
can anyone give me any ideas?
Also:
I would like some ideas for a business plan and for who/where to go to get loans for starting such a business...
And people who I could get these loans from and then easily buy out...so please no brass eagle...


--Lord1234

[Brak]

keep in mind the massive zoning problems you are going to have. just make sure its a GOOD location. if its not nobody is gonna play. maybe make it private to establish a good customer base, then go public

[Star_Base_CGI]

Dont get *** Eagle to be your sponser or youll be selling *** Eagels for $70 a case.

[yeahthatsme]

i'd suggest pmi....they are one of the biggest field distributors in paintball, so try getting a dealership with them...and go from there.

[dcmander]

Just make the paint cheap! I can't stand that about most fields. I don't mind paying up to 20$ to play all day..but if the cases of PMI paint are more than 60$ than I won't play there.

That is the biggest complaint I have about fields. They make me sneak paint in and thats bad!

Cheaper cases of paint, high field fees!

[ASDadam]

Man all people do is complain about paint prices. Do you really have any idea why they charge higher prices for paint? They gotta pay for ALOT of things JUST so you can play. Most field owners don't make a killing off of a paintball field. They charge higher prices because the Field fee doesn't cover much, if anything. Paying 60 for PMI or even 70 is fine with me since i understand why they need to charge that much. Our home field barely makes by charging 60 bucks for PMI or Bigball and 75 for Evil when he charges 10 for field fees. And trust me, you will want to charge around 60 or so for field paint considering you are going to be JUST opening the field and are going to need money coming in, not breaking even.

[jdev]

one word for indoor fields...

OVERHEAD

(primarily the reason you will see higher paint prices at indoor fields)

[ASDadam]

Heres another question for you. Are you going to be running an A/C system? If so is it a HVAC system? If it is be careful, if that breaks you are looking at ALOT of money to fix it. A friend and i were looking at opening an indoor field and these things all came up. Plus what type of flooring are you going to use? That matters alot since you'll have people running around with paint on the floors. Alot of things to consider when you open the field like protecting the lighting, the electrical sockets, the windows/doors and setting aside a good safe area for people to watch and rest.

[madmatt151]

INdoor field....

I have been trying to start a field here for a while. Overhead is the word. I dunno how much space by you costs, but I am looking at a budget of $250,000 to $300,000. And I am sure that may not be enough still. Make a good business plan. You asked fo rsuggestions. Here's a wuick list I have made up.

1. Make sure there is a REAL need or desire for a field in your area.

2. Check local laws etc. Especially when insurance is concerned.

3. Figure on trying to pay rent in advance for a few months. Makes things eair in the beginning.

4. Parking

5. Equipment costs (BIG MONEY) THat would be markers, tanks, compressor, tables, stagin area stuff etc.

6. Repair equipment, small parts tools etc.

This is all the stuff I can think of right now, its kind of late. There are prolly tons more things that you will NEED then you can get to the stuff you WANT. Floor, lights and HVAC are all really important and do cost big money. Like I said, my figrures might even be too low.

[dcmander]

Originally posted by ASDadam
Man all people do is complain about paint prices. Do you really have any idea why they charge higher prices for paint? They gotta pay for ALOT of things JUST so you can play. Most field owners don't make a killing off of a paintball field. They charge higher prices because the Field fee doesn't cover much, if anything. Paying 60 for PMI or even 70 is fine with me since i understand why they need to charge that much. Our home field barely makes by charging 60 bucks for PMI or Bigball and 75 for Evil when he charges 10 for field fees. And trust me, you will want to charge around 60 or so for field paint considering you are going to be JUST opening the field and are going to need money coming in, not breaking even.

DUH!

That's what I am saying. Of course there is a reason for it..but don't you think he would get THAT much more business with the cheaper paint prices? I know TONS of paintballers that go to the place w/ the cheapest paint.

I think most places would do fine with 60$ a case PMI and 25$ field fees. How much does PMI sell cases to fields?

[rjvemt1]

in '92 i built a 32k square foot field on the sf peninsula called 'hyperball'. unfortunately i cant give you much advice on the financial end because i was able to convince the owner of the building to put up the property and all of the money for the venture, i just had to organize and build the place.

what are you thinking about for the interior? i coverd the floor with 6 inches of dirt (at the time i worked for a construction co. and got the soil for free as a dump site for excavation) to prevent the paint from making the floor slicker than snot! then i sprayed 1k haybayles with fire-retardent (required by the fire department) and set them up in mirrored patterns on the field (this prevented either side from havong a teritorial advantage). the mobility of the bayles allowed me to change the field every few weeks so that it was constantly new!

an indoor field is a gigantic pain in the wallet to run! i would strongly advise AGAINST it! running your own field is the fastest way to make yourself sick of paintball. start of by getting a job as a ref at your local field then work your way up to management. this way you can see if running a field is really for you before you invest any money into it.

good luck!