Have Any of you opened a paintball field befor.

[punkncat]

There is money to be made with a field , otherwise noone would do it.

Private parties , air and rentals are a good part of the profit. Many fields make a good profit on paint too , but I feel like lower prices on paint attracts more people to the field.

Refs are a big issue. Some fields pay the refs , I am compensated in games or paint. It works out nice for me and the owner that way. Paint cost him much less and to play is free for him.

Get a good working relationship with you local pro shop. Many prospective customers come there looking for somewhere to play. If you get them to supply your parts or have a mutual "reference" system in place it will be good for both parties. IE.- he suggests your field to play , you suggest his shop for parts/service.

[XbeasleyX]

..

My buddy was in the process of opening an indoor hyperball field with his father. Would be the second field withing 80miles. Long story short, father sunk $20,000 into this place and that was before the city told him he needed to flush and fill the entire buildings (3 story, about the base of a suburban middle school) fire sprinkler system, and put self generating fire fans in all stair wells. The flush and fill and fans totaled another $30,000 . So in short - have a good demographic and have VERY deep pockets.

[Lohman446]

Rules of general business (they are general, but taught in most business classes):

Most businesses will loose money in day to day operation for the first three years - this is not counting the initial investment of capital, thats just keeping things at that level and paying the bills, salaries, etc. - in other words if you are the owner you need to be prepared to live without income for awhile including the ability to pay back any capital loans you took out.

It will generally take about seven years to just break even if you count the initial investment of capital - this is assuming a "reasonably" good business model, if I dropped four million dollars into a paintball field where I live (middle of nowhere) I would be out of luck ever getting it back.

You can make money in paintball - assuming again a decent business model. However there are risks involved. Where everyone mentioned insurance I would think that you would run without it or a minimal general liability policy. Incorporate, and rent the land to the corporation that "runs" the field from a trust account that is judgement proof - also rent major equipment and the buildings in the same way, even if you are renting them from yourself (but not legally renting them from yourself). So if you get sued and the general liability policy does not cover it all, you don't loose anything except what the corporaton running it has (rental equipment, inventory, etc) - get a lawyer to set it up.

Don't expect the profits to be outrageous... look at the field owners around you. A general (note this word general) rule of thumb is that the vehicle you drive is worth about half of your yearly income - are they driving Mercedes? The profit is not super as you might expect, but it is there.

Be prepared to kiss major butt. I dont care how good you are, or who you are. These people are your customers, you have competition, you have to be polite, helpful, and leave your opinions on manufacturers, teams, etc. at home. I don't like SP, I don't particularly like Dynasty. Guess how many people I upset with those opinions, if I was dependent on making money on this, a business relationship, I would keep my mouth shut.

These are general rules, most people who have the knowledge to profitably run a paintball field also realize the amount of work that goes into it and don't. Those that think its some super investment dont realize the amount of work it takes and generally fail. Those that realize what it takes, have the resources, and the ability are few and far between. Good luck, jsut don't go in thinking it easy.

[GT]

Rules of general business (they are general, but taught in most business classes):

Most businesses will loose money in day to day operation for the first three years - this is not counting the initial investment of capital, thats just keeping things at that level and paying the bills, salaries, etc. - in other words if you are the owner you need to be prepared to live without income for awhile including the ability to pay back any capital loans you took out.

It will generally take about seven years to just break even if you count the initial investment of capital - this is assuming a "reasonably" good business model, if I dropped four million dollars into a paintball field where I live (middle of nowhere) I would be out of luck ever getting it back.

You can make money in paintball - assuming again a decent business model. However there are risks involved. Where everyone mentioned insurance I would think that you would run without it or a minimal general liability policy. Incorporate, and rent the land to the corporation that "runs" the field from a trust account that is judgement proof - also rent major equipment and the buildings in the same way, even if you are renting them from yourself (but not legally renting them from yourself). So if you get sued and the general liability policy does not cover it all, you don't loose anything except what the corporaton running it has (rental equipment, inventory, etc) - get a lawyer to set it up.

Don't expect the profits to be outrageous... look at the field owners around you. A general (note this word general) rule of thumb is that the vehicle you drive is worth about half of your yearly income - are they driving Mercedes? The profit is not super as you might expect, but it is there.

Be prepared to kiss major butt. I dont care how good you are, or who you are. These people are your customers, you have competition, you have to be polite, helpful, and leave your opinions on manufacturers, teams, etc. at home. I don't like SP, I don't particularly like Dynasty. Guess how many people I upset with those opinions, if I was dependent on making money on this, a business relationship, I would keep my mouth shut.

These are general rules, most people who have the knowledge to profitably run a paintball field also realize the amount of work that goes into it and don't. Those that think its some super investment dont realize the amount of work it takes and generally fail. Those that realize what it takes, have the resources, and the ability are few and far between. Good luck, jsut don't go in thinking it easy.

Awsome post!

[TeamNausea]

yup i think he covered it